Howdy y'all! DarkSlash9 reporting for duty! This chapter is a little more on the action side, which some of you might not like. Sorry bout that. Don't worry though, the next chapter's gonna be alot more romantic. I promise.
DISCLAIMER: Pokemon is not mine bro.
Ash woke up as soon as he heard May scream. He sat up immediately and saw May shaking, with a horrified look on her face. Tears were falling from her eyes, but she wasn't sobbing or weeping. Just sitting, distraught. Ash tiredly up and walked over to her. He then sat next to her on the couch and put an arm around her.
"May? What happened?" he said groggily.
May did not respond. Instead her hand slowly and shakily pointed to the TV screen, which was on the Channel 8 News. Ash, still not fully awake, had to squint his eyes to see what was on the screen. What he saw horrified him. It was May and Max's house, with bright flames dancing all over it. To make matters even worse, the Headline read: BREAKING NEWS: Local Petalburg Gym Leader and wife burn to death in inextinguishable blaze.
"Oh my God... how did thi-"
"Geez, what's all the commotion about guys? It's not even 9 AM yet!" said Max, as he entered the living room tiredly. "I heard someone scream and I..."
Max's sentence was left unfinished when he saw what was on the TV screen. However, instead of going into a state of shock like May did, Max had a very different reaction. His face turned red, and his fists were clenched. His eyes began to tear up, and he tried his best to fight off the tears that were threatening to fall.
"Who did this?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"What do you mean 'who did this'? It must have been an accident..." said Ash, who still had his arm around May, who was still in a trance.
Max looked at Ash as if he were stupid.
"There's no such thing as an 'inextinguishable fire'... and if there is, how could my parents have started it?! Someone or something set our house on fire! Look at those flames! Those aren't natural looking at all! There's something fishy about this! We are going to find out who or what did this, and I will personally beat the shit out of them!" said Max, his anger growing with each word.
"Max, I think you should calm dow-"
"No. He's right." said May, interrupting Ash.
May's voice startled both Ash and Max. They thought that she would just stay in her trance, unaware of what was going on. But what surprised them even more was the side May took. Max and Ash didn't expect May to pick the side of revenge. That seemed a little... dark compared to her usual thought processes.
"May?" asked Ash.
"Yes. I know someone did this. I feel it." said May darkly.
Ash, now fully awake, stared at May. Something was... off about her. She wasn't being herself. But Ash came to the conclusion that the death of loved ones so abruptly could do that to some people.
"You guys... Are you sure about this?" asked Ash cautiously. While most people would respond to the death of their parents with tears and sadness, May and Max were responding with Anger and Revenge. Ash made a mental note of that.
"Positive." they both said in unison.
"Well, I guess we have no choice but to go investigate the scene of the fire..." said Ash. "Hold on guys, I'm going to go brush my teeth. Be back in a sec... don't worry guys. If there is someone behind this, I'll make sure to end them."
Ash walked up the stairs, thinking. He entered to bathroom and opened a drawer to reveal a box of new toothbrushes. He took one, put toothpaste on it, and began to brush.
"Max was right... that fire was definitely not normal now that I think of it... It actually kinda looked like... oh my God. Could it have been Negative Aura?!"
thought Ash.
"Indeed it was." said a voice in Ash's head.
"Lucario? Is that you? How are you speaking to me while in your pokeball?" asked Ash.
"Our minds are linked eternally. No man-made creation can stop that." said Lucario. "But anyway, that was indeed a fire started by Negative Aura. Notice there was no smoke emerging from the fire. Negative Aura has the appearance of fire, but is sub-zero in temperature. And of course, no type of Aura can be extinguished by water."
"I can't believe this! Why would Master Brecht and his cronies go after May's parents?! She has nothing to do with this!" replied Ash furiously.
"Master, she plays quite a large role actually. Have you ever read Miss May's Aura Signature?"
"What's an Aura Signature?" asked Ash.
"It is what type of Aura a person has the potential to use. You do not know this skill because up until recently, you thought there was only one type of Aura."
"So what's May's Aura Signature?"
"Negative."
"WHAT?!"
"It does not mean she is evil. It just means that she has the dormant ability to use it. Master, Negative Aura is not evil. It just so happens that evil people put it to use, believing it to be superior to Positive Aura." said Lucario.
"This still doesn't explain why the Aura Warlords would attack May's house."
"Aura Warlords believe that Negative Aura is evil. They must have found out Miss May's Aura signature, and are planning on creating enough pain and turmoil in her life to awaken the Negative Aura within. By awakening her spiritual powers in such a destructive way, she will, without a doubt, become evil."
"I see... so they want to turn my love interest into my enemy, which would weaken my resolve to destroy the Aura Warlords, because that would mean destroying her as well."
"Indeed."
"Well then, all we have to do is awaken May's powers through training, instead of tragedies. If her powers are born through work and not sadness, she'll stay good, right?"
"I believe so."
"Alright! If May we awaken her powers, She'll be able to defend herself! Which means she could go with us on our journey!"
"Yes. That would be..."
Lucario's sentence was cut off by the gravity around Ash increasing.
"Well, it seems an Aura Warlord wants a fight." thought Ash aloud. "Judging by the gravity increase, this one's a tad bit stronger than Giovanni. Actually... it feels like there's more than one."
"Would you like the assistance of Charizard and I?" asked Lucario.
"Nah, They're not THAT powerful. I'll just-"
Ash's sentence was interrupted by the sound of an explosion. Ash looked out of the window and saw the Pokemon Laboratory erupt into flames. Negative Aura flames. Ash wasted no time running downstairs. he instead jumped out of the window. An new set of Aura Guardian attire materialized onto his body in mid-air. But it was not his normal cloak. Instead, it was and all black sleeveless turtleneck top, black cargo pants, navy blue gloves with black steel knuckles, shoes, and a navy blue cape that came with a hood. Lucario's pokeball also materialized attached to Ash's belt.
"Damn, thanks for the new clothes Lucario! I look like a badass." thought Ash, as he landed safely on the ground and began running towards the Pokemon Laboratory.
"I decided to give your attire a more modern twist." said Lucario. "Glad you like it."
When Ash arrived at the pokemon center, there was no one there. The building was slowly being destroyed by the cold flames of Negative Aura. Then, out of the flames emerged a badly bruised, bloody and shivering Tracey Sketchit. He stumbled out of the building, and collapsed on the ground. Ash ran over to his old traveling companion.
"Tracey! Hang in there!" yelled Ash as he began to heal Tracey.
"Ughh... Ash... you really are alive..." said Tracey in a weak, pained voice. "I... saw you on TV at the... tournament... but I thought it was fake... It's good to see you...arggghh...!"
"Stop speaking! You're hurting yourself. We can talk later!" said Ash.
"It's... *cough* too late for me... at least I'll *cough* die knowing you're alive... *cough cough cough*" said Tracey, more blood coming out with every cough.
"No! You wont die! You cant!"
No response came from Tracey. Ash checked his pulse. He wasn't dead yet, but he would be in a few minutes.
"Crap..." said Ash.
Ash stood up and grabbed Lucario's pokeball from his belt.
"Lucario, come on out." said Ash as he tossed the ball to the ground, releasing Lucario. "I need you to heal him while I get to the bottom of this."
Lucario nodded his head in response. As Lucario began to heal Tracey some more, Ash gazed into the pokemon lab. He then cleared his throat, and yelled.
"I know you're in there! I can sense it! Show yourself!"
There was silence. Then, footsteps were soon heard, and 5 figures emerged from the flames, unscathed. 2 were Dark Lucarios, while the other three's faced were concealed by red hooded cloaks that covered their faces. One of them was shorter than the other two, by a lot.
"Damn, there's a lot of you." said Ash. "Doesn't matter though, I'll take down all five of you, no sweat."
More silence. Ash was about to speak, when he heard something he never expected.
"To take over the world without hesitation," said said one of the hooded figures, in a cold, female voice.
"To kill all peoples against our nation." said another cloaked figure, this one with a deeper voice.
"To slaughter the believers of truth and love," said the woman.
"To send clouds of blood to the stars above." said the man darkly.
"Jesse." said the woman monotonously as she pulled off her hood.
"James." said the man seriously as he took off his hood as well.
"And Persian." said the final hooded figure, as it took off its cloak revealing a talking Persian, which stood on it's hind legs.
"No way..." said Ash in awe.
"Team Torture murders at the speed of light." said Jesse, who's eyes had red irises.
"Your death is coming unless you fight." said James, who's irises were also red.
"Dat's right." said Meowth, who had evolved into a Persian. "Long time no see, Twerp."
Before Ash could even reply, the two Dark Lucarios present lunged at Ash. He Jumped into the air, Dodging both attacks. Jesse, James and Meowth stood still. Ash noticed that the Dark Lucarios that Team Rocket/Team Torture had were not nearly as strong as Giovanni's. Ash decided that he should eliminate the Lucarios first, then concentrate on Team Torture.
The Dark Lucarios recovered from their failed attempt and tried again. This time, Ash dodged one, while the other was able to latch onto his arm. Realizing that this was a dangerous situation, Ash formed an Aura Sword from his hand, effectively stabbing a hole through the Dark Lucario as soon as it materialized. The Dark Lucario let go of Ash's arm, and stumbled to the ground.
"One down, four to go." said Ash to himself.
Ash glanced over to Team Murder to see if they had any reactions to the death of one of their Dark Lucarios. Persian and Jesse seemed fine, but James seemed quite agitated by it.
"Jesse, I'm entering the battle now." growled James.
"Don't be an idiot James. Alone, we cant touch the Twerp. But our combined powers outmatch Giovanni's. If you go in without me, he'll kill you. Let's just wait and see how my Dark Lucario fares against him. With it's special ability, It'll be quite a hassle for him." said Jesse coldly.
"...Fine." said James.
Jesse and James returned their gazes to the fight, where Ash was struggling to land a hit on Jesse's Dark Lucario. Whenever he would come up with a solid plan and go through with it, the Dark Lucario would always dodge. it was insanely fast. Faster than Giovanni's. Ash was getting very frustrated.
"How the hell is this thing so fast!?" Ash thought aloud, as he dodged a Negative Aura Sphere.
"Allow me to explain, Twerp." interrupted Jesse. "You see, some high-ranking Aura Warlord-Dark Lucario pairs are given special abilities by our Emperor, Master Brecht. These abiliti-"
"High-ranking? You goons are high-ranking?" asked Ash, who was currently using both hands as Aura Guns, shooting hundreds of bullets from both pointer fingers. The Dark Lucario dodged each and every bullet easily.
"Shut it, Twerp. Like I was saying, these abilities are given to us based on what our job is. We are the assassins of the Aura Warlords, therefore my Dark Lucario and I have been given the power of super speed." said Jesse.
"So what does James have?!" asked Ash as he attempted to dodge a barrage of punches sent by Jesse's Dark Lucario. He then glanced over to where Team Torture was standing, and he saw James's body disappear. Then, in the blink of an eye, James body reappeared right in front of Ash.
"Instant Transportation." said James quietly before he punched Ash in the face.
Ash staggered back, but regained his composure. Meanwhile, Jesse was not too pleased with James' actions.
"James you fool! I told you not to go in without me!" yelled Jesse.
"Sorry, couldn't help it." said James as he teleported back to Jesse and Persian.
"Ya gotta be careful. It don't look like da Twerp's even tryin' yet. I think he's holdin' back on us." said Persian.
Jesse and James examined Ash's actions against Jesse's Dark Lucario closer and noticed that Ash indeed was not fighting full power. He wasn't toying with them, but he wasn't really going all out either.
"Listen Twerp, quit holding back. We know you've got a lot more power hidden inside you. Don't think that we're weak, because together, Team Torture's skills trump Giovanni's. So we won't be as easy to defeat. Going full power is your only chance." said James.
"Well, it seems you guys got smarter in the last five years. I didn't think you'd see through my act. I dont like going over 20% of my maximum strength if I don't have to. But it seems like 20% isn't enough to deal with you guys. I guess 40% will do." said Ash he dodged a kick by Jesse's Dark Lucario.
"20%?! Da Twerps only been usin' 20%?!" exclaimed Persian, astounded.
"Oh calm down Persian. He's clearly bluffing." said Jesse, unaffected my Ash's words.
"Am I bluffing?" said Ash as Jesse's Dark Lucario approached Ash for another attack.
The Dark Lucario jumped in the air and prepared to perform and Aura Kick. But before the attack could begin, Ash jumped up with amazing speed, tackling the Dark Lucario.
"WHAT?!" yelled Jesse in disbelief. "How could he have tackled it?! It should have been impossible! My Dark Lucario would have dodged!"
"H-his speed... it-it's even faster than yours!" stuttered James.
Jesse began to panic. Was Ash really only going 20% the whole time? If he's only been using 20%, the thought of him using 40% sent chills down Jesse's body.
"Wh-what now Jesse?" asked James.
"Well, If he's really only going 20%, lets kill him before he has the chance to go any higher."
"You don't mean..."
"Yes. I do. I have to use it." said Jesse. "Dark Lucario! Use our ultimate technique! Negative Storm!" yelled Jesse.
The Dark Lucario grumbled in response and released itself from Ash's tackle. It immediately surrounded its whole body and Negative Aura and began running around Ash as fast as it could. Soon, a small tornado of Negative Aura began to circle around Ash.
"As powerful as that stuck-up Twerp has become, there's no way he'll emerge from that attack without a few broken bones and bruises. He'll be weakened, and that's when you and I will enter the battle and finish him off with our signature assassination combo, the Charge Smash. Got that James?" said Jesse.
"Yes."
"Hey! Whadda bout me guys?! I wanna beat da Twerp up a bit too!" yelled Persian angrily.
"Shut up Persian, why don't you go deal with the Twerp's Lucario over there? He's healing that guy we attacked." said Jesse.
"Fine..." grumbled Persian as he slowly trudged over to Lucario and Tracey.
When Lucario saw Persian approaching him, he prepared himself for battle. He had healed Tracey to the point that his injuries were no longer fatal, so healing him was not as much as priority as it was before. Lucario placed Tracey's body leaning against a tree, away from harm.
"So, you're da Twerp's Lucario eh?" asked Persian.
"I have no need to explain my identity to a freak like you."
"Hmph. Freak or not, I'm still gonna slice dat neck of yours to pieces."
"I'd like to see you try." said Lucario as he punched Persian in the face, beginning their fight.
They they both threw multiple punches and kicks, both dodging them all. Their battle was solely fought with hands and feet, no powers used. But soon, the Fighting Type inside Lucario took over and Lucario obtained the upper hand. It became very clear Persian did not stand a chance.
"You cannot defeat me. My fighting prowess is several levels higher than yours."
"Even if I don't beat ya, you'll still die. Cuz once Jesse and James kill the Twerp, you'll die as well!"
"I don't think that plan of yours is going too well." said Lucario as he pointed to the direction of Ash and the rest of Team Torture's battle.
Much to Persian's horror, there stood Ash, with only a small cut on his arm, with Jesse's Dark Lucario dead at his feet. Persian immediately ran over to Jesse and James, leaving his battle with Lucario unfinished. But before he could reach Jesse and James, they both engaged Ash in combat, putting their plan into action. Jesse charged towards Ash as fast as she could, which caused him jump into the air. James began channeling as much Negative Aura as he could into his hands.
"What are they planning?" thought Ash, still in the air.
Ash looked around for James, but couldn't find him.
"Say goodnight, Twerp." was all Ash heard before he was smashed down towards the ground by James, who had teleported behind him. The pain Ash experienced was excruciating. Not only was it a powerful smash, it was also charged with Negative Aura, which made it all the more painful.
"Shit..." said Ash as the icy pain intensified with every second.
Instead of teleporting away, James burst into a fit of laughter. Even though he was injured, Ash saw this as a chance to land a blow against James. As he plummeted to the ground, quickly charged a powerful Aura Sphere and fired it straight towards James. The attack connected to James head, blowing it clean off. James body fell to the ground at the same time Ash's did.
"Master!" yelled Lucario as he began to run over to Ash. But before he could reach his fallen master, Persian attacked him with a Scratch attack, resuming their battle.
Jesse was horrified. But her horror was quickly dismissed by a new emotion. Rage.
"That's it Twerp. Time to die." she said in a voice cold as ice.
Jesse began walking towards Ash, who was still dealing with the pain of James' attack.
"Dammit... really wish I brought Charizard." muttered Ash to himself as he struggled to get back up.
The closer Jesse got, the more Ash struggled to get up. The situation seemed bleak.
"Damn, I've got to think of something, fast!" thought Ash.
"It's over." said Jesse as she finally arrived in front of Ash.
"No it's not!" yelled an unknown voice. The voice sounded strained, as if the person was lifting a heavy weight while they were speaking.
Before Jesse could even respond, a poorly made Negative Aura Sphere came flying her way. Jesse dodged it with ease.
Everybody looked to see where the weak attack had come from. Even Lucario and Persian had paused their battle to see who had fired the attack. When he saw who it was, Ash's heart nearly stopped. Standing alone, breathing heavily from the attack she just fired, was May Maple.
Whew! That might have been the most stressful chapter I have ever written. Sorry for the long wait, I made several different possibilities for this chapter, but none of them felt right, including this one. I ended up having my older sister read all three different scenarios and having her choose the best one. She chose this one. I apologize for the lack of romance in this chapter, but as I said before, the next chapter will be more on the romantic side.
Oh yeah, In my stories, a Lucario dies when it's master dies. I know that's not what happens in Pokemon, but I need it to be that way for this story.
With the holidays out of the way, the next chapter won't take nearly as long as this one did. I, once again, apologize for the long wait.
In other news, I have decided that this fic will be 20 chapters long, and there will be a sequel to it.
Leave me some reviews if you'd like, and if you feel like there's anything I should improve, leave me some constructive criticism. Not to be confused with flaming. Flames hurt.
Catch ya later!
~DarkSlash9