One's Saving Grace

Let's Do This

Lillie's POV-

I made a short detour to Ash and kneeled down beside him, before taking his bruised hand and gently holding it in mine. Ash looked up at me and gave me a weak smile as he laid there bruised and battered on the ground. I could feel a lump form in my throat as I tried speaking.

"H-hey there Ash, h-how are you feeling right now?" I asked, unsure of what else to say at the moment.

Ash let out a weak chuckle before breaking into a coughing fit. "Eh..I got shot out of the sky, crash landed and probably broke the majority of bones in my body, and had to talk to that atrocious woman known as your mother. So, could be better. but hey, I'm alive, and the adrenaline is keeping the pain at bay, so I'll take that small victory for what it's worth." He replied, a glint of humor present in his eyes as he spoke.

I let out a small chuckle and gave his hand a small squeeze as I looked down at him. "Well I'm glad to see that your humor is intact at least." I said, as I leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Just lay here and get some rest Ash, I've got the rest of the battle, so don't even worry about it." I continued.

I turned away and was about to get up when I felt Ash's grip on my hand tighten, preventing me from walking away and towards Lusamine. When I looked back towards Ash, I found him looking back up at me. "Be very careful, Lusamine isn't someone who's afraid to play dirty, regardless of who you are Lillie." He said to me. I could see the worry in his eyes as he spoke.

I heard a cough from behind me before I could reply to Ash, I turned around to see who made the coughing noise behind me, and saw Lusamine impatiently tapping her foot and glaring daggers at me as she spoke. "Are you two done with your little lovers re-union? I'd like to get on with my plans sometime this century." Lusamine said.

I let out a sigh and shook my head before I turned back to Ash and smiled at him. "I know, and I'll be very careful, don't worry Ashy." I replied as I gave his hand one last squeeze, before I let go and stood up to face Lusamine.

I stood across from the woman who I once considered my mother, and stared her down. Ash's Pokemon were standing by my side, while my own Vulpix was standing by my legs, close enough that I could feel it's soft yet cool fur against my ankle. I glanced over at Sceptile and Donphane and nodded over to Ash. "Please go and stay by his side, make sure nothing happens to him." I said to them, Donphane and Sceptile nodded and rushed over ot Ash's side, Leaving me with Infernape, Greninja, Vulpix and Pikachu. 

"I'm surprised you didn't just kill us when I went over to talk to Ash, Lusamine." I said as I started closing the distance between the two of us.

Lusamine laughed as her Pokemon took up a defensive stance infront of her. "Well I thought I'd grant this stupid yet brave boy, a final wish. letting him talk to this useless girl before I destroy her and erase her from existence." Lusamine replied to me. "It'll be even better than any battle he could ever lose. Seeing you getting erased while he can only helplessly watch." She continued as she laughed again.

I glanced back at Ash and took a deep breath as I felt the fire inside my heart grow in strength, as I chaneled the anger and frustration to fan that very fire in my heart. "You always have to get the last laugh in don't you Lusamine, well that's gonna stop today." I told her, while I glanced at the battered Pokemon around me and nodded to Infernape.

"You're up first Infernape, you've got this, Ash believes in you, and so do I." I said to him. Infernape let out a cry in response, as he took center stage, looking even more pumped than he did at the beginning of this whole battle.

Lusamine snickered and looked at her Milotic that was standing front and center. "Go ahead Milotic, show them who's boss." She said, as Milotic slithered out to face Infernape.

The air was tense between us, as we waited for the other one to make the first move, as luck would have it, she made the first move.

"Milotic use Hydro Pump!" Lusamine shouted, as Milotic snaked around and raised itself up and opened it's mouth, as a blast of high pressure water came forth from it's maw and rocketed towards Infernape.

Without missing a beat, I shouted to Infernape. "Infernape, use Flamethrower! Meet the Hydro Pump head on, and use the steam from it as cover." I shouted to him.

Infernape opened it's mouth and let loose a column of flames that made contact with the opposing blast of water. A cloud of steam and smoke erupted from the point of contact, and covered the field that we were fighting on. The smoke and steam engulfed Infernape, and reduced my visibility on the field down to zero, though I knew exactly where Infernape was going to go.

I waited a few seconds to let Infernape get close enough to Milotic. "Alright Infernape, use Thunder Punch!" I shouted to him.

From Lusamine's side, Milotic hadn't moved at all as Lusamine searched the smoke to try and find Infernape, when she heard me shouting through the smoke. Her eyes began darting around the smoke, trying to figure out where Infernape was, but to no avail.

There was a bright yellow flash to the left of Milotic, and the smoke suddenly cleared for a moment as Infernape leaped through it . He had his right arm pulled back, while his fist was glowing yellow, with electricity arcing off of it.

In the next instant, Infernape brought his right arm forward, and slammed his fist into the side of Milotic's head, hitting it with the Thunder Punch and dealing major damage, as Milotic hit the ground with a loud and resounding thud.

The smoke finally cleared enough for me to see what was happening. I cheered as I saw that Milotic was down for the moment. "Yes, good job Infernape, come on back over here!" I shouted with excitment, as Infernape made his way back over to where I was standing, before walking off the field and sitting down beside Greninja.

'Looks like the training that I did with Ash before is paying off in spades.'  I thought to myself while I stood there, waiting for Lusamine to send out her next Pokemon.

Flashback to a few days ago-

"Hey Lillie, do you wanna train with me, and learn how to fight with my Pokemon?" Ash asked me as we sat together on the couch in Professor Kukui's house.

I looked up at him in surprise and curiosity as I had my head on his chest, while we cuddled. "What brought that on Ash?" I asked him.

"Well, I figure if I get knocked out or something happens to me, you need to be able to fight with them too Lills. So, would you like to train with me, and learn how to?" He asked me with a smile on his face.

I thought about it for a moment, and nodded as I smiled back at him. "I would love to Ashy." I responded to him.

Hey everyone, I hope you're all doing well during this crappy year that we've all had so far. I know that quarentine is a pain in the ass for me, and I just hope it's going well for all my readers.

So it's been a while since I last updated the story, but I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been supporting me since I started this story. Whether you're a new reader, or one that has read this story since it first started being published, I want you all to know that I appreciate every single one of you, and hope that you'll continue reading my stories as I continue to write them.

Also, I want to see what pairing everyone wants me to write for next, I was thinking Ash x Serena, or doing another Ash x Dawn one, but doing it right this time. Leave a comment and let me know what ones you guys want.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, don't hesitate to post them, and as always, I'll see you all in the next chapter.

-Pearlshipper332