Guardians of Aura Chapter 10
A large horde of people had gathered in the Cerulean City gym to witness the Sensational Sisters' synchronized swimming play entitled "The Sea Prince" that was to be narrated by the world's only talking Houndour. Many promoting agents and possible endorsers had come to see this show and to judge whether or not the Sensational Sisters were worthy of their sponsorship. A gigantic audience had also assembled to see if this claim of a talking Houndour was true or not.
About an hour before the show started, Misty went looking for Houndour, him being nowhere to be found at the moment. She was to inform him that it was time for him to start preparing for his narration. She walked out to the back of the gym and out of the corner of her ear heard Houndour's voice mumble, "Why, why did you leave?" He was standing in front of a Time Flower and using his paw to trigger it, apparently searching for something in particular.
Unexpectedly, Houndour stumbled upon a memory of Ash dropping on his knees weeping; it was from the day before when he had probed the Time Flower for memories of his father. Misty saw Houndour watch Ash break down in horrible anxiety, literally begging for the reason why his father abandoned him. Misty felt pain in her heart for Ash as she saw him in this state of utter desperation.
"I know you're there, Misty" Houndour said, not turning around. "You're Aura has become too familiar to me for me not to recognize you."
Misty moved closer to Houndour, not knowing what to say. "What's wrong with Ash?"
Houndour sighed deeply. "He wants to know why his father abandoned him."
"His father…abandoned him?"
"Yes" Houndour said quietly. "I've been searching for any memory hidden in the Time Flowers that could tell me why he did, evidently, so has Ash."
Misty gasped as she came to a revelation. "You knew his father, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"That old man you saw me with, Ash's teacher, is also Ash's grandfather."
"He is?"
"Yes. He raised his Ash's father to be a much better man than he was. But I have searched the Time Flowers for this answer not only for Ash's or the old man's sake, but also for mine."
"What do you mean, Houndour?"
"He…" Houndour paused, "…was more than just my partner's son. He was one of my best friends. We used to spend so much time talking and enjoying each other's company. Any time he needed advice but couldn't ask his parents he always came to me. Perhaps the only person I cared about as much as him was Ash's grandfather. His abandoning Ash was by far, the last thing I had ever expected to happen."
Misty did not know how to respond. "So…I guess you're looking for him."
"No" Houndour quietly replied, his ears drooping. He nearly whispered his next statement. "He's dead."
Misty kneeled down and lightly rubbed Houndour's head. "I'm sorry. At least he's in a better place."
"You have no idea how much I wish I could believe that" Houndour sighed.
"You don't believe in an afterlife?"
"I do. That is why I fear for him." Houndour's voice was filled with more depression than Misty had ever heard from him.
A thought occurred to Misty, but given Houndour's sadness she felt that it would be selfish to act on it.
"Go ahead and ask whatever you're thinking of" said Houndour.
"How did you…"
"The waves of your Aura reveal many things. Just ask it."
Misty paused but then uncertainly asked, "Is it possible to use those Time Flowers to…to find my parents?"
"Maybe, I don't know if it's a good idea though."
"Why?"
"Ignorance is bliss. Ash practically had his heart ripped out while he was trying to find the truth. There may be things about your parents that you're better off not knowing." Houndour felt a wave of disappointment washing over Misty's Aura when he completed this statement. Before she could reply he said, "But I will try." Misty nodded hopefully.
Houndour placed his right paw over the Time Flower and a faint glow emitted from his paw as a small gush of air blew in his face. As swishing sound could be heard as he was doing this. He remained in that position for several moments until a bright light rose from the Flower and surrounded him and Misty. "This was the only one I could find" he explained.
In the memory, a woman and a man stood on a dirt road during a thunderstorm, wearing yellow raincoats. The blistering wind caused them to pull their hoods over their faces. Misty prayed that the wind would blow their hoods back. The woman carried something in her right arm. On the ring finger of the hand on her other arm was a golden ring. The man had an identical band on his left ring finger. Misty then noticed her older sister Daisy standing in the memory. The woman handed Daisy the bundle in her hands. The thing she had handed her was a baby rapped in a blanket. Misty recognized it to be herself as an infant.
"Please" the woman said, having to shout for her voice to carry over the wind, "take care of her!"
Daisy gazed at the baby for a moment and then asked, "Will I ever see you again?"
The man began to reply, "We…"
Suddenly, a bright, loud flash of light illuminated the entire memory, and then the memory ended.
"Lightening must have struck the Flower" Houndour said.
"That…can't be all" Misty gasped. A thin line of tears escaped her eyes.
She was still kneeling down and Houndour stepped over to her and put a sympathetic paw on her shoulder, as though it was a hand, and in a compassionate voice said, "I'm sorry, it is."
Misty rapped her arms around Houndour, seeking comfort. He felt awkward, but he felt the dejection now ruling over Misty's Aura and allowed her this. Tears now freely shed from Misty's eyes but, to Houndour's surprise, she did not sob.
Misty then released Houndour and then sat back, rubbing her tears from her face. "I'm sorry" Houndour repeated.
"Don't be" replied Misty. "You warned me. You were right."
"I wish I wasn't" Houndour said honestly. "It seems that you and Ash have more in common than I thought."
"I guess you're right. But he has a mother."
"Yes. But there's one thing you'll have that he never will" Houndour said, his voice lifting.
"What's that?"
"Come here, it's a secret." Houndour motioned her forward.
"A backstage pass to see the world's only talking Houndour create his narration magic! And if you're lucky, I'll give you the star of the show's phone number; me and him have a bit of history together" said Houndour, throwing his voice to sound pretentious. Misty managed a weak laugh.
"At least I lightened the mood a little with that" Houndour acknowledged. "But seriously, what you have is hope."
"What?" Misty asked, tears no longer escaping her eyes.
"Ash's father is dead for sure. The same cannot be said for your parents. You may find them one day. You also don't know why they are gone; there is hope that they had a good reason. It is not much" he placed his paws on her hands, "but it's something."
Misty smiled. "You're such a great friend Houndour; I love you."
"No creature ever has been able to resist my charm."
Misty hugged him again and then stood up. "Come on, you're going to be late for your performance."
"Yes I certainly don't want to keep my fans waiting" Houndour boasted.
An hour later, Houndour stood atop a diving board that overlooked a humongous fish tank that was filled with fake treasure chests, purple and blue coral reefs and numerous water Pokémon, the most notable of them being Misty's Gyarados, to create a sea-like atmosphere. The bleachers that had been put up for the audience were completely filled.
On top of a short music stand rested the narration script that Houndour was to read. He eyed the poorly written screenplay questionably.
"This play's a piece of garbage" Houndour mumbled. He accidently whispered this statement into the microphone placed in front of him. The crowd stared at him surprised.
"Uh…hi folks" Houndour stammered. He looked towards the ridiculous hoax of a script and read aloud from it. "Welcome to the Cerulean City Gym. We have a really great show for you tonight. This is the premiere of the 'Sea Prince' written and directed by… (he looked at the script and saw that the writer and director's name were not included)…huh they didn't include the writer and director: that's a little ungrateful. (He then remembered that he was being watched)…uh…and staring Daisy, Lily, and Violet; the Sensational sisters!" The crowd erupted in thunderous applause.
Houndour continued. Obviously, he had neglected committing the script to memory. "Oh, here we go! Written and directed by the Sensational Sisters!" He tried to talk to himself but accidently spoke into the mike, "We obviously have a very low budget." The crowd started laughing.
"Oh, you find that funny, huh? I would try to make you laugh again but I'm supposed to stick to the script or I'll get 40 lashes." They laughed again.
"Anyway, playing the title role of the handsome Prince of the Sea will be none other than the Cerulean Gym's own Tracey Sketchit…dear lord, they roped Tracey into this. And…as you can plainly see, this play is to be narrated by the world's only talking Houndour! That would be me." The crowd began cheering.
"So without further ado, let the show begin!" The crowd fell silent. Tracey paddled on the watery surface of the tank in a small canoe dressed in a ridiculous, green leotard.
"One day the Prince of the Sea was sailing when his eyes fell upon the most gorgeous sight he had ever seen. He…" Houndour was cut off by a large crashing sound that seemed to be coming from the roof. He looked up and saw that a giant hole had been broken in the glass roof. Through it dropped a large hot-air balloon. The balloon was shaped and colored to resemble the head, paw, and tail of a Meowth. Inside of the green balloon basket stood a young woman with ridiculously long and stiff red hair and a young man with blue hair and a rose in his hand. They both wore white uniforms with a red 'R' located on the shirts.
The young woman announced herself, "To protect the world from devastation…"
The man continued, as though it was a rehearsed routine, "…to unite all peoples within our nation…"
"…to denounce the evils of truth and love…"
"…to extend our reach to the starts above…"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
A Meowth jumped on top of the edge of the basket, behind the two adults, and in plain English, declared, "Meowth, that's right!"
The crowd began clamoring nervously.
"What in the name of God is going on?" Houndour asked into the microphone.
"I see that our reputation does not precede us, Jessie, even though we reverted back to using our old motto in the hopes that the people of this city would remember us" said the man.
"Apparently not James, but when we are done with them, the name Team Rocket will strike fear into their hearts" the woman assured.
"No denying that."
"What exactly do you want? We're kind of in the middle of something" said Houndour impatiently.
"Still in the dark?" James asked. "Well we'll enlighten you."
Jessie continued, "We're Team Rocket, the most nefarious band of Pokémon thieves on Earth! We are here to steal all of these magnificent Water Pokémon for our boss."
James mocked, "And apparently we're also going to bag him a talking bitch."
Despite the crowd growing nervous Houndour remained cool. He snickered and replied, "First of all, I'm a male. If you're going to use a profanity in its literal sense at least do it properly."
James responded, "Okay, we're going to bag him a talking son of a bitch."
Houndour taunted, "Much better. Except now you have insulted my mother by comparing her to that red-headed creature standing next to you."
Jessie's cheeks turned red as she yelled, "How dare you, you little…"
Just then, the Meowth finally seemed to take notice of Houndour and jumped in front of Jessie and James, impairing Jessie from completing her rant and stared at Houndour. "Another talking Pokémon" Meowth marveled aloud.
"You must be the talking Meowth Misty told me about" Houndour said. He now recalled who these people were, from the stories Misty had told him. They were mediocre members of a crime syndicate called Team Rocket who had always followed around Ash in the hopes of stealing his Pikachu and any other Pokémon of value around him for Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket. He instantly realized that he would probably have to fight them.
"'Misty'?" Jessie asked.
"The first twerp-et. The one with the Water Pokémon and the short temper" James explained.
"Oh, right."
The over-emotional Meowth's eyes began to fill with tears as he exclaimed, "I never thought I would meet another talking Pokémon! Finally, someone who understands me!"
"The feeling is mutual, Meowth" Houndour said with a grin.
"Why did you learn to talk?" Meowth curiously asked.
"It sort of happened by accident" Houndour answered.
"Really? I learned how to talk to impress a fine female feline."
"How'd that work out?"
"Not so good."
"Well it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
"That's true."
"Meowth!" Jessie yelled, punching the top of the cat-like Pokémon's head. Houndour then noticed something else out of the ordinary about this Meowth; he stood on his hind legs. "Have you forgotten why we came here?!"
"Oh yeah" Meowth said, rubbing the top of his head. "Sorry buddy, but I gotta do what I gotta do."
"I understand" Houndour said. "And I must do what I must do to protect this gym."
Houndour did not feel threatened by this strange gang. He felt in all of their Aura's not feelings of greed and hatred, but of a strong desire to prove themselves. He then probed the Auras of the Pokémon in the fish tank. Most of them were really weak, inexperienced ones put there to mostly take up space. A lot of them were Goldeen. But then Houndour felt an exceptionally strong Aura; that of Misty's Gyarados.
"Will you fight by my side?" Houndour asked the monstrous sea-serpent-like Pokémon. Gyarados' mind gave a small indicator that it would.
Suddenly, Misty appeared next the fish tank and yelled, "Go away Team Rocket!"
Her sisters were standing next to her, wearing mermaid costumes. "Yeah, beat it!" Daisy yelled.
"You're ruining the show!" her other sister Lily hollered.
"This level of stress is so not good for my skin!" her third sister Violet complained.
In a flash, Jessie and James pulled out two large bazookas and rested them on their shoulders.
"Well, well, well if it isn't the Sensational Shrews and the little twerp-et" Jessie mocked, cocking her bazooka. "We'll see how good for your skin this is!"
She pulled the trigger on her weapon and out of it fired a large, pink blob that resembled a wad of gum. Misty pushed Violet out of the way and the projectile struck her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. At the moment of impact the mass stretched, covering Misty's entire torso and her arms. Like glue, the mass stuck her to the floor and her legs flailed about as she tried to break free of it.
"What is this stuff?" Daisy asked as she, Lily, and Violet tried unsuccessfully to pull it off of Misty. Tracey then ran over to them to try and help.
"That's Team Rocket's trademarked Gum Bomb, guaranteed to stick anyone or anything to any surface" James bragged.
"Hey!" Houndour yelled, calling attention to him. "I see you're not afraid to pick on little girls but you must be scared to death of me!"
"Oh we didn't forget about you" James said, firing his bazooka at Houndour. At that moment a gleam appeared in Houndour's eyes; a gleam of pure excitement and experience that showed he was not the weak mutt he was when Misty found him but that he was now, once again, a Guardian of Aura. Fast as lightening, he jumped into the air, avoiding the blast by feet.
As he jumped towards the balloon, which was several feet above him, he shouted with his mind "Now!"
Gyarados jetted out of the water and allowed Houndour to use its head as a foothold. Jessie then fired another shot at them, but Gyarados let loose its Hyper Beam Attack to intercept it. As the yellow jet of energy collided with the Gum Bomb it created a huge explosion, filling the air with smoke. Houndour took this moment as an advantage and leaped off of Gyarados' head, through the smoke, and onto the top of the balloon.
"Get up there and stop him, Meowth!" Jessie ordered.
"Why me?" Meowth asked.
"Because we had to give all of our other Pokémon to the boss to avoid being fired…again" James reminded.
"Oh yeah" said Meowth. He then, with great effort and struggling, climbed on to the edge of the balloon and made his way to the top of it, on the opposite side from Houndour.
"Sorry about this, pal" Meowth said. "Perhaps on a different day I could've called you 'friend'."
"Perhaps that day is yet to come" Houndour suggested.
"Maybe but for now…" Meowth rushed at him, claws detracted, and attempted to land a Fury Swipes Attack. Houndour easily ducked away from all of the swipes and prepared to counter when suddenly a voice rang in his head.
"Houndour!" the voice yelled. The voice was Ash's. Houndour searched quickly for Ash's Aura. He could not feel it anywhere close by. This confused Houndour; there was no way Ash could have learned how to telepathically communicate from this great of a distance with the little amount of training he had received. "We have to talk!" Ash's voice asserted. He sounded greatly distressed.
"I'm a little busy. Can't we do this later?" Houndour replied.
"No!"
"Ash I…" Houndour's reply was cut off when Meowth's claws raked across his face. He felt a thin scratch form across his cheek, not deep enough to scar, but it hurt terribly. A thin trail of blood crawled down the side of his face.
Houndour then had no choice. What he did next he did not want to do, because he could feel how much pain Ash was in, but he blocked Ash's thoughts from his mind, allowing him to concentrate on the fight. He felt Ash trying to reestablish contact with him, but ignored him.
Houndour then let loose a jet of flames from his mouth that he aimed at Meowth's right side. The Flamethrower hit its mark, causing Meowth's fur to catch fire. Meowth bawled about sporadically, trying to blow out the flames with his mouth. Seizing the chance, Houndour ran at the dismayed feline and hit him square in the chest with Tackle Attack.
Meowth fell from the balloon into the fish tank. The water quickly extinguished the fire that was burning away at his fur. Meowth felt relief at this as he treaded water but then was gripped by fear as he stood face to face with Gyarados. Gyarados let out an ear-splitting roar as it closed its jaws around Meowth, holding him in its mouth. Gyarados then released Meowth on a large jet of water it shot from its mouth in a Hydro Pump Attack.
The Hydro Pump flung Meowth back into the basket, him crashing into Jessie and James as he landed. Houndour then bit a hole in the top of the balloon and jumped off of it. As air hissed out of it, the balloon flew wildly around the gym in all directions until it propelled itself out of the hole in the roof that it originally hailed from.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Jessie and James yelled in unison as the balloon blasted away into the sky.
Houndour landed elegantly on top of Gyarados' head. "Thank you, brother" he said gratefully. Gyarados made a cheerful noise. Houndour then jumped down to where Misty's sisters were gathered around her, trying to peel the strange gum-like glue off of her.
"Are you ok?" Houndour asked.
"I think so" Misty replied, sounding as though the impact had knocked the breath out of her.
"We can't get this stuff to come off" Tracey said, his voice strained as he tried to pull the Gum Bomb from the floor.
"I wonder" Houndour said as he thought of something. He blew a small wisp of fire out of his mouth that hit a small corner of the pink mass. The part that was struck by the flames made a crackling sound and turned a darker shade. Tracey grabbed the charred part and it snapped off like a twig.
"That'll work" Houndour stated. He let a thin jet of flames escape his mouth and pour over the rest of the glue that was covering Misty. The blob hardened and solidified and Misty's sisters and Tracey pulled it off of her.
Misty stood up, gasping for breath, as the Gum Bomb had restricted her breathing. "Thanks Houndour" she said.
Before Houndour could reply, Misty's sister Daisy cut in, "Yeah, you totally saved the day. That's not the first time those creeps have tried to steal all our Pokémon."
Misty's sisters then knelt down on the floor and began petting Houndour and showering him with praise.
"You were so brave" complimented Lily.
"You're so cute" cheered Violet.
"I'm sorry that I ever didn't want to keep you" apologized Daisy.
Misty's sisters were about the same age and looked very similar but were distinguishable by their hair colors. Daisy had brownish blonde hair, Lily's hair was pink, and Violet's hair was a purplish blue.
"Ladies, ladies please, you're embarrassing me" Houndour said sarcastically.
"Three cheers for Houndour!" yelled Daisy. The audience roared in thunderous applause and ovation. A strange expression was on Houndour's face, as though this was the strangest thing in the world.
"And of course, Gyarados" reminded Houndour.
"Of course."
Misty gasped as she looked at the scratch on Houndour's face. "Houndour, you're hurt" she said, concerned.
"It's nothing" he said as he slid his paw over the tear and felt dried blood. He meant that statement. During his years as a stray he had experienced much worse injuries than this light scratch.
"Don't say that" Misty replied. "We need to get that cleaned up."
"Yeah, it could get infected" Tracey added.
"But what about the show?" Houndour asked.
"We can't do it with a giant hole in the roof" pointed out Lily.
"Yeah, and a bunch of glass fell in the tank" added in Violet.
"We'll just have to do this later" said Daisy.
Houndour was reluctant to receive pampering over this minor injury until he remembered why he received it. Ash had tried to contact him during the fight. Houndour could still feel him trying now. Houndour knew he had to go somewhere private to talk to him.
"If you insist" Houndour agreed.
"Come on, Houndour" Misty said as she led him to her bedroom. Once there Misty cleaned off his wound and sprayed Super Potion on it. Houndour asked her to close the door and when she did he let down his mind's defenses, allowing Ash to talk to him again.
"Houndour!" Ash yelled.
"I heard you the first time. Now what is going on?" Houndour replied.
"Why did you block me out before?!"
"Team Rocket was attacking the gym when you tried to contact me. I had to fight them so I couldn't have you distracting me. Anyway, how are you doing this? How have you learned to communicate from a distance this quickly?"
"I didn't."
Houndour then probed Ash's Aura and felt many other Auras telepathically linked with it. The Auras belonged to Pokémon, not humans.
"You established a mental link with your Pokémon to use the strength of their Auras to let you do this with ease."
"Yes."
"That was clever."
"Enough!"
"What's wrong, Ash?"
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
"What?"
"When my parent's committed their so called 'crime' they thought they were going to die! They didn't know that there would be consequences! You knew that didn't you?"
Houndour sighed. "I did. One day when they went hiking they found themselves lost and then trapped in a cave for over a week with no food and scarce water. When we found them… it had already happened. "
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Why does it make any difference?"
"You had me believing that my father was a heartless monster who dumped my mom as soon as he got what he wanted!"
"How would this change that? The circumstances of your conception do not change the fact that he abandoned your mother to raise you by herself!"
"But he loved her!"
"I already told you that!"
"Then why did he leave her?!"
"I don't know!!" Houndour yelled loudly with his mind and his voice."I…I don't know. I don't know any more than you do. What do you want from me?"
"I want you to stop keeping secrets from me!" He sounded not as though he was demanding this, but begging for it.
"I c…I can't."
"How can you be this cruel Houndour?" the voice of Pikachu asked. The other Pokémon connected with Ash's mind allowed their emotions to be transmitted to Houndour. They felt the same as Pikachu.
"Who said that?" Misty asked, never having heard Pikachu talk. Houndour then became aware that Misty had heard everything they had said.
Houndour went on, "I don't want to keep secrets from you Ash, but I have to. "
"Why?!"
"We have to wait until you're old enough and experienced enough to be trusted with them."
"You don't trust me?!" Ash sounded hurt and offended. A look of supreme guilt appeared on Houndour's face as he hung his head sadly.
"You aren't being fair to Houndour, Ash!" Misty cut in.
"He can't hear you" Houndour explained.
"Can you make it so he can hear me?"
"No. You aren't a Guardian or a Pokémon. It's impossible."
"Don't ignore me!" Ash yelled.
"Ash, do you want to be a Guardian of Aura?"
"Yes!"
"Then you must respect our rules and traditions. If you wish to be trusted with our secrets then you must train with us and gain experience. If you want to learn more about your father, you must learn more about your grandfather. If you want your father's sin to be erased from the Earth then you must become a much better man than he was!"
Ash stayed silent for a few moments. "Fine" he agreed after a while.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Goodbye."
"Bye."
The mental link between them faded and Houndour could no longer hear Ash's thoughts. He sighed, his feelings of guilt and anguish having stayed with him.
Misty heard Daisy calling her and went to open the door. She began to say, "Houndour…"
"I don't want to talk about it" Houndour interrupted. Misty opened the door and disappeared behind it.
Houndour sighed heavily and under his breath whispered, "…Satoshi…"