Ritchie soon left with the girls for a much needed recovery and relaxation time while Ash and the others were headed back to Ecruteak City. The night before they left Gold had dragged all of them to his apartment where Red and surprisingly enough Blue were present. The two had heard Ash would be releasing his new horror and insisted on holding their routine story nights. 'The Grudge', inspired by Phantump's birth mixed with a lot of his own pent up feelings was quite the horrific tale.
Ash may have gotten a ahead of himself in describing how the unlucky victims were killed by a grudge filled ghost. The girls were all huddled together and the boys were clutching their Pokemon tightly as they listened to the tale. The adults however while fascinated by the Horror, watched Ash as he told the story. Red, Blue, Gold and Brock looked at each other but didn't interfere in the story telling. Frankly, they were relieved Ash had an outlet for his negative emotions but it didn't stop them from worrying about his mental state.
Ash heard his phone ring the next day, "Hey Professor, what's up?"
Samuel, "Ash, I was wondering if Venasaur could head over to the lab for a while?"
Ash, "Um, let me ask Brock. The two of them usually team up in the Pokemon center to control the rest of us."
Samuel, "I see, I would appreciate it."
Ash, "Give me a minute, Professor."
Ash, "Brock, do you think Venasaur could head over to the lab for a while, instead of the Pokemon center in Ecruteak City? I know he goes around centers so that he could keep the rest of us alive but, Bayleef has come a long way in learning from him."
Bayleef puffed her chest out, "Bayleef."
Brock, "I can ask. He might throw a fit though."
Ash blinked, "Venasaur throw a fit?"
Brock smirked, "He was ready to get down and dirty when he saw the state you and Ritchie were in. Luckily he cooled down after treating all your Pokemon and learning you were not hurt much physically."
Aah winced, "Ah... Right, I am okay. He made sure both Ritchie and I were alright."
Venasaur had indeed been furious when he saw the state Ash had returned in but focused on healing them. Lucario had heard most of the dark mutters the grass starter has made under his breath and slowly inched away. Ash though he didn't have super hearing, felt the fury that was emanating from his gentlest Kanto starter. He sat quietly as Venasaur mother henned him and Ritchie under the watchful eyes of their Pokemon.
Ash swore if Venasaur was allowed he would go hunting for the group at that very moment and kill them, bring them back and then kill them a second time. Brock came back with a disgruntled Venasaur who was not amused by what the Professor requested and demanded the phone. The Professor was happy to see the grass starter through the video camera till Venasaur started to berate him. Ash looked away instead of trying to help the Professor out, better to let the anger out.
Samuel wiped his forehead, "Well, that was something."
Ash requested his phone back, "He takes his work as a healer seriously Professor and with my responsibilities and line of work, it is a must."
Samuel, "I apologize Venasaur."
Venasaur huffed, "Saur vena."
Samuel, "The reason I asked for you was because Blue's Venasaur is going with him to an International summit. He may no longer be a Champion but he held that title long enough to be important as one."
Ash eyed him, "You want my Venasaur to act as a substitute to keep the Pokemon from fighting each other?"
Samuel, "It's only till Blue's Venasaur returns, honest. Heaven knows your mother, aunt and myself are relieved he is there with you."
Ash, "It looks like Bayleef will have to step up as my main healer then."
Samuel, "How is she holding up?"
Ash smiled, "She's doing surprisingly well. Her reserves and stamina have increased exponentially and now she's able to heal my whole team and myself without breaking a sweat."
Samuel, "Good, good, I'm happy to hear that."
Ash, "Well what do you think?"
Venasaur contemplated his options before marching off in a huff and calling someone on the phone. The Processor was curious but didn't pry instead waited patiently till Venasaur returned and nodded. Ash nodded as well and hugged him before wishing him luck and sent him off to the lab, but not before Venasaur nuzzled him. The grass started has called his fire brother to keep a close eye on their trainer, heaven knows how many times their trainer got hurt or close to death. Venasaur was honestly a little worried to leave that responsibility on Bayleef alone.
The girl might be serious about healing but she was not ready to deal with the burden of being the support mental and physical of the whole team. Venasaur was there when Ash first dealt with the darker side of becoming a trainer, he was there when Ash first broke down. It was not easy watching his bright trainer get almost swallowed by dark aura, it's only thanks to all of their efforts. Bayleef would no doubt have to deal with it now but he would still like to lessen that burden as much as he can.
Samuel greeted him, "Hello Venasaur welcome back."
Venasaur harrumphed at him, "Vena saur vena."
Delia, "Oh my, is Venasaur here then? How is Ash doing?"
Samuel, "Welcome back Delia, Venasaur arrived just now."
Venasaur eyed his trainer's mother, she was dressed in a sharp looking fancy blue cocktail dress. She had no doubt returned from her own mission. Venasaur had dark lines on his face as he realized Ash no doubt got his luck of attracting trouble from her. The grass type starter sniffed the air and yep! He could smell the blood, he used his vines and pushed Delia to the healing chamber in the lab.
Delia was surprised, "Ah Venasaur.. The healing chamber? Oh no, you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine. ACK!"
Tracey snickered, "Ash was not kidding about the Mother Combusken part."
Samuel, "Indeed."
After making sure Delia was taken care much to everyone's amusement, Venasaur stormed outside muttering about careless trainers and mothers. Once outside the Professor explained the duties Blue's Venasaur had taken up and how without him, everything was now becoming chaotic. So now Venasaur went about wrangling the Pokemon and getting them to behave and putting them through the ringer if they misbehaved. Many of the Pokemon learned not to anger him, he made Charizard look like an angel when pissed. But he was good at healing them and helping them train so they strived to stay on his good side.
Ash, "Venasaur seems to be doing well."
Gou, "That's good right? He could use a break from healing others. I can imagine the mental stress it can put on someone."
Casey nodded, "Yup, he sounds like he has everything under control too."
Breloom had stars in her eyes, "Loom bre breloom."
Max, "Looks like Breloom is a huge fan."
Brock, "He is good at what he does."
Pikachu, "Pikachu."
Lucario, -As long as he takes a break. He was pretty stressed after last mission.-
Abra, -They look like they are having fun.-
Eevee, "Vui."
Absol, "Sol."
Ash chuckled as he went through the pictures Tracey had sent him. As they were walking they ran into Sakura at a famous tea shop. As it turns out she was the one in charge of that tea shop for the year. Sakura beamed at them and invited them over for tea, her Espeon greeting them happily. Casey was happy to see her and asked her questions a mile a minute while telling her about the craziness of the Whirl Cup. Since the tournament was interrupted by Team Rocket, it would now be held in a different location after the Silver conference. Sakura and Espeon eyed them with worry plain on her face.
Sakura, "Are you guys okay? You were in the middle of it."
Brock, "Rest assured we are fine Sakura."
Gou, "Don't worry about us."
Max, "We were safe mostly."
Sakura, "Oh, that's good. I'm relieved to hear that."
They spent the rest of the day talking about the tournament and Sakura asked Ash for a battle. She wanted her Espeon to have experience against flying types, and requested a battle with Noctowl. The battle was fun with Noctowl and Espeon being pretty evenly matched. The battle got Max excited and he requested Gou for a battle which he agreed to while Casey challenged Brock. After the battles for fun was over, they waved goodbye to Sakura who promised to be there for the book signing.
Ash laughed, "Sure, I will even sign any quote you want."
Sakura grinned, "Awesome."
They went to the hotel that Ash's publishers had booked for him and met with one of the assistants who was to meet them. The man was very kind and took them to their rooms first offering them some tea and snacks. It was after they had finished eating and drinking he started to tell them how the places were prepared. If the others wanted they could join the security and make sure no one created trouble. There would be not be much to do after introduction and a small interview about the book.
Ash, "Sounds easy enough Mr Matsu."
Mr Matsu, "Perhaps but signing books can take two hours or more depending on how many people come."
Ash, "I'm sure it won't be that big of a crowd."
Ash regretted saying that, 'That's a lot of people.'
Mr Matsu addressed the crowd, "Welcome everyone to the book signing. As everyone knows by now, this is Ash Ketchum an upcoming Horror Story writer. We will have a small interview and then start the book signing."
The interview thankfully went without a hitch and Mr Matsu had to bite back a laugh at the surprised expression on his new charges face. When he had received this work from Mr Gu, he was expecting a bossy, demanding writer again but Ash was pleasant to work with. The young teen answered questions about his previous book and whether the two books were related. Ash answered it is in the same universe but different time periods and different regions and therefore they have no connection to each other.
Mr Matsu, "Deryl, make sure everyone gets lined up according to their numbers. No exceptions."
Deryl, "Got it boss!"
Deryl, "Hey, Gou and Casey right? Time to get to work."
Gou, "Time for signing?"
Deryl grinned, "Yup."
Casey, "Let's get to work."
The signing went without any sort of drama thankfully, though it did come close to taking three hours. Phew! Ash was really happy with everyone being happy. Unknown to him Morty may or may not have spread the fear of ghost types a few days ago to make sure nobody misbehaved. Morty liked the teen, he read his previous story and enjoyed the horrifying story about ghosts. He went through his new book and he loved how the ghostly entities were shown to be powerful.
Aah gave a sigh of relief as the last person left, "Are we done?"
Mr Matsu, "Yes, we are done. That's around four hundred and fifty seven books you have signed. Not bad for a first try, you could have declined the children's request though."
Ash, "They were passionate about ghost Pokemon."
Phantump popped up, "Phaaaa?"
Ash chuckled, "How could I say no? Besides, Gengar enjoyed it."
Mr Matsu looked at the Gengar who was now sleeping while floating, "Indeed, your performances with ghost Pokemon and books certainly raised interest in Ghost Pokemon more. The fact that you clearly state to never make an enemy of them has even increased the number of individuals that respect them."
Ash, "That was the whole point. Ghost Pokemon get a lot of bs for no reason. It really makes me question how we belong to the same species sometimes."
Mr Matsu chuckled, "Indeed. Well, why don't you enjoy the rest of the night in peace?"
Ash stretched, "Oh, I plan to. There's a hot water bath with my name on it upstairs. Bye Mr Matsu, thanks for everything."
[A. N.: People who enjoy Holi, Happy Holi!
Enjoy the festival of colours!]