Hey everyone and welcome back to The Shadows of Betrayal, chapter 7. Sorry about the late update as I have been revising for my final exams (which I have now completed, thank god). I've also had some personal family issues to deal with in the past weeks, so I haven't felt in the mood for writing.

Chapter seven: Let the Training Begin

Ash woke up to a new day, refreshed and ready for anything Riley planned to throw his way. Riley must have woken up early in the morning again as he had gotten Ash's clothes that he wore yesterday clean. As he got changed into his clothes, he wondered if Riley ever stayed for long in the house. Since Ash had noticed his house contained simple furniture like beds, cupboards and chairs, yet it had not have any pictures or decorations on the walls or shelves. And the fridge and kitchen cupboards had very little food in them, which explained why Riley chose to eat at the café last night.

Ash walked downstairs on his own, as he had allowed Pikachu a little extra time to nap, he saw Riley sitting down in the living room with a cup of tea while watching the news. It was still talking about how Ash had 'died' and how no one had been able to recover his body or his Poké Balls and how they were going to host a memorial service in Pallet Town to commemorate 'the tragic loss of a brilliant and well-loved trainer' as the news reporter said.

'You obviously don't know why I ended up in the ocean in the first place' he thought to himself as he released a small snigger. This was what caught Riley's attention who then turned around to face Ash.

"Hello Ash, did you have a nice rest?" Riley asked him as he watched Ash sit down into one on the empty chairs in the living room.

"Yes I did" Ash replied "I didn't have any nightmares so I could count that as a good thing"

"That's good to hear" Riley said, smiling a little. "So Ash are you ready for your Aura training today?" Riley then asked him.

"Yeah, I'm ready for anything" Ash replied, while making a fist and pulling it to his chest, in an excited motion.

"Good" Riley said "We'll be going to the Iron islands to train, as Aura training can get quite destructive and I don't plan paying to have the house rebuilt".

"You make it sound like you've already done that before" Ash said, wondering if Riley has ever lost control of his Aura abilities.

"Lets just say it was a good thing Byron was redecorating the Gym and is a very understanding man, otherwise I wouldn't be living Canalave City" he explained while rubbing the back of his head with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Is that why you don't have any pictures or decorations up?" Ash asked him, slightly curious.

"No that's not it" Riley replied "I don't really have many pictures to hang up on my wall, and as for decorations, I don't really stay in the house long enough to appreciate them"

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, slightly confused.

"Well as an Aura Guardian, I'm sent on missions concerning the world's safety and I work to the best of my abilities to save the world" Riley explained "So sometimes I will spend months away from home travelling the world, just to make sure the natural balance of the world is kept in order"

"So why do you have a house then if you keep travelling then?" Ash asked.

"I need somewhere to receive my mail. Also once I've finished my jobs I need a place where I can call home and rest for a couple of days. Using up Aura can really wear you out." Riley explained.

"Oh, ok" Ash said, happy with the answer. He then asked Riley an another question which had been nagging at him "Hey Riley, where did you go yesterday?"

"I went to go see an old friend, why?" Riley asked

"when you came back from seeing that old friend, you seemed to be annoyed and sad at the same time, if that's possible" Ash replied "So what did you guys talk about then that got you so angry?"

"Just some personal matters you shouldn't concern yourself with"

(FFFFFFFFFFFFLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK)

Riley had just dropped Ash outside Professor Elms laboratory and had now teleported himself outside the house of an old acquaintance and very close friend.

Delia Ketchum's.

When they were younger they were very close childhood friends and as they got older they became closer to the point of considering marrying each other. Shortly after they married each other they decided to go on one more last trip around the regions, both knowing that it could be their last time to do it as they had planned to have children. However it was during travelling around the different regions, Riley realized something.

He had placed a curse on both Delia and any future child of theirs.

He had no clue what to do. He couldn't stay with Delia. She wanted kids and even if they chose not to have any, she would still be in trouble. Yet he couldn't just leave her, it would break her heart, and he loved her too much. But in the end the only choice he thought he had seemed to be the only way to protect her.

He ran away.

Now he was returning and facing up to his cowardly ways. Sucking up all his courage, he knocked on the door.

Delia Ketchum didn't have time for guests.

Ever since her son had run away, she had felt very hollow. Even though she, along with his former friends, chased him away for being weak, and felt slightly proud about it at the time. She slowly began to regret it very much after. Ash was all she really had ever since her parents died and her husband left her on her own, pregnant with their child. And she was all that Ash had.

It was true Professor Oak was had been there for her and for Ash as he grew up, Ash would always talk to her when he had a problem, called her when he won a badge or a mini tournament. Even when he had 'girl trouble', she would be the first person to know and the one to give him advice.

She wondered why she chose to betray her only son, since that was not something a parent did, but then a dark voice always whispered to her how he was weak and constantly forgot about her and didn't care. But she somewhere deep inside her heart that even the darkness could not reach, she never believed it. And when the news broke out about his death she just broke down on the sofa and cried herself to sleep, with no one to comfort her, after all, no one truly cared about Ash anymore.

She then heard a knock on her door.

Not wanting to have anyone see her in her current state, she asked he Mr Mime, nicknamed Mimey, to answer the door for her, hoping the Pokémon would understand that she would not like anyone to see her in her current state

Riley was not expecting an Mr Mime to greet him.

"Hi, is Delia there?" he asked the Pokémon, hoping it would allow him to come in.

Seeing that he was friendly, he replied by saying 'Mime, Mr Mime' (Yes she is, would you like to come in) and opening the door wide enough for Riley and Alakazam to walk in.

"who is Mimey?" Delia said lifting her head from the pillow she was resting it on to look at her guest.

"Hello again Delia" he said to her in a casual, but nervous tone.

"YOU" she shouted at him "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

"I heard about your tragic loss and decided I should check up on you" Riley replied, a little nervous on how far this was going to spiral out of his control.

"So for the many years you left me on my own, with no explanation to why you left, MONTHS after our marriage and you turn up after the blue, all because of a 'tragic loss'" she said the last couple words with a sarcastic tone in her voice. "so you know what I say to that?" she asked him, but before he could think of a decent response, she yelled "Get out, Riley get out NOW!". she then grabbed a vase that had been sitting on a shelf with the flowers in it slowly wilting, and launched it at him which both him and Alakazam narrowly dodged.

"Delia, please calm down, I have something to tell you" Riley said, worried what else Delia planned to launch at him.

"If it's the reason on why you left, then I don't want to hear it" she replied, becoming more annoyed with his very presence being there.

"It's about Ash. There is something important you need to know about him" he told her, hoping that would get her to listen to him and stop shouting.

"If it's that he was a pathetic excuse of a trainer, then I already knew " she angrily replied "The only reason he ran away was because me and his friends told him the truth. That he was weak" as she said this tears begun to form in her eyes and she looked like she was about to break down.

'Something's not right here. What's with the sudden change of mood' Riley thought to himself as he noticed the tears. Riley than began to form an idea into his head but wanted to be certain before he did anything.

"Delia, do you not even care about your son?" he asked her, hoping to get a reaction.

"I...I…I" She couldn't properly finish her sentence. She was too busy crying. "OF COURSE I CARE ABOUT HIM! HE'S MY SON! MY SPECIAL BABY BOY!" She shouted at him, tears rolling down her face. Just after she said this though, her eyes turned pitch black and Riley begun to sense a dark aura surrounding her. She then started to scream, as if she was in pain.

Not completely knowing what to do, Riley had Alakazam use hypnosis on her, hoping it would stop the pain. It seemed to be effective as she stopped screaming in pain. Riley was worried that she would get hurt as she fell to the ground, but Alakazam obviously knew of his concerns as it had used psychic to place her onto the sofa shortly after using hypnosis. At first Riley thought he had helped Delia as the screams stopped.

But all he did was give the nightmares better access into her mind.

Riley's face turned to one of fear and shock as she started moving around, as if she was having convulsions, and kept muttering to herself. During these muttering, Riley finally pieced together everything.

Delia didn't betray Ash. She was being controlled.

As Riley attempted to walk over to Delia to attempt to purge her of the darkness residing in her mind, he finds himself walking into an invisible wall, blocking him from getting close to Delia. 'Damn, must be a barrier set up Mr Mime' he thought to himself 'He must think I'm trying to hurt her '. He then turned to the Barrier Pokémon "Mr Mime, trust me, I want to help Delia" he said to him, but the barrier stayed in place. Riley then thought of an idea "Mr Mime you are a psychic Pokémon, am I correct?" he asked the Pokémon, which simply nodded. "then if you can, look into my mind and see my true feelings about Delia"

The Barrier Pokémon than began to glow blue as it used psychic to read Riley's mind. After finding the proof it needed, Mr mime released the barrier that was blocking Delia, allowing Riley to get close to Delia. "Alakazam can you us psychic to hold her down, I wont be able to concentrate if she keeps moving around" Riley asked the Psychic type, which replied by using its psychic to hold Delia in place.

"Don't worry Mr Mime, I'll help Delia" he promised the Barrier Pokémon, who replied by talking back using telepathy.

'Please help her. And reunite her with Ash. That is the best cure' Mr Mime asked him. Riley then nodded and placed his hands on both sides of Delia head, passing his aura from hinds hands into her mind.

(In Delia's mind)

When Riley's aura entered Delia, it seemed a dark prison. The entire place was pitch black and seemed endless. Riley's only form of light was his body, which was made up completely of his aura. He than began to notice two presence's in front of him. He began to move towards them. As he got closer he could sense how the presences were different from each other.

One full of life, laughter, love, and joy.

The other full of anger, malice, hatred, and bitterness

'What is going on in Delia's mind' Riley thought to himself as he got closer to the presences. However once he got close enough to look at them clearly he finally understood.

They appeared to be both Delia. One each representing the good side of her personality, one representing the bad. Riley believed that usually, a person was usually balanced out between the bad and good sides of their personality. And Riley had always believed that Delia's good side would always be the stronger force controlling her, but at this moment the darker side of Delia's personality was in control but at this moment the bad side of Delia's personality was in control.

Delia's good side of her personality looked exactly like her, except the fact it wore a long white dress, had very light brown hair and glowed faintly white. Riley imagined it to be a massive beacon of light, shining away all the darkness when it was control, but at this moment it looked a flickering flame that would've been blown out by a simple breeze.

Likewise Delia's darker side of her personality looked exactly like her, except it wore a short black dress that cut off just above the knees and allowed people to get a good view at its cleavage, and its hair was so dark it was almost black. It appeared to be taunting Delia's good side.

"Ash was a pathetic excuse for a trainer. Be glad he is dead and gone". it said to the other

"No you are wrong, Ash was an amazing trainer, and you forced him away" the good Delia replied back

"that was not me, that was you, all you. If it wasn't for you he wouldn't have ran off in the first place. Just like your husband" The dark Delia said, knowing it had struck a nerve with that sentence. Riley then became confused. He had originally thought that they were different parts of Delia personality but yet it appeared the bad side of Delia's presence didn't even to be a part of Delia. The only similarity it shared to Delia was looks. Riley then finally put the pieces together. These beings weren't representing Delia's personality. The originally assumed bad side of Delia was actually a being of darkness.

It had the same aura as the creature that invaded Ash's mind the night before.

Riley realized that if he didn't intervene and got rid of the creature, than the other Delia would possibly be consumed by the dark side. Then Delia would have no hope of recovering from her never-ending nightmare.

"YOU, creature of darkness" he shouted, pointing at the dark presence. "Leave Delia body now" he commanded

"And why would I wish to do that when I'm having so much fun tormenting her mind" it replied while evilly smirking.

"It's either you leave willingly" he said "or, I force you out" he then formed an Aura Sphere in his hand. He noticed how when the dark presence saw him form an Aura Sphere, is face changed to one of arrogance to one of fear.

"you'll never force me out of this body" it roared. It then launched itself into the other Delia, in hopes of finally corrupting her mind and making certain that Ash had no one to rely on. But as it got closer to the other Delia, it began to get weaker and slower, as if it was slowly decaying. 'What is happening to my body' it thought to itself as its evil presence decayed. Riley saw his chance.

Focusing all his power into an Aura Sphere, Riley shot the sphere into the dark creature. The moment it made contact the creature screamed and the place began to grow very bright that Riley had to close his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself in Delia's living room with Delia sitting up from the sofa, looking at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, hoping his plan had worked, and Delia was back to normal. She then launched herself at him bring him into a nearly bone-crushing hug, while crying. But she managed to say some words.

"Thank you Riley" she told him "Thank you for getting of the coldness in me" she told him between sobs. All he did was wrap his arms around and hugged her back, knowing at this moment she craved human warmth at this moment.

They stayed there and hugged each other for a couple of minutes until Riley got a call from Ash to which he let go of Delia and stood up to answer the phone. After speaking to Ash and hearing a shocking truth which shook up his whole world, he teleported to Ash, promising Delia that he would visit again.

It was a promise he planned to keep.

(FFFFFFFFFFLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK over)

"Anyway, that's a conversation for another day" Riley told him, attempting to divert Ash's attention so he would stop asking questions. "I think its time we headed off to Iron Islands to train."

"Okay" Ash replied, happy that they were finally going to train. "So how are we going to get to the Iron Islands" He asked "After all we've missed the ferry to get there and that won't get back until two hours later"

"Don't worry Ash" Riley told him "We'll just take my boat" seeing Ash's surprised reaction to his answer, Riley lightly chuckled "Well I needed a way to get to the Island and that seemed like the best way to get there on my own. So lets go."Ash then called Pikachu to wake him from sleep and they left the house and rushed to the pier to see what Riley's boat looked like.


When Ash saw it, he had to admit it was awesome.

It was a cabin cruiser, with enough room for four or five people to get on. The hull was a dark blue and the rest of it was plain white, and by the way it shone in the sun, it was obviously taken care. And the way Riley handled it was as if he born to be a seafarer. Ash guessed this may have been due to experience travelling or he was taught to drive a boat from someone else. It was also a fast boat, as it only took around 40-50 minute to get to their location.

Iron Island.

"So what did you think of my boat then?" Riley asked Ash as they docked at the Iron Island pier.

"It's a pretty impressive boat," Ash said to him "it's quite fast too, and you seemed quite experienced in handling it"

"yeah" Riley replied "Its come in handy when travelling by sea. I sometimes prefer it since you see a lot more Pokémon during the travel. And it sometimes gives me time to become ready for the job that I'm given" he added

Once Riley tied his boat to the small pier, they started walking closer into the more secluded parts of Iron Island where they wouldn't be disturbed by people and many Pokémon. The landscape hadn't changed much from the last time Ash was there and the ground seemed stable enough that he wouldn't fall through it like Dawn, Barry and Team Rocket did once during their time here. The current ground they had settled appeared to be flat with the odd rock and boulder scattered around in random places.

"Ok Ash" Riley said "your first lesson today will be forming an aura sphere, and if we can, getting you to launching it".

"Ok then" Ash replied "So how do I form an Aura Sphere?" he asked.

"well, first you think of positive thoughts, like last time we practiced, then using all the power you've gathered, concentrate it into an Aura Sphere" Riley told him.

"Okay" Ash said. He then sat down on the rough terrain and began to focus his thoughts into creating an Aura Sphere. He started gathering his aura by thinking positive thoughts, simple thoughts that didn't require much detail, like his favorite foods, favorite Pokémon, and his favorite places to travel to. He knew that if he focused on thoughts like these, it would be harder to gather his power as they weren't very powerful positive memories, but he was less like to lose concentration as these thoughts did not require him remembering his former friends as much as others might have. Once he believed he had gathered enough power, he cupped his hands and began the attempt to form an aura sphere.

At first Riley could see nothing then he noticed that Ash was beginning to create an Aura Sphere. It was quite small compared to others in the beginning, however the more Ash focused, the bigger it got until it reached the size of an average Aura Sphere.

"Excellent Ash" Riley told him "Now launch it at the rock" Riley said while pointing at a huge amount of rock that was directly in front of Ash. Ash began to slowly stand up while keeping the Aura Sphere in his grasp. However the moment he attempted to launch it, all it did was fall to the ground right in front of Ash, creating a small crater in the ground and caused Ash to fall down onto his back.

Pikachu who was standing beside Riley during Ash's attempt to create an Aura Sphere, ran over to his trainer to see if he suffered any injures. Riley followed Pikachu shortly after and offered his hand to Ash to help him up from the floor. Ash didn't seem to have any serious injuries however his back hurt after falling onto the ground.

"Well Ash" Riley said after Ash stood up. "that was not a bad first attempt considering that it took you a while to form an average sized Aura Sphere and that the range isn't perfect. But the destructive power of your Aura Sphere is amazing"

"really?" Ash asked.

"yes it its" Riley replied "many find it hard to gather enough power into their Aura Spheres on their first attempt. They are even people who after they've perfected the accuracy, range and time to form an Aura Sphere, still struggle in making theirs powerful. and your case, I have a feeling that your Aura Spheres aren't even reached full power"

"So what you're saying is?..." Ash asked, curious that this was leading somewhere.

"If we are able to make you into a fully fledged Aura Guardian with control over most of your Aura abilities, you could become the most powerful Aura Guardian of your generation." Riley explained. 'He could even become just as powerful as Aaron. Maybe even more powerful. And that may not even be an exaggeration with the possible amount of power he has' Riley thought to himself shortly after.

"So are we going to continue training then Riley?" Ash asked him.

"No, it's getting close to the afternoon, so we'll take a quick break for lunch and continue from then on" Riley told him. "I'm just going to walk back to grab the food from boat I'll only be gone for a couple of minutes, ok?"

"yeah that's fine" Ash replied, happy he was getting the chance to rest and eat.

"Ok then" Riley said "You can walk around if you want but I wouldn't go too far if I were you. Some of the Steel type Pokémon around here can be quite territorial and can put up a serious fight." And once he gave Ash that warning he slowly walked back to the boat. As he walked back, he curious thought began to go through his head and he started to wonder what was the creature that attacked Ash and Delia. And what happened to it once he had help purge its corrupting presence from their bodies.


People in the laboratory were becoming very edgy around Darklord.

Firstly, because it seemed and acted sinister and evil.

Secondly, it was unstable.

It cannot be denied that it isn't strong, as it broke out of the tank it was stored in shortly after being 'born', but recently, its energy levels were constantly shifting. One moment it could be strong as an Steelix, and at other times it will be as weak as a baby Caterpie.

People had considered the reason for its shifting energy was because of the mission it was sent to do, and that more tests were required before it released into the to complete the mission

FFFFFFFFFFFLLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKK)

Professor Fuji became concerned and frustrated with the series of alarms going off around the tank that Darklord was resting in. "What is happening?" he shouted to the assistants tasked monitoring Darklord's energy levels.

"Sir, it appears Darklord energy levels are slowly decreasing. Its life-force and power levels seem to be decreasing faster than the others" he said to the Professor, frightened by what's going on, and confused on what to do.

"Well then, release dark essence into the tank to counteract the decreasing energy levels". he commanded, slightly annoyed that his assistants hadn't reacted to the current situation in a professional manner and acted like children frightened of getting in trouble. 'Why we require them sometimes will puzzle me' he thought to himself as they were frantically typing on the keyboard that would operate the equipment that would inject the dark essence into the tank holding Darklord.

Even though he was created through a mixture of science and gathering the DNA of two highly powerful Pokémon, it needed another form of energy to keep it alive. So to keep it maintained and hopefully stable, they first had Darkrai and Spiritomb launch attacks such as dark pulse, Shadow ball, Shadow Sneak, truly any move which could be classed as a Dark type of Ghost type move that they knew, into a machine which absorbed the power of the moves. The absorbed power was then turned into a gaseous form.

The dark essence was then released into the tank holding Darklord to give it an energy boost.

"How is it now?" Professor Fuji asked, wondering if the dark essence had any effect on Darklord.

"It appears that its levels are once again stabilizing" the head assistant told Professor Fuji

(FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFLLLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCKKKKKKK over)

Even though the event hasn't repeated itself as bad as last time, Darklords, its energy levels were constantly changing, some people were even concerned that they may lose him without noticing it happen.

However that wasn't the main concern.

The main concern is why its levels suddenly shifted to near death just in one day.

yesterday.

After all, it wasn't like Darklord did anything that would stain it yesterday, all it did was test some of its known moves, while watching its 'parents' demonstrate their own, in the hopes that it would learn their moves quicker that way, thereby becoming more stronger. the moves it currently possessed was Shadow Ball, Shadow Sneak, Dark Pulse, and its most powerful, Dream Eater. It was not known how truly powerful Darklord's move, Dream Eater was, but when it was tested on Pokémon, who were tied down to large tables after being sedated they nearly tore the restraints that held them to the tables they were sedated on, by simply trying to run away from their horrid nightmares. The assistants shuddered to think what that was like for a human being, considering the effects it had on Pokémon. Even Professor Fuji became a bit uneasy after seeing that demonstration.

They attempted to ask Darklord if it knew the reason for its energy levels depleting, but it simply roared in their face in anger, assuming it was asking why it had suddenly became weak for a moment. it may have been possible that not even Darklord knew.

All they knew is that if they didn't resolve this current issues about its energy levels, their plans for world domination could fall short, and could even create a highly unstable, malicious killing machine, that would be near to impossible to stop at its prime.


When Riley returned to their training ground, Ash had disappeared somewhere. It wasn't too surprising, the Iron Islands were an extraordinary place and offered many surprises to those who visited, and everyone knew Ash to be a curious person who was a fan of exploring any destination, despite the dangers that it may offer. However they did need to continue training, so Riley used his Aura to sense Ash's. he wasn't far away from here they've been training and all Ash seemed to be doing was sitting on a rock looking down on something. Deciding not to disturb him, he slowly walked up to stand behind Ash and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. Ash turned around and placed a finger on his lips, to indicate to Riley that he should keep quiet. Curious, Riley walked right beside Ash to see what he was looking at. He was watching two wild Pokémon battle.

It was a battle between an Aggron and Aron. what the battle was about, he could not tell but he could tell who was winning. Where the Aggron was panting slightly, possibly from exhaustion, it appeared to be be uninjured. Whereas like Aggron, Aron was also panting, but it was also covered in bruises and small scratches. it also seemed like it could barely stand. However it wasn't going to and started running towards the Aggron, while charging up an Iron Head. Once it impacted with Aggron though, Aggron barely flinched, and used an Metal claw to swipe Aron to the side.

The Aron attempted to stand up again, but failed and collapsed to the floor. The Aggron replied to this action by roaring loudly into the air, possibly to signify its victory. it then turned to the defeated Aron and spoke to it in its own language, then walked away leaving the Aron on its own. A couple of Aron and a Lairon, who like Ash and Riley, been watching to fight, then walked towards the Aron, to check to see if it was ok. Once the noticed the Aron was able to stand the Lairon and other Aron walked away together.


"Sorry about walking away" Ash was saying to Riley after they returned to where they there were training. "I heard some noises and got very curious so me and Pikachu went to go check it out"

It hadn't taken them long to walk back to their training ground as they didn't walk far. As they walked back they each gave their own ideas on why the fighting had happened. At first Ash had mentioned how it could have been over territory, as Riley mentioned how territorial some of the Pokémon were, but Riley said this wasn't the case as if it was about territory, then it would be likely that either the Aron would not be allowed to live, or be blasted off the ground Aggron considered its territory, which could have meant a long trip for the little Aron as Aggron were known to claim mountains as their own. They then considered that the could be fighting for dominance as it was known that Pokémon would fight each other for control over the groups. Even though this seemed like the most possible answer, the question could be raised why other Aggron, or Lairon hadn't attempted this as it would be easier for them than it would be for an Aron, and why hadn't the Aron waited to evolve into a Lairon or Aggron before challenging the Aggron as its moves would become stronger and it would learn other moves more effective against Aggron.

"Thats ok Ash" Riley replied. "you were curious after all. anyway, grab something to eat and we'll continue training.

They each had a simple sandwich filled with ham and cheese and a can of soda each. After finishing his food, Ash thanked Riley, and started to try shooting Aura Spheres. Like his attempt before, they were powerful, but the range was still off, however, the time it took for him to form one was slowly falling down, as he beginning to form them without using positive thoughts to harness his Aura. Riley watching this, realized Ash would need some extra assistance, so he released his Lucario.

"Ash watch how Lucario launches his Aura Sphere and try to copy him" Riley told him.

Ash began watching Lucario begin to from an Aura Sphere. it first placed its arms together and cupped its paws together, as if it was planning to catch something. But as the Aura Sphere began to form, it slowly separated it paws from each other, creating a jaw like formation with its paws, leaving only the palm of his paws pointing inwards. Once the Aura Sphere was a decent size, Lucario then pushed his palms outwards, and the Aura Sphere went flying directly to the rock Ash was told to, which caused it to crack where the Aura Sphere hit.

Ash once again attempted at launching an Aura Sphere, copying the actions of Lucario, by placing his arms together, and cupped his hands together, as if he was planning to catch something. he then began to separate his hands from each other, while keeping his fingers curled in and his palm pointing inwards. Once his own Aura Sphere reached decent size, he quickly pushed his palms outwards and the Aura Sphere began to fly directly towards the rock. but as it got closer, it began to descent, and it fell to the ground right in front of the rock. It was better than his last attempt that had fallen very short.

"Ash why don't you try this" Riley told him "First bring you hands close to your chest to form your Aura Sphere, then when you think its ready push your arms outward. That might help you give it the power it needs to fly."

Ash, thinking it would be better to try the technique without an Aura Sphere, started to bring his hands close to his chest, while they are cupped together. He then quickly pushed his arms outwards, while separating his hands, forming a jaw like formation with is hands, while his fingers remained curled. Pikachu, wanting to give it a shot, started copying Ash, while having small hopes that it could form an Aura Sphere itself. what Pikachu didn't notice was that as it was copying its trainer, small sparks of electricity began to form between its paws, every time it attempted it.

After repeating what Riley had told him several time, he that he could do it successfully with an actual Aura Sphere. First he brought his cupped hands close to his chest, right near his heart and began to envision an Aura Sphere forming in his hands. This Aura Sphere seemed to form quicker than his ones before, possibly since it was close to his heart, where Aura was known to be at its purest. Once Ash considered it to be a decent size, he pushed his arms out and launched it, directly at the rock. Pikachu, copying his trainer, did the same thing, not noticing the small ball of electricity that it had formed in its paws, and launched the same time as Ash's Aura Sphere. both sailed through the air and hit the rock directly, causing it to shatter into small bits of stone.

"Wow. I did it" Ash said, partially to himself."I finally did it. YES!" he shouted while pumping his fist into the air. he then turned to Pikachu "and you learnt a new move. Awesome. I wonder what that was though?"

"That was Electro Ball" Riley told him as he walked over to both to them. "It's when a Pokémon builds up a ball of electricity and launches it like an Aura Sphere. Usually, Pikachu would use their tail to launch an Electro Ball, so the way Pikachu has done it is quite extraordinary." Riley explained.

"He must have done it from copying me" Ash suggested. "but it doesn't matter" he then picked up Pikachu and held him just a little bit above his head. "It's just awesome that you learnt a new move". Pikachu just replied with a happy 'Pika', while raising one of its paws to show happiness in learning a new move.

After Ash put Pikachu down again, he continued practicing his Aura Sphere. Once he got the technique down, he continued practicing it, trying to make it faster and more accurately. Since the former rock he was asked to target was destroyed due to the combined efforts of him, Pikachu and Lucario, he had to move around to find another one. It wasn't hard as Iron Island was littered with rocks, however, this one was slightly further than the one before and slightly smaller, but what was the point of practicing if you didn't have the odd challenge pop up from time to time.

Riley noticed that Ash's arm movements were becoming smoother, and his accuracy was becoming better, and he finally managed to match the launching power to his destructive power. It was still taking a while for him to form an Aura Sphere, but Riley expect this. His main concern was that due to Ash's memories of his friends betrayal, this would hold back the development of his Aura. Something he may have to rely on his the second prophecy of the Chosen One was to be believed. But despite his doubts about Ash's Aura development, he had faith that Ash would rise to whatever challenge was thrown in his way.

Noticing the sun slowly falling, Riley decided to call it a day and told Ash to stop and head back to the boat so they could sail back to Canalave City.

"So what do you think Riley?" Ash asked him as they walked back to the boat.

"You seem to be progressing pretty well." Riley Answered him. "If you are able to handle the most basic of Aura techniques in roughly one day, then you should be able to learn the more advanced techniques, in a couple of weeks or more.

"cool" Ash replied.

As they sailed back to Canalave City, Ash wondered if he should bring his Pokémon, as it would mean that he wouldn't be the only person training, and he would like to see them all again. This way, him and his Pokémon could progress together.

Once again they ate in the same café as last time, and headed off back to house. Ash, exhausted after using tonnes of Aura simply goes to sat up for a while, with many thoughts going through his head, the main ones being what he should teach Ash next, and when should he visit Delia again.


knowing that most of his time would be devoted to training, Ash asked Riley if he could have days where he could relax and train with his Pokémon, to which Riley agreed, knowing that he could use these moments to visit Delia and update her on Ash's progress. He was always happy to see her, as he knew that every time he did, he was slowly rebuilding the bond he broke many years ago. She was also happy with the visits as she knew how her son was doing and that fact he was alive was reality and not a lie she told herself every day to atone for what she did to him.

During their training, the first thing Ash and Riley worked together on was to perfect Ash's Aura Sphere. Even though it took Ash a still took a longer amount of time to form an Aura Sphere, than it would for other people, his accuracy and range improved. He was also now able to launch Aura Sphere's without having to push his hands from his chest.

He had started attempt to launch Aura Spheres from just one hand, like he had seen Maylene's Lucario do, but the attempts just lead to him bruising his back. Riley thought of trying to dissuade Ash from trying to launch Aura Sphere's from just one hand at the moment, but he knew if he did, it would just push Ash to try harder until he succeeded, which could just lead to more bruising. The only way Ash would stop the attempts when Riley said that he should take a break.

They did not just work on developing Aura Spheres. They also focused on other techniques, like Aura Sense, which would allow Ash to sense the Aura of both Pokémon and people, and help "find those who cannot be seen with the naked eye" Riley told him once during one of their practice sessions of Aura Sense.

As Aura Sense was not a destructive move, it didn't require them to go to Iron Island, however, Riley tested Ash constantly by having his own and Ash's Pokémon hide around Canalave City (with the permission of Officer Jenny, of course), and using Aura Sense to find them. In the beginning, Ash was allowed to use his own eyes as well, but after he became more able to locate his and Riley's' Pokémon's Aura, Riley blindfolded him, making him totally reliant on his Aura Sense. After a couple of weeks of hide-and-seek, and a couple of incidents involving some very tall buildings, Ash was able to see with his Aura, like as if they were his own eyes.

After learning Aura Sense, they began to return to Iron Island again to practice slightly more advanced techniques like Aura Shield and Aura Sword. Even though Aura Shield wasn't a destructive move, they still tested it on Iron Island as they would have to test the durability of the Aura Shield. Ash seemed to be able to handle this technique faster than the others, as Riley told him to think of times when he has defended those were weak, which for Ash, was something he did almost every day, whether they be people or Pokémon, friend or rival. In the beginning, Riley assumed that Ash would find this technique harder to master than others, as it would require Ash to remember the times he protected his friends from harm, which then Ash would remember his friends betrayal, causing him to lose his focus.

But it seemed that Ash didn't need the memories of his friends, as they weren't the only people Ash has protected, showing Riley that Ash had the potential to become an amazing Aura guardian. 'Its known that Ash as risked his life to save his friends and they countless times. I wonder would he be willing to risk again, when the time comes' Riley thought to himself while considering the words from the second prophecy of the Chosen One. It didn't take long for Ash to master Aura Shield, which he was happy about as the practice he received from it also helped train his Pokémon, as he had them test the durability of the Aura Shield. Only Infernape, Torrterra, Pikachu, and Primeape had been able to destroy the barrier when using on of their most powerful moves while Ash was practicing it.

The main struggle for Ash though was the Aura Sword. He was able to form it as the idea of forming it was to think of times when you fought against another for what you believe is right while picturing holding a real sword in your hands (like every boy does at a young age using a tree branch or a plastic sword), something Ash has done ever since he started his journey as a Pokémon trainer. The problem was that he was finding it hard trying to keep his emotions under control. In order to not hurt themselves, Riley told Ash for the beginning to picture a practice sword."Because even though they are made from Aura, they can become sharp enough to cut deep, as if they were real" Riley explained.

In order to practice using Aura Sword, as well as test Ash's' strength and stamina, Riley and Ash would duel with each other, until someone chose to give up due to becoming too exhausted to continue or until someone was knocked to the ground with little chance of getting up to fight back. For the first couple sessions, Riley knocked Ash to the ground in the first couple minutes of dueling. But as the weeks progressed Ash was able to fight for longer periods of time, but was still getting knocked to the ground.

It only when they chose to practice a month after Ash was betrayed by his friends and family and told to give up on his dreams as a Pokémon master that their simple duels almost became a fight to the death.

Riley had asked Ash whether he would choose not to practice on the day, but Ash merely replied with "Might as well. Got nothing better to do" in a slightly aggressive tone. Once they arrived at their training place at Iron Island they formed their Aura Swords. In order to practice, they both usually formed an Iaitō, a Japanese metal practice sword normally used for practice, as it has no cutting edge, so it meant if by chance they hit each other, it will only leave a bruise and not a scar.

Their duel started off like their previous ones did Riley and Ash met each other blow with another, neither able to land any hits on their opponent. But the longer they carried on, the more serious it became and the more Ash's mood began to darken. Riley noticed how Ash's mood change and realized how much this affected their fight as Ash's blows became stronger and slightly quicker, and his Iaitō changed into an Schiavona that had a very sharp edge to it. knowing that Ash's emotions of anger and hate was affecting his Aura, and blinding him from his actions, all Riley could do was defend against the attacks until Ash collapsed from exhaustion, which from the sweat that was pouring down his face and his heavy breathing, would not be long as he was he was becoming worn out from the lengthy dueling with Riley. However as Riley was slowly being pushed back from Ash's sword strikes, he accidentally placed his foot into a small crater, made by time Ash was practicing to launch his Aura Sphere, and fell to the ground, just as Ash took a swing at him with his sword. Even though he fell out of reach from Ash's swing, Ash still managed to cut his left arm a little bit above the elbow, the arm he used to form the Aura Sword.

Since Riley was no longer able to concentrate his Aura though the pain, and it was the arm he had used to hold the Aura sword, the Iaitō quickly faded away from existence. Riley had partially hoped that once Ash noticed he had injured Riley, he would calm down and stop the duel, but Ash's face showed no emotion but pure determination to win. 'Even if it means killing me' Riley thought to himself as he noticed Ash slowly lift the Aura Sword above his head. he also noticed Pikachu running towards them, possibly hoping that it will be able to stop Ash from striking down a killer blow, but to Riley it seemed that he wouldn't make it in time. So Riley closed his eyes and waited for it to end. As he closed his eyes though he heard a very familiar sound.

And the end never came.

at first Riley was surprised. Had Pikachu made to them in time? But when he looked up, it wasn't yellow tail gleaming metallic he saw.

It was a blade of light green.

Putting all its strength into the arm that it was using to block Ash's blow, Septile pushed Ash away from Riley. It then stood in front of Riley, showing Ash that he would protect Riley from harm and that he would become his new dueling partner. Ash seemed to accept the challenge and charged towards Septile. Even though Septile wasn't as strong as some of Ash's other Pokémon, he was a lot faster, and he was keeping Ash on his toes by delivering blow after blow to force Ash backwards, away from Riley. Riley wondered how long they were going to continue since he saw that Ash could only continue dueling for a couple more minutes before collapsing, whereas Septile displayed no signs of exhaustion, possibly due to resting inside its Poké Ball while Ash and Riley were dueling. Riley then saw how Septile, while fending off Ash's sword strikes, said something to Pikachu, who was checking on Riley's arm to see if the cut was deep. Pikachu then started running towards Ash's back while Septile blocked one of his blows. Pikachu then jumped into the air and smacked Ash on the head using Iron Tail, causing Ash to lose conscious and fall to the ground, the Aura Sword fading away.


Ash woke up a couple of minutes later, with a sad and confused look on his face. He noticed how someone took off his jacket and placed it under his head, like a pillow. As he sat up he noticed he was sitting on Riley's boat. he looked around for Riley and saw him sitting opposite to him looking at Ash.

"How you feeling?" Riley asked him.

"Feels like someone dropped a Snorlax on me" Ash replied with a small smile while rubbing his head.

"At least you now know how powerful Pikachus Iron Tail is now" Riley told him while Pikachu showed an embarrassed smile to Ash. Ash smiled, rubbed Pikachus head affectionately, and said to him "Thanks again, you brought be back to reality. I wonder where I would be without you" 'Probably nowhere. Pikachu has been one of the main reasons I've survived my journeys around the world.' he thought to himself as he said that.

As Ash thanked Pikachu by picking him up and giving him a quick hug, he noticed that Riley had taken his jacket off and placed it next to him. on Riley's' left arm there was a scar. It looked new and seemed to be fading. "Did I do that to you?" Ash asked, pointing to the scar.

"Don't worry too much about it" Riley told him "You were consumed by anger and didn't really know what you were doing. Besides its only a scratch." 'If it wasn't for Septile, there might have been a bigger scar' Riley thought to himself. 'I should thank him later'

To Ash this simply meant 'yes'. But something was confusing him.

"If I just did that to you, why is turned into a scar?" Ash asked him, since by rights, it should be still bleeding.

"I used an ability called Aura Heal. It allows Aura users to harness their Aura to heal themselves and others of minor injuries" Riley explained.

"Awesome. Can it be used to bring people back to life?" Ash asked, highly curious about this ability.

"It can be used to bring people back to life and heal severe injuries" Riley replied "However" He warned "Since it requires a large amount of Aura to actually bring people back to life, this can result in the Aura Guardian dying them-self. And I think the person you wish to revive has to have died very recently, since their Aura will only linger in their dead body before it evaporates. Also the type of injures an Aura Guardian can heal depends on the severity of the injury. In other words, they probably couldn't reattach severed limbs or heal life threatening injures, without nearly killing themselves, or the injury not completely healing."

"Oh, ok" Ash replied, with a slightly sad look on his face. He was wondering if Riley or any other Aura guardian has ever been faced with the choice of having to bring someone very close to them back to life, at the risk of killing themselves. And he also began to worry if he would ever have to face the choice himself.

"Anyway Ash, I don't think you have to worry about any of that at this moment, but in case you're worried, we can add Aura Heal to one of the things I have to teach you" Riley told him, noticing the look on his face. "This will give us time to lay off the more violent training sessions" Riley said.

"Awesome" Ash replied smiling. he then realized what he set up for himself. "Oh great, more learning" he said, half irritated, half smiling.

Riley simply laughed at at Ash and replied "Well you're not going to get anywhere by slacking. But at this moment I'll let it pass. It's getting late and I'm guessing you're getting hungry"

"Why you say that?" Ash asked, but his stomach rumbled to answer his question. "Never mind" and they both laughed as they drove back to shore.


2 months later

It was two months since Ash had started training with Riley to become an Aura Guardian and even though he had a day off from Aura training, he was training with his Pokémon. He was trying to help Pikachu master Electro Ball by using Torrterra as a tutor, while giving his new Pokémon a mock battle with Tododile. He saw Riley walking up to him, while holding an envelope in his hand.

"Hey Riley, whats in the envelope?" he asked, knowing that Riley wouldn't visit him on his days off from Aura training unless it was important.

"Hello Aaron" They were in public so Riley had decided to use his other name, even though there was no one around to hear them speak to each other "This envelope contains a job sent to me" Riley replied.

"Oh, ok. Are you going to accept the job then?" Riley had told the people who sent him jobs that he would not be doing any as he was training Ash to become an Aura Guardian, and would accept them when he thought Ash was ready. 'I guess he thinks I'm ready then' he thought to himself as he waited for Riley's reply.

"Yeah I am" Riley answered. "And I would like you to come assist me, if you want to that is"

"Yeah that would be awesome" Ash replied. "So when do we leave for the job then?" he asked.

"In a couple of hours. So pack up what you want and get ready for your first job." Riley replied

So what is the Job Riley has been offered? What new Pokémon did Ash collect? what other Aura techniques did Ash learn? And what will happen to Darklord? Until next time everyone, bye.