"If we had no faults of our own, we should not take so much pleasure in noticing those in others and judging their lives as either black or white, good or bad. We all live our lives in shades of gray." -Shannon L. Alder

Prologue: Reflections, Reflections…

Hello… I am the Masked Master. Or rather… that is one of my many aliases. I'm a procurer of various masks that hides my identity from the public eye. This can range to being a simple black facemask to a Pokémon mask in a carnival. I'm good at blending into any environment. I can come out of nowhere without anyone realizing it until the right time. I'm also someone you've never heard of before. My goal is to reunite with Ashton Ketchum and what better way to do that than through battling?

First things first: I am relentless. I've been searching for him for the past four years and now that I'm close, I'm making sure I never lose him again. I've known or rather, sensed that he was alive and well all sixteen years of his life, but never knew exactly where he was. I could never place my finger on where he was or who I was sensing. Now that I've found him in the Kalos region, I registered myself in the Renaissance Conference. I intend to make a stand in finding Ashton once and for all and no one is going to stop me…

In the world of Pokémon, you generally see it as a happy place where the good guys win. That is the case… right? Well, I'm not sure after the injustice I've suffered. I may have tracked Ashton down, but it's for good reason. I'm not sure if people know this outside of my home region, but for those who do, that saves me some time to explain.

Ash has the ability to manipulate aura.

As a young and promising aura guardian, he has no idea how rare of a breed of a human he truly is. What does this have to do with me locating him? A whole lot, actually. You see, when he was first born, I sensed in him a latent energy so powerful that if anyone managed to convince him to turn his back on the good in the world, it would later prove game changing for the balance of the world.

If I am right, Ashton is the most powerful guardian of our generation and the balance would shift to them. They won't know what they would be getting into. In the region I'm from, the Hokori region, there is a team of intelligent, but troublemaking group of psychics and grunts called the Zurui. They have an undeniable jealousy towards all aura guardians and seek to eradicate them.

What they fail to realize is that aura guardians and psychics are like two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. Should they kill every aura guardian, the spiritual plane would become out of whack. Everything affecting the spiritual plain would affect both the Distortion and our worlds. Jealousy is powerful ammunition for evil purposes and will corrupt even the purest of hearts. Trust me, I've seen how it's broken down many helpless souls… and be turned into a weapon against me.

Anyway, back to Ashton. It is imperative for me to reunite with him as soon as possible before the Zurui gets him and becomes corrupted by them. Right now, if I'm right, Ashton recently turned sixteen a few days after I'm writing down this reflection. That means I'm almost out of time. He's a pure one, that boy. I can feel it even from a distance. As he's grown older, his latent power has grown exponentially and many notable psychics are starting to take notice.

That same latent aura enabled me to find him in Kalos. Before you ask: I am not a psychic myself. I know this stuff because I'm an aura guardian. I am adept in the manipulation of all types of aura. Most people would call it the eighteen different Pokémon elemental types. I know Ash has the potential to be more powerful than me, but I need to make sure that I'm the one to train and protect him so the Zurui can't get their claws on him.

What does this have to do with me? They saw me as a threat when I was a younger aura guardian. This started when I was in my late teens, but slowly grew worse as time passed. The Zurui had tried to kill me multiple times and failed. They eventually took to another measure to make sure the threat that I posed was neutralized. You see, the reason why I haven't actively been seeking Ashton out is that I've fairly recently remembered that he was alive to begin with.

When Ash was seven, the most adept psychics of the clan separated me from him. They took away my memory of him. They also took away my ability to know his specific aura. So while I was able to still sense him, but I didn't know what or who I was sensing. This process just to hinder us both took the leader of the team and someone close to me to knock me unconscious. That ambush was costly and I resent them for it.

The lack of memory should have worked, right? For a time, I suppose. My memory loss only lasted five years; I'm assuming this is because I spiritually re-tuned myself. I suspect that's the way to be rid of memory loss. When he turned twelve, that's when I remembered completely, especially after I saw his face for the first time in years, Instead of taking my anger out on destroying the group of psychics, I decided to lie low and wait. I wouldn't be better than them if I killed them (although I do think about doing that every day, much to my own disgust).

I acted as if I didn't know who Ashton was and used that lack of knowledge as a weapon. Even today, I act like I don't remember who Ashton is, just to make sure that they don't perceive me as a threat. That will change the minute I'm on the battlefield with him. There will be no reason to keep acting dumb.

For now, they think I've gone crazy. As a result, they see me as a lost poor grown woman, overpowered with mega strong Pokémon. People don't like me because I'm too strong. They think I effortlessly obtained my best friends from out of nowhere and that they've always been that way. Lots of people fear strength and condemn something they don't agree with. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you won't like me for the same reason. I don't even like myself sometimes.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm more of a figurehead to their goals. They wish.

By sixteen, most aura guardians are close to maturation and that is the best time to start training them had they not started at five. I knew they wouldn't try to take him for that reason, so I have to meet him first. By the time he turns twenty-one, he should reach his full potential with the right training. Hopefully, I'll stop him from heading down the wrong path.

No. I will stop him from going down the wrong path. He's my responsibility.

Well, enough of my rambling. Ashton absolutely has no idea of the true potential he has. He is most likely a battling prodigy since aura augments one's abilities (I should know; I'm a battling prodigy). However, there are a lot of bad people out there. Dangerous people. These bad people will do anything (and I mean anything) for their nefarious plots and selfish goals. I've been a victim of those people. I just don't want Ash to go through the same things I've been through.

Tomorrow, I will be entering the final round of the Kalos League. My opponent is none other than Ashton himself. I entered as a competitor to prevent myself from getting shot dead while outside my region. Can't write off a death as an accident... at least not easily. That's one mini victory for me, at least. I've been on guard and there have been a few attempts at my life here, but they will never take me... not while I still have my sense of duty.

Ashton still doesn't know who I am. Heck, whoever is reading this won't know who I am. I'm writing of all these things in case they make me forget again, and this time completely. I'm placing this in a discreet place I know I'll head to one day. Hopefully, I won't need to use this, but you never know. My handwriting is complete trash, but it should still be readable. Gotta remember the kid's name. Remember: Ashton Ketchum… spiritual re-tuning... Never forget… again.

A/N: If you like long reads, then give this story a try. If you don't, that's OK, too. Everyone has their preferences~

Something to warn about: the OCs will appear overpowered at first because they are written in contrast to their native region. You can either give them a chance to develop more in later chapters or you can condemn this story right now and leave. It's your choice. I wrote them like that on purpose. They show the potential Ash can reach by the series's end.

Note from 4/22/18: I will eventually begin to review my earlier chapters like this one more closely now that I've finished every chapter. I feel unsatisfied with my early chapters now that I'm reviewing this about three years later and want to increase the quality. The book gets better the further you read and I think that has something to do with me improving over time.

I wish everyone a lovely day and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

I would really appreciate CONSTRUCTIVE criticism in my reviews, by the way. Any flames will be deleted upon me seeing it. If you don't like my story, that's fine. Everyone has their opinion. However, leave your negativity somewhere else. I have no tolerance for flames.

Happy reading!

~SPG123~