pokemon Fighting Dreamers

"Bea...you like me too, don't you?"

"WAITHAHAHAHAHAYOURINTRODUCTIONISTOOQUICKHAHAHAHA!"

"You told me to explain you what happened." Bea was talking with Cinderace on their room of the train, they were on their way to the Crown Tundra and it was already late night.

"Yeah, but I need some context, just what did you do to make Ash realize it?...I mean, you're pretty obvious, but still, explain me from the beginning."

"Right, uh, it was more or less something like this."

-After talking with Peonia, Ash and I prepared our things, we bought some snow clothes and he made a quick call to Sonia to ask if he could be sending his Pokemon to her lab since he already has seven, Sonia agreed and Ash decided to sent Corvisquire, then we all went to the train station, we went aboard, we had a dinner, everything went normal, Peonia then said she had to make a call to someone, I think it was her father, Ash and I came here to my room and we sat together to talk about our day-

"So, how's Valerie?" Bea asked him.

"In the end I could get through her, it was a bit hard, but I helped her get some inspiration, she finally could make a dress and I'm sure she'll be a lot better now, she also gave me a Pokemon egg, I can't wait to see what is it, and I talked with my friend Korrina through a video call too, it was nice to see her again, what about you? How was your day with Nessa?"

"I...I guess you were right, she's not that bad of a person, we spent the day fishing and...now that I think about it..." Bea looked for the Dive Ball that Nessa gave her. "She caught this Pokémon for me, but I still haven't seen what it is."

"Well, let's take a look." Ash suggested as Bea nodded and released a small white octopus.

''...Clobo!'' The creature raised one of his arms waving at them.

''ASH! LOOK AT THIS LITTLE THING! HE'S SO CUTE!" Bea knelt infront of the Pokemon and held him on her hands. "Hey there, little one! My name is Bea and I'll be your trainer! I'm really happy to meet you!''

"...clo?"

Ash then searched for his Rotom Phone to check the dex entry. 'Clobbopus, the Tantrum Pokemon, It's very curious, but its means of investigating things is to try to punch them with its tentacles. The search for food is what brings it onto land, Clobbopus' moves are Circle Throw, Liquidation and Bind, his ability is Limber.'

The Clobbopus then waved his arms around but ended up stumbling on Bea's hands.

''So precious.'' Bea said with stars on her eyes.

"See? I told you Nessa is great."

"Uh, yeah, you were right about her...but what's your deal with Nessa?"

"My deal?"

"I mean, why did you want me to get along with her in the first place?"

"Well, Nessa was the one to invite you, so I supposed she really wanted to get along with you, and I just thought that it'll be great if you two stopped fighting, after all, we'll keep meeting with her during our travel in Galar."

Bea then noticed that Ash blushed a little after that last statement. "You seem...excited about meeting her again."

"Oh? I-I guess you could say that, yes, I may be looking forward to it." Ash scratched the back of his head and blushed a little more, that was enough to make Bea become suspicious of him.

"...Did something happen between you two when she went to the mansion?"

"Well..." Ash was still a little embarrassed about what happened, but he decided to talk it out anyway. "She was trying to flirt with me as always."

"Of course." Bea rolled her eyes.

"So I gave her a kiss on her cheek." Ash continued.

Bea took a moment to process what Ash just said. "...You did what?"

"Yeah, she actually fainted." Ash laughed a bit. "It was kind of adorable, you know?"

"So you do-! You actually like her?!" Bea suddenly shouted.

"I guess a bit." Ash answered surprised by her reaction. "Nessa's great and she's always trying so hard to-"

"A-A-Ash! How could you?!" Bea kept stammering.

"Bea, is there a problem?"

"Yes! Nessa is the problem! And you just-! She is-! ..."

"Bea?"

"It's not fair! ..." Bea could feel she was about to start shedding tears, but she held them back and looked down, still on her hands, Clobbopus looked up at her worried. "You can't just go with her!" Bea shouted again looking at Ash. "After all I've done for you! Y-You just can't-"

"Bea...you like me too, don't you?"

"Well, that was quite the outburst from you." Cinderace said.

"You don't get it..." Bea sighed and started explaining. "I knew Ash liked Nessa, alright? But I still wanted to try and get a chance with me, but now he kissed her and he admitted to me that he likes her... That means he really wants to be with Nessa! That means I may not have a chance anymore! I was SO STUPID! Everyone warned me! I waited for too long and this is what happened! ...I guess...I guess that was my breaking point."

"..."

"..."

"...And then what happened?!"

"What do you mean?"

"WHAT DO I MEAN?!" Cinderace held Bea by her shoulders and started shaking her. "HE ASKED YOU IF YOU LIKE HIM? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENS NEXT?!"

"...Fine."

Ash was simply looking at her with a worried expression, Bea was looking back at him in disbelief, frozen and completely unsure of what to say, and all this drama was giving poor Clobbopus a headache.

"Bea..." Ash sighed and began to talk. "I've thinking about it for a while, mostly because of that way you react when I'm with other girls, still...you and I are always talking and you don't seem to bring that up so I thought it was like you said, that you were just worried about me, but...you seem to be something more than worried."

"I-I-I-" Bea simply blushed as she tried to come up with something.

"Bea, do you like me?" He asked again.

"It's...Ash, that's not the deal here." Bea tried to avoid the question obviously.

"Bea, just answer the question." Ash stood firm as he was now almost sure. "It's a simple yes or no."

-He totally knew what was going on, I gave it away! I swear I was about to say no, maybe I could have found a way to convince him, but when I thought about it...I don't know, I guess I just wanted to be be honest for once...like Nessa said, I wanted to let my heart talk, after all, if I kept hiding my feelings after this...after he realized...then what will I do with them?-

"Bea?"

"...Yes, I like you."

"OH MY CARROTS!" Cinderace shouted.

"Don't interrupt me!"

"I like you, Ash..." Bea finally admitted and looked down, she then took a deep breath and looked at Ash again. "I LIKE YOU! T-There! I said it! I'm sick of playing around! I like you, Ash Ketchum! I've liked you since we first met! You're the most amazing person I've met in my life and I won't let Nessa or anyone else ever take you away from me! You hear me?!"

After Bea finally let her heart out, the two stood looking at each other, Bea was shivering and blushing madly, she had already braced herself for the worst, Ash was also blushing a little but his expression was still a confused one.

"Since we met?" Ash asked after a while, once he got over the surprise. "...Why didn't you tell me?"

"I... I guess I was scared of my own feelings...scared of what you would answer, I-I was so nervous, you have no idea of how many times I tried to tell you, I know I'm sounding stupid but I'm serious about this..." Bea started to shed tears again, although she felt they were more of relief than anything. "I'm...I'm finally telling you." Bea swept her tears and Clobbopus jumped to her head, hugging her from above to help her feel better, Bea smiled at the Pokemon and then looked back at Ash, giving him a smile as well as an expectant look.

"Ash, I'm sorry, I know it took me a while but...I'm telling you the truth, from the bottom of my heart, I..." Bea felt a sudden pinch in her chest as she tried to mutter those last words, those stupid three words, but she managed to end the sentence. "I love you." The red on Bea's cheeks was more than enough to make Flannery's hair grow jealous, Bea kept looking at Ash, anxious for an answer, while the boy found himself unable of saying anything.

"Bea..." At first Ash smiled at her, but his face quickly turned into a frown, Ash held his forehead and then sighed looking down. "I...I have to go."

"...What?"

"Sorry, I...sorry." That was all Ash could say as he walked away to his room and Bea stood motionless simply looking at him go.

"He simply left me there..." Bea hugged her legs close to his chest while Clobbopus still tried to confront her. "Why do I feel like everything is ruined?"

"...And that's it?!" Cinderace exclaimed.

"Yeah, I mean, I felt like I needed to talk to someone so I brought you out."

"You just let him go?! Why didn't you stop him?! He was waiting for you to say something! What kind of confession was that?!"

"Cinderace, this is not some kind of tv drama, sure, I'll admit this is not the way I wanted it to be, but at least I finally confessed! What did you expect me to do?"

"Oh, I don't know, push him against the wall and give him a kiss like a woman! Then you keep kissing him until he can't breathe and that's when you take his pants and-"

"CINDERACE!" Bea shouted blushing as she covered Clobbopus'...ears?

"ARGH! You're getting the point! After all the back downs! After all the troubles! You finally told him! And out of all the ways you could have continued it, that's how you choose it to be?! Just letting him go?! Where are the lights?! Where is the night that never dies?! Where is the dinner?! Where is the fountain?! WHERE IS THE ROMANCE?!" Cinderace knelt dramatically on the ground.

"...I seriously don't understand why do I tell you this kind of things."

The ace simply sighed. "Fine, he finally knows, what's next?"

"I...I'm not sure...his reaction when I told him, he seemed happy at first but then he looked so...worried."

He was worried.

"Not Bea too..." Ash cursed himself on his bed. "Why does this keep happening to me?! What's the deal, Arceus?! Are you enjoying all of this?!"

"...Maybe just a little bit."

"What am I gonna do now?...I was pretty sure I liked Nessa, but... I was still thinking about Flannery and Jasmine too, I thought I just need some time... and now Bea...argh, even if I had decided to be with Nessa, what would I have said to the others? ...I just... Can't I just say 'no'?" Ash thought for a second about the way the girls acted with him, not only their confessions, all those hugs and kisses, he blushed at the thoughts, but now he felt guilty as well. "...I know it might hurt them but...honestly, that might hurt me too, a part of me thinks I'm not ready for this but I feel like there's a another part of me that likes them too, I mean, they're all great, Jasmine, Flannery and Nessa, they all have their own charm, but I don't understand why I'm suddenly looking at them differently, I would have never thought of them like this before and... the thing with Bea is different...Bea is different from the other girls."

"Pikapi?" His partner was trying to do an improvised therapy session, the rest of the team was also there for moral support if needed, although Zigzagoon and Weavile needed some context.

"I don't mean different in a bad way, is just that... , Bea and I have been traveling together for a month now and after you've been traveling with a person for that time you end up understanding them... But it seems like I didn't understand her quite enough...I never thought she would... huff, and what's with the rest? Four girls, Pikachu! Or five if I wasn't drunk when I heard Korrina! No, no, calm down, I'm just exaggerating with Korrina, aren't I? 'Love you' is something you can totally say to a friend in a platonic way, right?"

"..." Considering how their current adventure has been so far, Pikachu decided to stay silent.

"This is a mess, everything here is a mess and I don't understand any of it, what am I supposed to do? ...How am I supposed to choose? ...choose...that word makes me feel sick for a reason, it's not like they are some options in a table or something, this is not about who's better or worse, they're all special in their own way, they're all great girls that... deserve something better than just waiting for my answer... suddenly I feel like Maylene wasn't that wrong when she called me a womanizer."

"Ka..."

"When did this got so complicated? ...Bea jumping into the equation confuse me so much more than the rest and...maybe I'm just overthinking this...I can't with this right now, guys, I need to get some sleep."

Ash covered himself in sheets and did his best to fall asleep, but he didn't quite succeed, there were too many thoughts running on his head.

"What I mean is that I've been thinking about you for a while..."

...

"You have a heart of gold, Ash Ketchum and I hope that someday I will have an space in that heart of yours."

...

"Ash Ketchum, I love you, I swear I love you more than I've ever loved anyone."

''Ash, do you...do you think I'm pretty?''

...

"I don't want you to change either...I think that's a big part of what makes you special, the fact that you don't let those things change you."

...

"...Fine, no more goofing around, Ash, you're a great person and I like you."

"I'm glad you liked my dress, your opinion was really important for me."

"Uh, why?"

"Because I like you."

"... Jasmine, could you say that again?"

"I. Like. You."

"It's... it's so great to see you again, it feels like it has been forever and...the fact that after all this time we're only meeting through a screen...I wish I could jump there and give you a big hug...I'm just trying to say that...I've missed you."

...

"Bye, love you!"

"I like you, Ash...I LIKE YOU! T-There! I said it! I'm sick of playing around! I like you, Ash Ketchum! I've liked you since we first met! You're the most amazing person I've met in my life and I won't let Nessa or anyone else ever take you away from me! You hear me?!"

...

"I love you."

"It's not just that..." Ash said to himself as he thought about Bea. "If she fell for me when we met then all those things we've done...all those moments we had, she was trying to be romantic...why didn't she just tell me? She said she was scared but..." Ash then remembered what Maylene said when he asked her about her crush on Candice.

...

"Why don't you just tell her?"

''I'm...I'm not gonna risk ruining our friendship, I can't confess until I'm sure she feels the same way.''

''That sounds...really scary.''

"It is."

...

"Bea..." Ash trailed off as he kept trying to fall sleep. "I don't wanna ruin our friendship either...but what am I gonna do now? ...What am I supposed to tell you?"

Next day

"Time to get up!" Bea said to herself, surprisingly animated, unlike Ash, she slept like a baby, she had renewed hope, she made up her mind, Ash already knows? Then, well shit! From now on she'll go all out with him. Bea jumped out out the bed and then looked at Cinderace and Clobbopus who were sleeping next to her, instead of bothering to wake them up, Bea simply recalled them to their respective Poke Balls. "I wonder what Ash will tell me about all those things I said yesterday..." Bea said to herself as she blushed at the thought. "Now that I thinking about it...That vision that Zacian showed me back in Motostoke..."

''But I wanted to travel with you!''

''Why?! Why would you go through all that trouble just to stay with me?!''

''BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!''

"Was that meant to be a confession? ...If it is then that means our future is different." Bea smiled for a short moment. "But...Do I still have to tell him the other part? ...Who I really am?"

She may have got rid of one of those heavy weights over her shoulders, but the other one was still there, and that was definitely way bigger.

"He's going to have to meet Saito eventually." Bea remembered more of the things that Zacian had told him, but she stopped for a moment, Bea realized she was talking about Saito as if she was referring to a completely different person and...maybe she was? How much have things changed since she ran away? She isn't the same person, is she? The life she lived as Saito was so much different that what she lives now as Bea. "...No..." She stopped those thoughts. "Yes, Saito had that predetermined role that they chose for her, but it was Saito the one who understood she had lost something precious...the element of choice, of chance...it was Saito who dreamed of becoming something more than they had intended for her...it was Saito who aspired to become something greater...that was me, I took those choices...and even if things have changed, even if I'm better now, even if I left that life behind...I'm still Saito...and Ash deserves to know the truth." That's what she said, but Bea wasn't sure about how to approach Ash about the topic. "What am I even supposed to tell him?" Beautiful asked herself as she imagined the scene.

"Ash, I have to tell you something."

"Uh, what is it?"

"I've been lying to you since we met."

"...What?"

"Yeah, about my family, my life, my home, I didn't even tell you my real name."

"...What?"

"Pretty much, but I hope this doesn't affect our relationship."

"...What?"

"Yeah...there has to be a better way of telling him." Bea sighed and prepared herself, putting on the clothes they brought, A white snow jacket, Black long snow pants and boots, Peonia told them they'd be arriving in the morning so Bea took her things and left the room, finding Ash in one of the halls of the train, their clothing was pretty much the same, with the exception of Ash's jacket being blue.

"Good morning, Ash!" Bea greeted him as happy as she could.

"Good morning..." Ash answered weakly, causing Bea to give him a worried look.

"We're almost there, people." Peonia called them as she approached the two, wearing a black snow jacket herself.

"Ash, uh..." Bea tried to talk with him. "Can we-"

"So, you still haven't told us anything about you, Peonia." Ash tried to ignore Bea for the time being.

"Well, My uncle is the Chairman Rose, you know him?"

"I do." Ash answered. "I mean, I haven't met him, but he was the one who invited me to Galar."

"I see, the point is that since he's my uncle, I always had a closer look to the Gyms and the Pokemon League so now I'm training to be a Gym Leader myself, I already passed the theory tests, but I still need the qualification battle, I'm waiting for the league to choose my opponent."

"If you're training to be a Gym Leader in which Type you specialize in?" Ash continued to ask.

"I don't specialize in a Type, but rather a theme, I use Fossil Pokemon, here" Peonia pulled out two Poke Balls and released an Amaura and a Tirtouga. "See?"

"That's quite interesting." Ash said as the train stopped completely.

"And we made it, come on by." Peonia opened the door, revealing a beautiful snow covered land, a pine tree forest could be seen in the distance and a soft blizzard was falling from the skies.

"Wow..." Bea trailed off as they exited the train.

"Bea?" Ash called her, confused by her surprised face. "Don't tell me you've never seen snow before."

"I...I haven't." Bea answered.

"What?"

"... Truth is, Ash...I never got much if a chance to be a kid, I almost never went outside and...I feel like I don't tell you this enough, but thank you...thank you for letting me go in this journey with you, not only I've been in so many places, I have experienced so many things I never thought I will..."

The two traded some glances, simply feeling safe with the other, Ash and Bea gave each other a wide smile, forgetting all the troubles, as if nothing else mattered in the world.

"Well, if you haven't seen snow...then I guess you haven't seen this!" Ash suddenly threw a snowball at Bea's face. "Hahahaha!"

"So that's how it is." Bea quickly made a snowball and tossed it with force to Ash's chest, knocking him to the ground. "Hahahaha! T-That was...Ash?" Bea then noticed Ash had his eyes closed and started to worry.

"ASH?! NOT AGAIN! Are you okay?!"

"Surprise attack!" Ash suddenly opened his eyes once Bea was close enough, grabbing some snow with both hands tossing it at her.

"Uh?!" Bea stood blank for a moment before finally reacting. "You idiot! I really thought I had hurt you!"

"Sorry, Bea, but war is cold." Ash then hid behind a big pile of snow. "Besides, it was just a snowball, it's not that easy to get rid of me."

"I literally killed you yesterday by throwing you to a pool!"

"...Well, technically it was the water, but you have a point."

"Just don't do that again!" Bea shouted with anger, causing Ash to come out of his hiding spot.

"...Sorry, Bea, I didn't mean-" Ash was silenced by a sudden snowball that Bea threw to his face. "Hey!"

"Well, you said it yourself..." Bea then released Hitmontop. "War is cold."

"...Oh no." Ash quickly hid himself behind the snow pile as Hitmontop spun in the snow, kicking various snow balls at him.

"Alright, stop! I give up!" He pleaded and Hitmontop stopped the barrage, Ash calmed himself and got out of his hiding, only to find Hitmontop staring at him.

"Wait, where is-" Before Ash could say anything, Bea tackled him from behind, causing him to fall face to the snow. "...Sorry."

"You two, cut it off!" Peonia called them. "Freezington is a few miles away, we can go by foot."

"Well, let's follow her." Ash got up and cleaned his face, he was about to walk away but Bea held his wrist.

"Ash, I...can we talk about us? ...you know, about what happened yesterday."

"...Bea, are you sure you like me?"

"A hundred percent." She answered with a smile.

"Let's...Let's just follow Peonia." Ash kept walking, leaving Bea alone yet again.

'He...He never treated the other girls that way.' Bea though. '...Why is he acting like that with me?'

The trio kept walking through the snowy fields until they finally reached Freezington, as they entered the town they found all that all the streets were completely empty and all the business were closed, some people looked at them from their windows and instantly hid closing them, some houses were also damaged and with some trees that were down or cut in half, Ash, Bea and Peonia then saw a pile of ceramic, Nuggets, metals, gold, silver, gems and other valuable objects that was gathered in the middle of the main street.

"You know what's going on here, Peonia?" Bea asked.

"Not at all." Peonia answered. "It's been a while since I came here, all those Gym Leaders tests were keeping me quite busy, we should ask my dad."

"Who's your father then?"

...

Booyah, booyah!

Got his Steel Type clashin'!

Peony, woo, baby! Mr. Metal Master!

(W-W-W-W-What, what?)

Mr. Snowball Disaster!

(W-W-W-W-What, what?)

Mr. Boom Boom Blast Off!

...

"That's him..." Peonia showed them a music video featuring her father on their way to her house, just so Ash and Bea would be ready to meet him.

"So he's the chairman's brother." Ash said.

"Correct, he's a Gym Leader and former champion, my old man, he's as stubborn as a Mudbray."

The group finally reached the house and Peonia opened the door, they instantly found Peony who was sitting along a Perrserker, a Cufant and some Galarian Meowths in the living room.

"Hey, dad."

"Nia!" Peony ran to her daughter giving her a big hug. "Oh, I'm so glad you're back!"

"Uh, glad to see you too, dad, but why is everyone hiding in their houses?"

"Because of the flockers." Peony answered with anger.

"Gosh, not the flockers." Peonia sighed.

''Flockers?'' Ash asked.

''Yeah! Those birdbrains are wreckin' havoc in my town! They destroyed my Gym! ...I'm Peony by the way, you are Ash Ketchum, right?"

"I am, nice to meet you, this is my friend Bea, what flockers are you talking about?"

"Dad is talking about the Galarian forms of the Legendary Birds."

''The Legendary Birds have Galarian forms?'' Ash asked.

''Wait, wait, wait." Bea stopped them. "Why would a god ever need to adapt?''

''Well, they didn't exactly adapt.'' Peonia said. "Truth is, we don't even know what they are, they look like the Legendary birds, but they are different and the whole thing is confusing, some legends contradict themselves, there's this one that says they're evil counterparts from other dimension, there's another that says they're ghosts of deceased Legendary birds or something like that, but no one is sure."

''Those flockers are the worst!" Peony began to rant. "First is Articuno and his dodgy mask, he's been knockin' off Grumpings and Spoinks all around, then there's Zapdos, runnin' around with those thick legs, and last and worst there's Moltres, seriously, I hate him, I bet everytime he introduces himself he says somethin' like: 'My name is bag...douchebag'."

"You're saying all this trouble is because of them?" Bea asked.

Peony nodded and started to explain. "...Listen, they used to wander off around the Crown Tundra, they didn't do much damage, maybe takin' down some random tree, ruinin' a campfire or something like that, but some days ago they came here and attacked the town folks, luckily no one got seriously injured, the birds suddenly started talkin', somethin' they have never done before, and said that we weren't allowed to leave our houses, that we could only do so to leave them 'objects that seemed important' as they say, I suppose you saw that pile in the middle of the road, I've been tryin' to run them out, but three legendaries is too much for an old man like me and the other Gym Leaders are too busy to come by and help."

"And why didn't you tell me any of that?!" Peonia exclaimed.

"Sorry, Nia, I know you're focused with your tests and I didn't want to bother you, anyway, what brings you here, boy?"

''We are looking for the Legendary Pokemon Calyrex." Ash answered. "Do you know anything about him?''

"Of course, Calyrex is a very important legend here." Peonia said. "He ruled the Crown Tundra as a merciful king, the king of bountiful harvests, people looked towards him to help with Vegetation, one time he saved a Forest full of Pokemon from a meteor moving the entire population to a new location overnight. He would show no mercy to people that had gotten in its way, but he would be kind enough to heal them after the battle, however, as time passed, his power fell when people stopped believing in him, now he has become nothing but a Fairy tale, no one has seen Calyrex in years."

"So you don't know where he is?" Bea asked.

''That ol' deer?" Peony thought for a bit. "Of course I know!"

"What?!" Peonia exclaimed. "You saw him, dad?!"

"Eh, o-of course." Peony assured them. "Well, looks like we got a little deal in our hands, don't we, Ash?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know about your reputation and the kind of things you normally do, so I want you to kick those three birdbrains outta my town! Give 'em a big scare so they don't come back to Freezington ever again! If you succeed I'll tell you where Calyrex is hidin', deal?" Peony offered his hand.

"Deal." Ash accepted the offer. "I'll be glad to help anyway."

"Nice, but first things first, you need some appropriate clothing."

Peony then gave Ash and Bea two pieces of orange exploration gears so they could prepare themselves, once the two were changed, the group waited until they heard strong flapping noises along some stomps.

"Those must be them." Peony said.

"Good luck, guys." Peonia added as Ash and Bea left the house.

"So, what do you think we'll be meeting?" Bea asked him as they walked on direction to the noises but Ash didn't respond.

"..."

"W-Well, Peony described them as if they were pretty much thugs so it can't be that bad, right?" Bea called again to no avail.

"..." Ash put on the hoodie of the gear, trying to avoid eye contact with Bea.

Bea finally got tired of this and stood in front of Ash, blocking his way.

'I...I finally want to try, why doesn't he let me?' She thought as she looked at Ash directly. "Ash, I know what I did wasn't exactly the best approach, but...whatever that is in your mind right now...aren't we still friends at least?"

"...Bea, we don't have time for this." Ash kept walking, ignoring her. "Those birds are out there, they're hurting people and we don't know why, we need to stop them."

"..." Bea stood motionless for a moment again, Ash would never treat her in such a cold way, Ash would never treat anyone in such a cold way, that just wasn't natural on him. "I...I should have kept my mouth shut." She said to herself, trying to hold her tears, but failing miserably.

The two kept walking side to side without saying anything until they were Infront of the birds, who were the checking the objects in the pile of objects.

"Still nothing." Zapdos said to his brothers kicking some of the objects.

"Just worthless human trash." Moltres continued destroying some cases.

"I'm starting to believe they really don't know where it is." Zapdos said.

"They have to know." Articuno replied floating above of the other two. "It has to be here."

"Galarian Birds!" Ash called them.

The birds looked at them, Articuno then floated Infront of Moltres and Zapdos.

"You can understand us?" Ash asked.

"...Of course we can, you lesser being." Articuno answered. "Why aren't you running like the others?'

"Because we're here to stop you!" Bea answered firmly, trying to get this over with as quick as possible, the faster they got rid of the birds, the faster she could have a talk with Ash.

"You? Stop us?" Moltres laughed, Zapdos simply stood analyzing them from afar, while Articuno took a closer look at Ash and Bea.

"You don't fear us? Strange."

"Why are you attacking this town?" Bea asked.

"We're simply looking for something." Articuno answered.

"Looking for what?" Ash continued to ask. "If you tell us maybe we could find it for you and stop this havoc."

"You think we'd accept help from the likes of you?" Articuno asked.

"If you don't accept it we can always have it the rough way and kick you out." Bea said holding Chesnaught's Friend Ball.

"So the mortals are trying to fight back, huh? Adorable!" Articuno smirked at them for a moment before returning to his serious expression "...Moltres, Zapdos, you know what to do." The mentioned birds were suddenly surrounded by a red aura as Articuno took flight. "TAKE. THEM. OUT!"

Articuno's voice echoed around as Moltres and Zapdos Dynamaxed right before our heroes.

"Not good." Ash said.

"Ash, if they can Dynamax then that means the energy here is strong enough and we can do it too."

Ash nodded and put on his Dynamax band as he called onto a Poke Ball. "Infernape, I choose you!" Ash then activated the device as Infernape looked at the giants and then back at him confused. "Alright, let's show you how things are here in Galar!"

"Chesnaught, let's crash!" Bea released her recently evolved Pokemon as she checked his information on her Rotom Phone. 'Chesnaught, the Spiny Armor Pokemon, Its Tackle is forceful enough to flip a 50-ton tank. It shields its allies from danger with its own body, Chesnaught moveset has been updated: Spiky Shield, Dual Chop, Hammer Arm, Seed Bomb.'

"Let's give this a try." Bea put on her Dynamax band as well.

"Infernape!"

"Chesnaught!"

"DYNAMAX!"

The two starters stood together as they increased in size Infront of the birds, Infernape stumbled for a moment causing Chesnaught to laugh.

"First time, huh?"

"You bet."

"First we need to take them out of the town!" Ash shouted to Infernape.

"You heard him!" Bea added.

Chesnaught and Infernape nodded at the orders and ran through the streets, the birds followed them until they were far enough from the town, stopping in a big snowy clear.

"Oh, this is gonna be delightful." Moltres said.

"A worthy opponent is all I'm asking for." Zapdos added.

"Let's begin! Chesnaught, Max Wyrmwind!" Chesnaught opened his mouth and roared, expelling a massive purple tornado that damaged the birds, the Legendary Pokemon were then surrounded by a blue aura as their physical attack was lowered, however, both Pokemon laughed at this, as Zapdos was quickly surrounded by a red aura.

"Yeah, my ability is Defiant, so joke's on you."

"I'm a special attacker, not like I care."

The two birds then attacked with Max Airstream, raising their speed as Moltres flapped his wings creating a giant tornado that attacked Infernape and Zapdos charged at Chesnaught surrounded by a wild wind, kicking him back, both starters crashed against each other fell to the ground, while Ash and Bea barely had time to get out of the way.

"Infernape, Max Flare on Zapdos!" Infernape got up and opened his mouth shooting a giant stream of fire that exploded onto Zapdos and made the sun go brighter.

"Max Knuckle on Moltres!" Ash and Bea said together as the starters punched the bird on its chest and raised their attacks at the same time.

"Well, they aren't totally weaklings, uh?" Moltres laughed again.

"Let's attack together one more time." Zapdos offered.

The birds then used Max Darkness together, shooting giant dark orbs at the starters and causing a explosion that blinded Infernape and Chesnaught for a moment, Moltres then used Max Flare and Zapdos used Max Lightning, both moves combined mid-air and aimed at Infernape.

"Max guard!" Chesnaught stood in front of Infernape and crossed his arms, creating a giant shield that protected them.

"Infernape, Max Flare again!" The Sinnoh Pokemon jumped over Chesnaught and thanks to the sun, he expelled an even bigger flame that surrounded Moltres and Zapdos as the four Pokemon returned back to their normal states.

"We ain't done yet!" Zapdos shouted.

"Who's up for round two?" Moltres got up and shot a Fire Blast from the sky.

"Infernape, take the nimbus and go for Moltres!" Infernape called the cloud and went up with the bird, Moltres then flew away and Infernape followed him, Ash and Pikachu then run behind them too.

"So I guess that leaves you to be my opponent?" Zapdos looked at Chesnaught. "Then so be it." The bird then charged at him with a Brave Bird.

"Spiky Shield!" Bea shouted.

Chesnaught slammed his fists together, creating a spiky barrier, Zapdos quickly saw this and stopped his run.

Chesnaught then smirked and smashed his fists together again, the spikes on the shield started to glow and then shoot themselves at Zapdos, exploding on impact.

"Oh, well, that's new." Bea smiled. "Hammer arm!" Chesnaught's arm was covered with a red glow, he then smacked it onto Zapdos' neck.

The bird quickly recovered from the hit, it then jumped and fell down as his claws were surrounded by darkness, trying to hit Chesnaught with an Assurance.

"Dual Chop!" Chesgnaught's arms were surrounded by two purple blades, he then spun them around, slashing down Zapdos.

Still unrelenting, Zapdos screeched and rushed against Chesnaught with a Wild Charge, the Legendary then jumped forward and combined the move with a Thunderous Kick knocking Chesnaught to the ground.

"Seed Bomb!" Chesnaught opened his mouth firing various big green seeds, Zapdos quickly kicked them off throwing Thunderous Kicks to the air causing various explosions but Chesnaught shielded himself.

Zapdos then started running around them, picking up speed and kicking up snow, surrounding Chesnaught and Bea in a snowy tornado.

"So that's how you wanna play..." Bea jumped to Chesnaught's shell to help him see where Zapdos would come from, she could see Zapdos' silhouette through the snow but he was moving way too fast. "Just pay attention to my call, Chesnaught, alright?" Bea said as the Kalos Pokemon raised his arms in a defensive posture. "Come on, where are you coming from..." Bea kept looking at the silhouette until it abruptly stopped it's run and looked at them. "On your left!"

Bea shouted and Chesnaught quickly reacted charging a Dual Chop, Zapdos went running at them with a Brave Bird at an overwhelming speed, the moves collided against each other, but Zapdos proved to be more powerful as he was pushing Chesnaught back rather easily.

"Hang on, Chesnaught!" Bea called to her Pokemon, still trying to hold onto his back, while Chesnaught was doing his best to withstand the attack.

Zapdos cut the move short and jumped back, he then ran until he was Infront of them and jumped again, charging a Thunderous Kick and falling from above to try and hit Bea, Chesnaught quickly crossed his arms over them, summoning a Spiky Shield and protecting Bea, Zapdos ended up bumping into the shield and he was hurt by the spikes.

"Ches?" The starter looked up at her.

"I'm ok!" Bea said.

Zapdos then jumped away and once Chesnaught put the shield was down, Bea gave another order. "Dual Chop!" Chesnaught ran at the Legendary, still with her on his back. Zapdos countered the move with Thunderous Kicks and managed to hit Chesnaught cleanly on the chest, the bird then jumped up one more time and fell down stomping Chesnaught's hands with his legs and holding them to the ground. "No hands, no shield, huh?" Zapdos asked as Chesnaught struggled to set himself free.

"I recognize it, you and your human gave a pretty good fight, but this is the end."

Still holding down Chesnaught, Zapdos dived down his his head trying to hit Bea with it a Drill Peck, but the girl quickly ducked down avoiding being hit and then gave the Legendary a big uppercut under his chin.

"...Wait, wha-" While the hit wasn't nearly close to even scratch Zapdos, the surprise was enough to distract him and give Chesnaught the chance to free himself, the latter then grabbed one of Zapdos' legs, spinning him around and hammer throwing him to the skies.

"Spiky Shield!" Chesnaught crossed his arms and formed the shield, the spikes shoot themselves and exploded onto the falling Zapdos. "Dual Chop!" Chesnaught crossed his arms again and double slashed Zapdos throwing him to the ground, Zapdos tried to get up but he quickly fell back again.

"There is no shame...in being bested by a good soldier." Zapdos said weakly from the ground.

"Chesnaught..." Bea trailed off. "You defeated a Legendary Pokemon! You were amazing!" Bea jumped off his Pokemon and gave him a hug, the latter smiled but sat down in the snow exhausted by the effort.

Up in the skies, Infernape kept throwing Flamethrowers at Moltres but this moved away avoiding them.

"Mach Punch!" Ash shouted from the ground, Infernape jumped off the cloud and punched Moltres in the face, falling back in the cloud after the hit, Moltres then attacked with Fiery Wrath, expelling a dark burst of fire, but Infernape used the nimbus to move away just in time.

Moltres then started flying higher and Infernape followed him.

"Flamethrower again!" Ash shouted but Infernape simply looked down at him, Moltres and him were so high that he couldn't hear Ash clearly.

"Infernape, can you hear me?" Ash asked. "Use Flamethrower!"

"Nape?"

"Flamethrower!"

"...Fernape?"

"I was saying that you...oh, geez, this is gonna drive me nuts."

While Infernape was distracted, Moltres shouted with A Hyper Voice, disorienting the Fire starter and causing him to fall out of his cloud, Infernape quickly got back to himself and whistled, the cloud followed him down and caught him, taking Infernape back to Ash.

"If he stays there, it'll be harder than we thought." Ash said as he looked up to the Dark type who was flying in circles over them, knowing Infernape couldn't take orders from up there. "...Hey, you took Cinderace for a ride in that thing, right? How about I go with you?"

"Fer..." The Pokemon thought it for a second, but he grinned at the idea. "Nape!"

"Then let's do it!"

Infernape helped Ash and Pikachu get on the cloud and the two went back to the skies were Moltres was waiting for them.

"Well, well, your human ain't scared of heights, is he?" Moltres laughed yet again.

"And we're not scared of you, either!" Ash said.

"Then you will die braver than most."

"Mach punch!" Ash shouted as Infernape jumped off the cloud, leaving Ash there, Moltres then expelled another Fiery Wrath but Infernape went through the flames and landed the Mach Punch cleanly on Moltres' face, he then used Flamethrower on Moltres, impulsing himself back to the cloud.

"Now come here would, you?!" Moltres flew at them catching Infernape by his neck using his claws, taking him out of the cloud, flying away with him.

"That's not good." Ash said, he then looked down at the cloud. "Uh, hey there, nimbus, can you hear me? We have to follow them." Surprisingly, the cloud vibrated for a moment and started to follow them at high speed as Ash and Pikachu held on.

"Look at the poor monkey all alone." Moltres laughed at him one more time. "I think I'll drop you know."

"Hey, can I say something first?" Infernape asked.

"What?"

"This is going to hurt you."

As Infernape said this, the nimbus finally reached them and crashed in a fiery explosion onto Moltres, the bird then let Infernape fall and Ash and Pikachu fell as well as the cloud disappeared for a moment, Infernape whistled and the cloud quickly formed again, it flew back to him and then he caught Ash and Pikachu.

"T-This thing is quite the ride." Ash laughed a bit. "It's time to end this! Flare Wheelz!"

Infernape jumped again spinning in a blue wheel of flames and aiming at Moltres, who was recovering from the hit, but still flying over them, Infernape crashed onto him in a explosion and ended up landing on Moltres' back as the Legendary began to move violently trying to get Infernape off him. "You wanna play rodeo?! Fine!" Moltres screeched as his body built up heat and started to self-immolate, fully engulfing himself in dark flames.

"Aaah! I'm on fire! I'm on fire!" Infernape shouted but quickly calmed himself. "Hey... I'm on fire -and, I'm okay..." The fire hurt Infernape a little at first, but he quickly could ignore the pain. "Check it out. I'm totally hot!"

"...Yeah, I'm not sure what I was expecting."

"Keep using Mach Punch!" Ash shouted and Infernape obeyed, holding on while Moltres kept flying and spinning around trying to get him off.

After plenty of hits Infernape interlocked his fingers and raised his fists. "From heck's heart I stab at thee!" Infernape then attacked with the Hammerblow aiming at the bird's face again.

"Could you stop punching me on the face-?!" Moltres got distracted and ended up crashing against a cliff, Infernape then jumped off him and back to the cloud with Ash as Moltres fell down and he made the cloud go down following him.

Moltres then crashed defeated onto the ground next to fainted Zapdos and Infernape landed the cloud next to Chesnaught and Bea as the two starters fist bumped.

"That was great, dude." Infernape said. "You're my new Grass Starter fella."

Meanwhile in Kanto

"Torterra, are you crying?" Bayleef asked him.

"N-No, I just...I just felt like something broke deep inside."

Back in the Crown Tundra, Articuno was simply watching from a safe distance, disappointed at his fallen comrades.

"Guys, seriously? You had, like, one job to do here." Articuno sighed.

"Do you want to be next, Articuno?" Bea asked as she spotted the Psychic.

"Just tell us what you're looking for and we'll find it for you, I promise." Ash said.

Articuno got closer to the trainers again. "...It's just a meaningless relic."

"No one would terrorize a whole town for something meaningless." Bea answered.

"Quite a foolish thought you have there, I've seen humans destroy lives for much less than what we are looking for..." Articuno then floated away as Zapdos and Moltres stood up and joined him. "You won this fight, but keep in mind, 'heroes', we're not finished, not until we find what Calyrex took from us."

Articuno raised his wings and summoned a blizzard, giving the birds time to disappear in the distance, Ash and Bea then looked at each other.

"Just another day." Ash sighed and started to walk away.

"...Are you seriously going to act like that from now on?" Bea asked him. "Ash, I-I just wanted to tell you how you make me feel, I get it, it took me a long time and all that, and...and maybe you like Nessa more than me, but I'm not giving up on this, I'm not giving up on us."

"...Bea, I don't wanna give up on us either, that would...you have no idea of how much that would hurt me, but I seriously can't do this right now...sorry." Ash kept walking away and Bea simply sighed, still feeling uneasy but slightly relieved, at least he was talking to her, Bea followed him and the duo returned to Freezington, going back to Peony's home, where father and daughter received them.

"How did it go?" Peonia asked.

"They're gone for now, but they'll back." Ash answered.

"The birds told us they're looking for some kind of relic." Bea explained. "Something that Calyrex took from them."

"You think they're sayin' the truth?" Peony asked, unsure if they could trust the birds.

"Even if they're lying, we have to find Calyrex." Ash replied. "Maybe he can tell us what they're looking for." Everyone in the room then looked at Peony.

"What?"

"You told us you knew where Calyrex was." Bea said.

"Yeah, 'bout that...I don't quite know where he is precisely, right now, at this moment."

"WHAT?!" Ash and Bea exclaimed.

"Hehehe...sorry."

"DAD! You made a deal with them!"

"Sorry, Nia, I was just tryin' to get the town out of trouble."

"But if you don't know where Calyrex is...then who does?"

Everyone suddenly looked at the door, expecting someone to conveniently enter in time.

"Uh, guess there's no such lu-" Ash was about to talk, but a blue-haired young woman and a red-haired young man wearing explorer outfits busted into the door along a Sawk and a Throh.

"I'm really sorry, civilians." The girl started talking. "My name is Danika and this is my partner Quillon, this is an official RKS mission and we're in a hurry, so we'll have to take cover in your...OH MY GOSH! IT'S ASH KETCHUM!"

"Just what I needed..." The guy accompanying her trailed off annoyed.