Warming Hearts

A/N: Let's get on with Chapter 6 now. Roll it!

Chapter 6

Meeting New Friends

Ash was sitting down on the floor, slumped against the cold stone wall of his cell, feeling utterly defeated, even though there wasn't a Pokémon battle that took place. Pikachu, though, looked ready to zap him into oblivion as he furiously paced as best as he could on two paws in front of the distraught teenage boy.

"PIKA-PI!" He shouted at him. "PIKA PIKACHU?!" In translation, he had said, "Ash! What were you thinking?!"

Even though his Trainer winced at the volume of the angry Electric type, he didn't answer him. Pikachu stopped his red-hot glare and saw small tears glistening in the sad brown eyes of the eighteen-year-old boy. He suddenly forgot his anger and cuddled up against his legs to comfort Ash.

This was not the best time to get angry at him. He had just lost his mother and now, he was a prisoner to a creature they had never seen before. Ash was known to never stay in one place for too long. He loved his freedom, but now it was lost to him.

Ash petted the electric rodent gently down his back. "Don't worry, buddy." He said as he tried to look out the tiny window from where he was sitting. "We'll get out of here, someway."

"You do know that if you do that, the deal is off." A voice suddenly piped up.

Ash immediately stood back up and Pikachu got into a battle stance in front of him. "Who said that?" He demanded.

The iron barred door slowly swung open with a loud creak, making the two even more suspicious. Then the same Swinub from before suddenly appeared. "Hi there!" It said in a feminine voice.

Ash and Pikachu both yelped in surprise and jumped back, almost hitting the iron side of the door. The Swinub also leaped back a bit from their shock. "W-who are you?" Ash asked.

"The name's Leona." The Swinub replied cheerfully.

"And, you can talk?!"

"Well, of course she can." Another voice called out. The three turned and saw a Prinplup that had dark brown eyes instead of blue coming up the stairs. "That's basically all she does."

Leona just stuck her tongue out at him, and he returned it with a glare. "That's what you say, Kenny." Leona growled.

Ash was now officially beyond shocked. The only real talking Pokémon that he knows is Meowth from Team Rocket, and he sometimes wondered if that blabbering Scratch Cat had an off switch somewhere. And other Pokémon that he had met before during his journey were just pretending to talk in human speech. But this time, it was definitely certain that these Pokémon were really talking.

"Oookay." He said to Pikachu. "This is getting weird." His number one partner could only nod his head in agreement.

"Well, now that's out of the way, let us show you to your room." Leona piped up.

"My room?" Ash asked. "But, I thought-"

"Oh, don't bother what our mistress said." Leona said. "She's so dramatic and a bit of a grump."

"Your mistress?" Ash asked, surprised that the beast he had met was mistress of all of these somewhat normal-looking Pokémon.

"Unfortunately, yes." Kenny said.

"To us, you're not a prisoner." Leona added. "You're a guest. After all, it's been so long since another person has been in this place."

Ash was still a little hesitant about this idea. "Are you sure about this?" He asked.

"Don't worry." Leona assured him confidently. "We can handle her."

Ash looked over at Pikachu, who only shrugged his shoulders. It couldn't hurt, could it?

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

A few minutes later, Leona and Kenny were leading Ash throughout the castle with Pikachu on his Trainer's shoulder. Right now, they were outside, walking on the turret pathways, showing them the view and to avoid their mistress.

"The castle is now your home, so you can go wherever you like." Leona said.

"Except the mistress' chambers over there." Kenny pointed with his flipper over towards the west side of the castle.

"Yeah, except there, unless you want her to toss you out of the window." Leona added, making Pikachu shiver with fear, but he glared at the west wing with his cheeks sparking. He was making a sure point that if she wanted to hurt his best friend, she has to deal with him first.

"I wouldn't even try." Ash replied as his eyes were glued to the west wing. "Not after what she did." His tone held obvious disdain.

Leona and Kenny shared a quick glance. This wasn't going to be easy. "Well... let's keep going, then." Kenny said, trying to ease the tension.

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

Soon, they were back inside and out of the growing cold. Leona and Kenny then opened a pair of doors leading to a large room. "This is your room." Leona said to Ash. "It's not that fancy, but it will do."

Ash and Pikachu were in awe at the so-called simplicity of the room. Despite all of the thick dust that coated much of everything in there, it was quite amazing. There was a large bed with deep velvet blue sheets and white pillows. The walls were high, painted beige with silver designs all over. On one side, there was a large dark oak wardrobe; beautifully carved.

"Whoa." He breathed.

"Pika." Pikachu chirped in agreement.

"Please excuse the dust." Kenny said, examining the room. "This room hasn't been used in a while."

"I can tell." Ash replied. "Does every Pokémon that lives here talks?"

"Only the servants." Leona answered. "The wild Pokémon still speaks in their own language."

Suddenly, a wild Starly flew in through the slightly open window, chirping cheerfully. But when it saw Ash, it squeaked in surprise and then immediately hid behind the bed. Ash cautiously walked to the edge and saw the timid Flying type. He smiled warmly at it.

"Don't be afraid." He coaxed, slowly stretching his hand towards it. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Come on. It's okay."

Slowly, the Starly walked up to the eighteen-year-old boy. When it saw that he was being honest, it slowly rubbed its feathery head against his palm, cooing tentatively. The two cursed servants were shocked. That particular Starly wasn't very trusting towards humans, and it was awfully shy. Yet this stranger had it in the palm of his hand with just a tiny kind smile and a few gentle words.

"Hey, do you think you can help us clean up this place a bit?" Ash asked Starly.

The Starly chirped out an agreement, making Ash, Pikachu and the other two Pokémon servants smile. Ash reached into his backpack and pulled out a few spare handkerchiefs. He then handed one to Pikachu, one to Kenny, and one to Leona, leaving the last one for himself. Together, along with Starly; who was flapping a soft Gust to blow away the dust from the furniture, the room was soon clean.

"That's more like it." Leona said, admiring the polished up room.

Ash turned over to the Starly, who was right now perched on his right arm, resting. "Thanks, Starly." He said. The Starly gave him a happy chirp in response, and then flew back out the window.

Seeing how Ash was so kind and selfless, that small sprout of hope in the two servants' hearts began to grow even more. But now, if only they could make him see who their mistress really is on the inside. And if only she should be humble enough to listen to him.

A sudden burst of the doors opening made everyone jump. A Lopunny came in, dancing around happily. But its eyes were light blue instead of the usual light hazel, and it had colorful bracelets on its right wrist and left ankle.

"Leona! Kenny! Is it true that there's a boy in the castle?!" She squealed excitedly, donning it female.

"Yes, it is." Kenny answered, still a little on edge from her excitement.

Leona turned over to Ash while gesturing to the excited Lopunny. "This is Paris, the royal dress designer. Paris, this is..." She paused for a second. "Oh, silly me! We don't even know your name, kid."

"I'm Ash Ketchum." The Trainer introduced himself. "And this is my buddy, Pikachu." He petted the Electric type on the head.

The Lopunny named Paris began examining him up and down. "Let's see. Gorgeous eyes, strong arms, fit chest." Ash felt his face grow a little warm at the compliments. No one other than his mother would really say things like that about him.

Paris' eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, I have the perfect design for an outfit just right for a young man like you, maybe even worthy of a prince. I'll be right back." She then skipped out of the room.

"Sorry about her." Kenny said.

"She was definitely... interesting." Ash answered. "But I'm not a prince."

Leona giggled. "That's Paris for you. Always giving out compliments that seem a bit too much." Ash still felt like he was blushing pink at the Lopunny's earlier words, but soon dispelled it.

"Oh, I just remembered something." Leona began pushing Kenny back towards the door. "We have to go and prepare some stuff. Enjoy your quarters, Ash." With that, the two left, shutting the doors behind them.

Once Ash was sure that they were gone, he rushed towards the window and opened it. He and Pikachu looked down and saw that they were pretty high up. And the window was too narrow to balance on.

"Great." He said. "Now what?"

Pikachu looked around the room and saw the wardrobe. "Pika-pi!" He called, pointing to it.

Ash saw the wardrobe and opened it. Inside were old clothes that were worn out and tearing in a few places. He then had an idea. "If we both could just get down to the bottom of the tower, we can let Talonflame out and we'll fly out of here!" He exclaimed.

"Pikachu!" His partner agreed. Together, they began to tie some clothes from the wardrobe together in a rope, starting to initiate their escape.

A/N: Well, that's all for Chapter 6! I'll see y'all in Chapter 7! Please leave a comment about what you think!

Got to fly! ;)