Operation: Aether script (shipping verse)

Note:

This story takes place just after the Arceus Chronicles. The concept of the shipping variant of this story is essentially to see how Aureliashipping would become canon if it ever did... because it totally should have, let's be honest

With that out of the way, let's get into it!

Story begins... now:

The episode begins with Ash training outside with his Pokémon, it's Lucario vs Dragonite

"Lucario, use Aura Sphere!", Ash commands, "and Dragonite, use Hurricane!"

The two Pokémon use their moves, and as a result, Aura Sphere is sent flying... "hopefully that didn't hurt anyone", Ash thought to himself

"Alright everyone, that's enough for right now!", Ash says, as he sits down on the ground

Ash decided to hop on his Rotom-Phone and look at some pictures. He then stumbles across the picture he and his Alola friends took during Lillie's departure

"Hey Ash", Chloe said, having come in to check on him, "are you doing well?"

"Yeah!", Ash said, "Why do you ask?"

"Well...", Chloe said, pointing at the wall the deflected Aura Sphere from earlier had busted open

"O-oh! I'm so sorry!," Ash said, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's ok", Chloe said, with a slight giggle, "dad was planning on putting a window there anyways!"

"So, what are you doing?", she asked

"I'm just taking a break from training for right now", Ash said

"That's nice", Chloe says, before noticing the picture Ash is looking at

"Hey Ash, who are those people?", Chloe asks

"Oh these guys?", Ash says, "These are my friends from the Alola region!"

"You've got Professor Kukui, and Kiawe, and Mallow, and Lana, and Sophocles", Ash starts listing, "and Gladion, and Lusamine, and...", Ash pauses for a moment

"And... Lillie", Ash says, with a slight change in his demeanor, almost something of a lighter tone

"Oh?", Chloe asks, having picked up on this change of tone in his voice, "What's all that about?"

Ash chuckles for a moment, and then explains

"This is Lillie, Lusamine's daughter and Gladion's sister", Ash explains, "Right now, they're on a journey to find her father."

"When I first met her, she was scared and shy and couldn't even touch Pokémon", Ash explained, with a slightly softer voice, "it's honestly pretty awesome how strong she is now, going out into the world to find her family! Lillie's so cool..."

Chloe seems surprised by this, but then puts on a curious look on her face

"Ash", Chloe asks, "do you like this Lillie person?"

"Of course I do!", Ash said, "I like all of my friends!"

Chloe, Eevee and Pikachu all collapse to the ground to his response. This is Ash we're talking about after all

"Ok, let me rephrase...", Chloe replied, "Do you LOVE her?"

Ash jumped a bit to this and trips on his own words for a second

"It's ok, I won't tell anyone.", Chloe promises

"Well...", Ash says, with a hint of nervousness in his voice, but still a soft smile on his face, "I always feel super comfortable when I'm thinking of her, and I always really like being around her as well."

"She's so kind and smart and thoughtful, and she never gives up no matter what. She's pretty awesome!", Ash says, "You and her would be really good friends if you two met honestly!"

Chloe nods in agreement

"So...", Chloe asks, "what are you gonna do the next time you see her? Are you going to confess?"

"Well...", Ash says, "I do have some ideas for what we can do when she comes back to Alola! I'd love to just spend a day with her..."

"Well, if you need any help or advice, I'm always available!", Chloe said

"Thanks!", Ash says with an right smile

"Hey, guys!", Goh says, having just come into the area, "The professor wants to see us."

Ash, Goh, and Chloe are called to Professor Cerise's lab

"Hey professor!", Ash says, "What are we doing today?"

"Yeah!", Goh says excitedly, "Are we going to catch some new Pokémon?"

"Perhaps...", the professor says, as he points to the screen, depicting a snowy landscape

"In the Galar region, there's a place known as the Crown Tundra!", the professor says, "And in this Tundra, there are some incredibly interesting Pokémon!"

The screen then depicts an ancient art of a Pokémon, one who seemed to ride upon two other Pokémon and has a really big head

"Wow!", Chloe says, "What is that?"

The professor takes a curious look at his daughter, picking up on her curiosity on a new Pokémon

"This Pokémon is, according to legend, known as the King of the Harvest!", the Professor says, "Not much is known about it, and the time of year for the harvest in the Crown Tundra is almost upon us!"

"I want you three to gather as much data on this Pokémon as you can!", the Professor says excitedly

"Y-yes sir!", Goh said with excitement

"You can count on us!", Ash remarked

Goh then looked at Chloe, who was preparing to walk out of the room with her Eevee

Goh then grabs her hand and asked "Hey Chloe, do you wanna come with us?"

Chloe, surprised by this, blushes a bit, but agrees to come along for the journey

"Crown Tundra, here we come!", Ash yells in excitement

We then cut to a sea of ice, where a ferry is traveling through. We then see the Aether family in a room, watching a young lady is playing the piano

She plays the piano, with her Alolan Vulpix, Snowy, right by her side, reminiscing on when she was a baby and her father, Mohn, played a song in front of her

"Father...", Lillie says to herself in her head, smiling as she goes, "perhaps someday you'll play this song for me again."

Magearna then goes over to the window, and points a laser in a direction

"The laser!", Lillie's brother, Gladion, pointed out, "It's happening again!"

Their mother, Lusamine, grabs the map and hands it to Gladion. Gladion determines that the laser was pointing to a place called the Crown Tundra

"Kids, grab your things!", Lusamine says, with determination in her eyes, "It's time we found your father once and for all!"

Lillie and Gladion nod in agreement, heading to their rooms and grabbing their things

As Lillie is filling her bag, she notices her photo of her family and friends, just before they had left Alola for their journey to find Mohn. She smiles softly, as she holds it close to her, almost as if she's hugging her friends in spirit

"I'll be back soon guys!", she says quietly, but then sets her eyes on Ash in the picture

"I'll be back soon...", she says, slightly blushing, as she begins to stroke Ash's face in the picture

"Lillie, let's go!", Gladion says

"R-right!", Lillie replies, "I'll get ready now!"

Lillie then pauses for a moment, taking another look at the picture

"Hey brother", Lillie asks, "when we get father back, what's the first thing you want to do with him?"

Gladion thinks for a moment, but then replies with "to have a battle, obviously!"

"I figured you'd say something like that.", Lillie, replies with a giggle

"I really want him to meet the others back at home.", Lillie says, "I really want him to meet Mallow and Lana and sophocles and..."

"And Ash", Lillie says with a soft voice, after a short pause

Gladion chuckles a bit, but then looks down and decides to say something

"I'm...", Gladion says, "I'm sorry for interrupting you before you could tell Ash how you felt about him."

They both pause for a moment, just before Lillie finds herself flustered

"W-what??? That's not what I was saying!", Lillie said, tripping over her own words, "I was just... I I-I wasn't..."

"It's ok sister", Gladion says, "looking back, it was pretty obvious that you liked him."

"And don't worry", Gladion assure her, "if you two ever did decide to become something more, I'd be more than ok with it!"

"You... you would?", Lillie asks

"Yeah! After everything Ash has done for us, for you", Gladion says, "it's impossible for me not to like him by now, he's more than earned my approval!"

"You deserve someone who will make you happy and keep you safe.", Gladion says, "The next time you see Ash again, I'll make sure you get the chance to tell him how you really feel."

Lillie is at awe for a moment, but ultimately gives off a bright smile and hugs her big brother

"Thank you brother...", Lillie says, "now let's go get our father back!"

They later arrive at the Crown Tundra, in a city near the edge of the great Galar region. Before pursuing Mohn, they decide to head into a store to stalk up on supplies

We cut back to Ash and the rest of his trio, having just arrived in the crown tundra

"Wow, it's really cold out here...", Chloe said

"Then it's a good thing the professor gave us these coats to help us out!", Ash said

"Yeah!", Goh said aloud, "Now let's find ourselves a king of the harvest!"

In that moment however, Goh receives a notification on his Rotom-Phone, and it's from the Project Mew crew!

"Goh", Asahi said over the phone, "Project Mew has another trial mission going on, and it seems you happen to be in the area we have in mind."

"W-what???", Goh asked in surprise, "H-how do you know I'm in the area???"

Goh then feels a tap on his right shoulder, seeing Asahi right behind him, causing him to jump and squeal a bit. She was a blue haired girl, likely of a higher age group than the gang, dressed in an snowy adventure gear to fit the setting

"I was sent here early to secure a proper camp of operations for this mission before calling in the others, but you're here before I even got started. What a coincidence!", Asahi said, followed with a slight giggle

"A-actually!", Goh said, "I'm already on a mission for the professor, I'm not sure if I can help for this one-"

Before Goh can finish, Ash shakes him by the shoulder a bit

"It's ok, Goh, Project Mew needs you!", Ash says, with an encouraging smile on his face

"Yeah! You're being given another chance to prove yourself to the Project Mew crew", Chloe said, "you've gotta take this! The future is in the palm of your hand, right?"

Goh thinks for a moment, and ultimately agrees to join Asahi on the mission

As they separate paths, Chloe suggests they head into town and start talking to people to get some information on this, King of the Harvest

Ash takes a look at the snow, grabs a snowflake, and gives a soft look. Chloe notices this

"Uh... Ash?", Chloe asks, "Whatya doing?"

Ash blushes a bit, but then says "I... think of Lillie when I see snow" with a slightly embarrassed tone and chuckle

Chloe stares at him for a moment, but then follows with "That... might be the cutest thing I've ever hear you say."

"Pikachu!", Pikachu says

They talk to a few people, and all they've gotten so far is that it's a long living legend that hasn't been around for a while, and that there's a town with a mayor who might know more

Before they begin heading to the next town, however, Pikachu picks up a sent and chases it

"Pikachu!", Ash says, "What are you doing??"

"Pika, Pikachu!", Pikachu said. Ash could tell this meant something to the effect of, "I found someone we haven't seen in a while!"

Ash and Chloe chase Pikachu for a while, until they see Pikachu jump into the arms of a blonde girl dressed in white clothing. It was none other than Lillie!

"Pikachu???", Lillie asked, before recognizing it as Ash's and hugging back

"L-Lillie???", Ash says upon the sight of Lillie, before proceeding to run up and hug her tightly, "I've missed you!"

Lillie blushes for a moment, but then hugs him back and says "I-I've missed you too!"

Pikachu then jumps onto Lillie's shoulders and rubs his face against her cheek, causing then both to giggle and laugh

"It has!", Lillie replies, in a slight shock

"Lillie, what going on-", Gladion asks, before seeing Ash

"Ash!", Gladion says, "It's been a while!"

Ash and Gladion grab each other's right hand and pull each other in for a bro hug

"What are you doing here?", Gladion asks

"Heh, what can I say? The world's a small place!", Ash says

"Sorry to intrude", Chloe says, "but Ash, who are these people?"

"This is Lillie!", Ash replied

"Wait, this is her??", Chloe says, with with a hint of excitement in her voice

"You've... heard of me?", Lillie replies

"Yeah! Ash says you're really awesome", Chloe replies, causing Ash to blush and get a bit flustered

"A-and this is Gladion, one of the strongest rivals I've ever had!", Ash replies, attempting to shift the conversation

"Speaking of which, how's another battle sound?", Ash asks Gladion

"That would be a lovely thing to see", Lusamine says, finally revealing herself from the store, "but right now we do have other plans."

"You see...", Lillie says, "we think we're really close to finding father."

"No way, really?", Ash says in excitement

"Yeah", Lusamine replied, "that's why we need to find him as soon as possible, we're so close!"

"Well, if you're as close as you say you are...", Ash says, "then maybe me and Chloe can help you!"

"Really?", the whole Aether family says, in curiosity and excitement

"Yeah... really?", Chloe says

"Yeah!", Ash replied to Chloe, "If they're close to finding their family, then I want to help in any way I can!"

"But, what about the King of the Harvest?", Chloe asks

"I'm sure we'll have time for that!", Ash replies, "Besides, we were already planning on heading out to another town, so we might as well help some friends along the way!"

Chloe thinks for moment, but ultimately agrees to this, as she is a sucker for a heartwarming family reunion... among other things

The gang head out in the direction of the laser, with Ash and Lillie catching up

"And then, Lucario jumped up to Machamp's face and hit it with a massive aura sphere!", Ash says, "And it got knocked to the ground!"

"Wow", Lillie says, "I didn't know a Pokémon could grow so large! You sure know how to have a good battle, don't you?"

"Hehe! Yeah, I guess I kinda do!", Ash replied with a chuckle and a bit of a blush. "So", Ash asked, "are you ready to see your father again?"

"Of course I am... especially now that your here too!", Lillie said, as she closed the distance between them slightly, enough to almost be touching shoulders, causing both to blush

"Y'know Ash, she's really pretty.", Chloe whispers into his ear from his other side

Ash jumped a bit while a little flustered while Lillie blushed lightly and smiled

"Y-yeah, I guess you could say that!", Ash replied

"I guess you could say what?", Lillie replied, with a slight chuckle

Ash began to trip on his own words for a moment

"I-I guess you could say that...", he says, before seeing Pikachu pointing towards Gladion, "that... you two would be awesome friends and I should give you time to meet each other! I'll chat with Gladion?", he says, just before waddling over to Gladion's direction

"Oh Ash...", Lillie thought to herself, "you haven't changed one bit!"

"He's a really good guy", Chloe said to Lillie

"Yeah, he is pretty great.", she says in an admiring voice

We cut to Ash next to Gladion

"Thank you Pikachu", Ash says, while patting Pikachu on the head

"Pikachu!", Pikachu replies

Ash then turns to Gladion, being met with a funny looking smile

"What?", Ash asks

"Nothing", Gladion shrugs, "but I heard you've been battling some pretty strong people lately."

"Y-yeah! One time I even battled the strongest trainer in the world!", Ash replied

"You mean you actually got to battle against Leon?", Gladion said, seemingly replying to something Ash had said, "Well, how'd it go?"

"Well... I got absolutely crushed by him", Ash said, following with a slight look of embarrassment, "but I'm going to try and rematch him by climbing to the Masters 8!"

Gladion nods, and says, "Well, I think we both know you that can do it. You won the Alola league, and defeated Tapu Koko, you can win this too!"

Ash nods in agreement, and promises to give Gladion a great battle after they find his father

"Hold up!", Lusamine says, stopping the gang, as she points forward

Everyone looks, and sees a mountain blocking the way

"It's... a mountain?", Chloe remarks

"Not just any mountain", Lillie says, "I've done some research, and this place is a mountain with a lot of caves and tunnels, it'll be hard to know rather or not we're going the right way."

The gang stop and think for a moment, before Gladion starts walking ahead

"Uh... Gladion?", Lusamine says

"We can make it through, we just need to be careful.", Gladion says, as he pulls out a Pokéball

He throws it and sends out a Crobat

"Wow, a Crobat!", Ash remarks

"Yeah.", Gladion says, "During our travels, we took a pit stop in the Kalos region, and one of the Pokémon I caught there was a Zubat, which I trained into the fearless battler you see here now."

"That's awesome!", Ash says, "I can't wait to battle it later!"

The rest of the Aether family have a slight smirk on their face, though Lillie's degrades slightly, something Ash notices

"If you're this excited to battle my Crobat", Gladion says, with a slight smirk on his face, "then you're in for a really good surprise for what else I've got..."

The gang travel through the cave, prepared to deal with whatever situation came their way

Before anyone knew it, they heard a loud, menacing roar from around, something of a "SQUAWK!!!"

"Everyone, get ready!", Gladion said, with a Cherish Ball, something that surprised Ash as he'd never seen that Pokéball before

Before Ash could ask about it, they saw their opponent above. It was a dark bird with what seemed to be dark red flames coming off of it

"What is that???", Ash said aloud

"I've read about this on the way here", Lillie said, "it's the Galar regional form of a Pokémon called Moltres, the Malevolent Pokémon!"

"What? But Moltres isn't like that at all back in Kanto!", Ash says

"Guess different forms of Pokémon act differently", Chloe remarks, "legendary ones included."

Before the gang could throw their Pokéballs, Moltres sends out a dark aura, having everyone at their knees

"W-what...", Lillie says, seemingly tired, "... what is... this?"

"I... I don't know...", Gladion said, also sounding tired and drained

Ash, downed and struggling to get back up, begins to look down and give in... until he sees a yellow light right next to him

The light was Pikachu, battling against the dark aura and getting back up. When Ash saw this, a fire lit in him. After a moment of struggle, they both got back up

"Pikachu", Ash commanded," "Use Thunderbolt!"

In that moment, Pikachu sent a bolt of lightning at Moltres, damaging it and shattering the dark aura

"Do your worst Moltres", Ash said, with a mark of conviction in his voice, "but we're not going down without a fight!"

"Ash is right, we're either coming out of this with our father back...", Gladion said, with his Cherish Ball in hand, "or we're not coming out of this at all!"

Once everyone was up, they sent out their Pokémon, ready for a raid battle

Ash keeps in Pikachu, Lillie