"This can't be happening... it's not possible!" Fear was the only emotion shining through Cynthia's eyes. Team Rocket had recreated a rough but recognizable version of the Shadow Pokémon, soulless beasts knowing only hate and violence, stripped of their purity and transformed into a corrupted form of demonic entities no longer fit for this world.
"PikaPi!" The frantic cry startled the blond woman, everything was running in slow motion it seemed. It was a surreal sensation... taking in all of the sights and sounds as if time had stopped. Her eyes were drawn to the Pokémon in the corner, Shadow licking a nasty gash on his side as well as Riley avoiding moving his leg as he whimpered trying to nudge Ninetales awake.
The storm was getting worse by the second after Pikachu released the lightning bolt, the rain started to pelt her soft skin with a biting sting, visibility was horrible and flying was now damn near impossible in this weather.
A faded voice was shouting through the noise, she saw Ash running towards her and his lips were moving... but everything was hazy. 'Why can't I move, I want to… but my limbs are locked in place."
"Cynthia get down!" Ash's heavy frame grabbed her and threw them down to the dirt, just as her back hit the ground a bright beam enveloped the space above them. Cynthia shivered at how close that had gotten, the two Pokémon were really out kill them. Seeing the fear in her eyes infuriated him, this had gone on long enough, it was time to end this before close calls quit happening and they really got hurt. The light began to fade and the back of his neck felt burnt, he was aching but it was manageable.
Hurriedly getting up to his feet he pulled Cynthia into a light kiss, "I need you to get away with Brock, you can't be anywhere near here right now. It's too dangerous and I'm not going to let you get hurt, not by something like this."
"No Ash, we're in this together. No matter what you say..."
Brock placed a hand on her shoulder pulling her away, despite her struggles she finally relented and went with him.
"Here's my Poke-gear, there's only one number inside it. When you call a machine will answer, and it's the only number in it. An automated machine will answer it, listen for the dial tone. Once you hear it say, 'Ashton Ketchum-061496, Winter Contingency sub-directive six.' You will hear a response message, then hang up. I need you to make sure Brock stays safe and that there is nobody else in the area and see if you can find Gardevoir. Please, do this for me, I will be fine Cynth."
"Stay safe," were her parting words.
Ash reached over and scratched the mouse's head, "We have to end this before Raikou shows up…if he does. I know you wanted him to help but we can't risk it spreading to a Pokémon that strong."
Ash knelt down placing his fists against the snow. Memories of the time spent in Rota, finding out who his father really was, all of the discoveries he had made on his journeys. Calming down his breathing he blocked out the noises of the world, finally being face to face with this corruption made everything make sense now.
"I spent my life searching for the answers that everybody else failed to find, thinking that my father had abandoned me to find them on my own. Who were the original Aura users? Why did they create the vast monoliths that litter our planet? How did they harness aura, the life energy of the world? What was our original purpose, why did almost all of them vanish? They taught me our connection with aura, the life of creation. I have asked the plants, but they do not remember. They have asked the rocks but the rocks do not recall… even they do not recall. Every bone in my body tells me that the answers have always been right in front of me, but I was uninterested in searching for a truth in the myth, rejecting any guidance but my own. I found the truth though inside of that god forsaken research facility with this curse I now carry around my neck, I found the answers to so many question. I realize our purpose for existing."
Looking up and opening his eyes they began to glow a bright cyan, shifting away from their natural amber. "Auras Light calls to those who will answer. One light to bind us all... One light to find us… One light to unite us all… and in the shadows find them."
Standing up with Luna and Arcanine at his side, Ash began to walk forward with a calm aura, bright blue light coming off his body in waves, an exact opposite to the shadows covering the two Pokémon staring him down. Placing a hand on Luna, the appendages on her head began to glow and level out.
Inside Luna's head she could see the moment they had finally become bound to one another.
'Why don't we travel together, we could learn a lot about ourselves and what we're capable of?'
'I wouldn't mind as long as you play your music for me, I could care less about the other stuff.'
'Ha, I think we could do that. We're going to be partners now, we won't go at anything alone anymore.'
'Deal!'
Without warning a sickly green flame shot from Salamence, only to be met with a searing flamethrower from Arcanine.
Briefly whiting out his vision, Ash clenched his eyes shut at the light, Luna jumped into the air launching an Aura Sphere into the dragon's open maw.
Seeing that his two companions were keeping Salamence busy Ash shifted his focus to the Drapion.
The purple scorpion lunged forward, intent upon tearing the human in half.
The ranger reacted just in time, only managing to roll to the side and break into a sprint as several deadly streams of poison slammed into where he stood moments ago, the grass blackening and dying several feet around. Drapion was coming around the side of him now, the inky darkness melting off of its body.
Aura flaring, Ash lashed his foot out and connected with Drapion's skull.
Eliciting a terrible screech it backed off, the spot that was struck replaced with a teal flame.
Salamence caught whiff of this and charged, swinging a giant clawed paw towards him, only to be met with the full force of Arcanine's body moving at an extreme speed knocking it to the ground.
With another strike he side stepped and left a line of blue flames across the dragon's neck followed up with a bone rush to the abdomen from Luna.
The battle kept going, each side exchanging hits. The trainer and his Pokémon battered and bruised while the offending Pokémon were cut, beaten to hell, and marred with burns from Arcanine.
Body trembling with exhaustion, Ash slumped down to the ground. Unable to hold it any longer Ash's shaky hand dropped the metal staff he was wielding, feeling many times heavier than normal. It was a poor defense at this point should the two monsters decide to get up again, but his arms felt like dead weights and he knew he would be unable to swing it any more.
Wiping sweat from his eyes, he pushed himself into a sitting position and stayed there for a moment catching his breath and possibly sanity. It was always difficult to face death, but near impossible to cheat it. He didn't know how much further his luck could take him. Luna sat down beside him and leaned against his body resting her eye, while Arcanine was licking at the cuts along its torso, sharing body heat with his trainer.
Looking back at the gruesome scene he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt, the grove was burnt to ashes, the rain was struggling to put out the regular fire let alone the teal blue flames left from Aura burns.
The burns... his stomach finally couldn't handle the sight and let loose a mouthful of wretched bile. The Drapion and Salamence were writhing in pain in the corner, screaming and roaring for the pain to stop. The fire kept spreading across their bodies further and further, he made no move to get up though. What could he do, there was no way to take it back or stop the pain. This was one of the few reasons Ash hated being what he was. Aura didn't play favorites, only dealt justice when her users deemed necessary… Who could honestly say what justice was and be unbiased in how they dealt it.
The sky broke with another flash of lightning as the rain slowed.
Running his hand through the giant dog's mane he began looking around until he spotted a leaf within reach, "Luna, have I ever told you the legend the man who knew what it truly meant to give Justice?"
The white Lucario stared up at him, 'No, I don't remember hearing you tell that one. How does it go?"
The lightning lit the heavens with another brilliant flash of gold. "A long time ago there was supposedly an Arcanine that outmatched every other Pokémon in the natural world by leaps and bounds and was on par with the God Pokémon themselves."
Arcanine puffed its chest out with pride at the statement and licked his face, "This Arcanine became too strong and vicious as time passed. The people of that time feared him more than anything else under the belief that he would one day destroy everything they knew and loved, well the humans had their own such beings. The original Aura users supposedly."
Luna place a paw on her father's hand listening intently, 'Did they stop him?'
He smiled down at her as he continued, "Yes but it took many tries. This Arcanine was the most prideful being at the time, never backing away from a challenge in order to prove he would always win. So our ancestors made a bet with him that they could create a chain that Arcanine couldn't break. Time and again they created different chains, each stronger than the next to try and lock him in place but every time he broke them with little effort."
Furrowing her eyebrows, Luna tried to figure out how they could have won then, 'How could they have won if nothing they did worked.'
Ash laughed at nothing in general, "Well apparently the craftiest and the wisest of them scoured the globe with his Lucario in order to gather the material to create a new binding. Supposedly they made it out everything that couldn't exist. The sound of a Meowth's footfall, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a Ursaring, the breath of a Seaking, and the spittle of a Pidgeot."
The Lucario chuckled, 'That doesn't make any sense!'
Rubbing her head for a second he gazed back out at the two Pokémon writhing in agony with a saddened expression, "They took all of those things and forged a silken ribbon. When they brought it to Arcanine he immediately sensed some form of trickery was at hand, but unable to back down he accepted the challenge under one condition."
"What was the one condition?"
Picking up the leaf he grabbed earlier he focused his attention on it, making sure it was the right shape, "He demanded that he deserved justice just as much as any other creature would because personal bias has no place in the dealing of it. The bravest of the humans stepped forward knowing that was he said was true, his name was Tyr. Because they bound Arcanine's right paw, he offered his own right hand in exchange. He would place his hand inside of the Pokémon's mouth and if it proved to be trickery then Arcanine would take his own hand as justice."
Luna's eyes grew wide, 'Surely he must have known what would have happened father?'
Closing his eyes Ash nodded, "He did, and he did it willingly because that was true justice and all others needed to know what that was. Arcanine strained and struggled but the ribbon held tight, so he took the man's right hand. That was true justice, even though he was considered evil Arcanine received what was only fair and right. In order to calm the angry Pokémon, the woman that loved him when all others didn't created a song specifically for him. She called it 'Oracion', and it was said to be so beautiful that anyone who heard it was put at ease and away from suffering."
Taking a deep breath he place the leaf to his lips, "Drapion and Salamence didn't choose to become this, it was forced upon them. We did what we had to, but even the deserve justice Luna. It's our job as Aura wielders to give that to them. Always remember that."
As the notes began to ring from the leaf, Ash remembered hearing Oracion for the first time at the space-time tower with Dialga and Palkia.
The effect was instantaneous, the two shadow Pokémon began to quiet down, lulled into a trance.
As the song continued their eyes shifted away from the violent red, slowly reverting to their natural coloration. If only for a little while, Ash could give them a slight reprieve.
The minutes ticked by, the song kept repeating, Luna and Arcanine fast asleep. The more time that ticked by the more tired his lips got but he played as long as he could, Drapion and Salamence deserved this much.
Soon though the sky began to darken again, something was watching them. Somewhere in the distance Raikou was fleeing as fast as it could from the dark tendril the entity had following it.
A gold plated face glared up from the large puddle in the grove, this was unacceptable. Lightning began to crack violently through the sky, masking the black liquid creeping out of the puddle.
Opening his eyes Ash saw the two Pokémon in front of him slowly rise,
The bodies that shuffled forward were nothing but hollow shells of their former selves.
Ash shook himself violently, trying to pull himself out of the trance he had fallen into. Right now he needed to get back up and run, there would be time to think about why they were getting back up later.
How oddly fitting it would be a cold day in hell, these abominations walked not through fire but a chilled air, a vacuum from which the very life had been sucked. They were horrors in the daylight, an unnatural setting for such a perfect cinematic scene. Ash Ketchum, Ranger extraordinaire enter the forest. Roll cameras, cue demons. Action, action, and action again.
Drapion and Salamence were finally up and moving again, it something out of a nightmare. Shadow Pokémon out for your life, covered in darkness that finally extinguished the blue fire, towering over you in spite of every effort put forth.
"I can't fight this, not now... And my team is in no shape to fight. It would be a death sentence, Luna and Arcanine don't have the strength for this and everyone else is knocked out. Where is Gardevoir?" Ash yelled in frustration as he picked himself up from where he fell, grabbing his staff and running into the woods.
Like all twisted paths everything began to bend gradually, turning upside down, over and under, until the shaped of what was to come was no longer discernible. He was moving by his bare fingertips, hand over hand in treacherous navigation. Cuts littered his face as he propelled forward narrowly dodging trees limbs, on a few occasions tripping on a root that seemed to be perfectly placed.
The rain obscured his vision as he at last crested what seemed to be the edge of the forest. Wiping the water from his eyes he peered into the night. He had seen movement ahead, he was sure of it.
That feeling, where something is there waiting for you. It's so deep seated in the mind, so primal. Memories from when he was a kid resurfaced as he tried to make himself as small as possible against the tree he was behind. Being so little and getting woken up at three o'clock in the morning during the winter months by something big and unknown moving down your street. Huddling under the blankets as he can practically feel the thing go past, roaring, banging, rattling something that he could have sworn was trying to get him. By the time you're old enough though that you realize it's only a snowplow you've forgotten about it. By then I know the covers can't save me, "I miss that ignorance."
Ash could feel his heartbeat thumping loudly in his ears, his breaths felt like they were as loud as a raging Dragonite.
Ash scrunched his eyes together in morbid thought, 'They're waiting for me to try and escape, if they can think like that. They're toying with me.'
Peeking around the corner again he saw the opening to the next clearing and what he hoped would be at least some way to delay the inevitable. His training began to come full swing, 'There's a clearing now, they'd like me to make a run for it wouldn't they. To prove my hope was only a fleeting illusion, to not just kill me but completely crush me. The big wigs told me back during the last incident that they can't think like this but they aren't sitting here in my position. Big men, big words, backed by big ideas, but they just don't know jack shit. If they did I would be dead by now. But by Arceus I'm not, I am standing right here.'
Ash was looking everywhere now, trying to catch even a glimpse of the red eyes he saw earlier, but there was nothing. The pitter-patter of the raindrops sounded like it was coming down onto a tin roof as it beat its way through the canopy, a horde of blind men tapping their way through the trees surrounding him, "I'm fucked..."
Ash stood perfectly still against the tree, a barricade that was about as effective as a piece of paper, but it did sooth his mind. It helped having something solid to at least have his back against.
'I'm not going to die like a dog, I didn't go through everything I have just to fall with my tail between my legs.'
Compromising here would be about as useful as trying to talk down a bullet already speeding towards your brain. Maybe they're as stupid as the big men said they are, or maybe they just don't want to listen. Either way, praying wouldn't do him any good right now either, he rarely gave Arceus the time of day even though he had to admit he should. Andrews may have prayed though, he had it bad.
The sound of branches snapping somewhere nearby caused his heart rate to spike, it was now or never. The ranger readied his resolve to make a mad dash, and hope that : A- whatever is on the other side doesn't kill me, B- Hope that the two hidden enemies don't get me first, and C- Didn't die before getting to have kids.
Slowly he crept around the tree, staying low and underneath the foliage in an attempt to mask himself as best as possible.
The plants to the left of him began to rustle, he didn't stop moving though until he saw an eye slowly peer out. A violent yellow and red, glowing as it watched his every movement.
The rangers breathing was erratic and kept hitching in his lungs, with a trembling hand he slowly reached down for his emergency side-arm, the rubber bullets wouldn't do any damage but if he could get a good shot off it would stun it for that crucial second. Without taking his eyes off of the one behind the leaves he pulled the slide back, almost flinching at how loud the sound of the scraping metal was as it slammed back into place. Closing one eye he raised it up, aiming for the sickly colored eye as more sweat poured down his face.
'This won't kill you, you big bastard, but it sure will hurt like hell.'
His finger curled around the trigger, first meeting the resistance until it slowly slid back. The sweat was pouring down his face. Right as he felt the final safety in the trigger prepare to knock the hammer onto the bullet he heard more rustling.
Turning his head he saw the drapion's skull burst through. A gust of warm crashed into his face as it made a feral snarl. "Clever girl..."
A massive arm swung through the trees as though they were paper and crashed into his stomach, a few cracks and sharp pangs resounded through his side as he was flung into the opening.
"If only I could be more than just your Pokémon."
Gardevoir peered into the water, her reflection seemed to stare back into her soul. One bright red eye.
It was so frustrating, how much so she wished to be with him as more than a Pokémon. Her trainer saw her as family, but she wanted to be the head of the family with him, to be mates. Why did she have to be cursed like this!
With a swipe she struck the reflection, it wasn't fair. Ash was an aura guardian even, it could work. In their world the aura users were allowed to have relationships such as that, they had a deeper connection with their Pokémon than anybody could ever understand.
'The ties that bind us' she thought. 'It could be so perfect... but you're still hooked on the blonde woman and the pink haired harlot. Why can't I have my own chance, I'm stronger, prettier, and more loyal than they would ever be!'
The air became oppressive and heavy, psychic energy radiating out of her body as the grass began to lay flat in a ring under her feet, a painful throb beat against her mind.
Gardevoir grew a tiny smirk, 'I should just be done with her now, but I'm positive that she and the tattooed devil will be end up fighting to the death later.'
Sticking her foot in the water she closed he eyes and attempted to calm her mind down, the cool water soothing her body. Her one visible eye shot open before glaring into the woods, the energy she felt approaching was blondie and the perverted one.
'Just my luck.' With a crooked smile she greeted the two, trying very hard to not think about how lovely it would be to turn her into a mere stain on the grass.
Cynthia was frantically looking around holding Pikachu until she noticed Gardevoir by the pond. "Gardevoir, thank god! You need to help us save Ash, he's in trouble and we can't help him anymore at this point."
The champion finally noticed the pathetic state that she was in. Her green hair was matted to her face giving her a bestial appearance when coupled with the blood red eye peering out and the water pouring down her face.
"Pika chu pi cha! Pi pi chaaaa pika pik pi" The small rodent was gesturing towards the rain clouds and making all different manners of faces at her.
Gardevoir's mouth slowly opened, she couldn't believe what the rat was saying. How out of it was she to not realize any of this was going on.
A loud rumbling noise came from the forest as limbs began to break and trees could be seen falling.
"Ash!" Brock dove forward catching his friend before he could hit the ground. He was definitely worse for wear but no permanent damage. "I gotcha buddy, what happened?"
Two feral screams were his response, the loud bangs that resounded in front of him almost gave him a heart attack. "Ash are those?"
"They're only stun rounds, even if they were real they wouldn't do a damn thing to them."
Drapion and Salamence charged out of the forest, flames still present on their bodies but finally dying down as the shadow overpowered it. Reaching behind his back ash squeeze the mechanism to extend his staff forcing Brock away.
"You will not...hurt...him!" Gardevoir was floating high above the ground, screaming into every living being's mind. The two shadow Pokémon raised there massive claws prepared to bring them down for the final blow.
'Singularity.'
Everything turned black. "You will not lay another mark upon him so long as I breathe."
"Gardevoir?"
Nobody could move despite how hard they strained, human and Pokémon alike. Gravity began to get stronger and stronger, weighing everything down to the point it started to get painful. Ash could only watch in wide eyed horror at what was happening, the power coming off of Gardevoir was outrageous. Everything about her had changed, her personality, the look in her eyes screamed murder, the maniacal grin..., "what happened to her"?
Raising her hand she lifted the offending Pokémon into the air, slowly she began to move her hands together, the effect was instantaneous. Drapion and Salamence began to writhe in pain, they were begin crushed from every angle by the psychic energy. The audible hum from her power was what worried him most.
"I knew she was strong...but never to this extent?" The ranger winced at what happened next, cracks began to pierce the air, who each one came from wasn't exactly clear though. Salamence's wings and joints began to pop and bend at weird angles while the even more worrisome part was drapion's exoskeleton... it was starting to shatter.
"Gardevoir, you have to stop this instant! You can't keep going like this," he was shouting till his throat hurt but she didn't seem to hear him.
Inside of her head it was pounding with pain, almost as if a Primeape was pounding against her skull. This was nothing though, nothing compared to the anger and fury she was feeling. Everybody was out to hurt her master, she was the only one who ever protected him, stayed with him, cared for him, and now it was her turn to get vengeance. The blonde haired bimbo was next, with a calming breath she dropped the two she was holding up and cupped her hand in front of her mouth before exhaling. A small black orb floated into it, with one final grin she released it.
Ash was straining against the darkness with all of his might, slowly he began to move, crawling towards her. He got closer and close but as he did the orb was growing ever larger. "Gardevoir you have to let it go!"
She still wasn't listening, focusing entirely on her power. With one final push he grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled her down, the effect was immediate. The black that engulfed everything receded back into Gardevoir and the ball collapsed, dropping the two Pokémon that were being sucked into it. Ash shuddered to think what would happen if they had made it into there...
Gardevoir landed on top of Ash, wide eyed and shocked she was speechless at first. Gently smiling down at him she began to cry, tears pouring onto his cheek. Laying her head down her hugged him and buried her face in his neck and began sobbing. Her voice rang clear as day through his head though, 'So that's why I have to be like this... because nobody else can protect you. I love you Ash, thank you for being such a wonderful trainer.'
The ranger hugged her tight, rubbing his hand up and down her back. Standing up he carried her bridal style over towards the group whispering, "I love you too Gardevoir, you're family to me. We can talk about it later though, I promise."
With a nod she closed her eyes, the pain in her head was finally gone. Pulling out her ball he returned her before handing it to Cynthia, "Did you make the call?"
"Yep, the rangers should be here in the next few minutes and Rota says that preparations are underway, but that you need to get back as soon as possible to prepare for the tournament. By the time we get back it will be almost time." Cynthia gently smiled at him, walking over and wrapping an arm around his waist.
The sounds of rotor blades in the distance pierced the air. The rain had slowed down to a light shower, no longer the torrential downpour it had been. "There's one last thing I need to do. These shadows can't remain here... not in the normal world."
Ash dreaded the thought of what would happen, but it was his job as a Guardian and Ranger. Protect the Pokemon world every way possible. Returning Gardevoir to her ball he walked over to the broken bodies of Salamence and Drapion, they weren't moving , no evidence of pain even showed in their features. He placed his hands on each of their heads, slowly the darkness began to seep through his arms. The crystal vial he wore around his neck shined brighter and brighter before dying down as though nothing had happened. One thing he didn't notice though was the tiny organism that seemed to swim throughout the shadows enter his arm as well.
"The rangers will take care of these two, looks like our ride is here." Ash grabbed Cynthia's hand, pulling her and Brock with him to the chopper.
Upon touch down he couldn't stop from grinning at the pink hair that stuck out like a sore thumb. "The gauntlets of the law are here, it's good to see you again Ash, and it looks like these two are as well." She laughed as a Plusle and Minum sprung from behind her and began to shower his face with affection and tiny shocks.
"Champion."
"Vi."
The air between them began to sizzle from the intensity, both silently thanking that Ash was too distracted to notice.
I know this isn't my best work and it's been a while, please don't be angry. This has been the toughest chapter to try and write so far, many things have been stopping it. Combinations of Writer's block, Term papers, and business with the Air Force have kept me away. I have been working on the next few chapters though, it was just this specific one that was so tough, I probably wrote it 15 times and this was the best I could do. Eventually I plan on revamping the earlier chapters and this will definitely be one of main focuses. I promise to update the newest chapter later this week. Please don't skin me alive too badly... I know it's not great but I will make up for it. This is setting up quite a few major plot points, sorry if it feels really rushed at points.
