Cinders and Ashes

A/N: Well, you guys have been wanting me to update this story for a while now. And I've been kind of eager to work on this story again as well. I really didn't like writing a certain part here, but what came after made it worth it. So here it is, a pretty long chapter as your reward for your patience. Here we go, with Chapter 4! Roll it!

Chapter 4

A Little Help From Familiar Faces

The first day of the festival had arrived, and from sunrise to sunset, Ash was being ordered left from right to do so many odd jobs all around the manor, on top of his regular chores. Polishing all of their fancy shoes and all of the girls' jewelry for the twelfth time, and then washing and mending any and all of the fancy clothes, no matter if Giovanni and his stepsisters were going to wear them to the festival or not. Ash hardly had a chance to even make it to his room in the attic all day.

It felt like such a short time with all of the running around, with only a short lunch break given to him by his friends in the forest, but the next time that Ash even looked out the window clearly, it was already sunset, leaking into early evening. Luckily, by then, the whirlwind of chores died down and everyone was busy getting ready for the first night of the festival.

Ash then saw a nice-looking carriage arrive at the front of the manor, and solemnly went over to Giovanni's room. He knocked on the door, and his master opened it.

"Yes?" He asked him.

"Your carriage is here and ready, Your Grace." Ash replied to him, before beginning to take his leave.

"Ash, my boy." Giovanni called out to him, stopping him. "You're not ready, lad."

The raven-haired boy bit his lip, not wanting to face the Grand Duke, for he feared that he would lose his composure if he looked back at him.

"I'm not going tonight." He answered.

"Not going?" Giovanni asked him. Ash could almost feel the smirk forming on his face as the Grand Duke did his best to hide it.

"Well, that's unfortunate. But of course, you'll have another chance to go tomorrow night."

"Yes, I suppose." Ash said quickly. "Have a nice evening out with your daughters, Your Grace." With that, Ash left the hallway to head to the attic.

From their door, Serena and Miette watched Ash briskly walk to the stairs. While the latter was smirking cruelly behind his back, the former could feel the tenseness in his form, as if he was trying to hurry without making it look like he was rushing to escape. Somehow, she started to feel a tightness in their chest. But why? Yes, he was very easy on the eyes, but he was a servant; nothing more. Why should she feel sorry for him?

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Within a couple of long minutes, Ash was walking up the many stairs that led up to his sanctuary of a room in the cold, dark attic. But he felt pretty disappointed that he wouldn't be able to go to the festival on the first night. He sighed as he finally made it to the door.

"I guess I'll work on that suit tonight and then go tomorrow night to see Dawn." He said to himself, before he sighed again, this time in defeat.

"Who am I kidding?" He asked aloud. "Me, go to a festival at the castle? Yeah, right. Plus, I'm pretty sure it won't even be that great. All the singing, the dancing, the lights, and the music."

Ash grabbed the handle of the door before sighing a third time in hopelessness. "That would really be fun." He muttered sadly. Then, he twisted the handle and entered the attic.

But then, he realized that it was very dark inside when he had closed the door behind him. Usually, there would be a couple of oil lanterns that lit up when dusk started. But for some reason, they weren't working.

"Okay, who turned off the lights?" He asked aloud.

Just then, faint lights appeared, and Ash saw that it came from Pikachu and the Pichu twins' cheeks, giving off some light. Then, the lanterns were lit up again as Caterpie, Sewaddle and Scatterbug removed a nearby curtain to reveal the repaired formal wear, being held up in the air by Starly and Pidove.

The black tuxedo overcoat was fully fixed up, with no more holes in it and the old porcelain buttons were replaced by the blue pearls that were from Miette's necklace. The now clean white undershirt was as white as snow, and the black dress pants were washed, dried and ironed as neatly as could be. The matching black dress shoes had been polished up to a shine, and there was a red bow tie made from Serena's sash as an addition to replace the misused black silk one.

They all exclaimed in chitters and squeaks that most likely meant, "Surprise!" Ash gaped for a few seconds before he went over to his fixed up formal wear.

"Oh, you guys!" He exclaimed, fingering the coat. "You did this for me?"

Pikachu jumped onto his usual spot on his master's shoulder and then nuzzled him affectionately, as if to say, "Of course we did, you silly!".

Ash just laughed joyously at his partner's loving nuzzles to his face. "Thank you guys so much!" He exclaimed before Pikachu jumped off his shoulder. "Now, we gotta hurry!"

Ash then quickly grabbed the suit and went behind the dressing curtain to get dressed. The Pichu twins got a simple matching red bow tie for Pikachu from the remainder of Serena's sash, and helped him put it on nice and straight. At least Pikachu will be there for his master, since it was optional for Pokémon companions to come along as well.

Within seconds, Ash was dressed into his father's repaired suit, happy that it fit him perfectly. Sewaddle and Pidove helped him adjust his own tie before deeming him ready. Ash quickly ran his fingers through his wild raven black locks to somewhat brush them before Pikachu hopped back onto his shoulder, ready to go.

Starly handed Ash a wet rag to wipe the soot from his face before he was finally ready. Then, Caterpie handed him his father's wooden amulet. Ash took it and then held it close to his heart.

"I hope that you will always be with me, Mom and Dad." He whispered. "Especially for tonight."

Then, he put it around his neck and hid it under his coat. He was going to need all the luck he could get.

The raven-haired young man then hurried out of his room, practically jumping and bounding down the stairs. Once he reached the bottom step, he took a deep breath to calm himself, remembering his lessons with his mother about proper decorum when it comes to an entrance. Calm, poised, and elegant. Usually, these things wouldn't be worth the trouble, but Ash supposed that if he were to act like a gentleman, the more likely the chances of him being allowed to go would increase.

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

Giovanni came into the drawing room, looking sharply dressed as usual, admiring his daughters with a proud smile. "My darling girls." He said, looking at them.

Miette wore a sleeveless, knee-length dark teal dress with light blue highlights and trim, white shoes with orange anklets and matching bracelets, a black ribbon choker around her neck, and a small white bonnet-like hairband in her hair.

Serena wore a pink and red knee-length dress with black highlights and white shoulder straps, black leggings, and red shoes. On her hands were white gloves, around her neck was a black choker with a gold medallion on it, and she had small blue pearl earrings in her ears. On her head was a matching blue pearl headband with a pink ribbon.

Miette giggled as she twirled around in her dress. "What do you think, Father?" She asked him with a smile.

Giovanni just smiled as he each placed a hand on one of his daughters' cheeks. "I think you two will be the prettiest girls there." He said, making the girls giggle again. "No potential suitor will pay any attention to the princess when you two are there."

Just then, the sound of someone politely clearing their throat caught their attention. The three of them turned around and saw Ash slowly walking down the staircase as if he were a nobleman. The girls were somewhat awestruck by him, while Giovanni started to grow slightly apprehensive. Minus the chocolate brown eyes of his mother, he was the spitting image of his father.

"Ash." He said, acknowledging the younger man stiffly, doing a fairly good job of controlling both his fury and jealousy.

"It cost you nothing." Ash assured the grand duke as he made it down to the last step of the stairs. "This was one of my father's old suits, and I fixed it up myself."

Although that was a small white lie, there was no way he was going to tell his master about his little Pokémon friends helping him while he had worked down to the bone for the past couple of weeks. He didn't want them to be punished for his sake.

"Ooh-la-la. Cinders and Ashes at the ball." Miette teased with a blush and a giggle, while her sister remained silent as she blushed bright red, hiding her face with a gloved hand. "No one wants a servant for a husband."

Giovanni gritted his teeth. "After everything that I've done...." He trailed off.

"I don't want to ruin anything." Ash quickly said. "I don't even want to meet the princess."

"Oh, you won't." Giovanni cut him off. "Because you are not going."

"But all of the eligible bachelors in the land are invited." Ash replied. "By order of the queen. And plus, I just want to see my friend."

"It is the queen that I'm thinking of." Giovanni answered quickly. "It would be an insult to the royal family to take you to the palace dressed in these old rags."

Ash blinked in shock. "Rags?" He asked before looking down at his suit. "This was my father's."

Giovanni slowly came up to the younger man with a fake look of condolence. His impending presence was triggering Ash's instincts to run away, but he didn't dare move.

"I'm sorry, my boy, but I have always questioned your father's taste in fashion." The Grand Duke said, lightly fingering one of the sleeves. "This is so old-fashioned, it's practically falling to pieces."

Suddenly, he tugged hard on the sleeve, and it ripped open at the seam, making everyone gasp in horror.

"Hey!" Ash exclaimed. But then Giovanni ripped off part of the front of the coat. "Aah!"

"You see?" The grand duke asked. "It's falling to bits."

"Just like this!" Miette exclaimed, recognizing some of the detail work on it from some of her and her sister's own jewelry and clothes. She then ripped away the bow tie from him and then pulled off some of the pearl buttons.

"You're not just old-fashioned, you're also a thief!"

Pikachu snarled hatefully at their cruelty and tried to tackle Miette to try and get her away from his master, but Giovanni's Persian tackled him to the ground, one curved claw snagging on his own little bow tie, ripping it cleanly in two. The big cat had a predatory gleam in his red eyes as he peered down at the little Electric mouse.

"Persian, don't!" Ash exclaimed, getting away from Giovanni and immediately blocking the Normal type from his best friend, but the Classy Cat managed to swipe his claws at him instead, leaving three large claw marks across the back of the suit. The fourth claw left behind a little cut on Ash's cheek near his ear, and the raven-haired young man gently touched it. When he removed it, he saw little drops of blood on his fingertips.

Ash stared up at his stepfamily, tears of shame and humiliation beginning to build up in his eyes. Serena was silently staring down at him with wide eyes, her mouth dropped in horror and a gloved hand covering it to mask her terror. Giovanni and Miette, however, were just looking at him with smirks on their faces.

"How could you?" He asked them.

"What did you expect?" Giovanni asked back. "I will not have anyone associate me and my family with you. It will ruin their prospects and our image to be seen arriving with a ragged servant boy."

He then leaned in a little closer to the tearing up Ash. "Because that is what you are, and that is what you will always be."

He then grabbed his arm, roughly pulling him closer to him, forcing him to let go of Pikachu. "Now mark my words, boy! You are not going to the festival! Ever!"

With that threat, he pushed him away, releasing him, and Ash landed hard onto the floor. Then, the Grand Duke and his daughters left the drawing room out to their waiting carriage. Serena lingered behind a few seconds in the doorway to shoot Ash a sympathetic look before leaving.

Pikachu came over to Ash and lightly began licking the cut on his cheek in an attempt to put him at ease. His master gratefully patted him before shakingly getting up onto his feet. He managed to stagger over to the entrance just in time to see the carriage leave. His breathing starting to get raspy, Ash fell down onto his knees with a choking sob.

"I'm sorry, Dad." He whimpered as tears began streaming down his face. "I'm sorry, Mom. I can't do this anymore!"

With that, he ran out of the manor and towards the nearby field where the birch and cherry trees that represented his parents were. Both trees were now about fifteen feet tall by some strange miracle, despite being planted at different times; and both were still strong and healthy.

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Ash fell back onto his knees in front of both trees. He was wallowing in his sorrow so deeply that he didn't notice that Pikachu, Arcanine, Mr. Mime and his Pokémon friends had followed him and were just watching him. Pikachu was the only one who dared get close enough.

"Why did I think I could handle this?" Ash asked. "No one deserves to endure this kind of life. I've tried to be brave and kind, but I can't do this anymore. I just can't. I have no more hope left in me."

"Are you sure about that, Ash?" A familiar voice asked him.

"If you had really lost all hope, then we wouldn't be here now." Another familiar voice added.

Ash felt his heart leap into his throat, recognizing both of those voices. He lifted his head and saw two faces he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Plus, if we raised you right, then you are anything but a quitter."

There was a familiar man and woman standing in front of him, the man in front of the birch tree, and the woman in front of the cherry tree. The man made Ash feel like he was looking into a mirror because of their many physical similarities, while the woman had a pearly white smile, wavy brown hair and warm amber eyes that made him feel more loved than he had in years. The man was wearing a warm red tunic with dark brown leggings and leather boots, and the woman wore a nice pink work dress.

Ash felt tears spring into his eyes again, this time with bewildered joy and disbelief. "M-Mom? D-Dad?" He asked, not sure if it was to be believed.

Jayce and Delia Ketchum smiled down gently at their precious, only child. "It's us, my little prince." Delia said to him with a soft grin, calling him by the nickname that she used from when Ash was much younger. She stopped using it when Ash was older and had insisted to her that he wasn't a prince, but she would tease him with the nickname, saying that he was a prince to her.

"It's been far too long, huh son?" Jayce asked, attempting to grin cheekily, but the tears were showing in his electric blue eyes.

Ash couldn't contain himself anymore, and then sprang up to his feet. "Mom! Dad!" He exclaimed tearfully, throwing his arms around both of his parents at the same time. Pikachu happily came into the hug as well, and so did Arcanine and Mr. Mime. Both parents hugged their son for all that he's worth.

"Look at how you've grown." Jayce said, removing himself slightly from the family hug to get a better look at his son. "You've turned into quite the looker now, huh?" His teasing but loving comment made Ash blush slightly.

"Well, he was always your little shadow." Delia said teasingly to her husband. "But I agree. Such a handsome young man right here."

"Mo-om." Ash slightly whined, his cheeks turning more red with embarrassment. But the smile on his face showed that he was too happy to really be bashful.

Jayce then took notice of the Pikachu that was perched on Ash's shoulder, hugging him. "And Pichu, you've evolved." He said, petting the Electric mouse. "You're looking pretty strong and healthy." Pikachu just hugged his forearm, not wanting to let go of his master's father.

But then, Ash remembered something. "But, I-I thought that you guys were-"

"We are, Ash." Jayce answered. "We are still no longer of this world."

Ash then noticed that both of his parents had an ethereal golden glow to their bodies, a glow that isn't natural for any living human. He swallowed thickly, but still smiled at them, wiping away some tears.

"It's still amazing to see you guys again." He said. "But how are you here? And why?"

"The Legends saw how you have been treated, and how much we wanted to help you." Delia began to explain. "Finally, after six long years of asking and pleading, one of the Tapus, Tapu Fini, allowed us to come back to you by letting us take on a physical, tangible form by breathing in her mist. And now, here we are, ready to help you."

"Help me?" Ash asked as Pikachu finally released Jayce's arm and jumped onto the younger man's shoulder.

"Absolutely." Jayce answered. "After all that you've been through for these past few years, the very least you deserve is to go to that festival being held over at the palace. Trust us: if you go to that festival, things will turn around for you."

"Really?" Ash questioned.

"Promise." Jayce replied.

"But now, the first order of business is getting you there." Delia said, finally pulling away from the family embrace. "First off, we will need these."

She reached into her dress pocket and pulled out two golden wands with silver and white crystals dotting them. She then handed one of them to Jayce.

"What are those?" Ash asked.

"Jirachi called them magic wands." Jayce explained. "They are blessed with his power to grant wishes, so I guess that makes sense."

"Well, darling?" Delia asked him with a knowing smile. "Shall we?"

Jayce just returned the grin back to his wife and then both of them threw their so-called wands up into the air. Both ends of the wands began shooting off golden fireworks, aweing the spectators. The sparks soon showered over Delia and Jayce, enveloping them in a golden light. Then, when the wands came back down to them, they grabbed them, and the lights vanished, revealing their new clothes.

Delia now wore a snow white flowy dress that went down to her ankles, and around her bare shoulders was a thin gold satin shawl. Her hair was loose down her back with a gold laurel tiara on her head, and gold flakes dotted her hair and eyelashes. On her feet were golden slippers.

Jayce was now dressed in a sharp white suit with matching shoes, a gold formal tie and a white fur cape around his shoulders. The fur was dotted with little gold flakes, and around his wrists were gold gauntlets with small diamond cufflinks. Both of them looked more ethereal and beautiful than normal people, almost like they were fairies without wings.

"Whoa." Ash breathed out, and the Pokémon also voiced out their own amazement.

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"Now that we have the look, let's begin with transport." Delia said.

She then started looking around in the overgrown garden. "Oh, my. This could really use some sprucing up."

"Uh, sorry about that, Mom." Ash said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "The grand duke and the girls keep me so busy in the house that I often don't have much energy to work outside other than feed the farm Pokémon."

"Oh, that's alright, Ash." Delia assured her son with a little wave. "I might fix it up later."

"Now back onto the topic of transport." Jayce came in, getting back on topic. "Now what here says 'coach'?"

Delia looked around the garden and spotted a large orange pumpkin. "How about this beauty?" She asked her husband.

With a nod of approval, Jayce flicked his wand towards the pumpkin with a gold sparkly strand of light. Once it hit, the pumpkin started to hop around like an overeager Froakie until it began to expand from the inside out. Vines started growing faster from the stem and turning into black metal wheels. Then the orange squash turned gold and became a large carriage.

"Okay, now that's awesome." Ash admitted.

"That's only the beginning, Ash." Jayce said. "Now, we'll need some Ponyta to pull it."

"I'll get Skychaser." Ash offered.

"Oh no, Ash." Delia stopped him. "No offense to Skychaser, but we can't take any chances of someone recognizing you, and you have the only Ponyta in the land that has blue flames instead of orange."

"Well, can you guys disguise her flames?" Ash asked his parents. "That shouldn't be too hard for you, right?"

Jayce tapped a finger against his chin. "He has a point there, sweetheart." He said to his wife before turning back to their son. "But she would need some pulling that carriage."

As Ash smiled brightly at his parents and then went to get his special Ponyta from the stables, Delia looked around and saw Ash's Bug type friends.

"Maybe you three can give her a hand." She suggested. Caterpie, Sewaddle and Scatterbug just looked up at her with confusion.

When Ash brought Skychaser over to the group, Delia then flicked her wand towards the three Bug types. In a flash of gold light and sparkles, they had turned into three regal-looking Ponyta with orange flames. Then, Jayce flicked his own wand towards Skychaser. With a wave of golden dust over her body, her blue flames turned into a warm and bright orange.

"There we go." Jayce said to an awestruck Ash. "Four beautiful Ponyta."

Ash went over to the disguised Skychaser and gently petted her muzzle. "It's okay, girl." He said. "You still look amazing, even without your blue flames."

He then turned over to the three other Ponyta. "You guys all look incredible."

"All right now." Delia said. "Let's see. Coach, Ponyta, uh.... footmen."

Ash looked over at his mother. "Footmen?" He asked. "Isn't that a little too much, Mom?"

"Oh, nonsense!" Delia said with an airy wave of her free hand. "You are going to that ball like a prince, or so help me."

Ash looked over at his father. "Um, Dad?" He asked nervously, hoping that he might get his mom to change her mind. But Jayce just shrugged.

"I have to agree with your mother on this one, son." He said, slightly snorting when he saw the annoyed pout on his son's face. "This is your wish, and we are going to make sure that you make an entrance."

Ash sighed with defeat when he realized that his parents were firm on that decision. Plus, they were just looking out for him, so he didn't really mind. He missed them too much and for so long.

Delia looked around and saw the Pichu twins hanging near. "You two will do the job nicely." She said, and then flicked her wand towards them.

The two little Electric types had gold light and sparkles enveloping them, and then when it faded, they had changed into young twin boys with blond hair and dark eyes. Each of them was wearing a pale yellow uniform with black trim, matching pants and leather boots with gold buckles. On each of their heads was a pale yellow three-pointed hat.

The two of them looked over at themselves, and then at each other with amazement. "Well, I always wondered what it was like to be human." One of the twins said.

"Me too!" The other exclaimed.

Ash laughed at their enthusiasm, as well as his parents. Pikachu just shook his head at them fondly. Those two look up to him like an older brother, and in turn, he sees them as little brothers.

"Now, we just need that coachman." Delia said. "Mr. Mime, will you do the honors?" She asked her old Pokémon friend.

Mr. Mime gave her a salute and got ready to head over to the carriage. But Delia stopped him with a chuckle.

"Not like that." She giggled.

"Sorry, but I don't think you can mime the reins." Jayce said to the Psychic and Fairy type. "You'll need to use the real things, and to do that, you'll need to blend in more."

Mr. Mime had a look of horror on his face before Jayce flicked his wand at him. He was enveloped in gold light and sparkles, and then he took on a more human appearance. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"Apologies, but as you are the Mime Pokémon, you can't speak when you are in this form." Delia said to her old Pokémon partner. The transformed mute man just glared at her with annoyance, making everyone laugh.

"Now, everyone!" Jayce said. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Arcanine then began pushing the carriage over towards the manor, along with the transformed Mr. Mime and the Pichu twins. The four transformed Ponyta ran on ahead. But as Ash was about to follow his parents towards the road, Pikachu stopped him, getting his attention by patting his cheek, being mindful of the little cut near his ear.

"What's up?" He asked his Electric type partner. Pikachu just pointed down to Ash's ruined suit, and he almost blanched. He then hurried to get his parents' attention.

"Mom! Dad!" Ash called out to Jayce and Delia, stopping them and getting them to face him. "I can't go like this." He gestured down to his ruined outfit.

Delia's eyes widened in shock at the state of the outfit, while Jayce took a closer look at it. "Hey, this looks like one of my old suits." He said.

Ash nodded in confirmation. "I wanted to wear something of yours when I go to the ball." He said. "It will be like I was taking you and Mom with me there." His words made his father smile while his wife inspected the rest of the ruined suit.

Delia then saw the back of the suit and gasped in horror. "Ash Ketchum, how on earth did you get this torn in the back?" She asked.

"Giovanni's Persian." Ash explained. "He was trying to attack Pikachu, and I jumped in between them without thinking. I just wanted to protect him." He petted his partner gently on the head, who nuzzled into his touch.

Jayce then saw the ruined parts on the front of the suit. "And let me guess." He said, crossing his arms in annoyance. "Giovanni was responsible for doing this as well?"

Ash nodded. "And Miette, too. But not Serena." He said. "I always got the feeling that Serena isn't that bad deep down. She is just pressured by her dad and sister."

"Half-sister, actually." Delia said, examining the little cut on Ash's cheek. "Serena's mother died after giving birth to her, and Giovanni immediately remarried after that. When Miette was born, it was obvious that she was the favored one because Giovanni's first marriage was arranged. I doubt he really liked her. The second time, he married a woman that he actually did like and for Serena's sake."

Ash looked deep in thought at the brief story. Maybe that was why Serena acted cruel as well, even though she probably didn't want to. She really wanted her father's and her half-sister's approval. But she shouldn't, because what they are doing is wrong. But she had no power on her own. He knew Giovanni well enough that he could easily disown his own daughter just by speaking out against him. And her inheritance was honestly all she had.

Then, he turned back to the problem of his outfit. "Can you guys fix it?" He asked.

"Are you sure, Ash?" Delia asked her son. "I can see if I can make something new."

"But I really wanted to wear something of Dad's." Ash replied.

Jayce looked over at the suit and got an idea. "Well, it may not be exactly the same, but maybe I can spruce it up a bit."

Ash smiled as Jayce flicked his wand over at his son. Gold sparkles and light circled around Ash, making Pikachu jump off for a moment to watch the magic happen. Ash spun once, letting the light envelope him, and then when it faded away, he saw that his new outfit was similar, but different.

He was now wearing a black tuxedo with a red undershirt and a popped up collar, matching black tassels on his shoulders, black dress pants with matching dress shoes, white gloves on his hands and a black fedora on his head. He had no tie, just a white shirt with a small Windsor knot on the front. Jayce's amulet became a wooden pin of the same design, pinned above his heart.

Ash looked over himself as his parents looked at him with proud smiles. "Wow!" He exclaimed as Pikachu squealed up at him with amazement.

"And we mustn't forget about you, Pikachu." Delia said as she flicked her wand over at the Electric type. With a brief golden flash of light, there was a white bow tie around his neck.

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"Now, quickly!" Jayce said. "You'll be late to the ball, Ash."

Ash nodded as Pikachu jumped back on his shoulder. Then the three of them hurried to the road where the carriage was waiting. The Ponyta were all hitched up, the Pichu twin footmen were hanging onto the back end of the carriage, and Mr. Mime was seated at the front, holding the reins.

Before Ash could take a step towards the carriage, he stopped. "Um, Mom? Dad?" He asked his parents. "Will Giovanni and the girls recognize me?"

"Don't worry about that, dear." Delia said. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen." With a flick of her wand on the top of his head, a light shower of golden sparkles rained down on him, and the little cut on his cheek disappeared.

One of the Pichu twins opened the door for Ash. "Your night of fun awaits you, Ash." He said, bowing politely. Ash just smiled before climbing inside. Then, Pichu closed the door and rejoined his twin brother in the back.

Jayce sighed. "A job well done, my love." He said to his wife.

Delia smiled at her husband. "Yes, and just in the nick of time, too."

"Time!" Jayce turned rigid at the reminder and headed over to the carriage window. "Ash, we almost forgot. Unfortunately, this magic doesn't last forever. You have only until midnight."

"Great." Ash said. "That will give me at least four hours-"

"No, you must understand, Ash." Delia cut him off. "When the clock strikes twelve, at the last chime, all will return to what it was before. That means that you must be back before that happens."

Ash thought about that for a few seconds. "So I have to be back home by midnight?" He asked, and his parents nodded. "That's still more than enough time. Plus, all of this, it's more than I could have ever dreamed of."

Delia smiled at her son. "You are too sweet, my child." She said, placing a hand on his cheek.

Jayce then came up next to her. "Alright, Delia." He said, gently removing her hand from their son's face. "I'd say that our son is ready to go and have some fun."

Ash beamed at his parents. "Thank you guys so much." He said.

Jayce looked over at Mr. Mime. "He's all yours!" He shouted, and Mr. Mime snapped the reins, the Ponyta beginning to pull the carriage behind them as they started down the road. Ash poked his head out of the window and waved to his parents.

"Bye!" He shouted, and his parents returned the wave. "I love you!"

"We love you, too!" Delia returned the sentiment. Both Jayce and Delia continued waving until the carriage was out of sight. Ash was going to have a wonderful time, they were sure of it.

A/N: Like this longer than usual chapter? Well, hopefully I won't take too long writing the next chapter, which will be the first night of the festival. I'm not sure if I will write the entire night in that chapter, but who knows?

Until next time, y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think! They are highly appreciated, and remember to stay healthy!

Got to fly! ;)