Goddammit... That... was hell. Sorry everyone, I was kind of in a rut in while in between field exercises, schooling, and more training. I didn't really have much time to work on the story as much as I hoped too. I kinda got into a bit of depression and became demotivated, hence the change in the chapter's name.

But don't worry, I wasn't wasting my time. I was also working on the plot of the story heavily as well as writing two other stories I'm planning on publishing sometime soon.

Anyways, without further ado, the next chapter of the story of Michael Blake!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.


Chapter 11: Acquaintances

As I felt their circle beginning to tighten, I recalled the memory of Matthew's betrayal not so long ago. Sure, the uniforms were different, and the environment was definitely warmer than it was back then. Even so, I became rigid as the memories swarmed back to the images behind what I would call my eyesight.

Hello Michael… Ah, Killstreak… your father… I'm sorry… What do you see…

…Goodbye… Michael…

The supposed 'guardian' came forth with the shade of the tropics hiding his face.

"Stop right there!" I called out to him. He carried on as if he didn't hear me, but I had a way to get his attention. I fired an aura sphere at his feet and immediately formed a second one in case he continued. Fortunately, the man stopped with the sun's gaze meeting up to his neck. I still couldn't see his face.

"So the rumors were true," he spoke calmly. His voice was more defined up close. It had a familiar rasp, but I couldn't remember where I heard it before. I figured it might have been an old general I remember back in my army days, so I shoved it aside.

"What rumors?" I demanded from him. I felt his gaze piercing my soul from the shadows. He was definitely using his aura, but for what reason I did not know.

"I heard there was an aura guardian running through this area of Hoenn. I also heard he was accompanied by a couple of chimeri." I tensed at the word, but not as naturally as I would alone or with Melanie. This was an emotion I felt with the connection to Victoria.

"I abhor that word," Victoria spited.

{~~10 seconds~~}

That impending danger sense hit me once again; this time giving me a feeling that I know when it would be coming.

'But what?' I asked myself.

"What are you here for?" I asked the man while gripping my aura-dagger tighter.

I heard a small grunt from him, but it could have easily been mistaken for a chuckle before he spoke, "I came for-"

Before he finished, Victoria's future sight came to fruition and exploded the ground surrounding the three of us. Without wasting a second, I rushed through the dust towards the other guardian and positioned the blade of my dagger on his throat. The sound of his grunts aiming their weapons echoed through the trees – I surely had their attention by that point.

"Why are you here?" I asked again.

"As I was about to say; I'm here for you," he said. Me? Before I could ask what he meant, an aura sphere had hit my stomach and pushed me down on my ass. My aura sphere and dagger dissipated in the pain, and I became dazed for a moment as the wind was knocked out of me. He took a step forward and his face was shown in the light. It was a face I could never forget.

Well, well, well. What do we have here? The nation's most wanted man surrounded by the nation's most powerful soldiers led by me… Tell him Morty sent ya…

My breath hitched when I realized who it was. They found me. They fucking found me.

"Please relax; I'm not here to harm you," he said putting his hands up in an innocent gesture.

Like hell I would believe that. I could feel my vision beginning to go red the longer I stared at him, but I couldn't look away. Looking away was a sign of fear or respect; two things I never felt for that man. On the contrary, I guess you could say I was afraid by the way I was reacting to him, but I refused to show that side of me.

Not now, not ever.

"Who sent you?" I asked with a shaking rage. Morty simply looked at me with pity. "Who sent you?! What do you want from me?!" I yelled.

"An old friend asked me to find you. Said you were headed to Fortree for a sort of tournament."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged. "What's his name?"

"That's none of your concern-"

"I'm pretty sure if someone sent you to find me that it is my concern you twat," I replied. Morty frowned and a look of seriousness took over his face.

"I could sense that you're angry."

"I don't think you need aura to see-"

"Would you just let me finish a single sentence!" he yelled. I formed a couple of aura spheres in my hands as his patience wore thin. I heard a couple of his men laughing at him which brought a smile to my face. Unfortunately, it also brought an excess of confidence.

"No, and I'm not gonna fucking stand by while you plan to kill me, Morty," I let out. His eyes twitched and he turned his head slightly to the side as if he was trying to hear me.

"What did you call me?"

"Quit playing games!" I shouted while firing both my aura spheres.

"Men! Stand down!" he yelled while dodging my attacks. I unsheathed my knife from my belt loop below my back. I came forward firing two more aura spheres for distraction from the knife. He dodged those two as well and took out his own knife from his boot.

"Stop this!" he tried ordering me, but I refused to let up. I kept coming at him with aura spheres and slashes until, at last, our blades met in a knife fight. This old guy was definitely skilled in kickboxing and maybe wrestling too; typical for a special forces kind of guy.

Now the bastard had aura – just in case I needed another thorn in my side. Luckily for me, I have a good month of experience on him.

"Michael, what do you want us to do?" Victoria asked.

"Make sure his men don't interfere," I told her. My vision became a little redder before I continued, "Kill'em if you have to."

"Guardian… isn't that a little… dark?" Mark asked. For some reason, I became infuriated by his judgement.

"You haven't seen dark. If you want to play the good guys, then I suggest you fucking leave!" I heard myself say.

"Dear Arceus…" Morty whispered. I formed an aura sphere and began rapid-firing at him.

"You can pray to your god all you want! When I'm done with you'll be meeting with mine!"

"Guardian! Calm your mind!" He yelled while forming his own aura sphere. I tried swiping it away, but he was too fast and rolled to the side. The immediate opening stole my balance and I fell – only becoming angrier in the process.

"Aggh! WHO SENT YOU!" I roared with fury. At the last moment, I saw him fire his aura sphere directly at my face. Time slowed as I watch the so-called purity that was aura make its way to me.

Grab it, I felt a voice say inside me. I followed its instructions blindly and swiped my hand out in front of me to steal his aura sphere. With the other hand I fired my own at him. It hit him dead-center in his chest and he was knocked to the ground.

I heard a small explosion behind me and a couple of shouts; I figured it was Victoria trying to prevent his men from interfering like I asked.

"Fall back!" Morty commanded to his team. Without question, they obeyed his order and fled the scene as fast as they could. I planned to stop them, but later – I had something better to finish first. I surged my aura with Morty's – mixing the two in what I would call a deathly abomination – and made a sword with little effort. It had to be my red state giving me this desirable power.

I loved it. I truly enjoyed the feeling of dominance I had over another person, and a general equal to me at that. Now, if only I could get to bring out the fear through his eyes.

Morty recovered to his feet, but not for long. I followed through with an aura sphere to knock him back down again and again as I advanced towards him. Seeing no other option to escape, he resorted to firing aura spheres at me. With each one, time slowed to allow me to absorb them into my sword – making it stronger with each orb.

By the time I approached his feet, he was a wheezing wreck – his old age had betrayed him in his time of need. He should have given up on me when he had the chance.

Now, I return to him the pain he caused me.

"Thank you Morty. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to repay you for what you've given me," I muttered with power oozing from my lips.

Strange though, he showed no fear or trace of imminent death. Instead, he looked at me with pity in his eyes. "You're not very wise, are you?" he questioned.

"There is no need for wisdom, when you have power like this!" I once again heard myself say.

"Michael!" One of my companions called out to me. I couldn't figure out which one it was for the life of me. At this point, everything around me drowned out and was replaced with a different voice.

Do it, it said repeatedly. I smiled as I raised the sword up. Morty continued to stay still without a care in the world, but he kept his gaze on mine.

"I'll remember your sacrifice in aiding this world's future," I taunted. Finally, he elicited a reaction, which in turn made my smile wider.

"LONG LIVE ALEXANDER!" The voice in my head and my own spoke as one; though at the time, I couldn't remember what it is I said. I could only remember the fear in his eyes as my sword plunged into his heart…

…and was absorbed throughout his body.

"What?" I questioned in disbelief. In my time of weakness, Morty took advantage of the situation and pounced upwards with newfound strength. He was now on top of me with his hands placed at the sides of my head.

A strange feeling surged throughout my body – one that was mixed with ease and pain.

I felt this before. One time, long before any of this ever happened, but I did not know where.

'…You can't get rid of us, it is far too late for that. However, I can suppress us enough to allow him to live normally…' a child's voice echoed in my head while I screamed

"CALM YOUR MIND!" Morty yelled as he continued his torture. However, the further he continued, the less it felt like torture, and the more it resembled a form of inner peace.

The entire phenomenon lasted about 10 seconds before he fell off and lay there at my side. Both of us were breathing heavily, but I felt renewed in a sense. I noticed that my red state had ceased and I was back to being regular old Michael. Just as that part of me disappeared, so did my desire to kill him, or anyone for that matter.

In fact, I didn't feel like doing anything. I felt my eyelids getting heavier and heavier as exhaustion took over me.

"You goddamned bastard…" I barely whispered before I became engulfed in darkness.


"AGGHH!" I screamed as I woke up from my place on a bed in the middle of night.

"Michael? Michael!" a worried voice called out to me. I turned to my left to find Melanie at the foot of my bed.

"Melanie?!" I asked while confused with worry. Actually, it was more of a sodomizing fear that I felt. "Where am I? What day is it?!" I screamed.

"Michael, calm down! We're in Lilycove!" she yelled. Lilycove?

"No… No that's not right. That can't be right!" I spoke to myself. It couldn't have been. I spent about a month in the tropics of Hoenn with Victoria and Mark. There was no fucking way that was a dream.

"Dumbass," a new voice spoke. This one was masculine in the way a young adult male's voice would be. I turned to look behind Melanie, but only saw a sleeping Chance and Riolu looking at me. "What the fuck are you looking at?" He spoke.

He spoke. He spoke by moving his lips.

"Michael, what's wrong?" Melanie asked. When I went to look at her, I was paralyzed by what I saw. One of her eyes were gouged out completely and her jaw was completely ripped off. Blood dripped from her flaccid tongue as she spoke, but I couldn't hear her words. The more I looked at her, the more I realized there was much more of her mutilated than I thought. Her neck had a gash about an inch in thickness and she was missing her right arm.

I wanted to scream from seeing this thing in front of me, but nothing would come out of my mouth – or perhaps I just couldn't hear it from the horror.

"Michael?" I heard Victoria's voice. I turned to my right to see Morty shoving a sword made of aura into her neck – staining her white fur with blood. I could only watch as he repeated his actions again, and again, and again. Finally, he turned his head and looked me with a smile that could frighten a woman walking alone at night.

"Once again, you've failed your family," he spoke darkly. As he said that, multiple dark figures began to take form behind him. First there was one, then three, then 9. Soon enough, there were 39 figures standing behind him; each was pitch black with eyes as red as a blood moon.

I heard a gust of wind outside, and – with no premonition at all – the roof above our heads was violently blown away bringing light to Morty and the 39 figures behind him. The fear in my heart now multiplied as I gazed upon all those I have failed in the past. They all looked at me with the same smile as Morty, who spoke once again in light of the situation.

"It seems our encounter has once again been interrupted. I'll be seeing you soon." I felt a wave of unexplainable darkness wash over me; it's source deriving from above my head. I was able to look up at the dark-blue, night sky to see a pitch-black shadow looming over me. I gazed into its eyes, all the while it gazed back, to see a deep blue that overtook my senses. With a flash of those blue eyes, everything became dark.

"We are closer than you think… Michael."


"AGGH!" I screamed as I woke up once again in a cold sweat. This time, I lay on the ground with a blanket over me. The night was silent – save for the crackling of a campfire a few meters away. When I confirmed that I could move and breathe normally again, I breathed a sigh of relief into the night.

"Thank God… Just a nightmare," I muttered.

"Just a nightmare?" a voice asked. More specifically…

"AHH! MORTY!" I yelled jumping up into a battle-ready position. Morty, who was sitting down eating what appeared to be a can of beans, put his hands up in reassurance.

"It's alright. I'm not here to kill you. Your companions would probably get to me first," he said softly. I looked around the area with my aura vision to see Victoria sleeping not so far away from me while Mark hung from a tree with his… stem. There were plenty of bugs and sleeping birds around, but there was no immediate danger in the vicinity.

"And what's with you calling me Morty?" he asked. I turned back to him noticing the finer details. His uniform coat was removed and hanging off of a tree branch and his FLC1 was next to his feet. I noticed a finely-defined scar running down his left arm while he stared at me.

"Isn't that your name? You told me it on the day we met," I reminded him.

"Did we meet before this?" He asked confused. "Sorry if it's my old age getting to me, but I don't seem to remember encountering you-" I shot an aura sphere at his meal, spilling his beans all over the ground, to get his attention. "Maybe we got off to a bad start earlier," he mentioned.

"Said the pot to the kettle."

"Mmhm… Michael? You're awake?" a groggy Victoria resonated in my head. I ignored her for the time being; I needed all of my attention on him.

"My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Charles Miyamoto," he said. Charles; what a strange name for someone with an ugly mug like his, but it fit a lot better than Morty.

He stuck his hand out for what I thought would be a regular handshake, but when I went to grab it hesitantly, he instead gripped my forearm – coercing my hand to grip his in a Roman handshake.

"Blake…" I told him.

"Just Blake?"

"For now. That's all that should matter between two soldiers, right?" He smiled, then laughed heartily as he went to sit back down.

"So you're a warrior too, eh?" he asked.

"You should know."

He sighed. "Look, I don't who you're confusing me with, but trust me: I'm not that person. I guarantee that I've never seen you before in my life."

Not Morty, huh? I guess I would just have to remain suspicious of him.

"Hopefully you're not lying," I replied while petting Victoria who came to lie down next to me. "Where's the rest of your men?" I asked.

"Their back at our rally point. We should meet them again sometime tomorrow," he said while pulling out a sleeping bag from his ruck.

We?

"What do you mean we?" I asked.

"You forgot already? I told you: I came here for you."

"Relax, Michael," Victoria said, sensing my unease.

"You never really explained."

"You never gave me the chance."

"What was I supposed to do? The first guardian I've ever seen, that looks like someone I really want to kill, shows up with a platoon of soldiers to find me. What would you do in-"

"I'm the first guardian you've seen? Where were you raised?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sure. Just interrupt me; that's how you make friends."

"No, I mean… How can I be the first guardian you've ever seen?"

I realized then that he would not stop asking questions. The fact that he had aura to detect my own would make it near-impossible to lie to him. Only one option – that I could feasibly come up with at the time – remained.

"Alright, Charles. Listen up.

[One Flashback Later…]

"… And that's when your bitch-ass showed up," I said, finishing my hour and a half tale of how I wound up with this guy. I made sure to omit any and all mentions of names belonging to certain people or dragons that I've met. "Any questions?"

"Several."

"Any questions that I can actually answer without using extensive logic?"

"Alright, just one."

"Spill it."

"What is the extent of your power so far?" He asked as he stirred the fire.

"Hmmm. I guess just aura spheres, weapons, and vision. Oh, and I also get this strange feeling of incoming danger whenever it's about to happen," I recapped. I remembered just before our battle how I knew just how much time was left before anything happened. "The last time I had it, though, I think I knew exactly how much time I had before something happened."

"I see," the older man mumbled.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You said you've had this power for about a month or so, right?" I nodded. "Well… it doesn't make any sense…"

"How so?"

"You have about as much talent in aura as I have," he said. I could feel a bit of a jealous vibe coming from him.

"I don't see why that-"

"I've been training my ability for 30 years. Most guardians train their entire lives just to get where you and I are," he said seriously. I took a moment to think about it. He did seem surprised a couple of times while we fought. Was I really that talented?

Was it a fluke? I wondered if it had to do with my red state; if that was the underlying cause. There was no way that someone training for that long could be at the same level I was.

"It could be the serum," I suggested. "Assuming that you received your power genetically, I figure it's something that wears off in intensity over many generations. I received a direct injection of that power, so maybe – being the first one to have it in my family tree – I have the full effects of it."

"…That sounds about right… There are legends of guardians with untold power in our earliest era. Maybe there's some sort of connection between Dialga's gift and your serum," he suggested. I agreed, but why does the serum have as much power as… wait…

"Dialga?" I asked. I've never heard of the guy, and the old man laughed at my situation.

"I'm sorry; it must have slipped my mind that you've never heard of Dialga," he said. His somewhat jolly expression wavered as his eyes went downcast. "After all, there's not that much belief in him in this day in age."

"What do you mean? Is he some sort of legend?"

"You don't know of the Great Dialga, Guardian?" Mark asked as he waddled up behind me.

"I don't expect him to; from what he's told me, I don't believe he's been here that long to hear about Dialga. Blake," he directed towards me, "Dialga isn't just a legend. He's a god.

"A god?" I asked skeptically.

"The God of Time, to be exact. In order for you to get the full grasp of the concept, I have to start at the beginning."

"The beginning of time, I imagine?"

"Correct."


In the beginning, the universe was a black swirl of chaos in which nothing could exist. From deep within these shadows, an egg appeared. What hatched from that egg was an entity so powerful that its birth created the universe. The sun, constellations, and worlds were formed as a natural occurrence from his birth after many millennia.

This entity was named Arceus, meaning The First. He had only one power, but it was that ability that made him so strong. He could create life. As the universe formed itself, he spent this time learning about his power and how the natural laws of the universe worked.

Even though this universe was thriving with beauty, Chaos still existed. This Chaos created havoc among the stars and warped time and space into its own liking. In other words, there were patches in the universe that had neither time nor space, yet lived with form.

Arceus did not like this, and sought to stop it by creating two beings: Dialga and Palkia. He made Dialga to govern Time, and Palkia to govern Space. Upon their creation, he ordered them to search throughout the universe and fix these rifts as he saw accordingly.

However, with each rift that was destroyed, a new one appeared. Arceus saw this and became furious. In his rage, he unknowingly created a third being, Giratina. After seeing the product of his rage, Arceus had an idea. He ordered Giratina to take all the rifts in space with him to another dimension. Arceus gave him authority over this dimension and named it distortion.

With the universe free of these rifts, Arceus was lost with purpose. He spent his time with conversation between his first two creations. As they spoke, an idea came to him; one that filled his heart with possibility. He ordered Dialga and Palkia to travel through time and space in search of a perfect world. One that could harbor a new creation of his: Beasts.

Dialga returned to Arceus with news of a world that could hold life for millennia. Dialga took Arceus to this world and showed him the beauty of it. Arceus was pleased with the structure of this world – especially the balance of its three elements: Air, Earth, and Water. However, these elements, while equal in power and quantity, were unstable. He could not create ample life in these conditions, so he decided to create beings that would govern these elements.

These titans were known as Kyogre, of the sea, Groudon, of the land, and Rayquaza, of the sky. He ordered the three of them to control each of their respective elements to create a naturally peaceful world. However, there was a problem. With Rayquaza settling the wind, the water could not be carried to land to feed the vegetation. With Kyogre forcing water to go to land, the earth began to erode and combine within the water. With Groudon making more land, the volcanoes he activated created fumes which poisoned the air.

Arceus saw this and became displeased, but not angry. He ordered Rayquaza to calm most of the atmosphere, but to leave a few seasonal winds to carry water to land. This solved the problem rather quickly, so Arceus decided it was finally time to create his most beautiful creation.

The first species he created were the dragons. He gave them power equal to his first six creations and let them roam free among the planet. These beasts were mighty and raw with power. So much that they posed a threat to Arceus' life. He quickly eradicated this species and thought of a new one to create.

He spent several thousand years making test species, but each one died as they could not survive the planet's conditions with the low power granted to them. Arceus became frustrated with himself and smashed the planet with one of his many arms. The force of this collision nearly destroyed the planet he wanted to use for his creations. Seeking to fix this, he granted more power to Kyogre and Groudon to rearrange the land and sea to reduce the collateral of his mistake.

It had worked, and after several thousand years, the planet was back in its original state. He was eager to create life, but he still did not have the knowledge to create a species that could live forever with him.

Another idea had come to him, and he went to create another species. He gave this one enough power to live forever, but also granted it knowledge and the ability to create life themselves. He called this species Mew. He ordered the Mew to expand across the world and create life that could live with these conditions.

The Mew spent a relatively short time creating species before one of them, the First Mew, informed Arceus that a species with low power could not live forever on this planet. However, a species could thrive eternally if they had an Aura, a soul. Arceus liked this, and gave power to the Mew to give aura to their creations. Arceus knew that these beasts would physically die after a short time, so he began to create a world in another dimension to hold all of these souls after they departed their bodies.

As he did this, the Mew continued to create beasts in the image of Arceus' first creations. Their first creations were the ocean-dwellers. They were the easiest to create in order to abide by the laws of nature. Next were the land-dwellers. These were a little bit harder, but the Mew were able to create a diverse community of species among the land. Next was the sky. They based their form off of Rayquaza, but without the power to fly in that shape, they fell to the ground and sea and lived there. Eventually, they were able to create a species of beasts with wings to soar among the air.

When Arceus had returned, he was very pleased with the Mew's work. He allowed them to enjoy their time on this planet, which he had come to call 'Earth', to be in the company of their creation. Time passed and beasts birthed and died. Eventually, one beast began to show prowess above all other species. This was the Human species. Arceus had been watching them for a while, but became intrigued when they invented a fourth element: Fire.

With no one to guide them in life, they were able to learn, adapt, and thrive faster and better than all the rest. This was when Arceus began to coexist with the humans. He presented them tricks and miracles while the humans gave him offerings in return. Everything was peaceful for a long time.

Meanwhile, Giratina was trapped in distortion from his father's orders. He watched furiously as Arceus enjoyed the human's presence, and he became jealous. That was when Giratina made his first appearance to the humans, whichhad gone unknown to Arceus. Giratina filled the humans' heads with knowledge, wisdom, and also lies. He had told them that if they worshipped him instead of Arceus, he would provide them with power above the rest of their species.

The humans took a liking to this idea, and began to worship Giratina. He appreciated their loyalty, and he imbued them with a power to become…


"I'm sorry, but can we skip ahead to where this Dialga fucker comes into play?" I interrupted. It was a good tale, but I've heard my fair share of mythology. I've had my fair share of doubt.

"Oh, I apologize for that. We guardians are trained to remember our history like we've lived it before. Anyways, during a time of great need, Arceus, Palkia, and Dialga asked the humans to help them. To those that accepted, the gift of aura was bestowed upon them. Those that were imbued with the blood of Dialga were called Temporalists. You and I both Temporalists."

"Let's not forget the fact that you and I received our power separately," I tried to remind him. He chuckled lightly.

"That's right. However, it does bring a question to mind."

"What question?"

"Where does our ability come from – that of my village?"

"Didn't you say it was a trait passed down for generations?"

"That is what we're taught at a very young age. However, there are those who tend to question the things we were taught – I am one of those individuals," he said. I could see clearly that he was having doubts in his belief, but his face and aura projected two different emotions. His eyes were downcast as if he felt regret, but I detected traces of excitement and curiosity in his aura – it was as if he wanted to believe in something more practical like my situation.

"Moving on from that, what exactly entails being a 'Temporalist'?" I asked as I felt a pit in my stomach beginning to vibrate.

"In my opinion," he began, "it is really only a title. Same for the Distortionists, the Dimensionists and the…" he paused after looking at, what I would call, my disinterested face. "Alright… In terms of power and ability, Temporalists are more time-oriented – hence the name. While all aura guardians have equal ability types, their intensities differ. Our 'foresight' detects dangerous events that are about to happen to us; whereas a Dimensionalist's foresight detects danger within a certain vicinity radius. In aura vision, we are able to see the aura traces of organisms that have been to a certain area long ago. For example, if you are experienced enough in aura detection, you could be able to see a linoone's aura print for several days after it had left the area-"

"Kind of like a level-up?" I interrupted.

"Exactly like a level… what?" he asked in confusion to my reference.

"If I train enough with my… gift, I could demonstrate more powerful… techniques, I would say?" I asked with hope in my eyes. Charles looked almost baffled for a second before he erupted into laughter. "What the fuck is so funny?" I asked with thinning patience.

"I'm sorry," he said in between his fits, "I didn't mean to stray you."

"What do you mean?" I asked wondering what joke he was trying to pull. He motioned for a second to catch his breath and, out of annoyance, I flicked a small aura sphere into his side.

"Alright, alright; I assume you were wondering about my description on aura vision?" I nodded and he resumed, "I do apologize but that is a lost art. In fact, it's not even that – it's more of a myth than anything. Did it exist generations ago? Perhaps, but now? No – that's preposterous," he dissed while shaking his head passionately.

"Well, maybe I could do it – who knows?" I suggested honestly to which he laughed even harder.

"You?! A guardian whose discovered his gift for a couple of months? Not even?" His expression took a serious turn and he looked at me with scolding eyes. "It takes months for an initially-realized guardian to detect aura punctually. It takes longer for them to create their first aura sphere. It takes years of training for one to conjure up an aura sphere worthy of being called an attack. Yet, you are interested in the methods of old? The myths? The legends? That's all they are! Implantation, separation, absorption, mimicry, detecting the future?! THEY ARE ALL FALSE! THEY DON'T EXIST!" He yelled out into the night.

His aura had flared violently like an out-of-control fire, but I remained calm. I felt no need for worry or to defend myself – unlike Mark and Victoria. Both had woken from their little nap and prepared to fight alongside me if they needed to, but I waved them off.

Charles panted heavily and sat back down. He grabbed his canteen and poured its entire contents into his mouth as if he had been stranded in the desert for weeks.

"…I'm sorry. One of the costs of having this ability is the amplification of emotions." I figured that along the way. "It's just… for a long time I've wanted to believe that I could be the difference. I believed that I could be the one to make myth a reality… It cost me dearly," he paused in what I knew were some painful flashbacks. I felt a bit of worry build up in Victoria and I scuffed the fur on her head to ease her.

"Ever since then, I have wanted nothing to do with those legends," he spoke pitifully. I felt bad for him, but that was in the back of my mind. Everyone goes through that phase. Everyone wants to be a superhero or in a position of power. Maybe they want to help the world, but as time goes on those ambitions become weaker and weaker until complacency takes over and they settle for the nearest thing they can hold on to.

Luckily for me, I learned that at a very young age, and that is what strengthens me now.

"Bullshit," I called out to him.

"What?"

"I said 'bullshit'. You said it took years for a guardian to make a physical aura sphere, yet here I am firing multiple at a time," I called him out. I knew he was telling the truth, but that was only his vantage point of the fact.

"Yes, but you were an unnaturally-realized guardian-"

"Natural or not, I was still able to do it. You know; I had a saying back in my hometown: 'the only thing that is impossible is believing excuses,'" I scolded angrily. I couldn't count how many times I've given this speech before.

"You think it's an excuse?" he asked with his voice rising. "I've tried for years to perfect the methods of old – they do not work."

"Obviously your using the wrong methods then – look… what I'm attempting to get at here, is that maybe we're both going about things the wrong way. I don't know…" I trailed off.

"Perhaps the two of you could train together," Victoria suggested. I had already thought about that, and the thought of doing so sent an ominous chill down my spine.

"I agree with the miss," Mark added, "He might not have perfected these 'legendary techniques', but maybe you can, guardian."

"What are they saying?" Charles asked.

"You can't understand them? I thought you understood Mark perfectly earlier." I responded curiously.

"Guardians can only interpret the organisms in which they have made bonds with. It was more of a prediction of what Mark had said rather than an actual interpretation. I only have a bond with my friend, Oculus." I nodded in understanding, but became interested in this friend of his. If it was a beast, I'd want to know what it was to expand my knowledge.

"Oculus?" I asked with one goal in mind.

"Oh I'm sorry, I don't believe the two of you've met before. Oculus, reveal yourself please," he called into the wind. Another chill went down my spine and my mind was flooded with an intent to kill; yet, I had no idea what to expect. My foresight hadn't come to me either.

As if forming from thin air, a black smoke swirled between Charles and I. Within seconds, a pokemon stood in front of me with all of its 4-foot-tall glory, but I had definitely seen this pokemon before. Once in a recent nightmare I had.

The bandages, the shadow, and the singular, red eye that penetrated my very existence - it was a dusclops.

"Blake, meet – what in distortion?!" He shouted once I released an aura sphere in the dusclops' general direction.

"Michael, stop!" Victoria pleaded while stepping in front of me. Her fur appeared to be a redder than before, but was not altered by the light of the fire. Meaning: my red state was beginning to ascend.

I turned away from the scene walked towards the nearest tree. In an attempt to calm myself down, I charged my arm with aura, placed my palm on the bark, and released all of the energy I could. The end result was pain for my arm and a good chunk of the tree blown off.

"You saw it too – in the dream, right?" I asked Victoria.

"Yes, but he is an ally," she tried reassuring me.

"Are you alright Blake?" Charles asked me. I went to look back at the group, but seeing the dusclops only made my unease worsen.

"Put that thing away," I requested as calmly as I could.

"Oculus, conceal yourself please," I heard him ask the ghost. After hearing an eerie, groan-like whisper, I turned around; thankful that it was gone.

"This does bring up another point: your regression state," Charles mentioned, referring to what I called the red state. "You need to learn how to control it."

"And how do you suppose I do that?" I asked as I reclaimed my seat.

"The simplest method is meditation. Learn how to bring it out, and then suppress it as soon as you can. The most difficult method is to remove your sense of emotion."

"The fuck does emotion have to do with that?" I asked with doubt.

"As you may already be aware, aura ability his highly synchronized with your emotional stability. If you can control the emanation of your emotions, you can control your aura much more proficiently."

"And, since this isn't fantasy land, if I can't control my emotions?" I asked.

"Then your aura will control you. Simply speaking, you will become a sole vessel to carry the gene. Everything you do is only in regards to self-defense and preservation. If a pinecone falls near you, you will destroy every tree in a half-mile radius." I nodded in understanding. "However, that is only in extreme cases. You're young, so you should be able to learn to control yourself without risking too much harm to your surroundings."

Emotion was the skeleton key; that's what I got out of this. As long as I didn't feel an emotion too strongly, I could be free of the red state.

"Was there anything else I did that I should know about? It was all kind of a blur," I asked honestly as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Michael," Victoria intercepted.

"Yes?"

"The sun is rising," she stated. I looked up and realized that dawn was upon us. As I stared at the Big Orange Blob ascending into the sky over the horizon, I thought back to Melanie. The brightness of its golden shine reminded me of how she was when we first met. I was reminded of that moment in which she became my first aura-bond. I chuckled lightly thinking what would have gone through her head when she realized I had left that hotel without saying a word.

I still felt her aura inside of me, strangely enough. Both Melanie's and Chance's aura swirled inside mine along with Victoria's and Mark's in a concoction of familial reminiscence…

God, that sounded disgusting.


[Hours Earlier]

Charles laid Michael down on a soft patch of grass for him to rest on. Reading his aura, he detected no physical injuries of any kind. With his analysis done, he propped himself against a tree and began to rest himself. As he did so, both Victoria and Mark walked up to him together.

"It's nice to see you again, Victoria," he greeted.

"It's been too long," she replied with a bow.

"You know this man?" Mark asked her with uncertainty in her character.

"Mark, go and keep an eye on our master, ensure no harm comes to him," Victoria ordered sternly. "And if you think about listening in on a private conversation between two acquaintances, I will make a bowl out of the dome on your head."

Mark looked at her with incredible doubt which Victoria noticed.

"You can trust me," she tried assuring him.

"I hope our master can too."

As he hopped away from the two acquaintances, Victoria took a seat and stared at Charles.

"What are you doing here? Why did you attack him?" she asked calmly.

"I received word that a strange guardian was roaming through these woods," he responded.

"And?"

"…I thought I had taken care of him already…"

a/n

What? Who really is this guy? How does he know Victoria? What will Michael do if he finds out?

Anyways, no doubt this chapter was a lot shorter than most. I'm still working on what events I want to place where. That and the two other stories I'm working on. What do you guys think? Should I publish them now? They'll definitely be on the low priority list, but they are crucial for the grand scheme of things. Or should I publish them after Michael Blake's story is done? Just for context, one is an Advanced Generation story based on Alpha Sapphire, and the other is an original piece set some time before said mentioned story.

Next, feel free to ask any questions for parts you guys don't quite get. I have a bad habit of moving fast in the story to a point where even I can't keep up exactly. Understand that I'm starting to add a lot of information that will be important later on. We're starting to go from a small timeline to a large map (excuse the bad metaphor). The grand scheme of what I'm trying to do is (in my mind) complex and requires a lot of extra information and integral bits and pieces that will expand the story to a broader front. So ask questions as you see fit.

Also, please review your general comments, constructive criticism, and/or compliments on the story to help out a promising writer. It's your choice, but feed back really helps me with motivation and editing.

Until next time!

Next Chapter... TBD

BTW: Re:Zero is amazing!