RPM City a Few Hours Earlier
Sakura, Asch and the rest of her party were enjoying themselves in the City. Despite being a time of war the RPM City was still very lively and there were many people everywhere. They first decided to go to a clothes shop to look at some new outfits. Yin was looking at some collars, Fenri was looking at the hats, and Zet was hiding in the clothes racks just because he wanted to surprise people. Asch got a few jackets, pants and shirts while Sakura got a few pairs of shorts and other clothes.
"Sakura are you sure it's alright for you to pay for all this?" asked Asch.
"It's fine, Asch." Sakura replied "As the owner of my own business all the profits go to me and my workers. Since the only one who works for me is Borock-bot I have a lot of money that I don't spend. Plus profits have been going up because of the war, the money is wasted otherwise."
"Huh, that makes sense. At least you don't have to worry about your shop during this time. I guess that's one thing good about the war and being a weapons shop owner." Asch said thoughtfully.
"Yeah..." Sakura said drifting off.
"Oh I'm sorry, that was a stupid thing for me to say. I didn't mean to be so careless." Asch said regretfully
"No, it's fine I understand what you meant. The number one reason I took over the Weapons Shack was because I wanted to help people be able to defend themselves. My shop is serving that purpose right now and that I don't regret that at all." Sakura said with determination.
"Wait a minute you took over the Weapon Shack? I thought you made the business." Asch questioned.
"It wasn't always my Shack, it once belonged to a woman named Hitomi. I know I told you a little bit about her before. Hitomi eventually decided to leave RPM city and live on the moon with her brother Tsuyoshi. I don't exactly know why she left but she did. The only reason I inherited the Shack was because I was her only apprentice." Sakura explained.
"Hold on, you were an apprentice to someone besides PB?" Asch said raising a eyebrow.
"Yes she was." Fenri piped up while looking at a fedora "PB isn't the only one who is a master of Ego. Hitomi was also one who controlled the FRESCA very throughly as well. However she is very different from PB and it reflected on how she uses her Ego."
"Yeah she was. At one point PB recommended I learned a little bit from her as part of my own training. She taught me many things that PB couldn't, it was also the time when I got my Z-Saber." Sakura recalled.
"Wow that's pretty cool. So what is this Hitomi person like?" Asch asked innocently.
"She's someone you have to get used to." Sakura said with her eye twitching slightly. "Not a lot of people liked her, and she didn't like a lot of people in turn."
"Huh now why does that remind me of PBPB?" Asch pondered.
"Well believe it or not Hitomi actually created PBPB so a lot of quirks that PBPB has Hitomi has. The only difference is that PBPB is much friendlier than Hitomi." Sakura explained.
"I'll buy that, even though PBPB does do strange things and is not a big fan of robots I think she's actually nicer than I thought." Asch said nodding.
"She is, when you get to know PBPB she is very nice and helpful. Hitomi is the same way....but it takes a long time to get to that point." Sakura said with a little laugh.
"I see. I'm guessing you actually got to that point?" asked Asch.
"I think I might have, but the only one who knows for sure is Hitomi." said Sakura.
"I guess so. You sure seem to respect her as much as you do PB." Asch said thoughtfully.
"Yeah I do, I learned so much from her and PB." said Sakura grateful "But I still have so much I need to learn, I have to be ready for anything. I think that's why PBPB challenged me to that duel in the first place."
"Really?" Asch said a little surprised.
"Yeah even with PB gone I still need training and since Hitomi isn't here the next logical choice would be PBPB. When PBPB saw me repairing you and question my authority she challenged me immediately, she even slapped me twice and called me a coward. But when I refused because I knew I wouldn't win in the condition I was in, she praised me and said I passed her first test. When I thought about it more, I realized it's part of her training me." Sakura explained.
"But why did she say that she wants to challenge you for leadership if she was just training you?" Asch asked confused.
"She probably wanted to see how I handled such a situation as part of my training." Sakura replied "She wanted to make sure I wasn't as reckless as PB is. I don't know if she realized that I figured it out, but I'm going to go along with it anyway."
"I see, so do you know how she fights?" Asch questioned.
"I don't I've never fought her before nor have I seen her fight. I'm guessing it's much different than how PB or Hitomi fights." Sakura said thinking about it.
"Huh so how does Hitomi fight?" Asch pondered
"A lot like PB but 10 times more brutal." Sakura said grimacing "She fights very dirty and will lash out on anyone who sets her off, but most of the time it's PB. In fact one of her main weapons is a chain saw."
"Jeez, do I even want to know what training with her is like?" Asch asked with a bit of fear in his eyes.
"Once she made me climb an entire mountain in a bikini. It was freaking freezing at the time, and before you ask why she made me wear a bikini it was either that or I climb the mountain naked." Sakura said recalling the disturbing memory
"Sakura how the hell aren't you scared for life with all this stuff happening to you?" Asch asked horrified.
"I think it's because I know that what I've experience is nothing compared to how others have suffered. I know I'm very fortunate and am very grateful for what I've learned and for what others have done for me. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, and if it weren't for PB and Hitomi I wouldn't be where I am today." Sakura said with a bit of pride.
"You know I used to think that you might be the only sane person in the Resistance. Now I think you're just as insane as the rest of them." Asch said with a grin.
"Hey insanity is what makes the world go round." Sakura laughed.
"I guess you got me there." Asch laughed with her.
Sakura then noticed something in the corner of her eye and picked it up.
"Here try this." Sakura said as she wrapped a long black scarf around Asch's neck. "How do you like it?"
"It looks really nice, I think it looks better than my other scarf." Asch said as he looked in a mirror.
"Well if you like it I'll get it for you." said Sakura
"You don't have to do that Sakura, I already got so much I don't need any thing more." Asch said trying to convince her not to.
"It's okay, like I said I have a lot of money already and I don't need to spend it on myself. I rather give things to other people than to get things for myself anyway." Sakura said smiling.
"I guess I can't change you mind now can I?" Asch said giving up. He then thought of something he had to ask. "Hey Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you so nice to me? Why do you trust me even though I was created by someone who wants nothing more than to hurt your friends and destroy the Resistance." Asch asked looking down. "I could have been a liability and yet you never really distrusted me after I said I'd join you. You do so much for me, and yet I can't do anything for you, so why do you trust someone like me?"
"You don't give yourself enough credit Asch." Sakura said bluntly.
"Huh?" Asch said dumbfounded.
"You've already done so much for me that I can't pay you back for. I just feel so safe when I'm with you, I feel like I can be myself. I wouldn't be able to cope with PB's disappearance nearly as well as I am if it weren't for you. I can't thank you enough for that." Sakura said turning a little red.
"That's how you feel huh?" Asch said not really convinced "I feel the same way, but I still don't feel like it's enough. I can't even defend myself beyond this shield you gave me. I haven't even been able to train with all this hell falling on us. It makes me feel worthless."
"Well why don't we go to the Weapon Shack and you can chose a weapon there. Maybe that will help you a little bit better, even if you haven't trained yet you're a fast learner so it shouldn't be that hard for you." Sakura said thoughtfully.
"Seriously?" Asch said exasperated "God damn it Sakura, you're giving me so many things already."
"And I'm not going to stop until you feel better about yourself." Sakura said smiling.
"Your so generous Sakura." Asch said surprised "I don't know how to repay you."
"You don't have to repay me, it's the least I can do for everything you've done for me already. Just stay the way you are, that's all I ask." Sakura said honestly.
"If you say so." Asch sighed "But thank you." He said as he gave Sakura a big hug.
"Anytime." Sakura said hugging him back. She then felt something odd on Asch. "Hey Asch?"
"Yeah?"
"Why is this part of your chest so hard?" Sakura said pointing at the area that felt strange.
"Oh yeah I forgot about that." Asch said as he let go of Sakura and took out the book from his jacket and opened it. "I found this in PB's room but I have no idea what it is. Huh there some writing in here."
"I think that's PB's journal you got there." Sakura said recognizing the book.
"Whoa that's what it is? I guess I shouldn't be looking at it." Asch said closing it immediately.
"Oh it's okay you can look at it Asch." said Sakura "PB isn't the type to hide things and that book is full of his most important memories. He says when he's a old man he'll publish the entire thing so that the world will know his greatness."
"That sounds like something he would do." Asch said understandingly "Are you sure it's okay for me to read this?"
"Totally, I've read it a few times. It always gets more interesting the more I read it." Sakura said happily
"Well if it's okay then I guess I'll read it. I guess it'll help me understand him more." Asch said as he opened the book again.
"Yeah, anyway we should pay for this stuff and go somewhere to eat. I'm so hungry right now." Sakura said as her stomach rumbled "After that we can go to the Weapon's Shack."
"I can see that, come to think of it I don't think you've eaten since that party in the karaoke bar." Asch said in shock "How the hell can you stand that?"
"Ego training gives you stamina up the wazoo." Sakura said bluntly.
"I'll buy that." Asch sighed "I mean with all the stuff you've been through I guess hunger is nothing."
Sakura payed for the things that everyone wanted to get and then they went to the Cafe of Memories.
It was a very small quiet Cafe that had a great view of the Lost Woods. Sakura, Asch and the others were sitting on a table outside. The cafe also had a ridiculously wide variety of food options, Sakura had blueberry pancakes with a cheese omelet, bacon, sausages and a coffee. Asch ordered a cheese burger with everything on it along with pepper jack cheese and jalapenos french fries on the side and a lemonade. Being a robot he didn't have to worry about disliking spicy foods, and because he built to be like PB he was able to taste things. Fenri decided to have French Onion Soup and Salad as well as BLT and Iced Tea, he is really fond of both Onions and Garlic despite giving him horrible breath. Yin not able to hold things in her paws was eating a steak and drinking water from two different bowls. Zet who was not able to eat just sat in the last chair looking adorable. They also had appetizers consisting of fried calamari, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, and fried potato skins and they also ordered dessert for later. It may have been a ridiculous amount of food but with Sakura not eating for a day and a half and all the depressing things that were happening around them it was necessary. Sakura once again was paying for everything.
While they were eating Asch scanned the entries of PB's Journal. It contained many interesting things including his hatred of Rasberries to the time he came to RPM and when Vixy appointed him Defender of RPM. It was a very interesting read and he was learning a lot. Eventually he came across a entry that caught his interest, it talked about PB thinking about setting up a Pokemon tournament event the next day and him seeing a young girl who wore nothing but leaves taking care of something called a Absol.
"Hey Sakura?" Asch asked still staring at the entry.
"Yes?" Sakura replied curious.
"Do you know what this entry is about?" Asch said showing her the book. Sakura and Fenri read it.
"Sakura, that's the day..." Fenri trailed off.
"Yeah that's the day I first came to RPM city." Sakura finished.
"Really how can you tell?" Asch pondered looking at the entry.
"That girl it mentioned, the one who was taking care of the Absol, that was me. It was also the first day I met Yin, she's the Absol I helped." Sakura explained.
"You were that girl? Then how come you were only wearing leaves?" Asch asked shocked at the revelation.
"Well you see that forest over there?" Sakura said pointing to the forest behind her "I used to live there."
"Wait are you serious, how long have you been living there and why?" Asch wondered as he found it hard to believe.
"Well you see I'm actually an orphan." Sakura said sadly "My parents lived very close to the forest away from RPM City. When my my Mother gave birth to me she died from the pain and stress. Eventually a man who was jealous of my Father for marrying my Mom tried to kill me because he felt that I was the reason she died. My Father protected me and killed that man, but he suffered from mortal wounds and was going to die soon. With the last of his strength he dragged his body and carry me to the forest and found a pair of Lucarios. Those were Fenri's parents. He begged them to take care of me and they agreed, they said that he died smiling knowing that I would be safe.
The Lucarios raised me as their own and taught me how to see Auras as well as how to read and write among other things from books that they found from people who lost them in the woods. Eventually, when I was 14, they said that they couldn't teach me anymore and wanted me to go to the City and live with other humans. Fenri wanted to come as well and they let him feeling that he would be able to protect me and I would be able to protect him. It was because of that single day that I was able to meet PB and become his Egoprentice."
"Whoa, I just can't believe that. Is that why that robot bear thing called you the Warrior of the Grove of Memories?" Asch said dumbstruck
"Yes, the Lost Woods is also called Memory Grove or the Forest of Memories." Sakura explained.
"I see." Acsh said as he thought of other things he wanted to ask "Can you tell me more about how you became his Egoprentice, I'm really curious now."
"Are you sure, it's a very long story." said Sakura.
"Yeah I really want to know, I don't know a lot about you and PB and I think it would help me understand your relationship with him because I still don't understand how you two came together like this." Asch explained.
"Well okay, I haven't told this to anyone for a long time but I guess I can reminisce a bit." Sakura said as she began recalling those days in the past.
(Okay I'm done and once again I really wasn't expecting this to turn out the way it did, especially the fluffiness. The flash backs starts next part and it's going to last a few parts but I think it's necessary for why Sakura is able to use Ego despite not being that Egomatic. Besides I think the way I'm planning it might be interesting, and I really want to do it. Also as it said about this is a few hours ago so there aren't Resistance soldiers all over the place so PBPB hasn't sent them out yet.)