Chapter 26- It Was Faith

A/N: Hey, everyone!

Aqua: Today we shall see if Ai's okay, and if the portal is finally open!

Solar: Spoiler alert: It-

Solar, no spoiling!

Summer: Yeah, Dad!

Solar: Calm down, I was joking.

REPLY TIME! In reply to mollienaturerocks: I think those four had the same reaction.

Winter: AI PLEASE DON'T DIE! ;-;

Then again, I could be wrong.

Summer: In reply to Guest: We'll most likely start watching her videos. She seems interesting.

Anyway...

All: Enjoy!

"AI!" Sasha shrieked, dashing to her friend. Everyone else stared in shock as Ai began to glow black.

"What...?" Sasha whispered, kneeling beside Ai as the black became purple, then disappeared. "Ai?" Sasha shook Ai's shoulder. "Ai?!"

"Am I hallucinating?" Oshawott whispered to Pikachu. "Does she...care about someone?"

Snivy smacked him in the shoulder. "Of course she does! Darkness Ones have hearts too, shells for brains!"

"Ai!" Sasha's voice cracked. "Please, for the love of gosh, wake up! This isn't funny!"

When Ai didn't respond, Sasha began trembling.

"N-No...You can't be gone..." Sasha sat down. "It...It was just beam, right? That couldn't kill you...you're the strongest girl I know..."

"I'm right here!" Snivy yelled.

"Hey!" Sasha glared at the grass snake. "Shut it!"

Snivy huffed.

Sasha turned to Ai once again. "You can survive a beam, right?" She stroked Ai's hair. "We've survived worse..."

"Okay, I oughta-" Jake began walking to his sister, before Toby stopped him.

"Nah, let 'em have a moment."

"Oh sweet Elements..." Sasha wiped away tears. "If I'd just decided this whole 'take over two worlds' thing was stupid, this wouldn't have happened to you...how were we even going to take over two whole worlds in the first place?" She shrugged. "Yeah, a little impossible, look at what four Pokemon did."

The Shining Gatherers all looked at each other in shock. They were expecting Sasha to say taking over two worlds would've been hard, but that last part...she was basically saying they were strong enough to stop them. Wow.

"I should've never done this...I shouldn't have just let you run toward that otter guy..." Sasha let out a small sob. "I'm not even sure if you can survive this anymore...Ugh...I used my powers for evil and it's just hurting the ones I love..."

Oshawott blinked. "You mean, as a friend or...?" He whispered.

This time it was Pikachu's turn to smack him. In the face.

Sasha sighed. "What use are these powers anyway?" She looked at her hands. "All they do is hurt..." She picked up Ai and held her close. "I'm sorry, Ai..."

Everyone else also choked up a little. Katie even began quietly sobbing. One thing was clear now: This Darkness One wasn't completely heartless. After all, her friend just got hit and now she's regretting trying to take over the world.

Again, wow.

Just then, Sasha began to also glow black. Putting down Ai, Sasha quickly stood up. "H-Huh...?"

The black turned purple, and disappeared. Sasha gasped. "W-Wait...does this mean...?"

"Yeah, you're not a Darkness One anymore," Pikachu scratched the back of his head. "But...how? It wasn't the music, nothing happened after we sang that song. Though..." He shook his head. "Seriously, what was it that made that happen?!"

A somewhat raspy voice broke the awkward silence.

"It was faith..."

Everyone turned to Ai, attempting to sit up, a small smile on her face.

"Oh my Elements, Ai!" Sasha helped Ai up and wrapped her arms around her. "I thought you were..."

"Dead? Really?" Ai chuckled. "I'm not that weak, Sasha."

"But the beam nearly..." Oshawott began, before Tepig smacked him. In the back of his head.

"Wait..." Sasha tilted her head. "You said faith took away our Darkness One powers...What exactly did you mean?"

"Um..." Katie took a step forward. "I...I think she meant faith that someday things will be alright."

Sasha and Ai turned to her.

"Faith that you could overcome any obstacle..." Katie smiled. "Faith that one day, maybe, just maybe, we'll all be at peace."

Ai smiled.

"Y-Yeah...that's exactly what I meant."

Oshawott smirked. "And faith that you and Sasha will turn out like Pikachu and Snivy."

The two Elementals blushed. "What?!" Sasha nearly screamed.

"Wh-Where did you get that idea?!" Ai shrieked. "I...I mean...we're not...we're just friends...I..."

Pikachu, Snivy, and Tepig all slapped Oshawott for the fourth time.

"Seriously, Oshawott..." Teresa sighed. "I get it they're close and all, but they're also still strong. They could've destroyed you...if all those slaps didn't destroy you first."

"They were necessary!" Snivy yelled.

"Calm down, Snivy," Pikachu put a hand on her shoulder. "There's no need to get worked up. He's not blurting stuff anymore."

"I won't be blurting for a while," Oshawott mumbled, trying to avoid Snivy.

"Well," Sasha looked at the sunset. "We need to think about what comes next...I mean, we're just regular Elementals now. What'll we do?"

"I have no clue," Ai shrugged. "I never really thought we'd be standing here, no longer Darkness Ones."

"Neither did I," Sasha put an arm around her. "So...what?"

"Well, first off," Snivy walked to the two. "You need to tell us: Is the portal still open? Did you close it?"

"We were planning to close the portal after we defeated you guys," Ai smiled. "So it's still going to open soon."

"When will it open?"

"Er..." Ai looked down. "We don't know."

"What?!" The four Pokémon shouted.

"So we battled you guys for nothing?!" Oshawott asked.

"W-Well, no," Ai held her hands up. "It's going to open for sure...we just have no idea when. We're not portal experts."

"Don't worry, guys," Teresa gave her friends a somewhat nervous smile. "I-It might open in just a week...but I could be wrong."

"You're not helping, Teresa!" Natsumi snapped.

"Sorry," Teresa muttered.

"Guys, none of you are helping!" Gloria yelled. "Fighting won't make the gate-cave-portal-thing open faster! Gosh!"

"Hey, if you're done fighting, can we go home now?" Jake asked.

"Er..." The girls realized everyone was staring at them, and their eyes widened. "R-Right..."

"How...many...more...days?!" Oshawott groaned, face in Teresa's pillow.

"I have no idea," Pikachu sighed, lying on the floor. "I hope the gate opens soon. I miss home."

"We all do," Snivy looked out the window. "But...maybe if we have faith, like we did during the battle..."

"Yeah, maybe..." Tepig was beside her, watching birds fly around the backyard.

"W-We shouldn't give up!" Pikachu said, standing. "Snivy's right! Faith will get us somewhere...hopefully!"

"Hopefully?" Tepig glared at Pikachu. "That's not too reassuring."

"At least I didn't say 'not really'!"

Everyone jumped as a strange sound filled the room.

"What was..." Oshawott looked at Teresa's bed, and calmed down. "Oh, it's just her phone."

"What made it vibrate?" Snivy jumped onto the bed and picked up the object. "Looks like Amber texted her." She read the text...and grinned.

"What's it say?" Tepig asked as he and the others jumped onto the soft surface.

The three boys stared at the text in shock.

Omg guess what Sasha and Ai did? I'm still squealing! =D :3

"You..." Pikachu gulped. "Don't think..."

"What are you guys doing reading my texts?!" Teresa ran into the room.

"You have to see this, Teresa!" Snivy held back laughter as she handed the phone to Teresa.

"Of course I..." Teresa froze as she read the text. "Well, they must have been doing something crazy if Amber texted me about it..."

"Maybe they're actually a thing," Oshawott smirked. "I had faith that would happen, and here we are."

"Oshawott, please," Snivy shook her head. "The chances of that are as small as..."

Teresa gasped. "Oshawott, I think you were right...the next text says 'AGH they were so close I can't stop thinking about it...I think they're actually together! We'll have to see!' And then she made another cat face, because she just loves cat faces."

The four attempted to process this.

The failed, but they thankfully didn't faint. They just collapsed.

Oshawott stared at the gate, wondering if he should go in. Chances are the entrance will still be blocked, and he'll be disappointed yet again. But if it is open...he needed to know.

"Alright," He sighed. "Let's just head inside and get this over with."

He slowly walked into the cave, waiting to see the rocks that prevent their return.

A few minutes later, he saw the entrance, and he smiled as wide as possible.

"Oh my gosh," Oshawott whispered. "I need to tell the others!"

He ran out of the cave, excited to tell his friends they could finally go home.

To Be Continued...

A/N: I'm sure you all know what this means!

Solar: The portal's open!

Summer: WOO!"

Aqua: Hey...Crystal...Are Sasha and Ai actually...?

Find out next chapter! :D

Winter: ...Anyway...Please review!

Solar: And no flaming! *Tail catches on fire* IF THIS DOESN'T STOP, I WILL...

All: See ya! :D