Remnants
In the world of Pokémon, you think that there would be tons of fresh air, beautiful lands and new Pokémon living in harmony. Right, well not this time. Ever since the Megalith Zygarde incident in Lumiose City, things haven't been ok. Almost every city in every region was in ruins from the blast wave. Pokémon were dying or fading out of existence from the giant blast wave that hit the Earth. As for people, they have been either disappearing along with the Pokémon, or have been killed in the blast. The blast wave had some type of unstable molecules in it combined with some type of radiation that was killing people and Pokémon in all regions. Very few people survived in each region. There was no communication now since all the power was out due to the explosion. On the ground of the rubble of the Lumiose Gym, there was a red hat that had been torn up from the blast.
A few meters from it appeared a portal, and coming out of the portal was a boy. A boy who looked 16-years-old with wearing a blue collared shirt with a black t-shirt underneath, with black jeans and yellow hi-tops and black fingerless gloves on his hands, on his arms were blue gauntlets that had reached from his wrist to his elbow with razor blades on the edges. This kid was no other than Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town in the Kanto region.
As he was looking at the sight of the Lumiose Gym horrified at what had happened that day where everything had been taken away from him. He couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it but it happened, the end of the world had happened and it was all his fault.
"I wasn't strong enough stop it. I wasn't fast enough to save my friends. I wasn't strong enough to protect my best friend." he said silently. He walked over to the giant rock in front of the rubble where his had was lifted putting on the ground beside before walking up to the rock and stopped in front of it. He then closed his eyes letting everything he'd seen settle in his mind before feeling the need to release his anger. He opened eyes and yelled in rage and he threw his right arm in a slashing motion at the rock in front of him and locked himself in that position. At first there was nothing but silence gathering the wind until the sound of a blade cutting through steel hit his ears. The rock was split in half as the top part slowly moved down to the side hitting the ground forming dust from the impact. As the dust cleared, Ash was in the same stance as before but him arm was glowing azure blue with the razor-edged blade extended about 2 inches from the gauntlet, and its length was about 9 ½ inches from his wrist to elbow. Ash was panting from his anger readying himself to make another slash.
As he moved for another strike reeling back his left arm, he felt someone grab his forearm from moving. Out of the corner of his eye he saw red hair flowing through the wind and a blue gloved hand holding his arm in place. As he retracted the blade but kept his arm glowing, Ash turned around to get a full view of his friend. She had dark skin with blue eyes and dark-red hair, wearing a long-sleeved white crop top with white short-shorts, dark blue boots, two dark blue holsters wrapped around her thighs and dark blue straps with white buckles that wrap around her hips and stomach. This was Skyla the former Mistralton gym leader, she came out the portal with Ash to show him the remnants of Lumiose City. Still consumed with rage he intended to hit Skyla behind him but Skyla grabbed both of his arms holding them down.
"Ash calm down, this isn't your fault you know that." she whispered softly.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?" he shouted.
"I CAN'T CALM DOWN SKYLA. LOOK AT EVERYTHING'S THAT HAPPENED, THE CITY'S IN RUINS, PEOPLE AND POKEMON ARE DEAD, THE WORLD IS DESTROYED!" he continued shouting. Ash was trying to pull away from Skyla but she wouldn't let go of him. Ash was too angry right now, he wasn't hearing or seeing anything, all he saw was the events of what had happened that day replaying in his head over and over. Skyla pulled back a bit to look at him directly putting her hands on his shoulders.
"Ash, please stop it this isn't going to help you. Your too emotional right now and we can't have you wandering off to who knows where on your own. Last time that happened you were out for two weeks." Skyla said firmly as she stared into his eyes.
"I DON'T CARE!" he shouted once more trying breakaway from her grasp. "I WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO STOP THE BLAST. I WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP PEOPLE AND POKEMON FROM DYING! I WASN'T ABLE TO DO ANYTHING!"
Skyla hated what Ash was doing, he was blaming himself for the destruction of their world. This wasn't the boy who beat her a year ago, he wasn't acting like the friendly, confident, and caring person right now. His soul was slowly drowning in darkness. If she doesn't stop him soon…she pushed those thoughts aside as she looked back at Ash as he stopped trying to get out of her arms. She knew he was suffering from this madness and how could she not? She had to go through this when she lost her grandfather back at her home. She remembered him pushing her out of hangar when the roof collapsed on them. She searched the building for him multiple times but all she found in the destroyed hangar was his cane. She burst into tears, crying her eyes out in agony. Her grandpa Miles was the best parent she could ever ask for and now he's gone. She made a vow that day, her vow was to continue living on for her grandpa no matter what. He may be gone but he will never be forgotten.
Returning to reality, Skyla focus back on Ash who was slowly panting and looked like he would pass out from exhaustion. As she was about to scold him for not pushing himself too far, her frustrations turned into sadness when she saw the look in his eyes. He was shattered.
Seeing people dead, Pokémon dead, his friends…all gone…. Brock, Tracey, Misty, Gary, May, Max, Dawn, Angie, Iris, Cilan, Cameron, Bianca, Clemont, Bonnie…. his childhood friend…. Serena…. his mother…...Delia….and his best friend…Pikachu.
"Serena, Mom, Pikachu" He felt pain in his heart at the thought of those three. He loved them more than anything in the world. He lost him mom when he heard about his hometown being completely deserted. He lost Serena in blast wave when rubble fell in between them causing part of the building to collapse. He lost Pikachu when…..when…when they both fell. He remembered being told that he lost them when he fell from the tower. He remembered holding onto his partner as they fell but when he hit a bunch of edges from the debris of the broken buildings and lost consciousness before they hit the ground. When he woke up, he'd been told that Pikachu had died from blood loss. He couldn't deal with it anymore, he needed to leave. He needed to lash out his anger somewhere, anywhere to get it off his chest. He was angry at one and one person only….himself.
Tears started to well up in his eyes as his body started shaking. He was angry at himself for not being able to do what he always did and that was protecting those he cared about. He cried silently so Skyla couldn't hear him but he was failing miserably and tears started falling down his face like a river. He was a failure, and he knew that deep down inside himself….he'll always be one.
Skyla noticed Ash started crying when she felt him shaking. She wanted to hug him but was afraid that she might upset him and anger him even more. Instead, she silently watched him stand there and cry until he started sobbing.
She abandoned all worries and pulled him into her chest. She had one hand on his back and the other on his head running back and forth through his hair. At first he didn't respond to her actions and she was about to pull out before she felt him wrap him arms around her waist and buried his face further into her chest as his legs gave out. Glad that he accepted her comfort, Skyla just sat there holding Ash listening to him sobbing.
"*sob**sob**sob*"
"That's it. It's okay, it's gonna be alright." Skyla said softly.
"No, it won't. *sob* it's my fault….my fault that everyone's…" Ash muffled.
"Ash, Ash look at me." she said. Ash refused to look up at her instead he just buried his face into her chest further not wanting to show himself. Skyla smiled a bit at his attempt to avoid her but she knew that she had to tell him the hard truth of reality.
"Ash, I need you to look at me." she said firmly. This time he removed his head but still refused to look at her. Skyla removed her hand from his hair and propped it under his chin forcing him to look at her.
"Ash I know that you blame yourself for this but you can't because this was something you could not stop." He wanted to shout at her, yell at her, make her see it was his fault but no words came from his mouth so he just sat there and listened silently.
"This was out of your hands ok. Even if things were different could you think you would still be able to stop it from happening?" she said sternly making him look away from her. Skyla didn't want Ash to pull away from her but he needed to come to terms with being in a cruel world.
"You can't save everyone." she said bluntly. Ash flinched at her statement, he always saw that if he tried hard enough that he would be able to prevent things like this from happening and everything would be okay. But inside….he knew…he knew that she was right but that's what hurt him the most, he couldn't save anyone. Tears welled up in his eyes again at the sudden harsh truth of reality, he was weak…his weakness caused the end of the world, only one question remains that plays like a broken record in his mind, why…..why was I saved?
Skyla pulled Ash back into a hug as soon as she saw his tears. It also meant that he was coming to terms with reality and was slowly understanding the world around him. She knew that he would take a while to adjust but she would be there for him no matter what and she knew "they" would be too.
After a few minutes, Skyla felt soft breathing against her chest knowing that Ash cried himself to sleep. She tilted his head a bit to wipe away the tear marks on his face. She then examined his arms, thinking that he damaged himself when he lashed out and she finds some blood coming from wrists. "I need to check on his gauntlets when we get home, they're too dangerous for him to use right now and it looks like it's hurting him more than when he would use it in combat." Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a whirling sound coming from behind her. She turns around seeing that it's the portal they both came through still wide open, she wondered how it still stayed open but she would worry about it later after she got Ash away from here. She then tucked her arms under his legs and his back as she got up and walked over to the portal, before entering she stopped turned her head around and took one last look at the terrible sight before her. She wondered if Ash would be able to come back here without feeling guilty but only time would tell. She turned away walking through the portal with Ash in her arms heading to their home.
Shalour City: Off Shore House
About two miles away from the gym sat a small house that was built in a very odd way and on the porch sat a girl meditating, aura flowing around her body. She had very long creamy blonde hair in a high fluffy ponytail with green-grayish eyes and fair skin. She wore a red and black sleeveless dress over her black compression shorts with red and black gloves and boots with heart decals that function as skates. This was the former Shalour City gym leader Korrina. She had turn this place into a more comfortable home when she discovered it. The house was in pieces during the blast….well the top half was. It had to be rebuild after the blast two months earlier. The bottom half of the house was partly destroyed from the blast wave leaving the rooms barely intact while the top half was blown off completely. She repaired the bottom half with her aura when she found it, she had to get help with the top half that had no roof.
She remembered finding this place while looking for grandpa. She lost Lucario when the rubble collapsed on them, he used the last of his aura to protect her. When she came to, she saw him laying still on the ground as she tried to wake him up but he faded away leaving behind his aura passing it on to her. She used it to find her grandpa only to be heartbroken when she couldn't find it at all. She stayed in her old home crying for days at the death of her grandpa and pokemon. She wanted to blame the world for her family's death but she knew that it would get her nowhere. Instead, she decided to search for any survivors within the city but no one was around, all she found were burnt buildings and broken roads. So she went to Lumiose city and looked around at the base of the destroyed gym, she wondered if her friends survive but she couldn't sense anyone within the area. Just when she was about to give up and leave behind a deserted city she heard a groan coming from behind her, when she turned around she saw a girl who was about the same age as her and the boy limped in her arms was none other than Ash, his aura was fading that day and if she hadn't found him…he would have been dead. She was glad she did found that day and met Skyla.
"'Hey Korrina, stop meditating will you, it's getting kind of depressing" Korrina opened her eyes and saw a girl in front of her. She had cherry-colored eyes and dark pink hair tied in black ribbons, wearing a black sleeveless top and a short grey skirt with bandages wrapped around her hands and knees with combat boots. It was Ursula.
"Why do you think it's depressing Ursy?" Korrina said teasingly while closing her eyes. Ursula had tick marks coming out of her head when Korrina called her that name. She wanted to retort at her but she sighed instead.
"I'm saying it's depressing because you've been doing that ever since Sky took Ash with her to Lumiose City and I've been worried about them since they haven't returned yet. Plus, I'm worried about Ash." she said while frowning.
"We all saw how devastated he was when you told him about his mothers and best friend's death. He'll be worse than before, he'll shut us out or do something worse." Korrina couldn't blame Ursula for her way of thinking because she was worried too. When she told Ash the deaths of his family, he lashed out at himself and tried to end his own life that day. She, Skyla and Ursula agreed that until he was ok mentally, he couldn't be left on his own to do anything.
Korrina then stood up from her spot on the porch and patted Ursula on the head. "Don't worry, Skyla knows what's at stake and how he might react but more importantly..." she paused before putting an arm around Ursula and looked up at the red sky.
"We're all here for each other, and no matter what happens we'll always be together and face whatever comes our way together." She finished smiling brightly at Ursula who smiled back.
"Your right Sis, I shouldn't worry so much."
"That's the spirit now enough of this depressing atmosphere, let's go prepare lunch." Korrina said excitingly. Ursula took this moment to get payback.
"I think you should leave the cooking to me Korrina, remember when you tried to make lunch the first time for us, it blew up." she said while shivering at the memory. Korrina's face heated up in embarrassment.
"That was one time ok, I didn't think it was gonna turn out like that but it still looked good." she said while scratching her cheek.
"Yes it may have had the appearance of good food but the taste was…..well I don't think I should put it in detail of what we ate, either way I'm cooking lunch end of story." she finished. Korrina went along with Ursula's reasoning and decided to leave that job to her until she remembered something.
"Wait a minute, didn't we run out of bread the other day or was that something else?" she asked.
"Now that you mention it, no we still have bread. What we ran out of the other day was vegetables and without the vegetables…I can't make lunch." Ursula finished slumping her shoulders in defeat, while Korrina just sweatdropped at her actions.
"You know I can just go find some in one of stores, right?"
"Yes, you could since I know nothing about this region but if I recall I thought we all agreed that if we go anywhere within the area or through one of Skyla's portals that we would go together or in pairs of two." Ursula reminded her.
"Relax ribbon, I know this region better than you and pilot do. Plus, I can sense any aura within the area that seems off. If anything happens I'll send a flare signal calling for help or telling Skyla to come and get me if she comes back with Ash beforehand." she said calmly. Ursula didn't seem too keen on her idea but her thinking was interrupted when they both felt wind blowing in front of them. They saw the airspace circle in on itself before becoming bigger opening a portal, as it opened they saw Skyla walking out with Ash asleep in her arms. Korrina and Ursula rushed over to them in worry.
"What happened?" Ursula asked. Korrina examined Ash's arms seeing some marks of dry blood coming from his wrists causing her to glare at Skyla.
"Skyla, I thought you had this under control. You were supposed to make sure he didn't try and hurt himself!" she said heatedly.
"Calm down Korri. He had a breakdown as soon as we got there. We all knew that was gonna happen and he took his anger out on some rubble but that's it he didn't try to hurt himself this time!" Skyla retorted.
"Then what's with the blood on wrists, I swear Skyla if you let Ash cut himself?!" Korrina shouted heatedly.
"I didn't ok, the gauntlets Ash were using are too dangerous for him right now. When I saw him retract his blades after I stopped his rampage, it somehow cut open his wrists. I didn't notice it till after he cried himself to sleep!" Skyla and Korrina both glared at each other before Ursula went in between them.
"Both of you cut it out right now. You too can have your arguments later, I need to go into town to look for food and Ash needs to recover. So how about this, Skyla you and I will go into town while Korrina stays here and looks over Ash and makes sure he doesn't do anything stupid ok?" she said with her arms spread out trying to lessen the tension between the two. They continued glaring at each other before both reluctantly agreed at Ursula's suggestion.
"Ok but once we come back I'm watching him, I need to look at his gauntlets. They shouldn't be able to internally damage him while he's wearing them." Skyla said.
"That's ok with me." Korrina said while taking Ash from the redhead's arms into her own. Skyla walks away from her back to the portal, changing its location from Lumiose to Coumarine and walking through it. Ursula ran after her not wanting to get left behind but not before stopping at the entrance and turned to look back at Korrina.
"We'll be back before you know it ok?" she said.
"Yeah okay but be careful you two."
"Aren't we always, see ya later." she waved before entering the portal as it closed in on itself. Korrina sighed to herself before looking at the unconscious boy in her arms. She brushed away his bangs at she looked at him in sadness. She could tell by his aura that he was very exhausted. Even though he just woke up a week ago, his body still hadn't recovered from his injuries, but being the stubborn kid he is Ash refused to lie down and heal. She knew she was gonna give him a scolding if Skyla or Ursula hadn't.
"This isn't fair, not to Ash or Ursula.They both don't deserve this, there weren't ready for this." She thought to herself.
"Were any of us?...Was anyone?" she muttered to herself. As she talked herself she felt a small spike of energy coming from behind her.
"Did you two forget something or did you….." she paused. When she turned around she didn't see any in front of her there was nothing but thin air.
"What the heck, I could've swore there was something right there!?" she thought to herself. She looked at her surroundings before scanning the area with her aura again but feels nothing like it was never there.
"Hmmmm, that was weird. Who was that and how did they get here without setting off the traps?" Her train of thought was interrupted when felt Ash move a bit in her arms. She looked at him and saw beads of sweat coming off of him. "He's having another nightmare and each of them is worse than the last. I'll tell Sky and Ursy about earlier when they get back right now I need to keep Ash calm." Korrina walked back to the house focused on helping Ash. As she walked back a cloaked figure from the distance came out of hiding staring at them, mostly at Ash. Silent tears came as the figure walked out of sight thinking one thing. "He's alive, Ash is still alive."
Coumarine City (Destroyed):
Skyla and Ursula were walking through the ruined city with cracked pathways, demolished buildings, and dead trees. The city that was once known for its clear skies and atmosphere now had red skies and a creepy atmosphere, much to the girls' dismay.
"Ok If I remember correctly, If we take this path broken cobblestone path down a bit we should be able to reach the shop in no time." Ursula said.
"And how do you know that?" Skyla asked her curious. Ursula stopped walking when she heard the question.
"I…uh…I kinda….." she trailed off.
"You do what?"
"I get bored sometimes and come explore the ruins of what was left behind." She said lightly keeping her gaze away from Skyla who looked at her in bewilderment.
"You WHAT?!"
"Sorry!"
"I remembering you saying that you don't know anything about this region."
"I don't but I've read about some of the cities before the incident, but I mostly remember this one."
"I only come here though, that's it. I don't try to go to other regions besides Sinnoh and that's bad enough for me." Skyla sighed in annoyance as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"So its not you trying, it's more of you don't want to go." she said making a point.
"Yeah that's it but there's a reason for it." Ursula frowned at her. She didn't want to go back to Sinnoh, because just like Ash, she couldn't accept that she lost her family and pokemon except she had better control of her feelings and will gladly go to Skyla or Korrina for comfort as where Ash would keep it to himself and try not to make others worry about him when clearly they all know that doesn't work. Going back there….would just bring up painful memories.
Skyla was annoyed At Ursula for running off to different places without her or Korrina knowing but she kinda understood why she did it. They have to be able travel around freely and can't be cooped up in the house everyday like a prisoner. She needed to get out. No. They all needed too, but right now with Ash and Ursula its not exactly the best choice right this instant.
"I…umm….well" she fidgeted while shuffling her feet and trying to get to the point.
"It's ok, you don't have to tell me because I see why you don't want too." Skyla interrupted. Ursula looked at her in shock.
"Did you read my mind because it sounds like you did?!"
"No I didn't pink tails, I sort of figured out why you go out and I understand it."
"You do?"
"Yes" she answered with a reassuring smile as Ursula sighed in relief,
"But please tell me or Korrina where you are going before you run off."
"I promise."
As they both continued walking they both stopped and saw what was once a beautiful tree in this city now a dead, and rotten tree giving off a nasty vibe. Skyla and Ursula both shivered as the wind blew through them giving chills down their spines.
"Even the tree didn't survive. You think all the people and pokemon that died would rest in peace don't you?" Ursula asked solemnly.
"Yeah but at least they are with their families and friends."
"And we're still here." Ursula finished as she walked off. Skyla couldn't help but notice her voice laced with venom. It sounded like she hated being here and wanted to die. Skyla had no idea what brought her to be like that but would ask about it later. Her mind went back to Ash and wondered if he felt like this too but wouldn't show it. They all knew that he would always help others with no regard for his own safety but when he needs it, he tries to deal with it all on his own which worried her to no end. As much as she admired him for his actions, she doesn't want him to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"HEY SKY!" Ursula shouted snapping Skyla out of her stupor. She looked up and saw Ursula a few meters ahead of her waving her arm back and forth. "Come on, we're almost there."
"Coming!" she shouted back as she ran to catch up to her.
Coumarine City Shop (Destroyed):
"Well here we are." Ursula stated as she looked at the outside of the shop. The windows were wide open and the glass was all over the sidewalk broken into tiny little pieces.
"Careful walking in and out, there's broken glass everywhere." Skyla warned. She and Ursula carefully stepped over the broken glass and walked into the shop.
"Ok stay here I'll be right back."
"Wait why?"
"Because I know the place inside and out, plus in the back door right there has a small greenhouse that I have been trying to keep up and running before it somehow finds a way to power down." Ursula explained.
"How were you able to find any power at all, almost every backup generator within the reason was either destroyed, fried or buried beneath debris?" Skyla asked.
"Well when I first came here, I saw that there wasn't much to find until I heard something."
Ursula then pointed to the right side of the wall with Skyla following. "You see that broken wall right there with a pile of broken bricks?"
"Yeah what about them?"
"I used my bladegun and fired a small beam at the wall because that's where I heard the sound coming from." She said proudly before receiving a hand slap to the back of her head.
"Oooooooowwwwwwww" she groaned as she rubbed the back of her head. "What was that for?" Skyla turned to her and glared.
"Are you nuts? You can't use your gun on something that looks like it's about to collapse on us at any second!" she exclaimed.
"Relax will ya! Right before I did that, I check for any weak spots to where I could fire my gun without bringing down the building." she replied while Skyla once again pinched the bridge of her nose.
"*Sigh* I don't know what I'm gonna do with you Ursula." she sighed while Ursula smirked at her.
"Well you can't do anything about it cause your pretty much stuck with me aren't you?" Skyla smiled back at her.
"Yeah. I guess I am."
"Ok I'll be right back this shouldn't take long." she informed Sky before heading off. Skyla walked around a bit looking at what's left of the shop. She saw the shelves to her left broken down but the pillars were still standing. She saw a clock completely broken and she knew she could not repair it. She wanted to look for clocks that weren't powered through electricity and were still working but she couldn't find any.
"There's got to be a clock somewhere in this city and I can't go back to Lumiose since the power plant that runs their electricity is completely fried. Maybe I could search with Korrina when she's available and not meditating like she does all the time." she thought. She was then brought out of her thinking when Ursula tapped her shoulder surprising her a bit.
"Oh sorry, you just spaced out again Sky. You know one of these days you gonna be completely stuck in your own world for who knows how long and I'll be right there ready to scare the pants out of you." Ursula snickered while making motions with her hands.
"Yeah yeah I get what you're saying, and for your information I'm wearing shorts not pants." she corrected.
"Short shorts you mean?" Ursula countered while she tried to stifle her laughter.
"You know what I mean." Skyla said as she waved her off.
"Ok do we have everything you need?"
"Yep. It's all right here in this basket."
"Do I even want to know where you got the basket?" Skyla asked.
"Nope, it's a secret." Ursula finished by putting a finger to her cheek.
"You and your activities." Skyla sighed before she clapped her hands together.
"Alright, let's go home."
"Right." Skyla opened up a portal with the image of their house showing as she and Ursula walked into it. As the portal closed, across the street on the rooftop of a building there were two figures. One was in a blue cloak while the other was dressed in purple.
"I see that Ursula survived the blast, but who was that with her?" the one in the blue asked.
"That was Skyla, she was a gym leader in Mistralton City but I have no idea why she's in Kalos. And how was she able to do that?" the one in purple stated.
"I don't know but for now let's head back and regroup with Blaze and Spark, and please don't antagonize Spark when we get there, okay Terra?" she sighed.
"Alright Wave. I won't antagonize Sparky when we get there ok, I won't do it…..much." she smirked.
"Let's just go." Wave said ending the conversation as she turned as disappeared leaving behind mist leaving behind an angry Terra.
"Ugh I hate it when she does that." She muttered as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop going back to her hideout.
Next Time:
Chapter 2: Evil Opposite and Madness
