Chapter 3: A Battler's Vow

The battle against Yuto kept replaying in Norman's subconscious mind. The way he fought and the result, the moment where he felt the gauntlet skewer into his stomach made him cringe in pain. The armored Yuto pulled out his heart, showing it to Norman as he began to close his eyes...only to open them inside intensive care alive. May and Max were glad to see Norman still with them after the injuries he suffered in that fight with the armored kidnapper. "Dad!" they shouted in glee. Tubes through his nose, arms in a splint and a tube under his blanket, Norman was pretty groggy from his battle with Yuto.

"May..." he weakly murmured seeing his kin okay. "Max..." Max dove onto his father, thankful that at least he's responding.

"Max, not so rough!" May warned. Hey, don't blame him after what happened. Norman suddenly noticed that Ash and Delia weren't present.

"Where's Mom...and brother?" It was a perilous issue that Norman wouldn't like and May and Max knew it. They could lie and say that Ash was keeping Delia safe at home...but even they knew how precious Delia was to him.

"That armored man took Mom," Max whimpered. "Ash and Sakura began to chase him over in Johto." Norman knew that the strength with the armored warrior was powerful and Ash was still working on his aura abilities. He started to rise up despite the wounds he suffered, In a snap, May and Max snagged Norman in an effort to control him. "Dad, don't!"

"You're hurt!" May pleaded as well. Finally, the convincing of his kids...and the wound proved too much for him to to sit up, let alone chase after his stepson. By now, the two rescuers were about to reach the Johto Region. The good news for Norman was that he was about to see more visitors.

"Is he awake?" a female voice echoed into the room. From the doorway, two youngsters entered. One was a tall tanned male brunette with spike-pit style hair while the other was a redhead female about a foot shorter than the new male.

"Brock," Norman weakly welcomed. "Misty." The sight of these two brought a smile on his face.

"Hey, Norman," Brock greeted. "We heard about what happened." What happened was Norman got thrashed around. "How are you doing?" Norman got sad. Delia and Ash were missing.

"My bride's been kidnapped and Ash has gone out to find her." Brock and Misty were horrified about the events involving Ash and Delia. For Norman to be injured, Delia to be captured and Ash to be on the hunt, Brock and Misty realized trouble was bound without knowing that...

"Even worse is that Miss Avalon is with him," May pointed out. Miss Avalon being Sakura. Fear grew among the two. Ash going after Norman's attacker could not be good news. Out in the lobby, Misty and Brock got the whole story from the siblings and allowing Norman to rest.

"And that's why Ash is bent on seeking her out," Max finished. Despite knowing the details, the ponytail redhead couldn't shake how a Battler of Norman's caliber would be trounced to horrifically.

"Considering that Norman's one of the great Grand Battlers, this is really unusual," Misty mulled. "But why would someone just kidnap Mrs. Ketchum out of the blue? Something doesn't make sense." Then, she recalled the fight. "Then again, why didn't Ash use Pikachu?" That was a highly debatable issue.

"Misty, Ash knows about using Pokémon in a battle," Brock explained. "As a Battler in possession of a Pokémon, he can only use Pikachu if his opponent is using a Pokémon as well. He has the Battlers' Guidelines tattooed to his heart." So because Yuto didn't have a Pokémon, Pikachu couldn't stand up and shock Yuto even if given permission. "So I completely understand why Ash couldn't use Pikachu in defending his mother." However, Misty reviewed the tale and wondered if maybe the Guidelines had some sort of anomaly.

"But you said the attacker never produced a Battler's license. Wouldn't that overrule the Guidelines?" A unique observation of the Battler's Code of Conduct. Max thought about it, believing that Ash could have used his license on him and be a vigilante. That's when he remembered what Ash observed during his turn at Yuto.

"Perhaps he did but because he was under some sort of hypnosis, he couldn't produce it," he theorized. Could Yuto really be a Battler? "That's possibly the reason Ash didn't use Pikachu." All the warning signs were there and still, Ash couldn't break the Guidelines, whether in fear of retribution for an illegal battle or something more serious. The two teens began to see Ash's thought process and why he held Pikachu back.

"I know that Ash isn't the brightest bulb in the lighthouse but there are those times which he sees more than what the naked eye shows," Brock pondered. "Say, where are Ash and Sakura going?" Max remembered the article about Yuto's disappearance.

"Cianwood City. The article the officer presented was believed to be linked to Mom's abduction." Even on that note, what could Misty and Brock do to keep their good friend safe? Meanwhile, Ash, Pikachu and Sakura arrived in New Bark Town, according to the sign. They were partly on the way to Cianwood City. The nostalgic feeling enveloped Ash.

"Kinda wish I came back here on different terms," he murmured. Pikachu agreed to what he meant. Sakura kept thinking back to the short fight with Yuto.

"There's something I don't understand, Ash," she spoke out. "You had Pikachu and he could have helped out." Oh boy, not this again. Acting as if this was new to her, Ash chose to clarify that ruling the way he learned.

"Sakura, using Pikachu to attack that guy would violate the Guidelines of the Battler." Even though she was starting to understand, she had doubts that Ash complied with the regulations.

"But he never had a Battler's license! He was fair game!" Was he really fair game to use Pikachu?

"Maybe he did but was under that spell and never acknowledged anything any of us said." In a sense, his actions were not of his own but of someone else. Sakura now believed that Ash faced off against a Battler and didn't want to take a chance on saying he didn't. "We've got a long way to go in order to reach Cianwood City." The group proceeded on, unaware that the Ancient of Darkness was viewing them.

"Hm..." she hummed. "The young boy is on his way to Cianwood." This began to trouble the evil mistress. "He cannot be underestimated. He's after my prize and I will not have it absconded." If this ageless woman had a face, she'd be grinning. "Perhaps some of my pets can provide some entertainment." Out of the blue, shadows began to transform. Taking shape, these shadows established color. Some turned to black round creatures with short arms and legs. Some turned to blue bats with huge mouths. "Now my shadow Pokémon, take care of these youths! Protect the fortress until my youth's returned!" The shadow Pokémon bowed before they became shadows and dashed off. "Let's see if this Battler has what it takes. In one week, there will be a solar eclipse. That will become the moment my sacrifice becomes the key to eternal youth and power." A solar eclipse? Was that why she hasn't taken Delia's youth? She's waiting for an alignment of the sun and moon. "Yuto!" On cue, the summoned loner emerged, still incumbered by the spell.

"What is thy bidding?" muttered the armored man.

"You will accompany the Shadow Gengar and Golbat to the son of the sacrifice. He is completely short-minded to search for her here on Mt. Silver." Yuto obeyed. Why couldn't he, he was possessed. That's when the Ancient remembered a detail. "Oh! Before you depart, I have a present to award you for capturing her." Out of the darkness came a card. Yuto snagged the card from the air and placed it in his pocket. "That is your Battler's license. This way, the boy will not suspect anything wrong." So Ash's intuition was off. Ash had ample opportunity with Pikachu but his own servitude to his Battler's training. However now that Yuto has a license, he can legally battle other Battlers. With his new accessories, Yuto excused himself in pursuit of Ash and Sakura. The darkness breezed Delia with bone-chilling shivers back in the dungeon. She shook from the combination of fear and cold. Let's face it, all she had on was a blouse, long skirt and slippers. Washu on the other foot was in a long sleeve sweatshirt and baggy shorts she stuffed. Sure she had nylon pantyhose over her legs and fuzzy slippers but anything lower she wasn't feeling. What she was feeling could be related to a Rubik's Cube.

"I don't get it," she scowled silently. "I built a machine to loiter around?" From her perspective, she was forced to build a statue. "Why did she hired a mad scientist of 700 years to build it?" Someone was left out of vital information. Delia had a hunch about why.

"You know, there's a solar eclipse this week," she backtracked. "Maybe she's waiting for that moment when the sun is hidden behind the moon." Washu was fascinated...and she's the mad scientist!

"There's a solar eclipse this week? How do you know?" What was her big secret? Did she go to college? Was she an astrologist?

"It's was mentioned on the news." Well, that's one way to get information. Before the ladies could relax, a snicker echoed from outside the walls.

"For my sacrifice, you must be well educated," the dark one sneered. "Tell me, why does this young one provide such great quantity of intelligence?" Delia wasn't sure if she should reply or keep her high mentality a hush-hush. Then again, her grit at the veil of black mist was transparent to the fear she was gripping with.

"Cel- Celadon University!" A college grad. The ancient one snickered more, intrigued with where she established her intelligence.

"A great university. If not for living for more than 20 centuries, I would enroll as a professor, myself. Same could go for the 700-year-old kid behind you." Must she mock Washu's age just because she's older than her? Hearing the lengths of time, Delia was rather perplexed.

"Whatever happened to turning 18 declares you an adult?"

"Take note that I've absorbed many youths over the beginning of the aftermath of the human's war with Pokémon. I was one of the original 17 Masters of Elemental Aura alongside my brethren. After the war, we began to teach the humans what it's like to befriend these creatures and I had more followers than any of the other Aura Masters which made them suspicious of me. The Dark Aura... they were afraid of what they imagined as manifestation with the Dark Aura. To establish their investigation, they exiled me to this fortress in Mt. Silver." She was going on and on but Washu heard enough.

"Geez, tell us your life story while you're at it, come on!" she snapped in boredom. The ancient one growled in anger before a blast of force shoved Washu into the wall. The impact was so fierce, a large crevice was left in its wake. She wasn't. She was out. Delia came to her aid in an instant.

"I will not allow interference. I will banish you now that you've completed my device." Suddenly, a shadowy cloud engulfed Washu. It dissipated and she went with it. Delia was frightened well. What could she do?

"Before you take my youth, at least tell me your name," she wished. The veil of darkness began to retreat. At that instant, a strand of blond hair was exposed. So it was a blond female.

"In due time, my sacrifice." Then she left, leaving Delia all alone. Her moments of life going by the minutes. Her youth hung in the balance. Ash was on the phone with someone at a building where some Pokémon were being examined by a few nurses in kinky pink uniforms and pseudo-ballet shoes.

"Thanks, Falkner," he accepted...what exactly? "We'll meet you there." He hung the phone up. They were in luck...at least from Ash's smile. "Falkner said that we can borrow his Pidgeot on our way to Cianwood City. We do need to reach Violet City, first off." Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Pretty good reason, too.

"That's the next town over," she remembered. "We should be able to make it there by curfew." They had time to plan the trip but they weren't going to make it there that easily. After Pikachu was checked upon, the trio banned together on their way to Violet City. They were unaware that their trip was actually taking them farther from Delia. That's when Gengars and Golbats blocked the way for the heroes. Needless to say how surprised they were in finding these creatures.

"Gengar...and Golbat?" It seemed out of character for these two groups of Pokémon to suddenly strike. To Ash, this was a perfect opportunity to warm up before rescuing his mother. "Okay. Are you ready, Pikachu?" Pikachu was ready alright. The battle was about to begin when Yuto showed up from behind the shadow Pokémon. Spotting the group, trouble was brewing.

"We meet again," he murmured as he pulled out his license. To Ash, his suspicions were correct. However, the three were unaware of the real deal that Yuto was given a forged license. He flicked it to Sakura who now learned of his identity.

"Yuto Sakurai, huh?" she read. Yuto and Ash eyed each other, the weight of rivalry beginning to build. Who would come out on top in this battle?

TO BE CONTINUED...