A/N: Hey-oh and hello my lovely readers! Here is the fifth chapter! I do hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: As always, this story idea is mine, but Pokemon is Game Freak's.
"The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance." -Brian Tracy
Chapter 5: Overcoming Your Worst
Ash and his Pikachu, Charizard and Lucario were staring down a group of poachers. The woman looked at Ash as though she'd won the exchange. She decided to prepare to take Tyranitar away. Ash narrowed his eyes and racked his brain for ideas. Then, he felt the presence of his counterbalance.
"Ash, we have to do something. I'm not going to let Tyranitar get hurt or let those people take him." Ashton said.
"I don't want him hurt, either, but I'm trying to think of something." Ash responded. Ashton appeared pensive.
"Hmm… I'm feeling hesitant to show myself to a group of people, otherwise, I would have taken over by now." Ashton noted. Ash widened his eyes slightly. Ash was watching the two men intensify the electrical net's charge. Tyranitar howled in pain.
"I think you gave me an idea. Why not have us both come out?" Ash inwardly smiled. Ashton got what he was talking about and disagreed.
"Ash, are you crazy? If your ploy fails, we'd expose aura allegiance to regular humans. We don't need someone like the Zurui knowing we were here. The other woman didn't seem to know what aura guardians are. I don't know if the same could be said here." Ashton argued.
"I know it's reckless, but I need your help to do it. I can't think of anything else without Tyranitar getting hurt. We'll also need Lucario's help. We have to overwhelm them with our speed like you did to the lone woman earlier, but we need to be faster since there's more people here. We need to do this now before Tyranitar is transferred away or Tyranitar gets more restless than he already is." Ash noted.
"Ugh… fine. I don't like how much I trust you. You know that, right?" Ashton snorted. Ash laughed.
"Yeah, but I know you trust me because you like me." Ash snickered.
"Ugh. Can it. Let's just do this and hope Lucario gets the idea." Ash felt Ashton rolling his eyes inwardly. Ash smiled outwardly and closed his eyes. The men and his Pokémon were confused by this gesture. Pikachu then realized what was about to happen and made an indescribable expression.
"Kid. You gave up so easily? That's a little pathetic." One of the men commented. Ash shook his head.
"You're wrong." Ash said with a deadly tone. He forced himself to ignore Tyranitar's cries so he could focus his energy on the two goons watching him. Ash's voice sounded like a mix of two people and that baffled the men.
"What? Your voice wasn't like that before." The other man started to walk toward Ash to grab him. However, he was confused at the air around the boy getting increasingly warmer.
"I know… do you notice something else different about me?" Ash opened his eyes. His left eye was red and his right eye was brown. The two men assisting the poaching gasped and stepped back in fear. They didn't know what they were dealing with. Ash had an amused grin for a moment before his expression turned serious.
"What the hell?" The two men said.
"Lucario, use Extremespeed and follow my lead!" Ash commanded. Lucario blinked her eyes in shock, but nodded. She knew that whatever version of Ash this was, he was still her trainer.
One moment Ash was standing in front of the two men. Within the next instant, he was in front of the woman with the gun. She gasped and for a moment, their eyes met. Ash could see the fear in her eyes. She clearly wasn't expecting him to reach her so quickly. Using the woman's surprise as a weapon, he kicked the gun out of her hand and then kicked her in the stomach. The woman grunted as she was knocked away from Tyranitar and her truck.
"Such an impolite boy hitting a woman like me." The women sneered. She coughed slightly since Ash's kick had some power behind it.
"You lost that privilege the minute you threatened a Pokémon's life." Ash growled.
"What the hell are you, you inhuman monster? I've seen heterochromia in people before, but never had someone literally change their eye color on the spot." The woman now gestured her men to go after the boy. The men lunged toward Ash. Ash shook his head. Before they could do anything, Lucario intercepted them. Lucario knocked herself into them with her Extremespeed and promptly knocked them out by hitting each man in the head with a Bone Rush. Pikachu, Lucario and Charizard now were around the lady with Ash.
"The only people that are inhuman is your group." Ash said. The woman now looked at the boy in horror. She had no idea what to do. Ash stood in front of her and said, "Taking away a Pokémon's freedom for money is horrible. I'm not going to let you away with it."
Ash sighed and looked away. He pinched a specific part of her neck to make her fall asleep. The woman yelped, then promptly fell asleep. He found himself appreciative of what Aurora taught him for the past two weeks. He wasn't sure if would have been able to handle the entire poaching group on his lonesome without some of her training. Ash now focused his attention on Tyranitar.
Tyranitar was actively taking damage from the electric net. He was screaming in agony. Ash and his Pokémon quickly surrounded the net. He knew that Charizard, Lucario, Bulbasaur and Greninja couldn't touch the next without being damaged, so it was up to him and Pikachu. The two looked at each other and nodded.
With their combined efforts, they began to pull the net off of Tyranitar. Ash thanked Pikachu for constantly shocking him in the past because that helped his resistance toward electricity. Tyranitar wasn't making the effort easier. He kept moving around vigorously, roaring all the while. Ash grunted trying to keep Tyranitar down. His hands began to glow blue as he encased Tyranitar in his aura. Tyranitar looked shocked, but began to calm down.
Ash took a sigh of relief that his aura was soothing him enough to not move, but he still felt that Tyranitar was tense. His black eyes were studying the boy and watching his every move. He knew Tyranitar didn't trust him. Eventually, Ash and Pikachu managed to get the net off of Tyranitar. Tyranitar stood up straight and shook himself off. Though he had clearly been in pain earlier, he wasn't showing any weakness in his stance or look.
"Now… Tyranitar, are you okay, buddy?" Ash asked nicely. Tyranitar stared at Ash and his Pokémon with an emotionless expression. Then, his emotion turned into anger. Tyranitar started to snarl at the boy, wondering if he would evoke some sort of response. Ash looked straight into his eyes without flinching. Seeing that Ash wasn't afraid of him, he decided to do something else.
"GRRRRRAH!" Tyranitar roared as his made his claws glow blue and go wide. Ash looked at the reptilian with determined eyes.
"Ack!" Ash grunted as he was struck directly by Tyranitar's Dragon Claw. He was knocked on the ground and hissed in pain.
"(Ash!)" Lucario and Pikachu called out in anguish. Ash shook off the hit and once again approached the rock and dark type. Pikachu and Lucario was right behind him.
"Urggh…" Ash winced in slight pain, but shrugged it off. He said as convincingly as he could, "I know you're scared and confused, but please… don't focus on that. Focus on the good things. Those bad people won't lay other hand on you again. I'm here for you. I'm not one of those people."
"(Why should I believe you?! Humans are like a virus that must be destroyed. I won't let another human try and capture me!)" Tyranitar charged up an orange beam in his mouth and promptly shot out a Hyper Beam at the boy. Ash's eyes widened as he promptly jumped out of the way. However, he was still affected by the blast radius when the attack landed on the ground. He grunted and lost his footing. However, the boy got back up promptly. Ash was trying to think about how he was going to get through to the angered Tyranitar.
"(He's hurt. I don't know how damaged those people made him before you came. He's putting out a tough front, but he's also scared to death. I can see the bitterness in his eyes, too. I had those eyes once.)" Lucario noted.
"…" Ash took in the information, but didn't say anything. He was instead trying to see if he could use that to calm Tyranitar down more.
Tyranitar stomped his feet on the ground and roared again. Ash kept looking directly into his eyes. Tyranitar was confused by the constant eye contact and was wondering why Ash wasn't showing any signs of aggression back toward him. He easily had the tools with his Lucario, Pikachu and Charizard at his side. Still, he didn't trust the black-haired boy. He didn't want to take the risk of the boy's behavior being a façade.
"(Die, human!)" This time, Tyranitar opened his mouth wide and made a silhouette of sharp teeth appear in front of him. Ash steeled himself for the Crunch attack. Using his quickness, he managed to dodge the attack without hurting Tyranitar. Tyranitar fell on the ground upon missing. Ash's Pokémon were quickly becoming more and more concerned about their trainer, but one look from Ash told them not to intervene. Though he seemed a little upset about Tyranitar attacking him, he also seemed confident.
"Tyranitar, don't you recognize me?" Ash huffed in slight sadness.
Tyranitar showed no recognition in his features. Instead, he showed rage. He once again charged up a Hyper Beam in his mouth and shot it at Ash and his Pokémon. Ash sighed and brought out his hands. Instead of dodging the attack, he used his aura to protect himself and his partners from it. Ash grunted when the Hyper Beam collided with his Protect emulation and the emulation was broken quickly. He still took some damage since he hadn't perfected that technique. Tyranitar packed a powerful punch, but that didn't deter Ash. Tyranitar stepped back in shock.
"(What?! I've never seen a human do that.)" Tyranitar now was more audibly spooked. Ash sighed.
"Tyranitar, I'm an aura guardian. I just didn't show too many signs of it when you were a baby. You may be a little afraid, I'm not going to let you hurt me or my friends. Let me touch your scales. I want to use my aura to show you what's in my heart." Ash said with a patient smile. Tyranitar noted that Ash could understand him, too. Although a little afraid, he refused to show it.
"(I…)" Tyranitar hesitated. The smile genuinely seemed caring. The rock and dark type Pokémon was confused at the gesture.
"C'mon Tyranitar. I won't bite." Ash laughed. The boy slowly started to approach Tyranitar. Tyranitar seemed to be in a bit of thought.
"…" Tyranitar stared at the boy and watched him approach slowly. The Pokémon was aware that Ash didn't want to provoke him, but considering how the rest of his Pokémon was on edge toward him made him wary. They seemed ready to charge in suddenly. Tyranitar narrowed his eyes. He decided to stick to his guns and not trust this boy. Why else would he still have those Pokémon out other than to attack him while his guard was down?
Tyranitar jumped back before Ash could put a hand on his scales. Ash gasped and shook his head. Then, Tyranitar punched his fists into the ground and caused an earthquake. Lucario and Pikachu stumbled on the ground while Charizard flew up to avoid the attack. Tyranitar seemed to be privy to this because he immediately had several stones surround him rapidly and shot them at Ash's Pokémon. Charizard roared in pain and fell on the ground with a thud.
The combination of Earthquake and Stone Edge, plus his earlier battle with Lucario proved nearly too much for Pikachu. He took the hits, but it looked like he was barely standing. Lucario seemed to show an affinity toward healing herself over time as she had the most energy still of the three. She looked at Tyranitar sadly.
"Stubborn Pokémon. Heh, just like… me." Ash said once Tyranitar finished his onslaught. He smiled again, but this time it was much more competitive. He spoke with a bit of stubbornness himself, "So... you're gonna play hard to catch? I'm fine with that. I will get through to you."
"(Master Ash… His rock and ground type attacks did a number on me, but I'm not down.)" Lucario told him.
"Lucario… the devices that Tyranitar were exposed to might have augmented his strength because I know Pikachu wouldn't have taken so much damage so easily. Charizard, I understand a bit more since Stone Edge is four times effective. I think this is a good time to battle as one. Are you up for that?" Ash said to the fighting type. He threw a stone to her. The jackal barely caught it. She gasped and looked at the stone. Lucario widened her eyes. She didn't expect Ash to trust her this much. Lucario felt honored.
"(Of course! I won't let you down!)" Lucario said, determined.
Ash picked up Pikachu and had him sitting upright against Charizard. He made sure Charizard and Pikachu were comfortable before engaging Tyranitar again. Tyranitar was eyeing him distrustfully, but he did not stop Ash from doing this. It was like he was watching how Ash acted. Ash noted he had a lot of negativity built up in him and wondered what happened in the last five years. He decided to focus on that once he calmed down Tyranitar. Lucario stood in front of Ash, somewhat weakened, but eager to fight. Tyranitar stood on the other side with narrowed, but intimidating eyes.
"I never imagined this would be the time I would do this, but let's combine our strength into one! Mega evolution!" Ash touched his Mega Bangle and it resonated with Lucario's Mega Stone. Lucario started to change form. Her blue tail became submerged in tan fur. She got a little taller and her amicable red eyes turned sharp. She developed several black markings on her body. Once the form changed ended, Lucario roared fiercely with the mega insignia above her. Lucario had an air about her that made her fierce, but eager to fight. Tyranitar bared his sharp teeth in challenge.
"Tyranitar, if you don't believe my words, maybe you will believe in my battling. Lucario, let's do this!" Ash said.
"(Right!)" Lucario nodded.
Tyranitar started things off by stomping his feet into the ground. Immediately, the area was surrounded in a sandstorm. Luckily for Ash, Lucario wasn't affected by this too much because of her steel typing. Ash could barely keep himself standing. He said in a wobbly voice, "Lucario, jump up and use Bone Rush!"
Lucario jumped into the air before the Earthquake could do serious damage and formed a bone shaped weapon in her paws. As she had mega evolved, the attack seemed to have a more powerful aura to it. Lucario then launched herself at the reptilian Pokémon and knocked her club into his head. Tyranitar was sent slightly into the ground as Lucario made a slight tremor from the collision. From how Tyranitar was, he was trapped into the ground from the waist up.
Ash found himself impressed with Lucario's power increase and noted that he felt more connected to Lucario while both him and his counterbalance was active. He felt like Lucario wouldn't be this powerful normally if his eyes were just brown.
Tyranitar, though he looked like he was stuck, was not deterred. The ground began to shake again. This time, Tyranitar buried himself under the ground. Lucario immediately closed her eyes and brought out her black appendages and began to sense the area. Ash closed his eyes and did the same, except his hair was flowing freely in aura. He could feel Tyranitar digging through the ground. They both opened their eyes sharply once they felt Tyranitar beginning to surface.
"Lucario, jump up as Tyranitar surfaces and use Aura Sphere!" Ash commanded.
Lucario nodded and waited. Once the ground began to shake underneath her, she jumped up. Tyranitar tried to land an uppercut with Dig, but missed. Lucario put her paws together and shot at the rising reptilian with a ball full of aura. Tyranitar widened his eyes as he took the point black fighting type move to the face. Tyranitar gasped in pain as he felt into the ground with a loud thud.
Tyranitar tried his hardest to get back up, but his body was failing him. The damage he took from the poachers weakening him as well as his battle with Ash proved too much. Lucario landed right beside Ash and changed back into her regular form. The sandstorm petered out. Ash knew the battle was done.
Tyranitar growled at Ash as he approached him. Ash could see the hate and resentment in his eyes. Ash put his hands up into a placating gesture. Tyranitar turned away from the boy, dejected and upset. He hated he was at a human's mercy.
"(… Just end me already. Why are you being so patient with me?)" Tyranitar roared at the boy. Ash put a hand on his cheek. Tyranitar snapped at him. Ash hissed and noticed his hand was bleeding from getting bitten. Tyranitar continued to growl at the boy. Ash sighed and promptly used his aura to heal the wound.
"Tyranitar, the only reason why I decided to mega evolve Lucario was to show you the possible bond we can share in the future if you trust me a little. I'm not going to hurt you no matter what you do to me." Ash said. Lucario decided to add in her own input.
"(I haven't been with Master Ash long. I still am not sure if I can trust him completely, but I know he's a good human and that our trust will grow with time. His mannerisms and his interactions speak of him as a caring person. My partners reflected this attitude, too, when I ate lunch with them.)" Lucario told Tyranitar. Tyranitar seemed surprised to hear this. He was much more willing to listen to a Pokémon than a human. Ash sighed at her calling him 'Master' again, but decided not to say anything this time.
"(What do you know about this human? Why do you take such a risk being with him? You don't know if he will change and harm you.)" Tyranitar argued.
"(He helped me a couple a years ago against some poachers who had turned me to stone. I attacked him, like you, because I was afraid he was like them. I saw that he wasn't when I connected my aura with him. I felt his kind heart. If it wasn't Master Ash, I probably would still be a bitter Riolu who knows where. I connected my aura with him a second time recently and I sensed he hadn't changed.)" Lucario explained.
"(…)" Tyranitar didn't know how to respond to that.
"Tyranitar… I'm not sure what happened to you in the last five years, but I want to help you move past it. Please… give me the chance to." Ash pleaded.
"(…)" Tyranitar looked up into Ash's eyes and studied them. Once again, he didn't see any signs of malice from him. Ash having differently colored eyes was odd, but it didn't look out of place on him. He closed his eyes in thought. Then, he came to a decision.
"Tyranitar, I'm not going to hurt you. What can I do to show you that?" The young guardian asked. Tyranitar's eyes softened and shook his head.
"(I recognized you, you know, when you first came here. The boy that hatched my egg and helped me get out of my shell.)" Tyranitar revealed.
"…!" Ash stepped back in surprise. He found himself a little annoyed that Tyranitar knowingly attacked him, but understood that the Pokémon was under a lot of stress. He noticed Tyranitar's demeanor shift and wondered if Lucario's words got to him. Tyranitar slowly got back up, having been down long enough. However, he sat down and looked down at Ash. While sitting, he rivaled Charizard in size.
"(This Lucario speaks sincerely of you. The treatment of the other Pokémon is quite different from the humans with the Houndoom earlier, too. You tended to them first before you battled me. You have shown me that you don't mean any harm.)" Tyranitar decided.
"Tyranitar, I'm glad I was able to show you my heart. I'm also glad that Lucario could help prove it to you." Ash smiled. Seeing a human smile at him unnerved the Tyranitar. He shook his head and looked away from Ash.
"(I wasn't sure if you had changed like those rangers you left me with changed. I didn't want to take any chances. I'm… sorry for what I was doing. You don't know the pain that happened after you let me go back to my mom.)" Tyranitar told him. Ash put a hand on his chin in thought.
"We can talk about it more if you're up for it. Can you come with me on my journey?" Ash asked.
"…" Tyranitar blinked his eyes in surprise at the sudden question. He wasn't sure how to respond.
"I promise you… you will be safe with me. Also, you'll meet so many Pokémon like when we journeyed together. I haven't changed too much outside being a bit more solemn myself." Ash said and admitted.
"(Your eyes changed. You also seemed to have gotten a lot more powerful.)" Tyranitar observed. He found himself impressed with Ash's strength when he fought the poachers with his Lucario.
"Oh… I forgot I was still at one with my other self. Let me go back to normal." Ash's left eye changed back to brown. Tyranitar was confused at the phrasing, but figured he would know what Ash meant soon enough. Ash chuckled, "How do I look to you now? A little older than the Ash you met?"
"(You have a different air about you now. You seem… more competent and less goofy.)" Tyranitar noted.
"Hey…" Ash was slightly offended by the observation. Pikachu had to hide a bit of a chuckle. Ash grew annoyed with his starter Pokémon, too. Tyranitar observed the interaction and laughed.
"(That's good, though. If I am to be captured by a trainer, I'm glad the person before me not only cares about me, but also seem to know what he's doing. I'm not sure if I would respect you or give you the time of day otherwise. I do have a reputation to keep.)" Tyranitar grinned, baring his fangs out.
"Tyranitar…" Ash seemed touched. Then, he nodded. Ash smirked as he said excitedly, "Go, Poke Ball!"
Ash threw a Poke Ball toward the Tyranitar's head. The ball bounced off of the Armor Pokémon's head slightly before transforming Tyranitar into a red light. The ball slowly landed into Ash's hands and began to shake. Pikachu got up and so did Charizard. They all gathered around Ash and watched as the ball moved back and forth. Then, the ball made a 'ding' sound. Ash had his marks glowing from excitement. He held up the ball triumphantly.
"Welcome to the team, buddy." Ash hugged the ball. The capsule seemed to gleam slightly. Ash then took out two more balls and said. "Come back out, Tyranitar! Let's go Greninja and Bulbasaur!"
Ash threw up all three in the air and summoned his newly caught Tyranitar, his Bulbasaur and his Greninja. Ash had them all stand together. Ash noticed how small Pikachu and Bulbasaur was in comparison to Tyranitar and Charizard. Greninja stood around Lucario's height, but he was crouching. He couldn't believe he had all six of his partners. He looked forward to learning with each of them.
Tyranitar observed the other two Pokémon he hadn't seen yet. Greninja seemed cool, calm and collected. He could tell that Greninja was also eyeing him closely, not from mistrust, but from caution. He liked that. He hoped to train alongside the fellow dark type soon. He could sense a latent power in Greninja, too, which intrigued him. Bulbasaur also seemed cool, calm and collected, but he seemed much friendlier than Greninja. He was greeting him into the party. Tyranitar shyly waved at the grass and poison type.
Ash said, "You six will be my guardian partners. We're going to learn and grow together. We're gonna be the best of the best. I want everyone to put their best foot forward because once I head back home, we're going to be training like crazy. You're gonna see things from me that are weird, but empowering. Who knows? Maybe my aura will help you get stronger in different ways. I can't wait to see what everyone can do over time."
All of his Pokémon nodded. They all seemed eager for the future.
"Now that Tyranitar is with us, we're gonna keep getting stronger by jumping off each other strengths and weaknesses. We need to head back to our home in the Tree of Beginning. Then, the real training starts. Tyranitar…" Ash turned to the Armor Pokémon. Tyranitar tilted his head in confusion. Ash said, "The first thing I'm doing when we get back home is opening you up. There's some things I want to talk to you about in private considering you don't exactly trust me yet. Are you alright with this?'
"(Yes.)" Tyranitar nodded.
"Great! For now… let's report these people to Officer Jenny. I'm not sure how long they will be out for, but I don't want them to imprison any more Pokémon. Charizard, are you too tired to fly to Viridian City? I think that's the nearest city from here since the Silver Town isn't here right now. The Silver Conference isn't happening at the moment." Ash inquired.
"(Eh… Tyranitar packed a mean punch, but I should still manage.)" Charizard grinned.
"Good. Return everyone!" Ash took out four Poke Balls and returned Tyranitar, Bulbasaur, Lucario and Greninja. Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. Ash mounted Charizard. Charizard began to hover on the ground slightly and waited for Ash's command. He told the draconian, "Let's go and quickly."
Charizard nodded. He was feeling hurt from the Stone Edge, but wasn't going to show that to Ash. Albeit slowly, Charizard began to fly up and east toward Viridian City.
A/N: With this, Ash had officially reunited with all six of his guardian Aspects. Seems like he'll have quite the powerful team comp when refined. I wonder how his relationship with all of his Pokemon will develop...?
I do hope you guys all have a lovely day and I will see you guys again in two weeks.
Next Chapter: On the Road to Viridian City
~SPG123~