Aftermath of Saffron

**"Aftermath of Saffron"** is the thirty-fourth (thirty-sixth in Archive of Our Own and Royal Road) chapter of *Pokémon Reset Bloodlines.* Having been rescued from Sabrina's clutches, Ash has had time to think about the recent events, including reconsidering his initial opinion of Belladonna after their first meeting, and the revelation of his traveling companions feeling attracted to him. The group the continues their journey to Cinnabar Island, making a quick stop in the Seafoam Islands to relax after the whole ordeal.

## Plot

After Professor Oak returns from his surgery during the early morning, he's surprised to be greeted by Ash's Krabby, who is now a Kingler, handing him his cup of coffee. When Oak inquires if more evolutions occurred while he was out, it's revealed that Roggenrola and Servine have also evolved into Boldore and Serperior respectively. The former feels happy to have regained her evolved form as well as her functional limbs, while the latter isn't particularly pleased about losing hers, much to the discomfort of Bulbasaur, who decides to hightail out of there when he doesn't find a way to cheer her up about it.

Ash wakes up from his slumber, finding that he's still surrounded by his female companions, and thinking to himself that he's never had such a good sleep in a long time. Despite the awkwardness, he feels unusually comfortable having them close and actually enjoys feeling their touch and body warmth against his own body, but he's snapped out of his thoughts by his hunger due to not eating in a whole day, and the smell of pancakes outside.

As it turns out, Belladonna and her girlfriends were cooking breakfast for all of them, having raided a store that hadn't opened to get cooking utensils and ingredients, and they're placing everything on a picnic table they found in the area. As Ash and his companions come out of their secret base after Vedia's Gastly lets the scent reach them, they all sit down to eat together. As they do so, Belladonna thinks to herself that if she ever finds Sabrina again, she'll kill her, while also taking notice of Ash looking fitter and Anabel growing out her hair, noticing that the group seems still at a stage where they're still not convinced of a polygamous relationship, although without any self-harming competition for Ash on the girls' part. As they finish their breakfast, Ash asks how Belladonna and her girlfriends ended up rescuing him along with his female companions, a question Belladonna had already been expecting since yesterday. The two begin sharing their respective accounts of what happened, with Belladonna recalling her brief encounter with Hilda after he mentions what the Gym Leader told him about his father, now understanding better why her own mother didn't abort her. Despite Misty's belief that Sabrina was just making up crazy stuff to rile her up, Belladonna states that, from her own search about clues of their father, Sabrina didn't seem to be lying about what she said. When Ash asks why they came to save him, Belladonna feels hurt, but continues in her stance that they're siblings and she has to look out for and help him, which seems to alleviate Ash's apprehension somewhat. She however understands that she can't rush things, even if she still wishes to have a genuine familial relationship with him, so she doesn't push him anymore about it.

After breakfast, Ash finds another secluded waterfall to take a shower, and this time around keeps Pikachu on guard so he lets them know if Iris or somebody else approaches. The trainer wonders what's happened to his life with all the shenanigans he's gone through lately, and Pikachu makes a snarky comment about "puberty", which Ash now considers a simple afterthought after all that has happened. The Pokédex also agrees with that, and then informs Ash that the Marsh Badge is officially registered under his name, then proceeding to explain how data for Indigo League participants works in terms of availability for others to see, including which badges they've earned to qualify, which more or less serve as a gauge for strength and familiarity with specific Pokémon types to fight against.

Ash then returns and leaves the waterfall for his companions to use, apparently surprised that Iris didn't come walking in on him as he bathed. Anabel takes it first, and then Iris walks in on her, briefly surprising her, but ultimately letting her in. When Anabel asks if she's going to make a habit of this, Iris replies that she will if she needs to talk to save time, but Anabel stops her before she suggests bringing Misty and Ash again. Iris then goes straight for the point and tells Anabel "You like Ash", to which Anabel, despite being slightly flustered and surprised for the wild girl's bluntness, admits that she does like him. Iris then states that she feels she's given enough time to Misty to make a move on him by herself, but she hasn't, and now Iris wants Anabel's help. Anabel isn't sure what she means, and Iris explains of Ash's anger problems that he seemingly inherited from his father and how she wants to curb them down. From what Anabel can gather, Iris seems to want them all to pursue a relationship with Ash, citing that Belladonna and her girlfriends don't seem to be jealous of each other at all, while also leaving the possibility of others joining them, like Serena. Anabel admits to herself that, while she would feel some jealousy of seeing Ash with other girls, she does agree with the part of helping Ash overcome his anger issues.

After Ash and his companions leave, Belladonna and her girlfriends decide to use the shower themselves. She took it first along with Aurora, while Vedia and Evanna wait for their turn as there's not enough room for the four at once. Aurora then comments that she felt nice helping Ash and his companions, and adds that perhaps they should try it more often. Belladonna ponders on it and realizes that she felt the same way after helping Ash, something she didn't feel when she and the others killed Tokiomi, wondering if it's a feeling that comes from helping people in general. The others seem to agree to it, though Vedia advises that Ash might not be ready to know their evolution happened while they were bathing and kissing naked under the trees, much to their amusement.

Sometime after, Ash finally brings Primeape to check if he can restore his memories. Much to his delight, he does, and he explains that a lot of things happened since the last time they met. The Pokédex chimes in to reveal Primeape's current move set, Mega Kick, Cross Chop, Seismic Toss, and Thrash. Ash becomes interested in Cross Chop and asks Primeape to show it to him, but Primeape misunderstands the request and grabs Ash into a painful Seismic Toss. After that, however, Primeape is added to his active rotation for training, also noticing that they all seem stronger after the Saffron City Gym ordeal. He also wonders if any of the Exeggutor would like to battle, and the Pokédex reveals all of them know Confusion and Teleport but have otherwise varied moves, so Ash is willing to work with any of them. The trainer then wonders if they can create another Z-Crystal, calling Charizard to blow a Flamethrower into the sky, but it doesn't work, not even showing a shred of dust like in the battles against Lilo and the twins. The Pokédex remarks there might be a secondary factor that was present during those battles, with also the sparkling stone the Z-Ring is made of as the medium to create one. Ash suspects that Lilo's Z move and the presence of Grass-types with the twins might have helped, so perhaps a location such as Cinnabar's volcano or the icy caves in the Seafoam Islands might be just what they need, and he's already considering going to Cinnabar through Seafoam anyway so Misty has the chance to catch Water-types that are also part Ice-types anyway.

Elsewhere, the Bloodliner Prince is informed by Hilda about what happened recently with Ash: not only he managed to defeat her, but he also created a Z-Crystal to do so, and Hilda managed to see everything. The Prince realizes he'll have to do more digging on the history of Alola in the light of this turn of events. Despite his plans, the Prince acknowledges that humans have created a lot in the arts and culture, lamenting that things such as films and literature might just collapse once his plans come to fruition. Hilda inquires about if Ash now looks like "the one", as in "the one marked with evil fights one who embraces it", while the Prince retorts that he's not fully convinced yet, but Ash certainly seems the best candidate. He also adds that good and evil seem concepts relative to each person and culture, citing the Trainer-Ranger conflict as proof of that, while Hilda considers that, while the Bloodliner King is evil, the Prince is certainly not. She then beckons him to come back to the bed so they can relax and forget discussions about morality for a while.

Ash wakes up the next morning, this time alone and somewhat depressed about it for some reason. The Pokédex notices this and compares it to someone who just learned of the victory of a certain politician. Ash admits there's something bugging him to Pikachu, explaining that it has to do with something the mouse said while they were fighting Sabrina; namely, that his female companions are attracted to him and seemingly always have been, even during The Old Timeline. Ash admits that he considers them beautiful and wonderful, but doesn't know how to go about a relationship with any of them. Pikachu then explains that Misty would always get jealous in The Old Timeline when he got another girl's attention because she liked him, and Pikachu had noticed but was never able to tell him, adding that Misty threatened to murder Tracey if he told Ash that she had performed CPR on him when he almost drowned in Shamouti Island. Pikachu explains that he saw many girls like Macy, Angie and Anabel look at him longingly, and wondered if Blonde Bianca purposely knocked him into the water because she liked seeing him wet. Ash then wonders about May and Dawn, somewhat surprised because he always thought they had a thing for Drew and Kenny respectively, making Pikachu feel disgusted. Then for good measure, Pikachu adds that the one who kissed him in Alto Mare was Latias, not brunette Bianca, confirming that females that found him attractive wasn't limited only to humans.

Later that day, Iris takes Ash to a wrestling dojo full of youths around their age, making Ash wonder if the training includes learning from them. Much to Ash's surprise, Iris takes off her shirt and explains that they're going to practice hand-to-hand combat like them, and then they will move on to Bloodliner powers later. Reluctantly, Ash removes his own shirt and jacket and they start wrestling with each other, while their Pokémon watch on. In Iris' mind, the wild girl starts thinking about how the dojo members are unusually and exaggeratedly muscled, as well as lacking in body hair, while she wants Ash to look more physically appealing in the way she likes. The girl recalls her chat with Meliae about sexual behavior and admits she feels a bit of a thrill of having Ash pinning her down. She also takes notice that Ash's anger doesn't seem to flare up from fighting with her, wondering if he needs a trigger like Paul, Joshua or Sabrina for that to happen.

The following day, Togepi's egg finally hatches and sees Ash and his companions, who all find him adorable, even Iris despite being a Fairy-type, with Anabel suggesting that Ash captures him quickly before Team Rocket might swoop in to take him. Ash agrees and asks for volunteers to take care of Togepi. The day continues with them training and doing daily routines, and while Charizard spars with Serperior and Pikachu plays with Togepi, Ash decides to practice the Z-Move with Butterfree. The power is amazing, but it always leaves them both exhausted, plus the execution is hard, and doesn't seem to work with Exeggutor and Togepi despite both also having Psychic-type moves. His attempts to create new Z-Crystals have also failed, including getting in the middle of a five-Tauros brawl, trying to dip his hand in water while Misty was fishing, and have Butterfree, the Spewpa and Vivillon apply String Shot to his hand. The Pokédex then reports of a new sibling found, a boy named Fender who is the son of an Unovan female lawyer. He's not a trainer, instead engaging in long-term business and being a rising star in the Johto smuggling underworld, dealing with info and goods, albeit not with drugs, weapons or living creatures traffic. If it's not enough, the report also says that he's in relationships with multiple females at once, just like Belladonna and Cleff, and one of his eight girlfriends is not even a Bloodliner like the others, being a self-proclaimed mad scientist who was expelled from school due to inventing some "Azoth Reactor", and provides Fender's organization with her knowledge and inventions, while other members are Technique Bloodliners who provide similar services with their powers, like strength, energy and Secret Bases to expand their hideouts. The Pokédex then plays out a recording of Fender singing a song about girls being wonderful, leaving Ash completely stunned about it.

A few days later, Misty is having a strange dream, where she finds herself surrounded by photos stuck to walls, wondering if it had something to do with them meeting a photographer. The photos seem of herself looking younger, with some of her current Pokémon and others she doesn't have, like a Corsola and a Poliwhirl. A familiar voice speaks to her, and she turns around to find her older sister, Daisy. Misty isn't happy to see her, but notices that Daisy seems unusually happy, and even compliments her, saying that they can no longer call her a runt, and that she's as sensational as the three of them. Misty thinks she's trying to do some cruel prank and upon mentioning that she's a Bloodliner, Daisy doesn't seem to get the word. She then states that she's some sort of memory of a memory, trying to talk to her subconscious and other stuff Misty doesn't understand the meaning of, before telling Misty that she's beautiful, and while she was the last to be born, she's the best out of the four. Misty then wakes up, wondering what that dream was about, and why she feels like a mixture of emotions including confusion, sadness, pride and the sense of having lost something important to her that she can't remember. She just decides to stay in bed and wait until the rest wakes up.

The group arrives to the Seafoam Islands, and after changing into their swimsuits they all go to hit the beach. While they're enjoying themselves, Ash can't help but take a look at his female companions' bodies, finding them all very attractive, although they quickly attract attention from other beach-goers around, males and females, much to their discomfort and forcing them to drive them away after some disparaging comments. They run into Midori and his friends, who are also enjoying the beach as celebration for Hoshi winning a Pokémon Contest recently. The girls quickly take to chat amongst each other, and Ash is left alone with Midori, who takes notice of Ash's muscular growth and seems to feel somewhat self-conscious about it, especially when surrounded by many other similar looking men around the beach. Ash finally understands what's bugging Midori and assures him that, as Pokémon trainers, they shouldn't worry too much about that. However, when Midori points out Ash's own physique, Ash explains that he looks like that because Iris decided to train him due to their encounter with Janine, and to look like him Midori would have to go through some crazy and potentially dangerous training. Midori seems to be willing to do it, but Ash counters that, while Iris pushes them hard, she knows what she's doing and doesn't go overboard, and if he doesn't have someone with the same knowledge to train him, then he'd be just risking to hurt himself. Midori seems unconvinced, but Ash assures him that, if his female friends like him the way he is, then he shouldn't feel pressured to bulk up just for the sake of it.

During the night, the group explores the icy caves within the Seafoam Islands, with the hopes that the place helps Ash form a Z-Crystal. However, the process ends up in failure due to the large amount of Zubat and Golbat that plague the caves, forcing them to fight back with their Pokémon. After leaving the bats knocked out, Ash feels somewhat concerned, and wonders if they should just up and leave them like that. The Pokédex states that most of their predators are aquatic and none of them fell into the water, but Anabel notices that the tide seems to be rising and they could end up swallowed by the flood, which could potentially cause environment damages to the caves ecosystems. Ash reaches for his H.O.P.E. Glove and after duplicating a large amount of Poké Balls captures them all to prevent the damage. Suddenly, a nearby cry echoes in the cave, and much to everyone's surprise, an Articuno flies above them. The Pokédex is delighted to record the data of such an encounter, while Iris points at Ash's hand and notices dust forming: a failed Ice-type Z-Crystal. They're delighted at making at least some progress, until the Pokédex suggests they risk encountering and attacking a Legendary Pokémon to create one.

Back in the Kanto mainland, Casey Snagem hears his doorbell, and much to his surprise he finds a devastated Gary Oak on his door. A look into the younger trainer's eyes is enough to let the veteran know that Gary suffered a devastating defeat, to someone he despised. Gary then gets on his knees and beg him for training, saying that he's willing to do anything to discover what he needs. Casey then calls out to his wife to explain what's going on, and she replies that she wants to "take a crack" at Gary if she's going to train him. Casey warns Gary that he's up for some harsh training, possibly involving an Avalugg, but Gary insists that he'll do anything, no matter what it is.

### Canon Omake

Charizard is sparring with Boldore, and finally manages to pull off a perfect Seismic Toss on her, much to his satisfaction. He then sees Togepi grabbing a stick and imitating his movements, jumping in the air and tossing the stick to the ground. Charizard then wonders if Togepi is capable of learning Seismic Toss, and felts tempted to find out, or perhaps teaching him another move like Flamethrower. Delighted with the thought, Charizard then approaches the egg Pokémon and tells him if he wants to learn how to do the best things he can do. Elsewhere, Pikachu senses a disturbance on the force of all things pure and innocent.

## Continuity

* Togepi's egg hatches, being the first Pokémon owned by a main character to hatch from an egg onscreen in the story.
* Misty catches a Seel in the Seafoam Island caves, while Ash catches forty-one Zubat and fourteen Golbat.
* The result of Gary and Paul's battle is revealed, with Gary implying that he suffered a harsh defeat.