How to Train Your Pokémon

A/N: Hey, there. Sorry, guys. I know I took so long on this. But with all that has been going on for the past few months, please don't blame me. I had college, and now, there's the COVID-19 virus that has everyone in the world on high alert. Well, most of us, I think. Some just don't care until they see people dropping dead on the streets.

But that was in New York for here in the USA, and I don't live in New York, but still, it was really scary. I hope all of you are taking good care of yourselves so that this pandemic will come to an end soon.

On a brighter note, at least this chapter is finally finished after so long. I know it is a much shorter one than the last few chapters were, but what else can I write for what happened after the battle?

Let's now see what happened next, with Chapter 26. Roll it!

Chapter 26

Aftermath

Dawn coughed a few times to try and dispel the smoke from her lungs. She still hung onto her unconscious Piplup, blocking any lingering volcanic ash that was in the air. Shakily, she got onto her knees. Then, she began calling out for her sons that were blown out with her.

"Luke! Evan!" She shouted.

In the eerie silence, she heard two voices coughing. Getting on her wobbly legs, Dawn carefully headed in the direction they were coming from. Soon, she found her sons lying down on the ash-covered sand, both of them having ash and tiny pieces of pumice all over them and their wings. Evan still had his Piplup in his arms, holding him close to his body. Luke and his Lucario however, they were separated a couple of feet away from each other.

"Boys!" Dawn called out to them, running to them. Her stance was still a little wobbly, but she managed to get to them without tripping.

The twins slightly grunted in pain, slowly getting back on their feet, Luke helping his female Lucario onto her paws once he himself was standing. They coughed a couple more times, fanning away the thick dust, before they turned to face their mother.

"Mom!" They exclaimed at the same time, quickly rushing over to her. Dawn took him in her arms, mindful of the sleeping Piplup in her arms and the exhausted one in Evan's.

Once they broke the embrace, they looked over to the now still volcano. All of that pent up pressure literally blew the top of the mountain, leaving behind a much bigger crater than it was before, lava rapidly cooling as it lightly spilled out hundreds of drops against the sides of the large pit. Their hearts nearly stopped at the sight of it.

"Ash!" Dawn cried out. "Mari!"

The three took off into the air, hoping to see any sign of their two missing family members. But it was very hard to see inside the crater because of the poisonous vog that was still billowing out into the air. Due to the fumes, they had to land back on the ground.

Ritchie and his family came over to them, their Pokémon following them. Aiden was leaning against his father for support, due to him getting shot by the laser on his side earlier. His Espeon walked closely next to him. Just like the Ketchum family, the Newton family was covered with ash and dust.

Aiden felt his heart stop when he saw only three people in front of them, and not five. "Mari?" He quietly asked.

Luke and Evan turned away from him, not bearing to cry in front of their friends. Dawn however, held no qualms as she softly started to sob, collapsing onto her knees.

Aiden felt a lump build up in his throat, feeling like someone had punched him in the stomach; like he couldn't breathe. "No." He said, slightly shaking his head. "No, no."

Keira and Jenna went over to the twins and just placed gentle hands on their shoulders, not saying anything, both of them knowing that they won't be able to really comfort them. Evan threw his arms around Jenna, and she gave him a tight hug. Luke just placed his own hand over Keira's, appreciating the gesture.

Lucario and Evan's Piplup tried to give their human companions the best comfort they could give, along with Umbreon and Larvitar. Aiden was just so stunned as he just fell onto his knees, not feeling the pain shooting up his back. His Espeon just nuzzled the side of him, trying to give him comfort.

Dawn lightly sniffed, wiping away tears, but due to the ash on her face, it left behind sticky tear trails on her cheeks. She looked back up at the sleeping volcano as smoke floated up in thin ribbons into the dusty gray sky.

All she wanted was to protect her only daughter from suffering a similar dark fate like her father did, along with the twins. But now, she lost her, along with her father, who she had only been reunited with ten minutes.

"Mari." She whispered. "Ash. I'm so sorry."

Everyone was quiet as they continued to mourn. Just then, Luke's Lucario perked up, her appendages rising up as she began to sense the Aura around her. She could sense everyone else's, but there was something else coming. From inside the volcano, and it was rising up from out of the crater.

She nudged Luke and pointed up to the crater. Luke followed where her paw was pointing, honing in his own Aura senses. Just like his partner, he sensed the Aura signatures coming from out of the caldera and towards them. Two of the signatures he easily recognized, because he had felt them multiple times before.

"Look!" He exclaimed, pointing up. Everyone looked up and saw what the elder Ketchum twin was pointing at.

It was Ash, covered with soot and ash, having a few minor burns on his skin, carrying an unconscious Mari in his arms, her condition slightly worse, and the two Pikachu; his own and Elysia, on his shoulders.

"They're okay!" Evan exclaimed joyfully. Everyone started to cheer at the sight of them, Dawn shakily getting back on her knees, pure relief and joy filling her entire being. Her husband and daughter are alright. And the twins didn't lose their father or their sister.

Aiden almost choked on his own tears, elation coursing through him. She's okay. He thought to himself. She's okay.

The three other members of the Ketchum family came running towards Ash as he carefully landed onto the sandy ground, coughing slightly. His wife and sons came over to him, and then stopped as they looked with wide eyes at the sight of Mari.

She wasn't that scraped up, luckily, but there were a couple of major burns on her arms. There was soot and ash smeared all over her skin, her clothes had a few singes, and her ponytail was in disarray, ash sprinkled over it.

"Is she...." Dawn began to ask.

"She'll be alright." Ash assured her. "But she needs to get medical attention right away."

The twins nodded and Luke turned to his Lucario. "Can you carry her?" He asked her.

She grunted in agreement, her true answer heard in his ears. Ash carefully placed Mari in her arms, and Elysia jumped off his shoulder and onto Luke's.

"I'm coming with you." She said. "I'm not leaving her side."

Luke smiled at the female Pikachu his sister bonded with and nodded. "Okay." He said. "I'll tell Cynthia about the situation. Knowing her, she must know about the truth as well."

"She does." His mother said. "And you can trust her."

"I'll come, too." Evan piped up.

"I think you're needed more here, bro." Luke said, looking around at all of the Trainers that had started to gather around. Their voices were quiet as they talked among themselves, wondering what happened, how Ash was alive, and if Mari was.

"You make a good point." Ash said. "We need every Trainee we can get to help bring everyone back to Pallet Town, since all of the boats are destroyed."

Aiden then came up to them, wobbling slightly. "And there's no way my Espeon's Psychic can be powerful enough to carry everyone back."

Luke placed a hand on Evan's shoulder. "We'll be fine." He assured him.

Evan nodded in agreement. "Okay." He said.

Dawn then got her son's attention. "Be careful." She said.

Luke nodded. "I will, Mom." He promised her. Then, he took off into the air, his dirty wings glowing indigo as he levitated his Lucario in the air, the female Aura Pokémon holding his sister in her arms. "I'll be back soon!"

********************************

True to his word, Luke and his Lucario came right back after they dropped off Mari with Cynthia at Pallet Town. Then, all of the Trainees, along with Aiden's Espeon, began carrying groups of Trainers back to Pallet Town over the ocean.

Eventually, everyone was back home, but now, it was not a time to celebrate due to the Chief's daughter being incapacitated. Even though Pallet Town's leader has finally returned home, alive no less, after almost fifteen years, he wanted to hold off the celebration until he and the rest of his family had heard news about Mari's condition.

The adults and more older folk of the town brought their younger family members together and began to explain the truth about their past. They told them that Pokémon were never their enemies, and they will never be. They told them of happier times back in their youth before the younger generation, when everything seemed better and the future seemed bright.

But then when the war that Lysandre raged against those who opposed him started, the governments decided to launch the faction programs to keep everyone safe. All the Trainers, no matter where they came from, were all relocated to Kanto, with Pallet Town as their headquarters and Ash Ketchum as their faction Chief. The Trainers were all those who seemed more capable to fight and defend their lives and homes. Other factions were more off the radar for Lysandre and his followers, and led more peaceful lives than the Trainer faction.

Then, Lysandre began to control Pokémon against their will, wanting as much information as he can to try and bring down the Trainer faction, Ash specifically. After his and Pikachu's capture, in blind rage and sorrow, they blamed their own Pokémon for being incompetent, when they should've known that there was nothing they could've done. Dawn, Gary, Ritchie and Cynthia tried to reason with them, but they wouldn't listen because of their prideful hearts. So they had no choice but to banish all trained Pokémon from Pallet Town and covered up the truth about the past to protect them.

Their old, trained Pokémon slowly came over to their original Trainers, and they all tearfully begged them for their forgiveness. Most of them were willing to accept it, but there were some who were hesitant. Aiden and his sisters went over to those unwilling and tried to help them, Aiden having a thin brace on his back to help with his injury.

The twins wanted to go and help too, but they were more anxious to hear about Mari's condition. So they stayed with their parents to await the news.

**************************

Finally, Cynthia stepped out of the infirmary, and towards where Mari's family was waiting in the waiting room. They all stood up when she approached them.

"How is she?" Dawn asked her. Hopefully, it's not very bad.

"She'll live." Cynthia assured the worried family, and they all breathed out a sigh of relief. "But there are two concerns."

"What kind of concerns?" Ash asked.

"Well, here's the first concern." Cynthia said. "Mari did get a couple of second-degree burns on her arms. Luckily, they weren't infected, and the worst they'll leave are a few scars."

"That's not that bad." Luke said. "What's the other concern?"

"She did take in a lot of ash and smoke, so she does have on a breathing mask to dispel any poisonous particles from her lungs." Cynthia explained. "Hopefully, her lungs will recover soon if they aren't that weak."

The Ketchum family looked over at each other with worried eyes. So it seemed that Mari was in danger of dying from smoke inhalation. The very thought of it was terrifying.

"Can we see her, Cynthia?" Evan asked her.

The tall woman smiled. "Of course." She said. "But please keep quiet. Her Pikachu friend is already beside her."

"Thank you, Cynthia." Ash said.

Cynthia smiled at him, handing him a wet cloth. "It's heartwarming to have you back home again, Ash." She said.

Ash returned the smile and nodded at her respectfully as he and his family entered the infirmary, wiping away the soot from his face. Soon, they found Mari's room. When they entered, the sight before them was heart-wrenching and twisting.

Mari was lying in a bed, her normal clothes off and dressed in a hospital gown. Her arms were bandaged with gauze and there was a breathing mask on her face, now clean from soot. Her hair was loose from its ponytail, wet and stringy because of the nurses washing it to get rid of the ash.

Elysia was lying next to her head, curled up in a little ball. She perked up when she heard the gentle unlocking of the door. Mari's family all took seats in the few chairs in the room.

"Hey, Ely." Luke greeted her softly, calling her by her nickname.

"Hey, guys." Elysia greeted back. Then she turned back to Mari's sleeping face.

Evan came over and petted her gently. "She'll be okay." He assured her. "She's part of the Ketchum family. We always come through."

He looked over at his family, and there were little proud smiles on the faces of both his parents and his twin brother.

Elysia lightly smiled at them, and then turned over to her Trainer. Pikachu carefully jumped off Ash's shoulder and lightly landed on the bed. He came over to his surrogate daughter and softly patted her back.

"She's strong." He assured her. "She'll be alright."

Elysia gave her surrogate father another tiny smile, but it quickly faded when she looked back at Mari and laid back down beside her.

Ash lowered his arm to his partner, and he climbed back up onto his rightful perch on his Trainer's shoulder. "Come on, guys." He whispered to his family. "Let's let her rest. We have quite a bit of a clean-up to do around the town."

The others nodded, and silently, they walked out of the room, sneaking one more quick glance at Mari and her loyal Pikachu friend. All they could do now was hope and pray that she would wake up soon. She is a fighter, through and through, just like both of her parents. But they still hoped that she would win this battle; the battle for her life.

A/N: One more chapter to go! I can't wait! How far this story has come. It's quite amazing.

Until then, I'll see y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think. They are highly appreciated. And keep healthy!

Got to fly! ;)