Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or its affiliates.
A/N: I would like to thank all of you for reading my story and following/Favorite. It means a lot to me especially since this is my first fan fiction. I would like to ask for any criticism or suggestions for this story as long as its not just flames. As I have said in the past, I answer all PM's and reviews as soon as I can and as best as I can. Thank you and enjoy the story.
Emptiness. That was all Ash could see all around him. Where ever he was there was nothing but darkness, emptiness and silence. With nothing to see or hear around him, Ash looked down at himself and to his surprise, he saw something had changed. Instead of his plain whit tee shirt, he had on a black tee shirt with a white and red button up shirt over it. The red on the shirt was in the shape of an upper case Y in the middle of the shirt. While looking down, he also noticed a weight on his head that wasn't there before. Reaching up he pulled the hat that was there off and looked at it more closely. It was simple in design, with a red brim and white top with a red half poke ball just above the brim.
"This is weird. I look similar to my younger self. What the hell is going on here?" Ash thought to himself.
As if to answer his question, the darkness behind him brightened and even breathing could be heard. Turning to see what was making the sound, Ash came face to face with Xerneas. Before Ash could say or do anything, two more flashes of red and green light appeared next to Xerneas. Right beside Xerneas was the green and black ground/dragon type, Zygarde. Then on the other side of Zygarde was the red and black dark/flying type Yveltal. All three Legendaries were unmoving but focused on one thing, Ash.
Feeling their penetrating stares boring into him, Ash began to feel uncomfortable and slightly irritated. Deciding that he had enough of the staring contest, he spoke. "What do you want with me?"
The three Legendaries didn't respond to Ash's words at all. They merely stood there tall and proud, eying him with those penetrating eyes.
"Answer me!" Ash yelled, angry at being ignored.
"They can't. They don't know why they're here." A deep, gruff voice spoke from behind Ash.
Turning slowly around, Ash came face to face with someone he hadn't seen in years. Before him stood a tall, feline Pokemon with a long, purple tail and its slender arms crossed in front of its chest. "Mewtwo." Ash said slowly, the anger draining from him. "What do you mean they don't know why their here? They came here, where ever here is, for a reason. So whats going on?"
"Of all of us here, you should know whats going on the most. All of this is your doing." Mewtwo spoke seriously while motioning to the blackness and the other Pokemon.
"My doing? How would I do this? I don't even know where to find you four, let alone bring you all together." Ash stated, very confused about what was going on.
"That's true." Mewtwo said confidently. "But this is a dream going on in your head. Anything is possible here."
Letting that sink in, Ash looked around at the three Legendaries and Mewtwo. Many questions were buzzing through his head but Ash was having trouble focusing on just one of them. Mewtwo seemed to understand his conflict and continued.
"We are here to symbolize the choices that are in your future."
Finally regaining his focus from Mewtwo's words, Ash replied. "And what choices would that be?"
"The choices you will make that decides the fate of this world. Turn around and look at those three again and you will see what I mean."
Cocking his eyebrow in disbelief, Ash turned back to where the three Legendaries stood but there was something else with them that surprised him greatly. In front of each of the Legendaries stood a women, all three of which Ash was familiar with. In front of Xerneas was Lily Waterflower in a white dress and a sweet smile on her face. Next to Zygarde was Sabrina, also in a white dress and a small, kind smile. Then finally next to Yveltal was Malva in a black dress and a seductive smile. All three were looking at Ash and not saying anything. Unsure what was happening, Ash turned back to Mewtwo. "What do they have to do with all this?"
"Everything. But that is for you to figure out. Goodbye Ash." Mewtwo replied as everything began to fade to black and vanish like smoke in the wind.
Ash jolted up from his bed, scanning the room quickly. It was the same gray walls, white floor bedroom he had fallen asleep in. Sighing in relief he laid back down with his eyes open, thinking about what Mewtwo said. "What am I going to do? Damn it!"
"I was beginning to wonder if your sister was trying to ignore us. It has been three months since you told her you wanted to talk to her." Sabrina said while sipping on her tea. Lily was sitting across from her at the small table in the coffee house. Lily was fiddling with her cup of tea nervously waiting for Misty to show up. Sabrina noticed Lily's nervousness and tried to calm her. "Hey, it will be okay."
"I know, I know. I'm just nervous that's all. You were the first person I told but Misty is the reason I've kept it a secret all this time." Lily explained, still fiddling with her cup.
"I'm sure she will understand. Besides, its not like you can steal him from her since we don't even know where he is." Sabrina said reassuringly.
"Yeah." Lily said quietly while looking down into her tea.
Sabrina, sensing that she said something wrong, was about to apologize but stopped when a redhead came walking into the coffee house. Shaking Lily's hand to get her attention, Sabrina motioned toward Misty.
Lily looked around in the direction Sabrina motioned toward and sighed. "Okay, lets get this over with."
The Kalos Championship stadium was filled to capacity with spectators from all over the Kalos region. It had been busy all day but it had filled with more and more people as the day had worn on and the news had spread. The news that everyone was talking about, that was happening inside the stadium since ten o'clock this morning. An Elite Four challenge. This challenge however, had been very different than most for a few reasons. The challenger had requested that all the Elites use mega evolution, usually reserved for the champion. Also the challenger requested that he battle the Elite Four and Champion all on the same day, an unheard of request and crazy to boot.
Most of the spectators who came to the first match, came mostly to see the arrogant challenger get beaten by the powerful elites. However, by the time the first elite, Siebold and his Mega Gyarados were taken down and with the challenger only losing one Pokemon, the crowd had changed it's tune completely.
After each win, the crowds would grow by the hundreds when people heard of the amazing display happening in the stadium. One by one the Elites fell to the powerful challenger, each only causing him to lose one or two Pokemon. After Siebold fell, Malva and her Mega Houndoom were the next to go down fighting and then there was a short break for lunch.
Once the lunch break was over, Drasna the dragon trainer got her turn to face the challenger. Though her dragons put up one hell of a fight, even destroying a large portion of the stadium in the process. But in the end, it was the same as the others with Drasna's Mega Salamence being crushed by the challenger's Metagross.
The crowd was cheering themselves hoarse for the challenger known only as Ash. No one had ever burned through the Elites this quickly and on the same day no less. But the people were eager to see how Ash fared against the steel knight of Kalos, Wikstrom. From Ash's earlier battles, the crowd knew that both trainers used steel types and were eager to hear the clang of steel clashing throughout the stadium and they weren't disappointed. After over an hour and a half of fierce clashes and three Pokemon lost by Ash, the battle ended with Ash's Aggron holding Wikstrom's Mega Scizor against the ground with it's massive foot. All Ash had left was the Champion, Diantha left to defeat. And that battle was about to begin.
High up near the top of the stadium, in the private sky box, Malva and Lysandre were watching as Ash released his Tyranitar to face Diantha's Tyrantrum. Lysandre had just arrived, so Malva was filling him in on the details of what had happened. "So far he has only lost a maximum of three Pokemon in a battle, but I don't know how he will fare against Diantha. She is on a different level from us Elites."
"Hmm. We will see." Lysandre spoke with no worry in his voice. "Win or lose, he has made quite an impression on the people here and that will help us gain more recruits when he makes the announcement. Speaking of impressions, did you give him that outfit?" Lysandre said motioning to the white button up with a red Y on the front and the red and white hat on Ash's head.
"No, actually he just showed up wearing them this morning. They have our colors and if I do say so they make him look quite dashing." Malva said with a light pink on her cheeks.
"Yes, I'd say most of the girls would agree with you." Lysandre chuckled, seeing some of the female audience were captivated by Ash's looks. Noticing the scowl on Malva's face, Lysandre decided to change the subject. "So did Ash say where he went the other day?"
Losing the scowl and replacing it with a frown, Malva answered. "Actually, he hasn't talked to me since he got back late last night. It's almost like he has been avoiding me."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it. He has a dark past that haunts him my dear, so don't expect him to be like normal people. He has seen more death before he was twenty than most see in their whole lives."
"He told me he was falsely accused and exiled but I just thought he was sent out of the Five Regions, like here or Altomare?" Malva spoke slightly stunned by Lysandre's words
His face grew grim with seriousness before he spoke. "No, he went to the deep wilderness where the Pokemon will kill you as soon as look at you. According to my sources, he was dropped over one hundred miles from civilization with only a knife and a bottle of water. The fact that he is alive at all is a testament to how strong he is." Seeing the sympathy in Malva's eyes, Lysandre continued. "No need to feel sorry for him, just don't expect too much out of him in the social skills area, okay?"
Shaking her head in understanding, Malva turned back to the battle that was nearing its end. Looking at the scoreboard, she noticed Diantha was on her last Pokemon while Ash had just lost his fourth. "Wow, we were talking so long we missed most of the match. Diantha only has her Mega Gardevoir left and Ash still has two Pokemon left. He could really win this." She said excitedly.
"Yes he could." Lysandre said with a smirk on his face while crossing his arms across his chest. Everything was going as planned and soon the world he had envisioned will be brought to reality.
"What did you say? I'm not sure I heard you right." Misty said disbelievingly. She had been talking with Lily and Sabrina for a while now but couldn't believe what Lily had just told her.
Taking a breath, Lily repeated what she had said. "I said that I like Ash, more than a friend kind of like. I'm sorry if this upsets you but I had to tell you the truth. I've kept it from you and everyone else for years but I just couldn't anymore. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry Lily." Misty said with a sympathetic smile. "You can like who ever you want. Besides after what you did at the stadium a few months ago, it was kinda obvious."
"Yeah, I guess it was." Lily said with a chuckle. "So your not mad?"
"Well I'm not happy about it but no, I'm not mad." Misty sighed. "Doesn't matter anyway, he is long gone."
"Maybe, maybe not." Sabrina stated cryptically. "We thought he was gone for good before but he came back. Who's to say he won't do it again."
Lily smiled to herself. "Yeah maybe your right Sabrina. There's always hope right?"
Pulling her sister into a one arm hug, Misty smiled. "With Ash, there always was."
"Very true." Sabrina agreed and then began to fidget with her feet and look down. "There is another reason that I came with you Lily, besides support if Misty got angry."
"Hey!" Misty protested.
Ignoring Misty, Lily eyed Sabrina warily. "And what reason would that be Sabrina?"
Cutting straight to the chase, Sabrina looked Lily in the eye and answered. "I like Ash too."
An uncomfortable silence fell between the three girls. The fact that all three liked the same man was enough to shut all of them up for a few minutes. None of them wanted to begin to talk about the dilemma at hand for fear of starting an argument. Luckily, the awkwardness was broken by Lily's phone ringing. Jumping at the noise, Lily fumbled with her purse till she found it and answered. "Hello? Yes Paul what is it? You want me to come right now? Okay. Should I bring Misty and Sabrina with me? Okay we will be there soon but can't you at least tell me whats going on?" There was a long pause and by the end Lily's mouth was hanging open like a fish. O ok th thanks." Lily stuttered and hung up the phone.
"What was that Lily?" Misty asked.
"Paul wants to talk to us." She paused for a moment before continuing. "They may have found Ash."
"Metagross, Psychic to hold her down and meteor mash to finish her!"
"Gardevoir get out of there!"
But it was too late, as the Psychic took hold and forced Gardevoir to the ground. Seconds later Metagross slammed the meteor mash directly into Gardevoir's body. After Metagross moved and the dust settled, Gardevoir had swirls in her eyes.
"Gardevoir is unable to battle, the Champion is out of usable Pokemon. Challenger Ash is the winner." The referee announced to the stadium.
The crowd went crazy once the referee announced Ash as the victor. Reporters rushed the field to try and interview the new Champion and bombarded him with questions. After listening to them chatter on for a hundred questions, Ash raised his hand to silence them. Once everyone was quiet, he began talking. "I would like to thank you all for your support and coming to see me battle, it means a lot. But I'm afraid I will have to decline the position of Champion."
This caused a bigger uproar than Ash's victory had, with everyone screaming their disbelief that someone would work so hard to become Champion only to turn it down. It was unheard of and crazy but everything else had been that way today. Ash had to raise his hand to silence them again. "I have a previous commitment to a greater cause. An organization that is trying to make the world a better place and I would ask any who would like to make the world a better place to join Team Flare. To join with me."
The crowd went wild and began cheering his name. Ash had to smile but inside he was unsure. "What have I done? What if Mewtwo was right and my choices will decide the fate of the world? Have I made the right one?"