A/N: Sorry for the slow update! I thought it was slow anyway... I hope you like this chapter! A lot given away actually. Enjoy!
Chapter 8: Unknown Powers
Ash woke up and found Dawn sleeping peacefully beside him. Brock and Gary were already awake with Jigglypuff jumping around excitedly. Ash didn't want to wake Dawn, but they had to get going. He didn't want to bother May and Drew any longer. He had told them yesterday that they would be leaving since Dawn's feather in this world had been found. At that moment, both May and Drew burst into the room.
"Setting off again on your travels?" May asked, trying to show a smile. She hadn't known them long, but she felt sad that they were leaving so soon.
Brock nodded. "Yes, thank you very much for letting us stay." He said.
"Don't mention it!" Drew said. "If you ever end up here again, feel free to drop by!"
Ash stood up with Dawn still asleep in his arms. "We will. Jigglypuff?"
Jigglypuff came with Gary following behind and stood in the middle of the small room. May and Drew stepped back and watched with amazement. A circle of light appeared around Jigglypuff, just like before when they met Ursula. They gave each other a nod before stepping into the circle and vanishing. The light died down, with May and Drew quickly noticing that the others had gone instantly.
Not long after they left Hoenn, Ash and co. soon found themselves in the middle of a busy market. It seemed as they had arrived in a village with a high population. People wandered the streets and Pokémon could also be seen all over. Rows of stalls surrounded them and it reminded Ash of his home in Sinnoh. Coming away from that, Ash realized that they already had no idea where they were.
"We could ask around." Brock said, a little to enthusiastically. Gary sighed and shook his head.
Ash laughed but suddenly looked at Dawn as he saw her blue eyes come to view. He smiled at her and set her gently on the ground. Dawn looked around, seeing that they weren't in May and Drew's house.
"Where are we?" She asked, still glancing around nervously. Ash hesitated to reply.
"To be honest...we don't really know." He said, rubbing the back of his head. Ash then heard a voice which caught all of their attention.
"Apples! Here, get your fresh apples here from the local orchard!" Someone shouted out to the crowd.
Dawn smiled and rushed towards the stall. She stopped to look at all the apples eagerly as Ash, Brock and Gary followed quickly after her.
"Apples?" Dawn asked with a bright smile still on her face. The others appeared behind her and Ash stared at the fruit.
He remembered before this journey started, Dawn had noticed a similar apple stall back in Sinnoh. They had been really close back then but now...she didn't remember a thing.
"Wow, they look delicious! Ash, let's get this for today!" Dawn had said.
Ash stared at the ground, knowing that he probably wouldn't get another moment like that now. The man at the stall grinned as he saw Dawn's excited attitude.
"That's right, lassy!" He chuckled. "How about it, hm?"
"Wow...they look delicious!" Dawn exclaimed and Ash jolted his head to look at her. That was what she had said before except she didn't say the last part...
"Ash let's get this for today!"
Dawn possibly didn't even remember his name! Ash snapped out of his thoughts when Dawn turned to speak to him.
"Could we get this, please?" She asked sweetly. Ash attempted to give her a smile as he nodded.
Each of them got one each and Gary looked at it feeling confused. They walked away from the stall and Jigglypuff munched on the apple happily.
"This is a weird apple...!" Gary said, holding it up to the light to get a better look. "The ones in my world are a different color!"
The apple in their hands was a light orange color and, in fact, it was weird for all of them. Ash examined it too, as well as Brock. Jigglypuff, carefree as ever, didn't really care about what it looked like as long as it tasted good.
"The apples in my world are yellow, right Dawn?" Ash said, but after he spoke he realized that Dawn wouldn't know the answer.
Dawn stopped eating for a moment and stared at Ash. She had a puzzled expression and Ash felt really down after that. He was still getting used to Dawn not remembering anything...and having to start over. It was like resetting a video game after something had gone wrong or your character died.
"Yellow?" Brock asked. "Isn't that a 'pear'?"
Everyone was now very confused since the fruit in all of their worlds were so different. In this world however, it was nothing that any of them were used to. They had to adapt to their surroundings every time they came into a new world. That was why Ursula had thought it was so challenging. Not just collecting Dawn's memories alone, but travelling to places they had never been before made it more difficult.
All of them soon finished their snack, surprised that it tasted exactly the same despite the color difference. They just carried on walking, thinking of where they could stay.
"We need a map of the universe," Gary said and Brock laughed. "That would help!"
No knowing where they were at all, Ash just kept leading the way forward with Dawn at his side. Suddenly, an explosion was heard and they turned to see what it was. It looked close-by so everyone hurried towards it to see what was going on. As they ran, they were suddenly dragged to the side by someone who hid them behind a large amount of rubble. The person was small and sighed with relief when he saw that no one wasn't hurt.
"It's dangerous! What do you think you were doing?!" He asked. Ash was about to say something but the boy told him to 'shh!'.
"Who are you?" Ash whispered.
"I'm Yoru," He said with a smile. "Nice to meet you all!" He shook everyone's hand quickly and returned to his hiding spot.
"I'm Ash."
"Call me 'Brock'!"
"I'm Gary." Said Gary after everyone else. "What's with you making us hide like this?!" He then asked, folding his arms. "We wanted to see what was going on."
Yoru sighed and explained that there had been rumors about an attack taking place today. It turned out to be true but nobody knows who's behind it all.
"Some sort of 'evil organisation' I should guess..." Yoru said, suddenly feeling scared and timid.
Ash nodded. He wanted to put a stop to it and help but it looked like they would be behind here until everything calmed down a little. Then a thought came to his mind:
'What if it's those guys from Hoenn?!' Ash thought, clenching a fist. What was their name again?
"...Team Galactic," Brock muttered. Yoru's eyes widened and nodded.
"Yeah! That's the name I heard!" He said loudly. He gasped and crouched lower as if they would actually come for him right there.
So, it was them! Ash should have suspected from the start! He gave Brock and Gary a knowing look and stood up.
"We're going to see what's going on!" Ash said, determined to get them back for last time. Dawn looked up worriedly.
"You can't go!" She said, her arm stretched out in front of her. Ash turned to her with Pikachu jumping on his shoulder.
"Dawn, please stay here with Yoru!" He said, running off with Gary and Brock following.
"Wait!" Yuro shouted but it was too late. The truth was, he actually wanted to go with them but he was afraid to say the least.
Dawn lifted her head from staring at the ground. "No need to worry," She said with a smile. Those words escaped from her mouth suddenly but it seemed like she's said it so many times before. "Oh...where are we?" Dawn asked, remembering that the others didn't have a clue.
"Sorry for not telling ya earlier," Yoru said. "You're in Khun Republic! An interesting fact is that it becomes dark really early 'round here!" He explained.
"I see..."
Ash's P.O.V
Gary, Brock and I ran towards where we thought the explosion had taken place. We saw fire on the trees and figured it was here. We were right. People were already gathered around the area trying to put it out, just like in Hoenn. Only this time it looked a lot worse because the was a gigantic hole where the explosion had happened. Brock noticed a familiar helicopter and I spun around to face it. I was expecting to see the same person as before but it was someone different! We ran up to them and I saw her turn to us.
"What do they want?!" She said angrily. "Don't let them get any closer!"
She sent her Pokémon at us and it took us by surprise. Pikachu jumped and used Iron Tail to save me from a Fury Swipes that had come my way.
"Thanks Pikachu...!" I said. "Okay, use Thunderbolt!" I shouted.
Pikachu used an impressive Thunderbolt and made all the Golbat in the sky faint. Brock and Gary were battling some other trainers behind me. It was up to Pikachu and I to defeat the red-haired woman in front of us. This gang looked powerful but I wasn't about to let them get away with this!
"G-2 here, the Khun- Ahh! What the hell?" She began speaking into some sort of communication device but got cut off as she jumped away from Pikachu's Volt Tackle.
Pikachu stopped and headed back to me, missing the Purugly that was beside the woman called...G-2?
"Your name's 'G-2'?!" I asked out of curiosity even though this was supposed to be serious. Brock and Gary appeared at my side, saying that the weirdos back there has been taken care of.
"What?! No, you idiotic brat! The name's Mars and don't you forget it!" She shouted, pointing a finger at us.
Mars then realized that there was suddenly more of us against her. It didn't put her off though. She just smirked and put her hands behind her back.
"You really think you can defeat me easily?" She said confidently.
I gritted my teeth and commanded Pikachu to use Iron Tail. Mars stepped aside and Pikachu crashed into a tree. She laughed and I ran up to my hurt Pokémon.
"Pikachu! Are you okay?" I asked, feeling really concerned. I felt better when Pikachu stood up quickly, still ready for more battling.
When I got back to Brock and Gary, they were about to attack with their Pokémon but froze suddenly when they noticed something. We turned around to see Yoru and Dawn rushing towards us. My eyes widened as Dawn quickly approached.
"Dawn, I-I told you to say back!" I said, carefully pushing her out of harms way. "It's not safe!"
"Ash, we want to help!" Yoru said. I could see he was determined too but I didn't want him, or Dawn, to get hurt.
Mars noticed Dawn and Yoru, taking a long hard stare at them. She pulled something from behind her back and frowned.
"You!" She exclaimed, one hand pointing at Dawn the other holding another feather!
I ran in front of Dawn to stop anything happening to her. "What do you want from her?!" I asked, glaring at Mars as she came forward.
"We need her for our future plans, get it?" She said, harshly pushing me away. "This feather is more powerful than you think,"
She let go of it and it floated in mid-air. For a moment, I thought she had done us a favor by giving it to Dawn. But it didn't go to Dawn at all! The feather slowly headed to..Yoru? He stared at it and before long, it landed on him. His eyes closed and I gasped. Mars smirked down at him.
"What are you waiting for? Attack them!" She said. I saw Yoru stand up and his eyes had no color whatsoever.
He charged at us and all we could do was dodge each time. None of us wanted to hurt the person who saved us from getting close to the explosion. We all ran around as he chased each one of us. I kind of felt stupid but this just made the matter worse. Yoru stopped all of a sudden as Gary, Brock and I stared at him. We were already tired and didn't want things to get more difficult. Although we didn't have our way because things did get more difficult! Mars approached us and clicked her fingers.
"Go on then! Don't hesitate!" She said.
I thought she might have talked to us, but Yoru nodded and started...growing?! He was just a normal small boy a moment ago but now he was under Mars's control! I rushed towards Dawn and helped her up from he ground. I ran away from Yoru's attacks and it reminded me of home. Just not as violent. Dawn and I had run to escape from the castle guards. Only now, I realized matters wouldn't be as easy as that anymore.
"Where do you think you're going?!" I heard Mars yell and I looked behind me to see her running after us.
They clearly wanted Dawn for something they were going to do, but I was never going to allow that to happen! I picked up my pace and noticed Jigglypuff gesturing for us to follow it. I got behind another large pile of rubble along with Dawn still at my side. Brock and Gary were also there. I noticed them eyeing Yoru until they both noticed Dawn and I. Mars ran past and I sighed with relief. It wasn't the end though.
"We have to save Yoru!" Brock exclaimed and released his Croagunk from its PokéBall.
Gary nodded and looked at Jigglypuff. It shook its head, knowing that Sing wouldn't do anything but put everyone to sleep. The feather was inside Yoru and I had to get it back for Dawn's sake! It was still attacking the area and Brock was right. We had to stop it! I wanted to think about it carefully but I felt there was no time to do that. I stood up and ran as fast as I could towards the huge controlled Yoru. I knew it was still him, but I had to stop all this madness! Gary shouted after me, telling me to stop but I had to do something. Yoru had its back to me so I was able to charge at it and jump to cling onto its leg. He moved around so much but Pikachu and I kept on going.
I managed to get on top of Yoru's shoulder without getting squished or falling off. I had seen a small spot of light on his left arm when I was climbing and figured that the feather must be there! As much as I didn't want to hurt Yoru, I had no choice. If I wanted to save him and the town, I had to do it.
"Pikachu...use Thunderbolt." I said, but he hesitated to do it. I nodded at my loyal friend and soon got struck by his powerful attack.
I withstood the pain but Yoru stumbled and I got a glimpse of what was going on below. I could hear Dawn's, Brock's and even Gary's voice shouting up at me. However everything seemed so small and faraway from up here that I felt dizzy. I shook out of it and noticed the same glowing light on Yoru's left arm. I wasn't far from where I was so I reached out towards it. My hand couldn't reach it, so Pikachu climbed down and I held its tail firmly as I watched him try to grab the feather. As Pikachu got closer, the light became stronger but Yoru stopped attacking and stood in his spot.
"You can do it, Pikachu!" I shouted and it must have given him some stronger courage.
Even with Pikachu's eyes closed, he was still able to sense where the feather was lurking. His small fingers got hold of it and I knew once his tail stopped being so stiff, we had done it! Yoru began shrinking rapidly. So fast, in fact, we almost fell from a high drop. The three of us tumbled to the ground and our eyes slowly opened simultaneously. I hugged Pikachu hard and thanked him over and over. But when I looked at him, the feather wasn't in his hands!
Normal P.O.V
Brock, Dawn and Gary quickly rushed towards Ash who was with Yoru on the ground. Pikachu was wondering around looking extremely concerned. Ash saw the others heading their way and helped Yoru up off the ground. He sighed and dusted himself off. Yoru turned to Ash with a grin on his face.
"Thank you all so much for saving me!" He said, shaking Ash's hand.
Dawn soon appeared at Ash's side with Brock and Gary following. Pikachu returned to Ash's shoulder and still looked worried.
"Guys, we've got a problem!" Ash said, feeling anxious.
"As if we haven't had enough problems already!" Gary muttered. Brock smiled.
"Looking for this?" He asked, holding up his hand that was holding...the feather!
Ash's eyes widened with happiness as did Pikachu's. Brock handed the feather over and chuckled. Ash stared at it for a few seconds; he thought he had lost it forever.
"I just managed to catch it when Yoru was going back to his normal size," Brock justified. "Oh, another thing you should know, Team Galactic left and said that they'll be back. We need to keep a sharp eye out on out travels!"
Ash nodded and looked at the feather once more. He had had enough of that Team Galactic but he was so glad that they had the feather after all that hard work. Ash placed the feather in Dawn's hands and it slowly faded into her. She smiled and thanked Ash gratefully. Dawn had listened to Ash telling her about the meaning of being on this journey the night before leaving Hoenn. The Witch, named Ursula had granted their wishes but they each had to pay a price. Going on this journey was one of them. Ash had also said that his friendship with Dawn wouldn't be the same again, and Dawn thought she had seen a tear in one of his eyes as he said this. Maybe she was just imagining things but she did try to imagine her being really good friends with Ash before.
Suddenly, an image flashed in Dawn's head. The feather's were finally working and slowly regaining her memory! Dawn saw herself when she was younger on a snowy ground in a forest(*). She was holding a piece of paper in her hands. It also looked like she was talking to someone, but no one seemed to be next to her. Dawn could picture Ash there. Possibly...was Ash missing from her memories because of the price he had to pay?
.: ~ * ~ :.
After that event, Yoru took the others back to his house. It was the least he could do to show his appreciation to them. Ash had thought that they might have to set off again, as much as they wanted to stay. The feather had been found and the only way to get more was to keep looking. Gary was thankful that they had a place to stay overnight. Dawn was feeling really sleepy so she and Jigglypuff decided to get some rest. They all joined shortly after since it had been a very tiring day for them. Ash found it difficult but it was worth it if it meant Dawn would be able to remember again. The sun set early and the sky was soon dark with many stars covering it. Before Dawn fell asleep, she remembered that Yoru had said that it becomes dark early 'round here. It was peaceful in Khun that night after the chaos had been settled. At least one place was back to normal now.
At an unknown location...
"I apologize for the mission that was a failure, Cyrus sir." Mars said as the door closed behind her.
He faced her for a quick moment but turned his back to her again after. An orb sat in front of him and he peered at it. It showed a blurry image of Dawn and her travelling companions. Cyrus was confident his plans would succeed as long as that girl was under his control. He had an idea to make a clone if she just so happened to die, but that wouldn't be possible without those treasured feathers. The project had already began, but it was a race against those kids to find the feathers which were needed.
"We can always try again..." Cyrus replied, still staring at the orb.
He heard Mars leave and took the time to think about his genius plans for the future. No more 'new world' and there was no need to get Dialga or Palkia involved. It was much easier this time. Cyrus had actually thought about it thoroughly first. Surely things were easier if you only have to wish for something and it would come true. Just like that. Cyrus clicked his and laughed to himself. After hours of research, he had finally found the answer to his goal.
'Jirachi...the Wish Pokémon.'
This Pokémon only awoke every 1000 years, but if he were to get it to awake in time for his master plan! Wouldn't that be wonderful? The only way to do that is with the mysterious powers that this girl named 'Dawn' has.
"Princess of Sinnoh, apparently." Cyrus murmured.
If a clone was made of her, things wouldn't be so hard as to getting the original. But the clone still had to made along with another.
"'Ash'...? Was that his name?"
She had strong feelings for that kid with the Pikachu. He would be needed too. All this for a simple Pokémon such as Jirachi? Well, much like the Red Chain, Jirachi would be taken full control over and would stay awake for longer than seven days. A place of Cyrus's dreams would come to him all by simply wishing for it. How hard could it be?
A/N: How was that then? Told you I gave it all away but I had no other ideas! Please review, if you would!
(*) - Read my other story 'Treasured Wish' if you want a better understanding of Dawn's memory. :)
Thank you!
