Ash went out and found Lucario fighting against Wakka and winning. Wakka said he gave up when Ash got there.

Lucario nodded. ''Thank you for the good fight,'' he said, reaching down and helping up Wakka from the sand.

Wakka laughed boisterously. "Anytime, my furry friend!" he replied, and walked off, holding his ball. (SINGULAR, you dirty-minded—wait, I'm one to talk...)

Ash (gave me a look for that, then) went forward. He and Lucario went and found the three main people of the island, Sora, Riku, and Kairi, talking under the Paupu tree.

"Hey, guys!" Ash called as he walked the bridge over to the islet. Lucario nodded beside him.

Sora and Kairi waved back, Riku just nodded as well. "You feeling better, now, Ash?" Kairi asked.

Ash smiled and nodded. "Yup! Thanks so much for the breakfast, it was great!"

''Not bad bacon, either,'' added Lucario, making himself not smile.

Kairi raised her eyebrows. "Lucario? You ate the bacon?" she asked. She chuckled nervously and gave a sheepish face, pressing the tips of her index fingers together. "I kinda used a little bit too much oil on them, but I didn't think Ash would notice, what with the way he shoves food in his mouth all the time. Sorry if it tasted bad!" she apologized.

Lucario said that was okay, but Ash gave half-eyes to the girl, who laughed and said she was sorry. Ash laughed and smiled, too. "Naw, it's alright," he said. "I'm a bit of a pig when it comes to food, so I don't blame ya." The two Pokémon-worlders got over to the three. Ash tilted his head, looking up at the star-shaped fruit in the tree. "What is that fruit there?" he asked, pointing. "It looks so weird, compared to the other fruit I've seen on this island."

Riku smiled. "That's a Paupu fruit," he explained. "They say that whoever you share it with becomes the person that your fate is bound together with forever."

Ash raised his eyebrows at this. "Really? Wow, guess you gotta be pretty committed if you're going to share it," he joked. He shrugged, then looked at Sora. "Ready for a bit of practice today?" he asked.

Sora sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, Ash, but not today," he said, raising a hand. "I'm just...not in the mood. Sorry."

Ash brought his eyebrows together and up. "Awww..." he sighed in disappointment, sagging forward a little. "I wanted to see if I can remember some stuff I dreamt about doing last night that were pretty dang cool...Oh, well..."

Riku raised an eyebrow at this. "What kinda stuff?" he asked.

Ash shrugged. "Well, stuff like, when I feel the chance come up, scoot around someone, or break free of being held by some weird invisible straps, or even just jump really high," he listed. He remembered something and added, "Oh, I think the things I was fighting in my dreams were those Nobody things you guys told me about when I first woke up here. They were white and silvery and moved really weird, and I even fought one BIG one."

Sora, Riku, and Kairi immediately shot up their eyebrows. They glanced at each other, then Sora asked, "How did the Nobodies look?"

Ash put a hand to his chin. "I think they mostly looked like they had no hands or feet, and they looked like their heads were, like, unzipped," he described. "The big one looked like an anorexic knight or something with a blue scarf."

The three looked at each other, nodding. "The first one's a Dusk," Riku said. "The second one...I dunno. Never seen it before. But it sounds like a Nobody to me."

"Where'd you fight them?" Sora asked, crossing his arms and tilting his head questioningly.

"On big, round, stained glass platforms," Ash answered. "They had images from my memory of encounters with legendary pokémon. The first had Celebi, the next had Jirachi, and the last two were both Mew, but different ones, I think. One was the Mew at the Tree of Beginning, and the other...I think it's the Mew that tried fighting...er, nevermind that last one," he hastily interrupted himself, sweatdropping and shaking his hands. 'As much as I like these guys, and though we're in a different world where it probably doesn't matter, I don't want to break my promise...'

They gave him eyebrow raises at that last part, but ignored it otherwise. "That sounds an awful lot like the place I found when I was asleep a few days before my journey began," Sora muttered, looking down. "I fought Heartless, though. I had to chose one weapon and give up another. Did you?" he asked.

Ash shook his head. "I just grabbed a sword that appeared on a pedestal before me when I first got there," he said, shrugging. "Then I fell to the next platform."

Sora raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Beats me, then," he said, shrugging. "Dunno what that weapon thing will do to you, but you say that you got to do different stuff when you felt the chance?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. You know how I let the aura within my body flow throughout it when I'm fighting to help me keep calm, right?" Sora nodded. "Well, I felt it sort of pulse sometimes, and by, well, going with the flow, I did some neat stuff that helped in battle. I scooted around a Dusk, flew away from lightning bolts the big Nobody sent at me while sort of 'swimming' towards it, and even had the idea to chuck my sword down when it had flung me up and tried to charge me by surprise. I even did it twice before hitting the floor again, and that let me get more hits in before it got up again!" he added, grinning. "It was the most exciting dream I ever had! Well, apart from the fact that every time I got hurt, it REALLY hurt, but otherwise, it was actually a little fun."

Sora raised his eyebrow. "That's odd...I usually can only React when I'm using the Key...blade..." He trailed off, something dawning on him. "...Naaaw..." he whispered.

Riku asked what it was, and Sora and he whispered to each other. Kairi joined in and the three muttered about something. Ash felt a little disrespected, obviously being talked about while he couldn't hear it, but showed no sign when they stopped. Riku faced him. "Your dream probably has some significance," he said, "but don't expect to do that kinda stuff in real life."

Ash sighed in defeat. "Awwww...Oh, well, at least I can do something other people usually don't know how to do," he silver-lininged. "I can use my aura pretty well, I think!"

Sora smiled. "Well, that's okay, but sorry, no training today," he said. "Why not practice against the other guys?" he suggested, motioning to the beach.

Ash smiled and nodded. "Okay!" he said, then ran off.

Lucario stayed a moment. ''You're hiding something from him, I can feel it,'' he said.

Riku frowned a little. "We just don't want him to get his hopes up if things don't turn out," he reasoned.

Lucario stayed a second, looking at them, then turned and ran after Ash.

-'-,-'-

Ash did decide to fight with the others, and when he did, he paid special attention to his aura. And it paid off quite well. For instance, when fighting Selphie, he felt it pulse. Instantly, he grabbed the jumprope being whipped at him and yanked. Selphie, surprised by this, was carried along to Ash, who, after letting go, took the opportunity to get a good few whacks at her. He apologized later, though, if she felt cheated from it. He also felt a chance arrive when fighting Wakka, which let him jump up and beat the ball back in the exact direction that the young FFX'er was at current. However, since he was confident enough in fighting him without using any Reactions, Ash chose to ignore the chance and instead went for the challenge of hitting it the right way himself.

Eventually, he got a little tired and sat down. But as soon as he was rested up again, he was up and training some more. While Ash trained, Lucario trained, too. He usually did so on his own, but once or twice, the two would spar against each other. The pokémon also let Ash stay sharp on his training skills, which would in turn let himself get stronger.

At one point, the day got very hot, and so Ash and some of the others decided to go for a swim in the ocean. It was fun, with splashes all around, the cool waves splashing against them, and everything. Lucario opted not to join, though he did allow himself to wade in a bit up to his waist.

Finally, sunset came. Ash and Lucario joined Sora, Riku, and Kairi in lying on the sand and watching the sun go down. Sora sighed and smiled. "This is great," he said. "Lazy summer days of hanging out here, beautiful nights with tons of stars, and all sorts of stuff. And all of this with your best friends...isn't it great?"

Ash smiled. "Yeah, it is," he agreed, then sighed. "Well, at least for the stuff before the friends part..."

Sora smacked his forehead. "Oh, man, sorry, I forgot about that! Sorry!" he said, sweatdropping.

Ash shook his head. "That's alright, nobody's perfect," he dismissed it.

Kairi smiled sympathetically. "I hope that your friends will come back someday," she said. "I know exactly how it feels to go around a strange place, not knowing where your friends are, for a long time. We all do." Riku and Sora nodded solemnly. Even Lucario nodded.

Ash sighed and looked at them all. "Thanks," he said. "I'm sorry I've got to bum off you guys so much, but...that's the way things go, huh?"

Riku shrugged. "Yeah, that's it, all right," he said. "It's fate, I guess. It bites, but that's how it happens. The thing that seperates the boys from the men, though, is if you're able to keep going." He gave a little smile to the Trainer.

Ash nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, smiling. Then they all looked back out at the ocean and the sunset for a bit. Finally, when it sank fully beneath the horizon after turning the water orange, Sora, Riku, and Kairi got up and said good night. Ash did so, too, and went to eat supper. Before going in for the night, though, he paused and looked at the stars overhead.

''I had a dream last night, too,'' Lucario said.

"Really? Like mine?" Ash asked.

He shook his head. ''Not quite. But there was a field, and on it, a cloaked figure. It said, 'Every time a star winks out, a world has disappeared.''' He looked up at the stars and added distantly, ''I just hope that the star can come back...'' He clenched his fists. ''I hope Aaron and the others are okay...''

Ash put a hand on his shoulder, and he looked over to him. He was smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry," he said, "they'll be alright. Just don't give up on that thought, and everything will be okay again." He looked up at the stars again, determined look on his face. "Just...don't lose faith."

The stars glittered and shone to them.

-'-,-'-

That night, Ash dreamed about Pikachu. He dreamed of the little guy fighting against humans, jumping around on platforms. Then, suddenly, a black-cloaked figure appeared. "Are you ready?" it asked, facing the direction Ash was viewing from. "Because the fun's about to begin."

-'-,-'-

Ash awoke, blinking his eyes wide open and feeling energized from something. He sat up and looked around. It was still night.

''Ash?''

"Hm?" Ash turned his head and saw Lucario getting up, just as awake as him. "Lucario...Did you just wake up all of a sudden, too?" he asked.

The pokémon nodded. ''Yes, and I don't know why. Nor do I have a good feeling about it.'' He looked outside the window, then squinted his eyes. ''And that feeling just became a whole lot worse.'' He stood up and walked outside. Ash looked out and watched him stand on the walkway around the shack, back turned to him. His dreads flew up, and then, with a start, Lucario bounded back into the shack. ''I can't see any waves at all on the island!'' he cried.

Ash shot up out of bed, alarmed. "What? Are you sure your aura vision is working?" he asked. Lucario nodded. "Then what does it mean?"

''It means that those without hearts, which are the producers of aura, are approaching,'' Lucario answered.

Ash gasped, his own freezing. "You mean...the...the Heartless?" he asked breathlessly.

Lucario nodded. ''I think it would be wise to get dressed,'' he stated somewhat slower than usual, then went outside and waited, viewing the waves of aura as best he could.

Ash nodded, then went and got his last clean pair of underwear on and put on his other clothes, which he'd decided to wash during the day yesterday after he was out swimming(he spent much the rest of the day in swim trunks that he kept zipped in a pocket in his bag that had, he found out, also remained from his trip across worlds). He grabbed his bag now as he left, sword in belt.

When he got out, Lucario pointed to the dock. ''I saw three people arrive,'' he said. ''I think it's Sora, Riku, and Kairi.''

Ash nodded. "Alright, let's go," he said, and the two went. Above, they noticed the stars were being covered by something big and black. They ran across the sand, a feeling of dread creep into them with every step. They reached the docks and kept going, since nobody was there. Ash wondered whey they'd be, and decided to check the treehouses. Nobody. He went back down and went to circle the island.

Soon, Lucario, running with his aura vision on, said, ''I can sense them,'' after a while. They had gotten near the Paupu tree island.

Ash looked. "Of course!" he muttered. "They're on the Paupu tree island over there!" The two got to and ran across the wooden bridge.

Indeed, Sora, Riku, and Kairi were standing there, looking to the sea. When they heard Ash approaching, they turned. Their expressions were serious. "Ash," Sora said as the Trainer got there. "Take one of the boats and leave. Something bad's coming."

Ash shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that," he replied. He gave a little chuckle. "Truth is, I'm just a magnet for really amazing stuff, so it'd probably be useless, anyway," he pointed out, shrugging. "So what if it's the end of the world or something—I've gone through at least three ordeals that deal with that, whether it's immediately or potentially catastrophic."

Sora frowned. "Now's not the time to boast," he scolded. "There's gonna be a lot of danger ahead, and your toy sword won't protect you. Lucario might be fine, but you won't. Not unless you find a knife or something, but even then, it wouldn't be much use."

Ash narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists. "It's the Heartless, isn't it?" he asked. "Lucario said that he couldn't see any aura from the island, and that means that the Heartless are around or something."

Lucario nodded. ''When the Heartless attacked me in my world, I sensed no aura from them at all. I suspect, since the island's aura is either truly gone or at least being covered, the Heartless shall come.'' He clenched his fists and lashed his tail a little. ''And Ash and I are staying, whether you like it or not. You can't make us leave until we get to the bottom of this.''

Ash nodded at this, crossing his arms. "Thanks, Lucario," he added in a whisper.

''No problem. It's the truth,'' Lucario whispered back.

Riku frowned. "Alright, you guys," he said uncertainly, "but don't say we never warned you." Ash and Lucario agreed, and Riku and Sora turned back to the sea. "They're about to arrive. I don't know why they want to come back, since Sora sealed our world's heart ages ago, but they're here, and they're not happy." He smirked. "They'll be even less happy after they discover they're going to be given a taste of their own medicine..."

Ash tilted his head, wondering, but Lucario reminded him by saying, ''You mean your unique power over darkness.''

"Yup."

"I'm probably a worse fighter than Ash," Kairi said, the only one still facing the Trainer and pokémon, "but I'm not going to let some shadowy things take me away for a THIRD time!" She looked determined, like Ash. She turned too.

Ash went over, clutching his sword's hilt with his left hand. "I'm feeling something bad," he said. "Like dread. Except worse." He stood beside them, Lucario going beside him, the five forming a line.

The three nodded simultaneously in silence.

They waited. And waited. Tension rose within their hearts after a good eight minutes, as if they were on a roller coaster and about to take the biggest plunge of their lives. Only instead of knowing that it's just a ride, they didn't know what would happen, and if they'll be safe. Ash gasped, widening his eyes at the feeling. "Woah," he whispered, feeling as if a weight was trying to push him down, and took a step back, as if bracing against it.

"'Woah' is right," Kairi agreed, clutching at the front of her skirt. "This feels...almost unbearable!"

Sora nodded, wincing and clenching his fists. "It's the power of dread the Heartless possess," he explained. "I feel something like it right before the first invasion of them on a world I visit."

Riku was the only one who was visibly was unaffected. He actually looked more disturbed and perhaps guilty. "A feeling that I have the power to give others with my abilities..." he muttered, looking at his gloved hand.

Lucario was growling, in his fighting pose. ''I feel like all the fur on my body is standing on end,'' he described, ''but I know it's just on the back of my neck. The nothingness of the waves...I can feel it getting stronger quite rapidly.'' He gasped, suddenly.

A second later, what felt like a solid wave of dread and shock hit them, though they saw nothing. Instead, a fell wind started to blow. As soon as they felt it, everyone drew their weapons. Sora, Riku, and Kairi summoned their Keyblades and got into stance, Ash pulled his comparitively measly fake wooden sword out from his belt, and Lucario stayed still, already in his fighting pose. "Here it comes!" Riku warned.

And indeed, what seemed to be a giant, swirling black cloud blew in, springing up from a point in the distance. And when it came close, the three Keybladers turned. Ash and Lucario turned afterwards, following example. After a few seconds, Sora ran forward, leaped up, and came down on what looked like an unoccupied spot.

Instead, right when he came down, a black creature sprang up from a small pool of darkness. As Sora's Keyblade struck it, a distinct sound was heard, and the being disippated almost right afterwards.

Riku growled. "The Heartless has come," he murmured, and ran forth.

Kairi didn't charge ahead with them, but stayed behind, with Ash and Lucario as all around them, black fiends known to all of us as the Heartless appeared.

Ash was a little scared at first when the creatures appeared, but he soon overcame it and bravely, after tapping into his aura, attacked one nearby. He gasped when his sword went right through it. He swung again and again, but to no avail. "It DOESN'T work!" he cried in dismay.

Suddenly, Lucario ran in and launched an uppercut at the Heartless, causing it to fly back, hit a tree, and vanish in a cloud of black. ''THAT did,'' he said. ''But it might be because I know what I'm doing. Unless you know how to do a real martial arts move, I don't reccomend fighting like I do,'' he advised, beating a few more.

"Yah! Take THAT, you ugly things!" Kairi shouted as she whacked away the beasts. She sweatdropped as she saw Ash, who was miserably defenseless, and the amount of the Heartless. "Uuuuh...I think it would be wise if we go by the guys," she said, and the three ran and went to where the guys were.

Right now, Sora and Riku were slashing away the Heartless. "I know I shouldn't be complaining," Sora said, beating his next one, "but, sorry to say, this is too easy!"

Riku laughed. "I know exactly what you mean," he agreed, bashing away another one. "I don't want to seem like I WANT these guys to be harder, but I kinda do want a bit of a challange."

Kairi groaned, rolling her eyes as she got to them. "Ash, why is it you guys are like that?" she asked, glancing at him breifly before she turned back to smack away another Heartless with her floral weapon.

Ash shrugged. "Must be the testosterone," he reasoned.

"MUST be...Nnf! Uhng! Go AWAY!" Kairi angrilly swung and swung, batting away Heartless while releasing bursts of flowers with every hit. Riku's created bursts of darkness(not sure on this), while Sora's had classic stars flying from each hit. Ash didn't know what he'd make, since he couldn't hit a single one. Lucario's hits created no special effect at all.

The three advanced along the bridge, Ash sometimes futilly swinging his sword and getting madder with each passthrough. 'This SUCKS!' he couldn't help but think. 'All my hard work training, and not a single scratch on these things?' He then had an idea. 'Wait...My aura! Maybe I can bring out my aura to my sword...' He held it with both hands, making sure he was guarded from Heartless from all sides by Kairi, Riku, Sora, and Lucario, then focused hard. "C'moooooon..." he grunted.

Lucario glanced over at him and raised his eyebrows. ''Ash! Don't try and bring out your aura at a time like this if you don't know how!'' he admonished. ''You also experienced how draining it is to use it, so unless you get something like Sir Aaron's gloves, you shouldn't try!''

Ash growled, "Well, I want to fight these things!" and continued trying to will his aura into the wooden weapon. He felt it come from his body, and a drain immediately occured. "Aack!" he cried, just as the sword began to glow blue, and released the aura. He panted, slowing down until Lucario pushed him forward to run again. "Okay, sorry, you were right," he admitted to the pokémon.

Lucario only eyed him, then sent a running Tackle through some Heartless.

After a time, the party reached the end of the bridge, where more Heartless were waiting. Sora grunted as he swung his Keyblade. "It's like the island's carpeted with them!" he shouted. "No safe places whatsoever!"

Riku let out short shouts with each swing. "I knew I should've forced Ash to leave!" he grumbled. "Now we've all gotta babysit the fool since he can't fend for himself!"

Ash angerveined. "DON'T RUB IT IN!" he cried, then yelped and jumped over a Heartless that tried a sliding kick into him.

The group had to stop after a while, from all the Heartless around them. They couldn't make any headway, they just couldn't. Now, on a small, grassy plateau, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Ash, and Lucario were surrounded by Heartless. Many tried to jump out at them, but they were beaten off each time. The four who could fight decided to surround Ash, sheilding him.

Lucario growled. ''This is just like before, in my world!'' he realized. ''Surrounded by Heartless and fighting them off as they attack!'' He looked anxiously at Ash. 'Why? I thought he would be the one to hold the key! Nobody else's aura is like Aaron's around here...What does Ash need to do in order to get the Keyblade?'

Ash wasn't happy, either. He was reduced to having to be guarded because he can't fight. 'WHY?' he wanted to scream. 'Why can't I get a Keyblade? I NEED it! I need it so I can find my friends, please!'

Nothing.

Except for the scream of Kairi as she was hit. Then another. And another. The four surrounding Ash were getting tired, thus getting hit! After the first lapse occured, the Heartless began to attack in an absolute frenzy. Though the weakest of all Heartless, the thick crowd was able to begin to overwhelm the three. Kairi yelled and retreated next to Ash. Then Lucario could do nothing but block hits, then Sora, and finally Riku, who couldn't break free enough to try and use Dark Aura again without getting interrupted.

Ash looked in horror at this, and a new fear entered his heart. 'The Heartless steal hearts after weakening their enemies,' he remembered. 'And...my new friends—as well as my old—they're all getting hurt badly!' He growled in fury. In a low, crescendoing voice, he asked himself, "What am I doing, standing here and whining for my old friends, when I've got friends who need my help right here? Friends who are protecting me with their lives?" He looked at the Heartless and clutched his wooden sword. "I don't need the Keyblade to find my friends right now!" He clenched his eyes shut as he shouted, the Heartless now closing in on him, "I NEED IT TO PROTECT THE FRIENDS I HAVE NOW!"

That was all that was heard before the Heartless covered them all. Ash's cry echoed throughout the island, and as it did, it got softer and softer. Then, it appeared to increase in volume, rising until, all of a sudden, a glorious, intense sunburst appeared, blowing away Heartless for a good 20 foot radius from the origin. When it cleared, everyone was safe. In fact, they felt better than ever. Blinking from the light, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Lucario stood, looking around at the Heartless, who had all paused for a moment in surprise. Then, they turned behind them and gasped.

There stood Ash, holding a fist in his left hand, a dead-serious determined look on his face, and, in his right hand, a Keyblade. It appeared to be similar to Sora's, except the barrel, bit, and keychain were all copper instead of silver, the double-handguard was orange instead of yellow and had four "nuts" instead of the two on Sora's, the band was green, and there was a second, much smaller tooth under the main one, which had a single hole shaped like half of a doughnut, the hole of which a circular notch was placed in on the outside part of the tooth; it basically resembled a half of a pokéball. The Mickey Mouse logo keychain bore an etching on the main circle made to look like a pokéball. "I need it to protect the friends I have now, because I couldn't do it before," he said, voice low again, slowly turning the bill of his hat from facing forwards to facing backwards. His eyes were glowing light blue, the color of aura. "And now, for my next battler..." He whipped into fighting stance, bending legs and shooting his left hand around to the hilt. "...I choose ME!"

And with that, Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town, charged forth into the writhing mass of darkness before him.

***OBTAINED Kingdom Key***

It wasn't until I looked at another picture of a Kingdom Key that I realized that what I had drawn for Ash was WRONG-O. I made the extra tooth on purpose, but the extra nut things were a mistake. I just thought that was how Kingdom Key looked. Sorry :D;

Other note: While I had the chance, I decided to edit the part before the last sentence. Before it was "fighter" instead of "battler"s—"battler" makes more sense coming from him since it's closer to Trainer lingo—and I didn't have him quickly get into stance, which he should've done; this way, it's cooler, I think.