Chapter 256: 256. Jirachi: Wish Maker 5
Ash quickly summoned over a Officer Jenny as he was a Pokémon Investigator, handed the bruised and symmetrical Butler to her, and set out on the road to the Farnia Forest with Diane.
"Ash, you seem to understand a lot of things that even I can't understand, and I worked with Butler for a long time." Diane, who was the one driving, suddenly asked him.
"Are you talking about his experiments, or his identity as a former scientist of Team Magma, or the fact that he was kicked out after his experiment failed and caused damge to his organization?"
Ahs smiled slightly, "I could have still found out if I really wanted to, but I really didn't expect that he would reveal all that himself before he was even able to harness the power of the Millennium Comet to conduct his dangerous experiments."
Regarding the other information about Butler, Ash handed it the things he did have over to the Rocket Trio for a full investigation.
Although the information was not perfect, it was enough for Ash to deduce everything that he didn't hear from Butler himself.
"In order for Jirachi to awaken its power, he needs a trusty partner, a person with a pure and young heart. Butler was obviously unfit for that so he did all of the traveling magic shows just to wait for the partner to appear!" Now that Ash has learned about Butler's past, Diane started to introduce Jirachi's part.
"So he waited for someone like Max to appear!" May looked at Jirachi in her little brothers arms. Jirachi's injuries had already recovered to a certain extent, but it seemed like he was having a nightmare.
"Excuse me, but where is this Farnia Forest?" Seeing Jirachi's uncomfortable look, Max asked with distress.
"It will take us about four days to drive there with our current speed!" Diane was already driving very fast, but it only took Absol one day to get there, which shows how high his running speed and endurance was.
"Sending Jirachi back to Farnia is what I should do as his partner!" Max made up his mind to protect Jirachi no matter the cost!
Seeing how determined he was, Ash, who was sitting next to May, showed mercy and gave him a pat on the head.
"Big Bro!" Seeing Ash's eyes, Max suddenly became happy, as it seemed that Ash finally recognized him.
However, Ash would have never thought that Butler, who was taken away by Officer Jenny, secretly pressed a certain mechanism hidden in his sleeve at the last moment.
The sky was getting dark again. This is the third night after the appearance of the Millennium Comet.
Max hugged Jirachi who had regained his energy and fell asleep. Brock was responsible for warming the fire and cooking some hot soup for everyone to make supper.
May came to Ash's side, hugged him while no one was paying attention, and asked, "Ash, did you catch that Absol?"
Their love conversation was interrupted by Absol before, but now May tried picked up the topic again.
"I couldn't catch it as we were interrupted. Now that guy should still be following us all the way to Farnia. I can feel his Auta. Let's wait until we get to Farnia before I catch it!"
Ash has already had a small talk with this Absol and they were now alright. He already had a very good impression of this Absol and definitely wanted to catch him next.
"Anyway, May. What were you about to say that last time?" Ash asked knowingly.
May blushed but got ready, "Well, I was about to say that I lo-" Before she could say anything, she was interrupted by another woman.
"Ash!" Diane walked out of her RV, holding a flyer for the magic show in her hand. She must be missing Butler a bit, "I want to thank you for stopping Butler from getting deeper into that trap he had set up for himself."
"As long as you don't blame me for sending him to jail, I'm happy to help." Ash said with a smile. Butlers crime was not very serious yet, but he was a dangerous person. Officer Jenny and her others associates will definitely keep a close eye on him to make sure that he doesn't try anything nasty.
Diane came to Ash and May side, "Butler and I were childhood sweethearts. When he was young, he loved to invent new things. He was a very gentle person back than…"
Diane's face was full of sweetness and nostalgia when she said this.
Speaking of childhood sweethearts, there was a also childhood memory in Ash's memory. It was a very cute one. The only memory he has is that he met a cute little girl at a summer camp when he was about 7 years old.
Soon, Diane looked at Ash again, "Ash, thank you! And in four days, Jirachi will enter his thousand-year sleep again. By then, his ambition will naturally end, and he will definitely change back to his original state. Butler and me can be reunited then, or I hope we do."
Hearing this, Ash shook his head and smiled bitterly, thinking that Diane was still too naive to think like that.
Once such ambition arises, it would be very difficult to not continue on that path.
Now Butler was already standing on the edge of his morality. There are too many confusing things in this world. If he really wants to have a source of powerful energy, there are too many ways.
However, Ash said, "If you meet him again, what would you like to do with him?"
Diane didn't expect Ash to ask such a question. She couldn't help but blush. She obviously thought of something inappropriate for children, but she said, "Of course I want him to make it up to me. He hurt me!"
Brock on the side dropped his heavy spoon on the ground.
'Why me!!??? Ash already has 3 girlfriends!! And I don't even have one!!! What did I do to deserve this punishment??!!!' Brock was having his second mental crisis of the Hoenn journey.
The first time was a few hours ago when Ash told him that he was in a relationship with Misty, his long time friend; Maya, the beautiful girl from the Whirl Islands; and May, their new companion.
Brock was the only one who knew that Ash was in a relationship with 3 women at the same time; since his father also had 3 wives.
As polygamy was actually very common around the world.
The further they went in the direction of Farnia, the terrain became more and more dangerous, with more and more mountains and cliffs along every way. Fortunately, with the help of Ash's Tyranitar, everything went smoothly on the road.
It wasn't until the fifth day that the Millennium Comet appeared that Ash and his party were finally approaching Farnia.
They camped in front of the valley outside the forest.
Going further, they would see an endless forest with numerous stone pillars, rugged terrain, and lush trees.
It was no longer possible to drive in, so everyone had to go inside on foot.
So they need to recharge their energy this night.
"This feels so good…" May sat on Ash's lap and murmured softly.
Max, who was playing with Jirachi, suddenly seemed to realize something when he saw May sitting on Ash's lap.
"Huh!! May, are you really dating Big Bro?? Yesss, Ash is really going to be my Big Bro!!" Max said with excitement.
"Shut up. It's not so serious. What you should be doing now is spending time with Jirachi." Ash said in his usual calm manner.
"Ohh, but why? I don't want Jirachi to go away from me!" With that said, he sat next to the river all alone, with Jirachi quickly going next to him.
"Max..." May was about to catch up after standing up, but was stopped by Ash.
Ash stood up with his Pikachu and Ralts on his shoulders, and saw that Max holding Jirachi in his arms, "Can't you bear it?"
Ralts came down to Ash's arms, reached over and gently knocked Jirachi on the head. Although this little guy had been alive for thousands of years, he was still far inferior to Ralts when it came to these things.
The little guy suddenly became happy and played Teleports with Ralts, flashing around at the area.
But Max's mood was still very low, "I will never see Jirachi again…"
Because Jirachi needs to sleep for a thousand years, separation means eternal farewell for Max.
"You know, for Jirachi, a thousand years may be just a little moment." Ash said slowly.
"For Max and Jirachi, although these days were short, they are more than just a moment!"
The separation was destined, but this friendship and memories will always be remembered in Max's mind and appear in Jirachi's dreams.
"Thank you, Big Bro, you are the best!" Max finally felt relieved.
"I give you my permission to date May. Don't worry, I will put in a good word for you to Mom and Dad." Max said cheekily.
So Ash hit him in the head again with an annoyed expression, "If you know, go to bed early. You have to hike into the forest tomorrow. And I also didn't need your good word or your permission. Your dad probably already knew this before you even joined."
"Yeah yeah!"