Princess Festival
It had been a very busy week for everyone, between school for Ash and Gary, Cypress training Red and Green, with Blue joining them when he was free, to preparing the inn and the town for the Princess Festival. Delia was the most excited and looking forward to the festivities coming up. She along with Rosalind worked on the events that would be held in town, events which ranged from girls showing off their; eye for fashion, Pokemon caring skills, cooking skills, designing skills and innovative skills in order to be crowned the "Princess of the Year".
Rosalind whined, "I wish Leaf was here. I wanted to dress her up again."
Delia giggled, "Don't worry Rosie. We'll get her next time."
Rosalind sighed, "The dress you picked for Ash is very beautiful. I'm surprised though, he didn't put up a fuss about it."
Delia laughed, "Well, Ash is someone who loves beautiful things. When he and Gary returned from Cinnabar, I honestly thought they had only brought their usual collection of stones, herbs and other nicknacks, but turns out Gary had decided to get a lovely kimono dress for Ash. And Ash it seems made a female friend who brought a lot of matching ribbons for him."
Rosalind's eyes sparkled, "Oh my, I had no idea Gary brought that dress, I always knew, he got my talents, when it came to fashion."
Delia grinned, "He sure did, I'm very grateful to Gary for showing how beautiful Ash can be. Now, I'm going to spoil him rotten with dresses during festivals and special events."
Rosalind teased, "Only festivals and events?"
Delia, "Oh Rosie! You know their hobby. I don't think, I could just watch the dresses getting dirty or ruined."
Rosalind laughed before becoming sober, "Lia, I'm very thankful, you know?"
Delia looked at her friend curiously, "About?"
Rosalind smiled content, "We have amazing husbands, wonderful kids, lovely family and I got my best friend in the whole world. Also, I'm very grateful to Cypress for taking time to teach our kids."
Delia sobered as well, "Yes! It was a very nasty news. All those poor children being kidnapped and the poor Pokemon. I hope the trainers and Pokemon unite soon. The poor dears!"
Rosalind's expression became dark, "Tell me about it, my cousin's firm has been run ragged trying to find the Pokemon and getting them back to the right trainers. It was not hard to get them back of course, neither the trainers nor the Pokemon consented to being separated. But finding them was difficult, also I doubt he was telling me everything."
Delia took Rosalind's hand, "Let's stop talking about this and check on our kids. I'm sure Ash and Gary have finished their homework by now, so we can help them dress up."
Rosalind smiled, "Yes, today is a day of fun. Let's enjoy it instead. When will Cypress return with Red and Green? They have been gone for two days already. Speaking of which, where did they go?"
Delia tapped her chin as she answered, "Cy took them to Rota to meet the Aura Guardians there. They had agreed to meet Red a few days ago to confirm that he can use aura after all. According to them, outside of certain families. it was difficult to find Aura users. I believe next week they will go to Saffron city to meet the gym leader, Sabrina."
Rosalind hummed, "Isn't she said to be the strongest psychic?"
Delia nodded as she knocked on the door, "Cy is hoping she may be able to help Green in combat using psychic abilities. While the Aura users can help Red and while Ash and Gary have been using these powers of theirs for a long time, they do not know anything about battles or combats."
They heard Ash answer, "Come in!"
Rosalind, "I certainly hope they can help. I'm at quite a loss myself."
The door opened and Ash let the two women enter his room, "Hey mom, Aunt Rosie, will you help us dress up?"
Delia smiled, "We sure are dear, I got your dress right here."
Delia then took out the full sleeved triple layered dress earning a gasp from Gary, "Wao! Aunt Lia, that's beautiful. Ash, you are going to look amazing in it."
Ash flushed excited, "It is very beautiful mom, I love it. I think I have matching ribbons to go with it too. Oooh! It reaches beyond my knees and it's so fluffy."
Meanwhile the Pokemon:
Pikachu frowned, -Ash is going to attract a lot of attention in that outfit.-
Charmander growled, -You mean those trainers, big brother Red told us about, who keep looking at him, will try something?-
Litten frowned, -Should we ruin it?-
Eevee hit Litten, -Don't be stupid! Ash would be upset.-
They talked in low voices so as not to attract attention from the humans who were busy planning what they will wear. Red had made them promise to always stay near Ash and to not let anyone or trainer take advantage of him. Ash was helping his mom choose between a sakura styled, knee length kimono and a lily patterned long sleeved dress. While Gary was helping his mom choose between a rose patterned dress and a dress adorned with small beads and crystal in the shape of tulips. They finally settled on wearing the lily patterned dress and the beaded dress. Gary decided to wear the deep lavender coloured yukata as it would match Ash's dress well. They soon heard the doorbell ring and a very familiar voice.
Red, "We are home."
Delia went to greet them, "Welcome back! Wash up you two, where is Green?"
Cypress hugged Delia, "Green went to talk to Professor Oak about something, he'll be here after he cleans up. We learned a few things about his powers while we were there, instead of next week we might be visiting Sabrina this weekend."
Red nodded worried, "According to the Master Guardian of the Aura Users, our powers are growing faster than they are used to. It has not caused problems so far for us but I'm worried someone might notice."
Delia hugged Red, "Oh Red, I think Ash and Gary are working on something for you guys. Call it mother's intuition but I think you should talk to your brothers about this. They may be young but their ideas have always been practical."
Red contemplated it a bit, "Okay, I guess so, I just don't want to give them a reason to worry. That's supposed to be my job."
Delia giggled, "Now, why don't you go and get ready? We will talk about this later."
Red nodded and went to get ready while Delia turned to Cypress, "Will you be staying? Or do you have to go?"
Cypress sighed, "I have patrol during the day but evening time, I'm free. I'll join you in the evening."
Delia laughed, "Well better than nothing, if you ask me!"
Cypress kissed Delia before leaving again shouting a 'keep an eye on the kids', making Delia laugh. Delia went back inside and told Rosalind, Green had gone to meet the Professor and will meet them at the festival grounds. Ash had finished putting on the dress and he looked really adorable. Gary was helping him pick between the ribbons, the silver ribbon with the lavender hearts and the lavender ribbon with the leaves embroidered on it. Delia was helping Rosalind pick matching accessories, when Gary decided to use both ribbons.
Gary looked at Ash's mid long hair and took a comb to pull it back, "Hey Ash.. How about we tie a low ponytail here using the silver ribbon then braid your hair and tie it up with the lavender one? We can insert some of those beaded clips into the braid too. I bet it would look really good."
Ash thought a bit, "Okay! Braiding is not so hard and... Yeah, that actually sounds pretty good."
Delia leaned towards Rosalind, "He is more like you than I thought. Ah! Did you grab a camera?"
Rosalind who had just finished preparing, "Yes he is! Here, I couldn't just come without one."
As the two mothers squealed and took pictures of their two kids, Gary helped Ash braid his hair and tie one ribbon at the base and one at the end of the braid. Then he brought the braided hair and placed it on his front. The two of them picked up black clips with beads on the end and started to pin it on the hair.
Gary, "Mom save me a picture of Ash, okay? I promised Lisa I would send her a picture, if Ash ever dressed up with her ribbons."
Rosalind, "Is she one of the friends you met in Cinnabar?"
Ash nodded, "Yeah, she's really sweet and kind."
Delia, "Alright, why don't you two stand together? We can take the picture and post it to her."
After they took more photos then planned, the four of them decided to go downstairs to wait for Red. As they were waiting downstairs, Delia and Rosalind talked about their plans and asked Ash and Gary to stick together and if separated to find a food stall and wait there. The crowd this time was bigger than the previous years and they did not want anything to happen to them. When Red came down washed, refreshed and dressed in his own dark blue yukata, his eyes widened when he saw Ash.
Red breathed in, "Ash?"
Delia grinned as they got up to go to the festival grounds together, "Our baby looks beautiful, doesn't he Red?"
Red nodded before turning to the Pokemon, "Remember to stay close to Ash okay, Pikachu and Charmander?"
Pikachu pat his chest, -You can count on me, big brother!-
Charmander flamed his tail, -We will watch out for him.-
Ash blushed, "Guys! I can take care of myself, you know."
Red smiled, "We know but it doesn't stop us from worrying about you."
Gary piped up, "Don't worry Red, we will stick together and if a crowd tries to separate us well Litten learned overheat, that can help us separate the crowd instead."
Red blinked, "I can see how that would work. People would search for a nice shade that way."
Litten puffed up, -I have been training.-
Eevee, -We'll watch out for him.-
The group saw the inn first and Delia left after telling the kids to be careful and enjoy the festival, and that their Dads were watching over the security of the area. Rosalind walked with the three kids towards the main grounds where they met up with Green looking around annoyed. Green lit up when he saw them and joined them complimenting Ash on his looks getting a blush from him. Rosalind smiled before telling them if they needed her she would be at the competition grounds. Green and the others nodded as she left, as they were walking around the place Green would sometimes glare at some of the trainers. Green took a deep breath before taking the group to a corner table with four seats where they could sit and have food without being disturbed.
After a while Red noticed his growing irritation, "What's wrong? You look unhappy."
Green spoke softly, "Some of the trainers think loud and trust me you don't want to know what they are thinking."
Red frowned, "I won't ask but if it gets too much then tell us okay?"
Ash looked at Green, "You are getting stronger... It's faster than I thought, even faster than Red."
Gary, "Maybe we should find a psychic Pokemon to help you big brother. Not just any psychic type though, a strong one that can balance you out."
Green rubbed his head, "I talked to Gramps about it and he said the same thing. The problem is finding a psychic type that can fit me and keep me grounded."
Ash looked at Gary who looked back at him and nodded, "Green, Gary and I have been working on something."
Green, "Oh? What is it? New moves or another new power?"
Gary took out a bracelet made out of wooden beads and black crystals, "Not exactly no! We were actually working on suppressors. Try this on and tell us how you feel."