Chapter 26: Death before Life PT1
I need to answer a question about Serena's age, she is 19, she has been 19 since chapter 21, the only thing that has reduced is her expected lifespan.
Now back to the story this will be the three part finale to the Road to Eternity Arc, here I will resolve something that hasn't been brought up in a little while.
Three days had passed since returning to Lumiouse City, things seemed quiet, but the uneasy calm was causing Ash to become increasingly frustrated at the situation, to the point he was taking it out of his friends and pokemon, they knew this wasn't like him, wanting to rush an ending with Team Flare, "Ash, we have said it once and we will say it again, we don't know Team Flare is," Serena berated Ash.
"I don't want to wait for them to make the first move, if they do then we run the risk of another Pallet Town," Ash argued back.
Meanwhile a man with spiky brown hair walked into the lab, hands in his lab coat and a confident smirk on his face, "well Ashy boy it's been a while," the young man called over to his former rival.
Ash glanced over his left shoulder, "Gary, what are you doing here?" Ash asked with some venom.
"Yeesh, cold," Gary replied to Ash's less than happy greeting. "Well Ash to answer that question, I am basically here for research purposes, I have heard so much about the fairy type pokemon that I needed to see them for myself and on top of that I have heard a lot about Mega-evolution," Gary explained his deep interest in the Kalos pokemon and Mega-evolution, "so the researcher in me, said come to Kalos," Gary concluded his explanation.
"Ah Gary Oak, it's good to see you, Professor Oak has told me a lot about you, he said that you have amazing potential," Professor Sycamore told the young professor with a proud smile.
"Before he died right? He called me moments before the attack wiped out Pallet Town and sent me his pokemon, Ash your pokemon were sent to Professor Juniper's lab, he didn't have the time, he punched in a random lab number and sent the pokemon there," Gary told Ash as he walked towards the couches with a saddened expression, "I never even had the chance to show him some of my research over the last few months," Gary lamented with Ash and Serena looking on in the background.
"Yeah, and I wanted to show the Professor how much stronger I have become," Ash hissed, he turned away and walked out of the lab, not even looking at his girlfriend and his other friends. The small electric mouse watched the trainer leave the area, but was busy interacting with Serena's female Pikachu, passing him a small blue berry, 'what is Team Flare up to?' Ash asked himself looking towards the centre of the major city, the lights of the Prism Tower shone, a beacon for the City and the region.
Serena walked out to comfort Ash, he was still in a bad state of mind after what had happened, "Ash, come back inside, it is going to be cold tonight," Serena told Ash with a concerned expression.
"Serena, is what we doing right?" Ash asked the young blonde haired woman.
"Hey, don't start hesitating again," Serena berated Ash, she placed her hand on his shoulder and nodded at him, "not everything can go perfectly," Serena wisely informed Ash, she pulled out her book and passed it to Ash, "it's almost finished, there is but five more chapters to go, the last chapter will be up to you Ash," Serena informed Ash with a sweet smile.
"But this book is about your journey," Ash replied softly.
Serena nodded in pride, she looked at it for a moment and thought back about her journey, winning her Gym Badges and capturing the pokemon she had encountered, "you know Ash, no matter what happens, I regret nothing," Serena stated as she put her book back into her pocket. Serena looked up to the dark sky and pushed back the bangs of her long hair, "when this journey is finished, I want to discover more, this book might get a sequel," Serena pointed out with a proud expression.
"So, you intend to find out more about what you want to do," Ash enquired calmly.
Serena started walking back into the lab, "It's obvious isn't it? The world has so much on offer, just to limit yourself isn't going to help you find what you really want to do," Serena explained her reasoning to Ash.
Ash watched Serena walk back into the lab, his thoughts on the item in his pocket, something he had been holding back for so long, "hey Serena, want to go out on a date tonight?" Ash asked quickly.
Serena averted her gaze to Ash and smiled, "why we had a date last night?" Serena asked curiously.
"Well, I was just thinking, maybe I need to be a little more assertive," Ash replied, but Serena knew he was hiding something. "How about it Serena, we go out and get dinner?" Ash continued to ask the young woman while trying to force a smile.
'He still cannot smile, what happened to Pallet Town, he is still beating himself up for it,' Serena mentioned to herself. The wind picked up a little, her hair started to whip around, thinking about the possibility of having another date with Ash, "alright Ash, but this time you shout," Serena acknowledged her rival.
Ash breathed a sigh of relief, but knew that it might be the last chance for a while, 'I will keep it to myself for a while longer, when the time is right, then I will ask,' Ash resolved, his choice set, he waited for Serena to appear from Professor Sycamore's lab again, 'no more forcing myself,' Ash promised himself, taking his hand away from the pocket, "I will give it time," Ash said quietly not wanting to have his friends know about his future plan.
Meanwhile in the centre of the city Lysandre was inspecting the secret base, making sure the final preparation were complete, he stroked his beard and walking towards the prison cell holding a giant man, "so, what do you think? Immortality is almost mine," Lysandre questioned the giant man with a smirk.
"Disgusting, to get immortality like this and ruling the world in this way, is not on," AZ pointed out, his hand on the bars.
"Just because you failed three thousand years ago, doesn't mean I will," Lysandre gloated, he turned towards the door way and thought about his first goals as leader of the new world, "what should I do?" Lyandre asked himself calmly, thinking about a new set of goals after he achieved his ambition, "wondered Kalos, searching for your precious Floette, living in the past, you were once a king, now look at you," Lysandre taunted the former king of Kalos, he started to think more about his plan, "you are my descendant, you had the same idea as I do, don't you AZ?" Lysandre questioned his descendant.
AZ looked to the ground ashamed at his wrong doing, "yes, at one time I did, but this immortal body is nothing but a curse," AZ explained his regret to Lysandre, holding back tears, but trying to hold onto his strong persona as possible.
"You know there are two trainers getting in my way, one a young woman with long blonde hair, wearing a red dress and a black blouse, I take it you have met her before," Lysandre described the young woman much to AZ shock.
"Serena, I met her a while ago, she has this ability that I have never seen before," AZ explained to Lysandre, the Flare leader burst out into laughter, "what is your plan for her, she is an innocent girl," AZ told the Team Flare boss.
"Nothing, just the fact that I want thank her and her boyfriend, for helping me out, they defeated Team Rocket and now I can complete my mission without any worries," Lysandre professed with a dark grin, he started walking away from the prison cells, preparing to complete his plans for world domination, "you're immortal, you should be able to live through my plans," Lysandre pointed out leaving the three thousand year old man behind in the bars.
"Killing pokemon and people is wrong, you will regret this Lysandre, just like how I regret what I did in the past," AZ lamented to himself, saddened by past memories that kept haunting him, sitting in the darkened cell, he covered his face with his hands, "there is nothing I can do, I have been a weak man since that fateful day," the ancient man reminded himself, he closed his eyes and continued to lament his past actions.
Meanwhile Ash and Serena continued their walk around the major city, the streets lit up by a row of lamp posts, trees illuminated by the lights, "so, what are you thinking?" Serena asked her rival, she waited for a response, but Ash kept his hands in his pockets, looking down at the pathway, "come on Ash, there are so many places we can eat at, after all you did suggest that we go on another date," Serena informed Ash, but her words were all on deaf ears.
Ash eventually looked up to see the Prism Tower illuminating the city skyline; "sorry for ignoring you, can you repeat that again," Ash muttered his request.
Serena shrugged her shoulders in shame, 'it's Team Flare, they said something a couple of days ago, but they have done nothing,' Serena assumed, she looked around to see the delights that lined the shop windows, the clothes that were being advertised and the people emerging from the shops with bags filled with clothes, "say Ash, why not get a new set of clothes?" Serena suggested with a warm smile, "when I am feeling down, I like to get something new to wear," Serena assured her boyfriend calmly.
"Hurry up Drew, this place is awesome," a female voice familiar Ash.
Ash turned around to see a young woman with red shirt and black shorts, her bandana was green, "when did she get here?" Ash asked in shock, Ash turned to his old traveling companion, "May, when did you get here?" Ash asked the coordinator.
May stopped moving, a bright smile on her face and her white and black gloves clenched into a tight fist, she rushed over to Ash and hugged him tightly, "Ash, it been a while!" May replied excitedly.
"Um May, what are you doing?" Ash asked with a confused complextion.
"What friends can't hug?" the brunette asked her former travelling companion.
May stepped back and looked over to Serena who was less than pleased with Ash's old friend, "who are you?" Serena asked the coordinator.
"Oh sorry, how rude of me, I am May, I arrived here just yesterday," May replied with a smile.
"May, you're a coordinator right, Ash told me a lot about your journey with him," Serena replied with a more enthusiastic expression, she tilted her head before seeing a younger man with green hair, "who is that?" Serena asked calmly.
"Him, he is my boyfriend, his name is Drew, a coordinator just like me," May introduced Drew to Serena.
Ash ignored the conversation between May and Serena and pushed his girlfriend aside for a moment, "why did you come here May?" Ash asked sternly.
"Don't be so rude Ash, Serena and I were about to talk about something important," May commented to Ash.
"No answer my question, why did you come here?" Ash asked the brunette with more conviction.
"To see the region you were traveling in, I must admit this region is really nice, so many cool pokemon I haven't seen yet," May answered Ash, but she knew that Ash would catch her for even hiding another reason, she walked pass the trainer, but he grabbed her wrist, "Ash, let me go," May demanded, while forcing Ash to let go of his grip, "if you want the real reason, here it is, I am concerned about you, concerned that you will do something foolish," May barked out her concerns to her friend.
"Too late there, he already killed the Team Rocket boss, and he broke his arm while saving me," Serena sighed in response.
"What are we going to do with you Ash?" May asked the trainer with disdain. Ash walked towards the cake shop ignoring the question, he had no answer for the concern shown to him by his friend, "I was talking to Dawn yesterday, she will be arriving in a couple of days, she wants to talk to you about something," May informed Ash, but the trainer ignored his friend's words and continued to approach the shop. May shook her head, she then turned her attention to Serena, "can I ask you to do something for me?" May asked the trainer calmly.
"What is it May?" Serena enquired.
"He is going to do something foolish, please prevent him from doing that," May whispered her request.
Serena turned her gaze to Ash, nodding to May, whom she had just met, 'I get the feeling I can trust her, she isn't a bad person and her display of affection towards Ash was purely platonic,' Serena thought to herself as then turned her attention to May, "alright May, I know you are just as concerned as I am," Serena replied calmly.
Serena started to walk away, but was called back by May, "there is one thing you need to watch out for Serena," May told the blonde haired trainer.
Serena looked back with a smile, "how bad can it be?" Serena replied with playful tone.
"Dawn, she is a really nice person, but unlike my friendly hug, Dawn's will be more emotional," May warned the Kalos native, "I can tell you love Ash, but so does Dawn," May informed the female trainer much to her shock.
Serena gulped at the prospect of having a rival, but knew full well that she was already ahead of the person she had yet to meet, "Ash and I are already dating," Serena replied to May.
"I see," May retorted calmly, she turned away and followed Drew.
Serena walked into the shop and spotted Ash staring at the sweets, "um Ash, there is something I want to ask you," Serena announced, she approached Ash placing her hand on his left shoulder.
"What is it?" Ash enquired coldly.
Serena started to think about Ash's past traveling companions and gulped a little at the prospect that there might be another woman, "Ash, I want to know more about your traveling companions," Serena questioned the more experienced trainer.
"Why not wait until you meet them, you seem to already be friends with May," Ash replied quietly, still focusing on the food, Ash turned towards Serena who had a serious expression on her face, "what more do you want to know?" Ash asked his rival.
Ash pulled out a photo of each of his past companions and showed them to Serena, 'so these are his past companions, I barely had the chance to see a picture of them,' Serena thought to herself, she flicked through them until she reached a picture of Ash and a blue haired female, "who is this Ash?" Serena asked nervously.
"That's Dawn," Ash replied with a lack of emotion.
Serena stared at the photo and then turned away with a sense of envy, 'she is such a pretty girl,' Serena thought to herself, she slowly returned the pictures to Ash and turned to find a group of men dressed in red walking into the shop, "Ash, we're in trouble," Serena whispered, but before Ash could respond the Flare members approached them.
"You two, our boss wants to meet you," the Flare members informed them.
"What do you want?" Ash hissed back with no hesitation.
The members of Team Flare started laughing at Ash, "well, let's just say we have Xerneas in our possession and with but a few days left, we will fire the true ultimate weapon," the Flare grunt informed the trainer. Ash glared for a moment and nodded at Serena, "so you will come with us?" the flare member asked the two trainers.
"Yeah, we will come with you," Ash replied with disdain. The two trainers walked out of the shop and soon found themselves surrounded by a group of Team Flare members, "if only I had my Pikachu here," Ash whispered, he glanced over his shoulder to see Serena looking around, first at him then towards the prism tower, "Serena, you alright?" Ash asked his girlfriend.
"No, I am not alright," Serena replied with a hint of jealousy.
"Why are you upset?" Ash asked Serena, they continued walking down the street, surrounded by the members of Team Flare and without their ace pokemon, 'great, I only have three of my pokemon with me,' Ash thought to himself, waiting for Serena to answer.
"It's nothing Ash," Serena lied to the trainer, 'damn, I only have three pokemon with me now,' Serena reminded herself.
'Great Serena, is lying, it seems like she thinks that Dawn is closer to me,' Ash thought while looking at the ground, taking one step at a time not taking any notice of May and Drew walking out of the shop.
"Having a little lover's quarrel?" one of the female members of Team Flare asked the trainers.
"None of your business!" Ash and Serena snapped back in unison.
May watched what was going on, she knew that there were too many of the Flare members to take on, "Drew, look over there, Ash and Serena are in trouble," May informed her boyfriend calmly.
"We better see Professor Sycamore," Drew suggested, the two ran off towards the south part of the major city, "what did Ash and Serena get involved in?" Drew asked in anger, clenching his fists, "great, if only I didn't leave half my Team in Hoenn," Drew complained knowing that he should have brought the rest of his team with him.
Meanwhile Ash and Serena were nearing the hideout of Team Flare, wondering what was in store for them, "what do you guys want?" Serena asked the men dressed in white.
"Our boss wants to see you," one of the female flare members replied.
Ash looked around, seeing a group of people shopping and walking through the streets, 'damn they picked the perfect time to capture us for now, they knew we wouldn't put the people in danger,' Ash frowned, realising the danger of the situation, 'I hope my friends don't do anything stupid, it also seems like Team Flare only want Serena and me,' Ash thought to himself, keeping calm realising that any actions could result in people getting hurt.
"Ash you know right?" Serena whispered into Ash's left ear.
The raven haired trainer nodded, "yeah, I know, we cannot battle here, too many people are in the area, we better see what their boss wants from us," Ash suggested, while approaching the entrance to what seemed like an ordinary café. Serena followed Ash inside, the interior was mostly red, with chairs and table organized in a professional manner with the bar taking the left side of the café, it was practically empty, only a few people were inside, but most of them seemed like Team Flare members.
One of the female waitresses walked up to the duo, "welcome," she greeted before being interrupted by Ash.
Ash glanced over his left shoulder to see the entrance to the building being sealed off, Ash then returned his attention to the waitress, "alright, we are here, what does your boss want?" Ash hissed in frustration.
The woman pointed towards the cabinet at the other end of the café, "past that cabinet is an opening, our boss awaits you beyond that point," the woman explained to the two trainers.
Ash and Serena rushed towards the cabinet and started to move, I amazement, they watched the entrance way to a secret passage becoming more apparent, they looked back together to find that the waiters were working at cleaning the glasses and plates, "come on Ash, let's see what Lysandre wants from us," Serena called to Ash, they entered the secret hallway.
Walking quietly they kept moving down the hallway until they reached a flight of stairs, "it seems like we are nearing a basement, go figure," Ash complained about the situation, they started walking down the stairway.
Serena followed Ash down the stairs, hoping that everything would be alright, "what do you think Ash?" Serena questioned the trainer quietly.
"I don't know, but I sense a powerful person at the end of these steps, an ancient being," Ash replied as the picture of a large man with long white hair, dressed like a homeless man, raced through his mind.
"Yeah, how did AZ get captured?" Serena asked herself, she continued to follow Ash down the steps, it was then they spotted the man behind a set of bars, shocked at the person she had seen she quickly ran up to him, "AZ, what happened?" Serena asked the ancient man.
"Serena, you met this man before?" Ash asked in surprise.
"Young lady, we meet again, but now is not the time to talk, you must hurry to the control centre of this base," AZ informed the duo, he placed his head in his hands with a sorrowful expression, "they are intending to use the weapon I made three thousand years ago," AZ told the two trainers.
"Three thousand years ago?" Ash enquired while swinging his left arm out in anger, "no one is that old!" Ash hollered, furious at the comment about the weapon and the man's age.
Serena placed her right hand on Ash's shoulder to try and calm the trainer, "Ash, keep calm," Serena suggested to her boyfriend, she then focused her attention to AZ, who was still in pain from all those years ago, "tell us what happened," Serena requested calmly.
"Very well," AZ submitted, he looked at the two trainers, "it all started three thousand years ago," AZ started is story.
(Flashback 3000 years ago)
"Sire, we cannot use this weapon, it will destroy all life on this planet," one of the guards pointed out with an expression of disdain.
A younger AZ nodded at the comment, he looked over to his Floette and smiled at her for a moment, "I know, but this war has taken to many lives," AZ replied with a pained expression, he looked out the window to see another kingdom having a war with his own, "if I don't use this weapon, then the wards will never end," AZ told his guard.
"Sire that is foolish, even your father didn't want to use the weapon, because he knew that the use of this weapon would almost kill the entire world population of people and pokemon," the guard pointed out, he turned around and stormed out of the throne room leaving the ancient king to figure out what he needed to do next, but before he could come up with another idea, a powerful explosion ripped through his palace killing the guard that he was talking to, the soldiers that were charged with his protection and injuring him at the same time.
The ancient king slowly got up, his throne room ablaze from the deadly explosion, he looked around and noticed that his precious Floette was missing, "Floette, where are you?!" AZ called out to his prized pokemon.
After doing his best to find his pokemon, it ended up in failure, with tears streaming down his face he approached the control room, hearing the sounds of battle in the background, in the middle of the room was a large blue and black quadruped pokemon with large antlers mixed with colours that seemed like a rainbow, "Xerneas, you are the symbol of my kingdom, time to end this pointless war," AZ told the life pokemon.
'I don't recommend doing this, there is another way,' Xerneas informed the king, but before he could respond the king was hit by a powerful attack, seemingly killing him, 'AZ, are you alright?' the legendary pokemon asked the ancient king.
"Xerneas please end this war," AZ requested tearfully, before passing away from his injuries.
'Very well old friend, I will give the last of my life force to, to return you to life and to end this war,' Xerneas replied, the weapon activated sending a powerful shockwave taking out the people approaching the body of the dead king and firing a powerful beam into the air.
An hour had passed, AZ woke up slowly and noticed that he was alive again, "what's going on?" AZ asked, he looked up to the tree like feature in the room, it was then he realised that Xerneas used the last of its life force to end the war and bring him back to life, "why? You knew that returning any person to life with your power can make them immortal!" AZ yelled out in a furious rage, he fell to his knees, the war over, but he was the last one standing in his castle, he yelled out in anger, his friends and family killed because he couldn't protect them, but he was alive, that fact was enough to hurt the man that ran the fallen kingdom.
(Return from flashback)
Claps echoed in the room, Ash and Serena turned around to see Lysandre standing at the end of the hall, "bravo, ancestor, what an amazing story," Lysnadre belittled the ancient king.
"So what, as if that was true," Ash replied.
Lysandre burst out into laughter, "every word of that story was true, the king that used that weapon, is the very same man who is telling you this story," Lysandre informed the two trainers.
Serena looked back to see AZ sitting in his cell, with an expression of regret, "hold on so Xerneas can make a person immortal?" Serena asked the boss of Team Flare, "you seek to use Xerneas to make you immortal, what can you achieve from that?" Serena questioned Lysandre.
"It isn't like both of you are going to live in order to find out, but that isn't the case, you see, there is something I want from the both of you," Lysandre explained with a smug expression, he turned around and started to move towards the entrance way, "you see, you have a power that I want, you defeated Team Rocket," Lysnadre explained to Ash and Serena.
"Get on with it," Ash pushed the Team Flare leader to inform the duo about his intentions for the both of them.
"Alright, I want you two to join me," Lysandre requested with a smirk.
"You have to be kidding me!" Ash and Serena barked out in unison.
"I didn't think so, you see, I am very interested in both your aura abilities," the flare boss informed the two aura guardians about his interest in them.
Ash clenched his fists in fury, shaking in anger he started to glow blue unable to hide his aura from anyone, "if you want to find out about our aura abilities then you should have asked us to battle you," Ash snapped back in anger.
Lysandre pushed open the door and showed them the exit, "alright then I will battle you both at Geosenge Town, but I want you two to see the activation of the weapon that will change this world," Lysandre told the two trainers before leaving them to figure out what needed to be done.
"Ash, what do we do?" Serena asked the trainer with a concerned expression.
"You must not let him fire that weapon, don't let him make the same mistake I did three thousand years ago," AZ instructed Ash and Serena.
"Alright we will bring an end to this plan," Ash replied, he rushed to the corner of the room and down the next wing of the hallway, Serena rushed to follow Ash in order to stop the weapon from being activated, 'I will not let any more people get hurt because of these bastards,' Ash thought to himself, he continued to run through the halls ignoring the calls of Serena.
"Ash, wait there might be a lot of people in the next room!" Serena yelled out, trying to catch up to Ash, who wasn't going to wait for failure to come their way, 'it must be because of Team Rocket, he doesn't want to let more people down,' Serena thought to herself, she stopped calling for Ash and followed him into the next stage of the battle, "then I will follow him into battle, no matter how difficult this battle is," Serena resolved with a determined expression.
Rushing into the next battle, Ash and Serena now face the full might of Team Flare. Soon all the visions will come into play, Will Ash and Serena stop Team Flare.
Next time: Death before Life PT2
I have been unwell, so that prevented me from completing this chapter, but here it is ladies and gents, I will be trying to pick it up over the next couple of weeks so that way you can enjoy this story more.