Greetings! I hope you haven't tired on the story yet!
In my opinion, this chapter's the most boring so far... but I would recommend that you read it since it's a lot of information in it that I'll use later in the story... I just don't think it's necessary for me to try and explain everything just because you skipped this chapter.
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review at the end of it!
R&R!
The young boy's feet were starting to hurt. He had never walked so much in his whole life! But one thing was clear though: He loved every second of it.
They had been walking for several days, Riley and Lucario had been awfully quiet during that time, even Riolu had looked rather thoughtful.
Only Ash and Pikachu were talking like nothing had happened or was wrong, but the tension still hung in the air.
One of the things that confused Ash the most was that they had avoided all villages and towns, as though Riley didn't want to meet any people...
"Um... Riley?" Ash asked after a while, causing the man in blue to look at his direction. "Where are we going?"
"I'll tell you when we get there, Ash." Riley responded to him with a kind, yet slightly nervous smile. "But we have to be quiet for now, the fewer people who notice us, the better."
"Why? I thought everyone likes a-" Ash was silenced by the sharp glare Riley sent him, causing him to look down towards the ground.
Riley sighed and continued walking with Lucario at his side, he didn't like this one bit... but it had to be done.
They had finally arrived at Route 17, and Riley motioned for Ash to come to him.
"Ash..." He told him with a kind smile. "I know that you lived near the sea in Pallet Town... but that was a long time ago and there was too much forest in the way to get a good look at it..."
"What are you talking about, Riley?" Ash wondered with a frown as he looked at the man with his head tilted. "I barely remember that memory."
"That's why I wanted to show you this!" Riley laughed and gave him a gentle push through a bush, causing Ash, Pikachu and Riolu to come out into a clearing.
The trio's eyes widened as they saw the sight. The ocean, a mighty mass of water as far as the eye could see was right in front of them, several water- and bird-pokemon were flying or swimming over, under or beside it.
"Woah/Chuu/Louu..." Was the collective sound that the trio managed to say at the grand vision in front of them.
"I know." Riley nodded as he stood between them with Lucario scouting the area. "It's a beautiful sight."
"It's really cool, Riley." Ash managed to say and tore his gaze from the ocean for a moment. "But why did you show me this? I thought we were going to train my aura."
"Ash..." Riley smiled at the little boy. "This IS training."
"Looking at water's training?" Ash asked with disbelief as he looked at the Aura Guardian. "How's that even logical?"
"When we start your training seriously, you will know." Riley only laughed and messed up the boy's hair. "Ah, Lucario's back! Did you find it, my friend?"
"Yes, master." Lucario nodded. "It's still here."
"What's still here?" Ash asked innocently, immediately gaining Riley and Lucario's attention.
"H-how... did you-" Riley was dumbfounded, how was this even possible. "Did you... hear Lucario?"
"Yeah!" Ash nodded happily. "It's the same as when I'm talking to Riolu!"
"You can talk..." Riley's voice died out before he had time to finish his sentence, he then looked towards his pokemon. "Lucario, did you communicate with Ash as well?"
The aura-pokemon simply shook his head, also stunned by the action.
"Impossible..."
"What's impossible, Riley?" Ash asked with a tilted head as he looked at the man, who had sat himself on the ground.
"You shouldn't be able to do it..." The man shook his head. "It took several years for me to even communicate with my own pokemon... and I couldn't talk with other auras until I was around twenty!"
"That's... a good thing?" Ash asked carefully, was something wrong with him? "I'm not good enough to become an Aura Guardian?"
Riley couldn't help but laugh at Ash's statement, clearly offending the boy.
"N... no, Ash!" He calmed himself down and got a serious look on his face. "You're good enough, almost too good!"
"Okay..." The boy hesitated and then looked at his pokemon, who simply shrugged.
"Do you know why I brought you here?" Riley decided to change the subject and looked at the boy seriously.
"You wanted me to see the ocean?"
"Yes, but that's not the only reason..." Riley made a motion for the trio to follow him and Lucario as they walked along the beach.
They walked until they came towards some kind of tall bush that was about as big as the castle walls.
"This is what we came for!" Riley stated with a laugh and pushed away several branches to enter. "Come on, Pikachu, Riolu and Ash!"
The trio looked at each other, then nodded and ran thorough the big bush too.
There they gasped again, after Ash had been hit by a branch to the face that is.
There was some kind of courtyard that was within the bush, as though the bushes were a kind of wall to prevent people from seeing this place.
From what Ash had picked up in the castle he could tell that the clearing inside the bush was circular with a diameter of about 500 metres and a small clear stream passed through it on its way out to sea.
Along the inside-wall were several berry-trees, each different and in full bloom, the fruit caused drool to accumulate in the mouths of the trio as they looked at it.
"This, Ash..." Riley smiled as he stood in the middle of the circle. "Is your father's personal training ground, which he built himself!"
"My... dad built all this?" Ash asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice. "All by himself?"
"A Guardian of the Aura is never alone, Ash." Riley smiled at him, then put a hand on Lucario's shoulder. "As long as we have a partner at our side, we'll never be alone!"
The boy looked from the little rodent to the little aura-pokemon, then towards Riley.
"Which one is my partner then?" He asked in confusion, Pikachu and Riolu looked at each other, not wanting to start some sort of rivalry.
"The number of partners an Aura Guardian is allowed to have is unlimited." Riley simply smiled, causing the trio to sigh in relief. "However, Pikachu will never learn the power of the Aura..."
"You mean I'll never be able to talk with Pikachu like I can with Riolu?" Ash asked with a hint of sadness in his voice, even Pikachu looked down.
"Maybe..." Riley paused to think. "If your bond's strong enough, and your aura's as powerful as I think it is... then you might make it."
"Really?" Ash's eyes were immediately filled with renewed hope. "That's awesome!"
"Yes, it's... awesome..." Riley smiled a troubled smile, when Ash started his training those words had to disappear. "It's getting late now, go and get some sleep... tomorrow, we'll start your training!"
The trio nodded and quickly curled up into a pile at the base of a nearby tree, soon they were all sound asleep.
Riley only looked at his Lucario for a moment.
"I'm not so sure about this..." Riley told him with a hesitant voice. "He has already learned thebasics, and that would take several years!"
"Where are you getting at, master?" Lucario asked with a frown.
"What if he becomes one of... them..." Riley didn't want to mention those names through his aura, he despised them too much to do it. "How can I control it?"
"He's the son of Sir Aaron." Lucario slowly explained. "And you're the student of Sir Aaron..."
"What are you trying to say?" Riley demanded, although his heart felt a little easier.
"I'm saying that it's nearly impossible for Ash to become like them." Lucario smiled at his master. "As long as you remind him about his true goal, nothing can go wrong."
"Our time will come, Lucario." Riley smiled back even bigger at him. "And when it comes, I hope we go down together."
"Same here, master." Lucario felt a little lump in his throat.
"It's time to get some sleep now, we both have a long day in front of us."
Ash was sitting high up in a tree in the park, laughing at the enraged brown haired king who stood under him, shouting with all his might.
"Get down here!" Giovanni roared, his face completely red. "I'm going to teach you not to use my underwear as a castle-flag!"
"But it was much better that way... Gio!" Pichu and Riolu howled with laughter when the young boy said that.
"Alright, have it your way then!" Giovanni shouted and started to shake the tree with all his might.
Ash bravely held onto the tree and didn't fall down, but Pichu and Riolu fell off and landed onto the ground, where they quickly darted away from the king.
"That's the best you can do, Gio?" Ash laughed, taunting him.
"No! This is!"
Ash suddenly found himself falling towards a small lake, he closed his eyes and prepared for impact...
The young boy shouted out in surprise when he felt the cold water struck him. He had a bewildered look on his face as he looked around and saw the bucket, belonging to the serious-looking Riley.
"What did you do that for!" Ash shouted at him as he felt himself grow enough angry to heat himself up. "I was having a great dream!"
"You don't have time to dream." Riley glared at him. "It's time to train you in the ways of the Guardian of the Aura!"
With those words the boy quickly stood up, with his pokemon standing right by his side.
"I'm ready, Riley!" Ash said as he stood at attention.
"That's good..." Riley nodded and walked up to him, as though this were some kind of inspection.
"First..." He flipped Ash's rather long hair. "You can't expect me to train you as an Aura Guardian when you've that long hair..."
"You're saying...?" The young boy gulped as he looked at his hair, which almost reached his eyes.
"We're going to cut some of it off." Riley nodded, giving Ash a terrified expression.
"Anything else...?" The boy sighed.
"Yes." Riley nodded and stood himself in front of the boy with crossed arms. "You're not calling me 'Riley' as long as I'm training you... you'll either call me 'teacher' or 'sensei', is that clear?"
"Yes..." Ash grew annoyed; this was the sort of talk he had wanted to leave the castle for...
"Yes what?"
"Yes... teacher..." He had to force out the last words, as Riolu snickered in the background.
"And YOU!" The little dog-pokemon jumped slightly as Riley looked at him. "You're going to be trained by Lucario, and I expect the same standard from you!"
"Lou!" The pokemon saluted him quickly and nodded.
"Very well."
The little rodent seemed to be trying to hide rather discretely behind Ash's legs, not wanting to be noticed by the Aura Guardian, but it was an exercise in futility...
"You, Pikachu!" Riley's powerful voice caused the little mouse to slowly poke its little head out from the protection of Ash's leg. "You might not have an Aura to train... but you'll also be trained in the way of combat and obedience by Lucario!"
"Chuu..." The little rodent cooed sadly in agreement.
"Alright, listen up!" He gained everyone's attention with those words as he started to pace back and forth.
"Sometimes you're going to hate us, other times you will want to kill us with your bare hands." He smiled a little at those words. "We know that, because we both wanted to do that to your father and his pokemon, Ash."
The boy looked at him with slight disbelief in his eyes.
"But..." Riley made a pause and looked at the trio. "All of you have great potential... and we're going to help you achieve that!"
The trio didn't say a word.
"Your days of 'fun' are over!" The trio looked nervous when he said that. "I expect complete obedience, when we tell you to jump off a cliff, you WILL jump off a cliff!"
Ash, Pikachu and Riolu nodded, even if they weren't too fond of the idea...
"I heard from captain Lance that you three had quite reputation at the dinners... both for getting the 'mood' up and eating..." Riley's glare made the trio stop smiling immediately. "I can say right now: That's the end of it! We'll not have any 'jokes' or 'fun' at our meals; we're not going to eat more than necessary!"
The trio's heads hung down at those words, they were already starting to feel hungry.
"When we're done with you, you're going to become great warriors, it will be almost impossible to kill you, and you'll be able to take a man's life if necessary... it that clear?"
"Yes." Ash mumbled to himself.
"Yes...?"
"Yes, teacher!" The poor boy had to shout out the words loudly till the man became satisfied.
"Very well..." Riley looked at each being there with a smile. "Gentlemen... your path to the aura has begun!"
"Right, Ash." The boy was standing there, dressed in brown pants that reached his knees and a shirt that was cut off at the arms... his hair was also notably shorter. "This is your first day as an aura-user."
"Yes." Riley looked at him, causing the boy sigh. "Sensei..."
"Good." Riley nodded and looked at the boy. "The path of the aura is a tough one, many don't make it."
"Yes, teacher." Ash, who was finally getting used to it, answered.
"The aura of your father flows in you, Ash." For the first time today, Riley eye's softened. "If you obey every order from me, it's going to be okay."
"Yes, sensei!"
"Good..." Riley nodded and walked towards the stream, Ash followed him. "This side is ours, the other one is for the pokemon.
"Yes, sensei."
"Here!" Riley picked up a stone and threw it to Ash, who caught it. "Put this on the ground."
The boy hesitantly put the rock, which was about half the size of his head, on the ground.
"Good." Riley nodded. "Now, pick it up."
The boy bent down and picked the rock up again.
"Put it down." Ash did it.
"Pick it up."
"Put it down."
"Pick it up."
After about fifty times of 'pick it ups' and 'put it downs' Ash had decided that his teacher was crazy.
"Sensei, what's the meaning of this?" Ash asked as he picked up the stone again, which was starting to feel heavy.
"Don't ask questions!" Riley barked at him. "Put it down again!"
The boy sighed and did as he was told.
"I'm not going to say anything anymore, but I expect you to continue with what you're doing." The Aura Guardian stated.
"Yes, sensei." Ash growled and picked the stone up, then placed it on the ground again.
"You might ask what the purpose of this training is..." Riley said as he walked around the boy. "There's no purpose, I'm only doing it because I'm bored."
Ash looked at him, and then threw the stone onto the ground.
A sharp pain hit his ear and Ash got some tears in his eyes as he felt the spot where Riley's hand had struck him.
"I told you not to stop doing it!"
"But you said there was no point to this training!"
"Everything has a point to it!" Riley yelled at him with such might that Ash quickly picked the stone up again and continued with his drill. "Good... you might feel anger towards me for striking you... you should, but pain's the best way to learn quickly... do you understand."
"Yes..." Ash hesitated. "... sensei..."
"Good." Riley nodded and straightened his back. "I'm going out for a stroll... keep with the drill, and remember... I have eyes everywhere."
The boy only mumbled a response as he watched the Aura Guardian walk out of the little courtyard.
Ash continued to pick the stone up and put it down for another two hours... but he was starting to feel tired and his hands had also started bleeding, so he decided to take a little break.
But, when he sat down, a big explosion happened a few feet from him, creating a small crater in the ground.
Ash cried out as the Aura Sphere was thrown him and sent him flying into the stream.
"No resting, Ash!" The boy looked towards the Lucario. "You're not going to ignore orders! One day, they'll save your life."
Ash looked towards Lucario. Both Riolu and Pikachu seemed exhausted, but they still kept going, they were actually looking slightly disappointed in him.
Their looks filled him with a power and feeling that he wouldn't let them down, he walked up from the water and ignored how the clothes was sticking to his skin. He picked up the stone again and continued with his drill.
"Master, the boy seems to have learned his lesson... his aura is a lot more positive now."
"Good, continue to keep an eye on him, I'm not completely done here..."
The following twenty days the exercise for Ash continued, he bent down, picked the stone up and put it down. Ash felt like some kind of ball that constantly bounced up and down with no break. His hand had blisters on them, the bleeding had stopped a long time ago, but he still did as he was told.
Then, finally one day, Riley walked up to him with an unreadable expression
"Ash, you've passed the first test." Riley actually smiled a bit. "You've showed a great deal of obedience, and that's an important quality for a Guardian of the Aura!"
"Sensei..." Ash hesitated. "If you don't mind me asking, but what kind of purpose did this training really serve? I could figure out many other drills for obedience."
"That may be true, Ash." Riley nodded. "But, everything has a purpose that you'll finally learn about... some day."
"Understood, sensei."
"Good." Riley nodded again. "Are you ready for your next task?"
"Yes, teacher."
"Come with me." Ash was about to follow his teacher... but then he threw a look towards the pokemon and he suddenly stopped with a look of awe on his face.
The little rodent was charging towards the smaller aura-pokemon, who was also running towards the rodent. Both of them had a glowing body part, Pikachu's tail glowed a bright silver color and Riolu's fist glowed the same color as well...
They jumped up into the air and made contact with their attacks, and then they landed and looked at each other, panting but with smiles on their faces.
Lucario stood at the side with crossed arms, nodding his liking.
"Ash! Don't linger! We have a long way to go!" The sound of Riley's voice brought Ash's attention back to himself once more and ran towards Riley, who stood at the side of a big tree.
"I heard from Giovanni that you were quite the climber..." Riley smiled inwardly as he saw Ash rub his head in embarrassment. "That's good... because I want you to climb that tree."
"I'm not going to climb up and down, right, sensei?" Ash asked hesitantly, since the tree was rather tall.
"Of course not!" Riley laughed. "Just climb up."
The boy nodded and started to climb the tree, it was a tall tree and it took a while for Ash to come to a rather plain and strong branch.
"Stand on the branch!" He could hear Riley's voice from the ground and did as he was told. "Good! Now, lift your left foot up and balance on your right."
Ash did as he was told, it was rather unbalancing, but he still lifted up his left foot.
"Now, if you put it down before I tell you... I'll blast you down from the tree..." There was no humor in Riley's voice. "Is that clear?"
"Yes, sensei." Ash gulped.
"Remember, whatever you do." He could hear the seriousness in Riley's voice again. "Do NOT put your left foot down on the branch!"
Pikachu and Riolu were starting to grew worried, Ash had been up in that tree for several hours now... and he still stood on his right foot with his eyes closed!
"Hey! Focus now, you're going to be the partners of an Aura Guardian! You can't relax!" Their heads snapped up at Lucario's harsh tone... at least they were in this together, Ash was alone in this endeavor...
They both took a deep breath and jumped into the stream. Then they started to swim in the opposite direction that the river was flowing. It was a difficult task and they felt like they were going to sink, but they still managed to slowly push themselves forward...
"Ash!" Riley shouted after five hours. "How are you doing up there?"
"G.. good..." Ash forced himself to talk, he refused to be seen as weak by that man. "Sensei..."
"Very well, dinner is going to be ready soon and-"
Riley's voice was interrupted by a loud crash, followed by several leafs floating around him. Ash was laying there on the ground, half alive, with his left foot still up in the air...
Riley got a slight smile on his face as he bent down and picked up the young boy and carried him towards their chosen sleeping place.
"You've a lot to learn, Ash." He whispered to the sleeping boy. "But you're learning incredibly fast..."
A boy of eleven years looked towards the man in blue with a tilted head.
"Let me get this straight, sensei..." He hesitated. "You're telling me that it's time for weapons training?"
"Yes, Ash." Riley nodded. "The pokemon started it a year ago."
"Why didn't we do so then, sensei?"
"Because taking orders are ingrained in every pokemon's nature, Ash." Riley explained with a knowing voice. "You, however, have never taken an order in your whole life... you needed to learn to obey!"
"So, those exercises before was just to make me a better 'order-taker'?" Ash asked with disbelief in his voice. "...sensei?"
"Partly, Ash." Riley shook his head. "It was also building you up for your future training... your body was so fragile a year ago that it would've been broken if we had started right away... and when I'm going to teach you how to control aura with your hands... they would've lost most of their skin if we hadn't strengthened them!"
Ash looked down towards his hands, it was true. His hands had always been soft and sensitive... but now they were as thick and rough as a blacksmith's hands, he had some sort of hardened skin over them now, and he was only eleven! But then a thought struck him and he looked up towards the man.
"I'm going to learn how to control aura?" He asked with a hopeful voice. "Like Lucario and Riolu?"
"Yes." Riley smiled weakly. "But no man can learn his aura as easily as a pokemon can... we have a long way to go to get there."
"I see, sensei." Ash nodded, but the thought of learning to control aura was still exciting. "What are we going to do now?"
"Glad you asked, Ash..." Riley smiled and walked towards the little place where they stored their equipment. He reached into it and pulled out two long wooden sticks, one as tall as Ash and the other one at Riley's height. He then threw the staff to the boy, who caught it. "We're going to train your senses in combat!"
"Sounds good, sensei." Ash got a wild smirk on his face, Riley didn't know about the lessons Lance had given him the five years that he was there...
"I'm letting you have first move, Ash." Riley stated casually as he seemed really relaxed with the staff in his left hand.
The boy walked calmly towards the Aura Guardian, his right hand over his left hand on the staff, and didn't stop looking the man in the eyes.
"I see Lance has taught him a thing or two..." Riley thought with a smile as he watched the boy come closer and closer. "This is going to be fun..."
Ash suddenly took a giant leap towards the Aura Guardian and aimed the staff towards his legs, but he hit air as Riley only strained in jumping a bit.
The boy didn't stop there, he continued to strike with the wooden staff towards his teacher, who dodged it without any problem, he didn't even use his own staff to block!
They continued in that way for a while, Ash was swinging the staff with a precision that would cause many people's eyes to widen, while Riley continued to dodge it, without even using his own staff.
Finally, after an incredible two hours, Ash was exhausted and could barely lift his staff. So Riley simply swept Ash's legs with his staff, causing the boy to fall to the ground, gasping for air.
"I'm impressed, Ash." Riley smiled as he watched the boy push himself up. "You've an incredible stamina, speed and strength for such a young age!"
"How..." Ash took another deep breath. "How did you do... it?... I couldn't... hit... you..."
"My aura, Ash." Riley smiled. "It makes us unbeatable against non-aura-users in a one on one match. We can see things before they happen!"
"Can... can I do that too?" Ash asked curiously, the shame of defeat still hung over his head.
"You're already using it, Ash." Riley laughed. "But you're not using it to your full potential, that's why you're such a good swordsman!"
"I'm not good enough..." Ash muttered and looked at the staff in his hands. "How can I train my aura like that, sensei?"
"With one simple exercise, Ash." Riley walked towards a tree that he had been working on from time to time over the course of the year. "The previous battle was just to demonstrate some of the things that you still need to learn."
Ash looked at the tree with a frown. On a branch, which stuck out a little more than normal, was three ropes tied around it, and those ropes were tied to a stock at the other end that hung about a meter from the ground.
Riley simply walked up to the tree and pushed lightly on the stock, causing it to sway back and forth.
"This, Ash…" He called to the boy. "Is your new training!"
The boy only had looked confused as he walked up to the machine, what was this for?
"Sensei..." Ash cleared his throat. "What's the point behind this exercise?"
"I'm going to show you." Riley smirked and took out a black sash from his pocket, he then tied it around his head. "Ash, I need you to swing those stock as fast as you can."
The boy snickered at the thought of his teacher being hit by those big stocks, so he silently sneaked up and pushed them rather hard towards his teacher.
Riley stood there calmly as the stock came towards him, then when the stock was about to hit him, he easily sidestepped, causing the stock to miss him by inches. He did the same with the other two, and continued to avoid them just as they were about to crash into him, over and over again. Leaving the boy absolutely stunned.
After five minutes of avoiding them the Aura Guardian jumped out of the line of fire and removed the sash and, to the boy's great confusion and fear, handed it to Ash.
"Your turn." The Aura Guardian smirked as he motioned for the boy to take it.
Ash gulped as he took the sash and tied it around his head, it was completely dark and he could feel his teacher's hands on his shoulders as he led him towards the tree.
"Now, I want you to think, Ash!" The boy couldn't avoid hearing the stupidity in that sentence, what was he doing… "Imagine the stock hitting you!"
"Alright..." Ash mumbled, mostly to himself. "Imagine the stocks are hitting me..."
He did as he was told and pictured himself with the stocks coming towards him, the wooden object came crashing towards him, and he sidestepped to the right...
The pain was incredible, it had hit him right in the stomach, and he could feel that Riley hadn't eased down on the speed of the stocks.
Ash threw off the sash and could feel the tears build up in his eyes as he held his stomach and choked for air, and then he threw up.
Riley rubbed the back of his head... maybe it would've been a good idea to start with something softer first? When he thought about it... Sir Aaron had actually used some softer objects at the ends of the wood when he did it... he actually felt a little guilty.
"Hey, Ash..." He cleared his throat. "Maybe we-"
He stopped talking as he saw the boy breathe heavily and hold up his hand to silence him, he then tied the sash around his eyes again and placed himself in position.
"Again, sensei." He requested. "I think I get this now."
"Alright." Riley smiled and put the logs into motion again.
He saw the boy manage to step aside one, two three... all of the logs! But, he seemed to forget that they would come swinging back again and was hit hard in the back, causing him to fall onto the ground.
Ash growled as he raised himself off the ground and placed himself in position again, refusing to give up.
"Amazing..." Riley mumbled to himself as he put them in motion again.
To pass that test you needed to avoid those logs for about 20 minutes, and it took more than a year for every Aura Guardian to make it... everyone except for one...
"Ash, how could you have passed that so quickly?" Riley asked in confusion as he sat on a rock and saw the boy avoid the logs, he had been doing that for over 30 minutes now. "It even took your father a year to do it... not a month!"
"It's actually very easy once you get the hang of it, sensei!" Ash responded as he leaned back, almost touching the ground with his head, as the log flew over him. "All you need to do is picture them!"
"Of course I know that." Riley answered him, feeling rather grumpy. "I'm an Aura Guardian, remember?"
"Yes, sensei!" The boy laughed and sidestepped two at the same time... "What's the next test?"
"We're going to take up the combat lessons again." Riley said slowly. "You need to learn those quickly..."
"Why, sensei?" Ash asked in confusion as he jumped away from the incoming logs and removed the sash. "What's the hurry?"
"The sooner you learn to defend yourself, the better." Riley stated, not really wanting to talk about it. "Ash, when you can beat me in hand-to-hand combat... I'll answer all the questions that you've been asking me throughout your training."
"All of them?" The boy asked with a raised eyebrow. Every time Ash had asked a question, that wasn't about the training, he had never gotten an answer.
"All of them." Riley nodded, the boy needed something to look forward to... since this would not be easy for him. "But, remember, only when you manage to defeat me!"
"Right." Ash nodded, he was going to take that old man down!
"It's nice to have a talk with you, guys." Ash smiled at his two pokemon. "We've not been able to talk to each other for several weeks!"
"Chu!" The rodent agreed. "Pikachu pi-pi chu!"
"It's pretty good." Ash nodded. "I've just learned to avoid the logs completely!"
"That's good, master!" Ash looked at the little aura-pokemon to his right.
"Why did you call me that, Riolu?" The boy asked with a frown.
"Called you what, master?"
"'Master'! Why are you calling me that?"
"You're my master, master."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, master, you are."
"No!"
"Yes, master."
"No!"
"Yes, master, I serve under you."
"No! Sensei!" The boy's shout got the old Aura Guardian's attention quickly.
"What's the matter, Ash?" Riley and Lucario ran up to the trio with confused looks. "What's all this about?"
"Riolu keeps calling me master!" Ash stated with crossed arms. "Make him stop!"
Riley looked at the soon-to-be twelve year old boy with a weak smile.
"Ash... you're on your way to becoming an Aura Guardian, Riolu's your aura-pokemon." He tried to find the right words. "Every pokemon with the power of the aura calls his partner his 'master'."
"Why?"
"Because they can't surpass their Aura Guardian in power... they're either equally strong or weaker."
"Why?"
"That's the way it is, Ash." Riley shook his head. "Nobody can explain it... maybe it controls the obedience of the pokemon, I don't know."
"But, I don't want him to call me 'master'!"
"I'm sorry, Ash." Riley sighed. "But that's something you've to live with... I didn't like it when Lucario here started to call me that, but I don't notice it anymore... since I now know that it doesn't affect our friendship one bit!"
"A-are you... sure, sensei?" The boy asked hesitatingly.
"I'm sure." Riley smiled. "Now, go and get some sleep, we have a tough day in front of us tomorrow."
The two humans stood on either side of a field, looking intently towards the other. They had done this for several months now, and Ash only kept getting stronger and stronger.
The boy had figured out a long time ago that he couldn't beat the man only with his strength, his weight and height were also very small/short compared to said man... his only shot was his speed and flexibility.
"Pika! Pika!" Ash heard his rodent cheer him on at the side of the field, Lucario had given the two pokemon a break to see how the boy fared.
"Ready when you are, Ash." Ash growled at the man who seemed to only be playing with him, it just wasn't a fair fight!
The boy rushed towards the Aura Guardian at an incredible speed, only to be stopped by his strong arms and thrown onto his back.
Ash quickly got up again and aimed for the man's legs, but he was quickly jerked away from there and was, once again, thrown onto his back.
It would be enough for Ash to only make Riley land on his back just one time, and then his teacher would tell him the answer to all of his questions...
An idea struck Ash, he approached the man slowly, circling around him, looking for his weak spot.
Riley started to rotate in time with the boy, not taking his eyes off him for a second.
Then, Ash changed direction and started to circling the other way, Riley followed him. Then the boy changed direction again, and again and again... as soon as Riley had gotten used to rotate that direction Ash changed it.
The man soon grown tired on the boy's game and didn't keep his focus up enough, that's when Ash made his move and launched himself towards the man.
Ash felt himself contact with the man's chest and... well, that was it...
Riley laughed as he threw back the boy onto the ground, Ash didn't have enough weight to push him!
"A good try, Ash!" Riley nodded approvingly. "If you had been a little older, I might've lost there!"
"I'm not done yet!" Ash smirked through the sand he had got on his face and cloths. "... sensei..."
"Bring it on, Ash." The Aura Guardian smiled.
Ash got up and started to run towards the man. Riley could easily see that he wasn't going to turn in any direction, he was going to try and make a full on tackle to the front again...
The Aura Guardian sighed and braced himself for impact once again.
But, when Ash was but a meter from him, he threw the sand he had in his little fist.
Riley staggered back and growled as he felt the sand hit his eyes, blinding him for the moment.
Now was Ash's chance, he knew that he couldn't push him over... but he could do another thing.
The young boy threw his fist back and got a determined look on his face. He then threw it out and struck a spot that no man would want something to hit them on...
Riley groaned as he clasped the hands over his crotch and bent down, making his head come to the same level as Ash's.
The young boy then jumped up and used both his feet to kick the Aura Guardian on the shoulders...
The force and pain was too much for the man. He felt himself surrender to the pain and force and fell onto his back... he had lost...
Ash turned towards the two cheering pokemon, although the third and tallest one didn't look too happy. That made the boy to turn his direction back towards the Aura Guardian, who had overcome the worst of the pain and now laid and panted on the ground.
"Well... Ash..." Riley actually laughed as he got up, the pain still throbbing. "You finally learned..."
"Learned what, sensei?" Ash asked carefully as he backed away, afraid to get punished for his cheap shot.
"Learned that you sometimes need to think outside the box!" Riley smiled as he walked towards the stream and washed out the sand from his eyes. "That was a pretty smart move there, Ash."
"Thanks, teacher!" Ash sighed in relief, seems like he was going to live to see another day.
"And I'll keep to our agreement." Riley nodded towards the wall of nature that was surrounding the field that they were at. "let's go out, it's much nicer to look out towards the ocean."
"Okay, sensei." Ash nodded happily and followed him, with Lucario and the rest of the pokemon behind him.
"Now, Ash..." Riley looked at the boy. "What would you like to ask me?"
"A few years ago... when I just got here..." Ash recalled the memory. "Why didn't you want us to talk during our travel, and why did you want me to learn how to fight properly?"
"You sure you want to know?" Riley sighed and looked at the nodding boy. "Alright..."
Riley was quiet and looked out towards the ocean a little more before he decided to start.
"There's two kinds of Aura-people, Ash..." He noticed the confused look the boy had and sent him a weak smile. "There are those like me and your father, who dedicate our aura-powers to help and protect people and keep the peace in the world... and there are those who... don't do that..."
"What do you mean, sensei?"
"I'm talking about 'Dark Auras'..." Riley spoke the word 'Dark Aura' with such hate, the likes of which Ash never heard before. "They don't care about people... or, they do actually... They are only living for one purpose, and that's killing innocent humans and pokemon!"
"Why?" Ash didn't believe that there was such evil in the world out there, there had to be an explanation!
"Because, they think training like this is a waste..." Riley growled at the thought. "They don't train like this, Ash, they gain powers from killing other auras!"
The little boy gasped, who could be so evil?
"Why? Why do they kill? Have they no heart?"
"They only care about themselves, Ash." Riley shook his head. "They have the same kind of powers as us... except they use it for the wrong purpose."
"Is there any difference between an Aura Guardian and a Dark Aura?" Ash asked hesitatingly.
"Yes... and no..." Riley sighed a very deep sigh. "They also have a pokemon as partner, but it's one as evil as its master... but I guess that the biggest difference between us and them is that we have a blue aura... theirs are red or dark-colored..."
"Are you born with a particular type of aura?"
"No, they're exactly like you and me at a young age... the only thing that causes them to chose the path of the Dark Aura is their teacher's influence... and also their own choice." Riley still saw the look of confusion Ash had on his face and decided to keep going. "They have to choose the path they want to follow early in their training... if they chose it after they've become a true Guardian of the Aura it's too late... they need to choose it as an Aura-user... and they also need to enjoy killing..."
"They really like killing that much, sensei?"
"That's the only way they gain their powers on... they train by killing, nothing else."
"But..." Ash didn't ask the question he was about to ask, afraid of enraging his teacher.
"I know what you wanted to ask, Ash." Riley smiled, slightly troubled. "And the answer is: Yes, it is a lot easier to choose the path of a Dark Aura, you wouldn't need to do all this hard training and you reach the powers of a full Aura Guardian in only a couple of years..."
"How do you defeat them?" Ash suddenly asked, the question took Riley by surprise. "If they become so powerful at such a young age, then how do we defeat them?"
"That's simple." Riley smiled at the boy. "You can only train your Aura up to a certain level... and that level depends on the person... when you become a Guardian of the Aura your aura has reached its peak, it will never be stronger nor weaker, the only thing that can strengthen it is your mind and outer strength... your inner strength is your aura!"
It was a lot of information for the boy to take in, but he still did.
"Why did you not tell me about this before, sensei?" Ash asked hesitatingly again.
"Because I thought you weren't ready to hear it." Riley stated with a kind smile. "I didn't want you to worry. Since Dark Auras love to hunt down and kill Aura-users that haven't chosen path yet... you know, to keep the 'market' free for them..."
Ash gulped, he suddenly understood the purpose of all this intensive training.
"So now you see, Ash." Riley sighed. "The only thing that keeps a few Aura-users from not choosing the path of the Dark Aura is that they're convinced that they can do some good as an Aura Guardian..."
"Are there many Dark Auras and Aura Guardians out in the world?" Ash asked curiously.
"Dark Auras: A few... Aura Guardians: Not enough..." Riley sighed. "I don't know any other Aura Guardian other than myself... I've heard about one or two still out there, but they're very old and not of much use to us... but you can hear about Dark Auras' killing almost every day..."
"Can... can we... go back to training again?" Ash asked with a gulp. "I don't want to face a Dark Aura without giving one hell of a fight!"
Riley laughed, he felt relieved that Ash hadn't been tempted to join 'the other side'. The five beings got up and returned to the camp, planning to take a very well deserved sleep. Since tomorrow they would start to teach Ash and the others about combat again...
It had been a little less than a year since Ash had heard about the Dark Auras, and that only made him even more determined to train to be a Guardian of the Aura...
He had finally learned the lesson that attacking isn't always the best solution to end a battle quickly, even if he took many beatings from the wooden staff, he had actually managed to defeat Riley in one out of three times that they fought... which was an incredible improvement for a boy of only 12½ years old.
They had now started the thing Ash had looked forward to most... the controlling of the Aura...
Riolu and Pikachu had also improved, even Lucario had praised them for their work from time to time and it seemed like they were equally as strong as Ash, which was very good.
Ash stood at the side of Riley and mimicked his movements. His right foot was placed a little back, while his left foot was placed in front of his body. He had his left shoulder forward and had his hands at the same level as his chest, looking like he was concentrating.
"Come on, Ash, focus!" Riley spoke to him with a harsh voice, only trying to disrupt his focus. "You're in a fight! You need to summon your Aura-powers! It's taking too long!"
Ash slowly opened his eyes, they had taken a light blue tone and were looking straight forward. In his hands a blue orb was starting to form, it started out really small, almost invisible, but it grew bigger and bigger with each moment that Ash focused. Soon, the orb was as big as his head, like he had learned to do a couple of weeks ago.
"That's great, Ash!" Riley shouted to him. "Now, destroy that target!"
The young trainer grunted slightly as he threw the orb towards the tree, it looked as fast and powerful as a real Aura Sphere... and it had the same effects too...
The tree had a little hole in its trunk and was burnt all around the area where the orb had hit, even Lucario had to admit that it was very well done.
"Nice work, Ash!" Riley praised him, almost exploding with pride. "It took me years to only summon a little aura in my hand!"
"But I still can't concentrate when I need to..." Ash sighed. "In battle, I would be dead before I could get that thing away."
"It's only something you need to work on, Ash." Riley comforted him.
"But I can form a shield without any problem!" Ash proved this by easily summoning a large shield of Aura around himself with his hands. "Why can't I do this with the orb?"
"Because, the shield is in direct contact to you." Riley smiled weakly. "I understand your impatience, but you need to understand that an orb takes much more concentration to summon and throw."
"But I AM concentrating!" Ash stated stubbornly. "But I still can't use it! What's wrong?"
"Alright, there's one more thing..." Riley sighed and walked up to Ash. "You still have one thing that's preventing you from using an Aura Attack, why you're only focusing on defense."
"What's that?" Ash wanted to know what was preventing him from completing the task, he needed to know. "What is preventing me?"
"I was planning on giving this to you later..." Riley said slowly. "But I guess that you'll need it now..."
He walked towards their equipment pile and searched through a sack which Ash had been forbidden to look inside of a long time ago.
Soon Riley found what he was looking for and took out some long object that which was covered in a brown cloth.
"This, Ash." Riley threw off the cloth and showed him the beautiful sword. "Was the sword that we found on you before we took you to the royal family!"
"That's... that's..." Ash recognized the sword very well, but he couldn't place where...
"This is the Sword of Kanto, Ash." Riley smiled and threw it to Ash.
The little boy caught it, he remembered it all now... Samuel Oak, the bandits, Pallet Town... his mother...
He even remembered the first time he had held that weapon, it was taller than him then... now, he was taller than the sword by quite a bit. He could hold it in one hand and pointed it outwards, causing the sheathed edge point straight towards Riley.
"Why did you have the Sword of Kanto?" Ash demanded, glaring at him. "Samuel Oak gave it to ME!"
"I know." Riley nodded. "Try to think logically about this: You were staying with the royal family of KANTO there was no way in Sinnoh that you would've been able to keep the sword!"
"You're right..." Ash lowered his head, ashamed for having blamed his teacher for theft. "I'm sorry, sensei."
"Don't worry, Ash." Riley smiled weakly. "Go ahead, pull it out and tell me how it feels in your hand."
Ash did as he was told and pulled the sword out of its sheath, it glimmered in the sun as Ash read the old inscription and remembered what Oak had told him about it, the sword didn't feel all that heavy anymore, he could actually swing it rather easily... it felt like a wooden-sword in his hand!
"You wanted to know how to release your Aura to the fullest." Riley stated as he walked to the other side of the field, which Ash stood at. "The thought of your past still lingers in your head and body, you're unconsciously refusing to use any attacks."
"I... I don't understand, sensei." Ash looked hesitantly towards him, the sword still in his hand. "What are you talking about."
"This is no more training, Ash. No more wooden-swords or sticks, no more holding back... this is where we fight with our lives at stake!" He drew out his sword and looked at the boy. "Defend yourself!"
"I'm not going to fight you, sensei!" Ash called desperately to his teacher. "I don't want to fight you!"
"How are you expecting to survive if you refuse to fight me?" Riley shouted as he charged towards the boy. "Attack!"
He threw a real strike towards the aspiring Aura Guardian. Ash quickly parried it with his sword and felt the metal vibrate in his hands. Even with the current circumstances, he had to admit that he enjoyed the feeling of a sword in his hands...
Riley struck once again, this time aiming towards his leg. Ash automatically jumped up and evaded it, and then his mind didn't pause to think as he threw a blow towards his teacher, who avoided it and got a satisfied look on his face.
"I see you've begun to fight back." He nodded liking. "That's more like it, attack me!"
Ash did as he was told and charged him with his sword pointed straight towards the man's heart. He took a leap and changed the direction of the sword so it was aimed towards the man's head.
Riley sidestepped easily and made it such that Ash hit the ground with the sword.
"Focus!" He shouted at the boy. "This isn't a game! It's the real thing!"
He showed it by throwing a strong Aura Sphere towards the boy, making Ash summon a shield around himself quickly to block it. The boy could feel the powers drawing from his spirit as the shield was struck.
He tried to do the same thing by placing himself in battle-position, his sword stuck into the ground. He put his hands together and concentrated on the energies flowing towards his hands, but he was interrupted when another orb came flying towards him, forcing him to dodge.
"No wonder you couldn't protect your mother and Oak." Riley looked at him with disappointment. "You're too weak!"
"I've been training!" Ash cried back and charged him with his sword held over his head.
They exchanged blows and parries with each other for a while, before Ash was forced back again.
"The training is not REAL!" Riley shouted and kicked him onto the ground, where Ash had to roll away from his falling sword; the metal hit the sand only a few centimeters from his head. "Focus! Where's your aura?"
"It's with me!"
"Then show it!"
Ash tried once again to summon an Aura Sphere, but the same thing happened and he had to interrupt it to prevent from being hit by another sphere.
"You'd been dead by now if this was against a Dark Aura!" Riley stated, disappointed, as he kicked the trainer once more. He had somehow appeared right behind him. "Your father would be disappointed if he saw you now!"
"Don't talk about him that way!" Ash snapped and swiped his sword at Riley's throat, but the man evaded it.
"Why not?" The Aura Guardian queried. "Why can't I talk about your father? I knew him better than you did!"
"Shut up!" Ash cried out, he wasn't even thinking about the tricks and tactics that he had been learned, he only attacked and parried on instinct.
"If you had been like your father, the pillagers would've never touched Pallet!" Riley smirked as he saw the boy's enraged face. "It's all your fault!"
"No!" Ash shook his head, making him vulnerable for a kick from Riley once again.
"It's your fault that your mother's dead!"
Something snapped in Ash's head when he heard those words. He didn't feel any pain, any tiredness, any joy, any pity, any compassion... he only felt anger towards his opponent.
He cried out in a roar that seemed impossible to come from such little boy as he charged the man. Riley, who had been waiting for him, parried his blow and pushed him away. Ash was quickly up on his feet and jumped towards the Aura Guardian once again.
"You're fighting against your anger!" Riley stated as he pushed the boy back once again. "Fight with it! Use it!"
Ash's face grew red and it darkened eyes, the light blue aura in his eyes was replaced with a red glow and he got a wild look on his face as he roared and charged the Aura Guardian.
"No..." Riley shook his head which had a shocked expression on it. "Not the son of Sir Aaron... not like this..."
The two swords met and sparks came from their impact, the two combatants faces were only a few centimeters from each other as they looked sharply at the other.
"Is this what you want... Ash?" Riley growled through his breath as he forced the boy backwards.
The Aura Guardian then felt something swept his legs out from under him, he cried out in surprise as he fell down backwards, Ash had kicked away his legs...
When Riley opened his eyes he could see the sharp edge of his own sword being held against his throat. He could see Lucario starting to make a motion towards them, but Riley ordered him not to. The Aura Guardian looked at the boy with an unreadable expression.
"Is this what you want, Ash?" He asked again. "Do you enjoy it?"
He could hear the sword clatter beside him, followed by the body of a young boy.
The child had started to cry as he had curled up in the sand, even his pokemon were too afraid to go near him as he lay there and wept.
Riley simply put a hand on the boy's shoulder, making him look up.
"This isn't what you want, isn't that right?"
The boy simply shook his head and continued to cry.
"It's alright, Ash." Riley smiled as he tried to comfort the boy. "Hate and anger isn't something that an Aura Guardian is forbidden to feel... but you can't let it control you! When the time comes, you'll learn to use it to your advantage."
The boy nodded, then sniffled and stood up on shaky legs.
"I... I had that... feeling..." Ash gulped as he remembered it. "It was so... dark... I felt such hate..."
"You were about to chose the path of a Dark Aura." Riley nodded knowingly. "That's one more reason for the lack of Aura Guardians... too many fail at this, last test."
"'l... last test'?" The boy asked, hesitantly.
"Yes, Ash." Riley smiled at him. "This was the last test, I can't teach you anything more that you'll not learn along the way."
"But... but I'm..."
"I know that you're barely 13, Ash." Riley nodded. "And I still have a hard time believing that you've learned all those things in such a short time... but you have a powerful will and aura, there's no other explanation."
"But... how can I've learned everything?" Ash asked hesitantly. "I don't know how to make an Aura Sphere!"
"You don't?" Riley smirked and motioned the boy to go towards the 'shooting range'. "Go ahead, try it again."
The boy sighed and placed himself in the combat-position once again, he put his hands together and started to concentrate.
Then, right after he had done that, he could feel a fully enlarged orb in his hands, waiting to be thrown at any moment.
Ash sent it away towards the tree, which then exploded and was divided in half.
Ash looked in awe at what he had just done, he also heard Lucario and Riley clap and Pikachu and Riolu cheer for him, he then got a big smile on his face.
"How's this even possible?" He turned towards his teacher and asked, the smile still on his face.
"The emotional blockade of your mother's death prevented you from doing it." Riley only smiled as he explained to the boy. "Now, when you've released your emotions and anger, it's gone."
Ash didn't fully understand that, but what he did understand what that he was able to fully use the power of the aura.
"I am an Aura Guardian now, sensei?" He asked eagerly.
"No, not yet." Riley laughed weakly as he saw Ash's face fall. "We have to wait for the right sign."
"Sign?" Ash asked in confusion, what was the man talking about? "What sign?"
"I can't tell you." Riley shook his head, then a thought struck him. "Hey, what do you say that we have one last battle?"
"You and me, again?" The trainer asked with a tilted head.
"Yeah." Riley nodded. "It's against the code for Aura Guardians to battle each other... but they didn't say anything about their apprentices and their teachers!"
"I'm in!" Ash cheered and ran to his side on the field where he drew his sword.
Then, to the boy's big confusion, a rodent and a blue pokemon were running to his side and took their battle-positions.
"Guys, I'm going to battle here!" The boy whined and wanted the pokemon to leave the field. "Not you!"
"Actually, Ash..." Riley smiled, as his Lucario stood at his side. "It's necessary for an Aura Guardian to be able to battle with his pokemon!"
"But I can do that already!" Ash stated. It was true, he and his pokemon had trained together several times during these past years, he even fought against Riley and his Lucario. "I want to face you alone!"
"Come on, master!" He could hear Riolu's voice in his head. "Let us be with you, too!"
"Oh.. alright then." Ash smiled back to his pokemon.
"That's great, PikaPi!" The boy jumped high into the air as he heard the unknown voice in his head.
"Sensei!" The boy's excited scream got Riley's attention right away.
"Yes, Ash?"
"I can communicate with Pikachu through my aura!"
"What?" The Aura Guardian's outburst made the trio to jump high into the air. "That's impossible! Only a fully trained Aura Guardian could do that!"
"This means that I'm an Aura Guardian then?" Ash asked eagerly once again, he really couldn't wait for that moment.
"No, Ash..." Riley, who was still struck by the latest news, answered him calmly. "We still need to wait for the right signs."
"What signs!" Ash was starting to grow tired of all those half-answered questions that he was receiving all the time, when could he-
"Master...?" He head Riolu's voice in his head, making him look towards the pokemon.
"What, Riolu?"
"Something feels strange..."
Then a bright silver light engulfed the little jackal-pokemon and he was starting to grow bigger.
"No way..." Ash's and Pikachu's eyes widened as they saw their friends evolve. "That's not possible!"
"Cario!" The newly evolved Lucario stated with a proud smile, finally he had also evolved.
"I'm surprised that your Lucario would evolve this soon." Riley, and his Lucario, walked up to them.
"Thanks, sensei!" Ash laughed as he and Pikachu hugged their new, bigger friend.
"You don't need to call me 'sensei' anymore, not 'teacher' either." Riley smiled as he felt a lump in his throat.
Ash's, Pikachu's and the newly evolved Lucario's eyes widened.
"Does... does this mean that..." Ash hadn't the strength to say it.
"Kneel." After Ash had obeyed him, Riley took out his sword. "As my authority as a Guardian of the Aura." He touched Ash's left shoulder with it. "I hereby declare you as: Sir Ash Aaron Ketchum, Guardian of the Aura." He finally touched Ash's right shoulder. "Arise, protector of the Aura!"
Ash got up and smiled wide, the two Lucarios and Pikachu smiled also big as they looked at the new Guardian of the Aura.
"Aura Guardian before 13..." Riley smiled at him. "You beat your father there!"
"Thanks, Sir" Ash bowed slightly for him.
"No, Sir Ash." Riley shook his head. "Aura Guardian is the highest that you can achieve, I don't stand over you and you don't stand under me, we're equals in titles, age doesn't matter!"
"Do I need to call you 'sir'?" Ash asked, rather nervously.
"When we're around people, yes." Riley nodded. "But when it's only us the five of us around... no, call me Riley."
"Alright, Riley!" They shook hands and traded laughs, this was the moment Ash had been dreaming of for several years.
"I reckon we should get some sleep." Riley said quickly. "Tomorrow you're ready to leave this place, and we're going to visit the town close-by... the people of Kanto need to know that there's a new Guardian of the Aura that they can count on!"
End of chapter 3
Well... that was it, he's now an Aura Guardian!
Some of you might be critical to Ash's young age... but it all depends on the aura of the person, and not his skill, strength or age, there's some people there who trained and trained and never reached the title "Aura Guardian" or "Dark Aura"...
You might also think Riley was too cruel to Ash... well, he was feeling stressed to learn Ash everything and so on, can't really explain that any better.
Quiz Time: since I'm a big fan of movies... I've kinda remade a small dialog from a famous movie, see if you can find it!
Still haven't got any answer for why people apologize for late reviews... or, maybe it's just us Swedes who's so impolite that we're not doing it :P
It's better to review later than never and I'll see you in the next chapter!
R&R!
