Next chapter of my Pokémon Story.
As always I'd like to thank...
Darkurai-lovr
Wildpikachu9
Guest
Babbii Pandaa
MassiveFanGirlAlert
WhiteEagle1985
Wind the Hedgehog 11
Forever Me
...for their Reviews.
Pokémon doesn't belong to me.
R&R please.
"Alright Wartortle, you did great. Take a break."
"But-"
Ash smirked down at his Water-Type and said: "I know you could take it. But I want to give someone else a chance too. You understand that, right?" Wartortle blinked once, then nodded and walked over to stand with Lucario. Grabbing a Pokéball, Ash took a deep breath. Then… "Let's go, Kirlia!"
In a flash of light his male Kirlia appeared, landing without much difficulty on the still water-covered pier. That was one of the reasons Ash had chosen him. Kirlia wouldn't have much trouble on the soaked ground considering he could teleport.
"Ice Punch!"
Before Ash could blink, Golduck appeared in front of Kirlia, punching the Psychic-Type square in the jaw. Kirlia gave a cry and was flung over the pier, crashing hard onto the cement. "Kirlia!", exclaimed the teen in shock. With a grunt the Pokémon pushed himself up and glowered at the Water-Type. "What in the world…", muttered the teen. With narrowed eyes he scanned the smug-looking Water-Type and growled. "Swift Swim."
"That's not good", muttered Lucario.
At this Ash grinned and answered: "Actually, it's perfect."
"Why that?"
Ash grinned at him, then turned back to the battle and shouted: "Kirlia get into close range with Teleport, then use Hypnosis!"
Kirlia shot up from the ground and even faster than Golduck had been appeared right in front of the Pokémon. His eyes glowed a brighter red and a red beam wandered over to Golduck. The Pokémon fell limp and over the sailor's curses Ash shouted: "Now Kirlia, Dream Eater!" Kirlia backed off quickly, again much quicker than he should be, and started feeding off Golduck's dreams.
"Care to explain?", asked Lucario finally.
"Kirlia's ability." The Jackal raised an eyebrow. "Kirlia's ability. It's Trace", explained the teen. "When called into battle, he copies the ability of the opponent that's on the field right now. And with Golduck having Swift Swim, Kirlia copied it."
Realisation appeared on Lucario's features and he answered: "You expected this battle."
Ash shrugged. "This guy isn't the first sailor I battled and most of them have at least one Pokémon with Swift Swim."
"Golduck get up already!" Ash concentrated back on the battle, to find Kirlia backing off from a newly awakened Golduck. "Now use Confusion!" Golduck's eyes and gem glowed and blue energy grounded Kirlia in place. Not that the Pokémon looked particularly bothered.
"Now I feel kind of bad for this. Kirlia use Psychic! Show them how it's done."
The white and green coloured Pokémon grinned and his eyes glowed in a strong blue. Golduck cried out when the attack hit and Confusion flickered before it faded and Kirlia took a strong stand again while he kept a tight hold on Golduck. "Get yourself together Golduck. Use Zen Headbutt."
"Teleport! What is it with this guy and using Psychic-Attacks on a Psychic-Type?", asked Ash. Lucario shrugged. Kirlia teleported out of Golduck's way, only to receive an Ice-Punch in the back when he reappeared.
Okay, maybe Ash had underestimated Golduck a bit.
"Zen Headbutt again!"
"Take it, then lock eyes with Golduck!" Kirlia spun to face the attacking Pokémon and took the Headbutt radiating with Psychic-Energy square in the gut. The Pokémon coughed and grunted, but somehow pushed through and grabbed Golduck's face, locking eyes with it. "Hypnosis again!"
"Golduck get away!"
But, too late. The red beam hit straight and Golduck fell limp. "No! Why you little-"
Ash tuned the sailor out and ordered: "Dream Eater Kirlia!" He had to admit, he did feel kind of sorry. With Fantina and Tobias he'd been on the receiving end of Hypnosis and Dream Eater often enough. Suddenly he caught sight of a something shimmering and Kirlia appeared right in front of him, a knocked out Golduck in the background. Ash grinned. Kirlia may not look too powerful, but looks could be deceiving and he had talked to Sabrina about how he could train his Psychic-Types best. And thanks to her tips both his Kirlia and his Hypno had gotten rather powerful.
"Great work buddy", congratulated the teen and offered his palm. Kirlia grinned and leaped into the air, giving his trainer a high-five before he was recalled.
"Well, that were certainly interesting battles. And it was nice to actually see you command your Pokémon once like this", commented Lucario.
"You already saw me and Luxray battle Thadeous", argued the teen.
Lucario gave a soft grunt and answered: "That was no battle, that was a slaughter and I concentrated more on Luxray than the actual battle itself."
Ash nodded. That was understandable. A strong wind rushed over the pier and Ash shuddered, only now realising that he was soaked from head to toe. "Maybe we should get back to the Pokémon Centre", sniffed the teen and wrapped his arms around himself. Lucario scanned him worriedly and nodded. Quickly Ash recalled Wartortle and the two left the pier and regrouped with their friends.
"That was amazing Ash!", gushed May. "Especially Lucario!"
"I thought Kirlia was the greatest", argued Max.
"Of course you do! Gardevoir is one of your best Pokémon!", answered the girl.
"Uh, guys", tried Ash.
"So?"
"So? You prefer Gardevoir, Kirlia and Ralts above any other Psychic-Type, we all know that."
"Guys", again they ignored the teen.
"But technically none of the other Pokémon were Psychic-Types. So your argument is invalid."
"Oh is it Max? Well how abuot-"
"GUYS!"
The siblings froze and looked back at their soaking and shivering friend. "Can you do that in the Pokémon centre? I'm freezing!", snapped the teen.
"How did you get this soaked anyhow?", asked Riolu, settling down on the shoulder that Pikachu didn't occupy. The Electric-Type just put Ash's had back on his head. He'd tried to wring it out as much as he could to help his trainer at least a little.
"Thanks Buddy. Anyhow, that guy's Gyarados was crazy! Not to mention that Wartortle sprayed me good as well…now, can we go?" Without waiting for an answer, Ash turned on his heel and raced back to the Pokémon centre, Lucario hot on his heels. May and Max needed a few more seconds to react, but then they followed him as well.
"Ah. This feels much better!"
Ash lay down on his soft bed in the Pokémon centre and closed his eyes. It had taken him a good hour to get all the salt off of him, but finally he was clean, warm, dry and able to relax. Only one thing was wrong. "I'm starving!", groaned the teen.
"You could have eaten with us", answered May from where she read her magazine.
"Sorry that I wanted to get all the saltwater off me first", grunted the teen and glared at his friend.
"I haven't eaten yet either Ash", offered Lucario and looked up from his meditation. "And neither have Pikachu and Riolu. We can join you."
Ash smiled at the jackal thankfully, thinking, Man, Lucario sure came a long way since he came back, scratch that, since I got him out of that staff. Still… The teen frowned in thought. Sometime between them being on the Sevii Islands and meeting again on the Orange Islands something had changed and Ash was at loss to what it was. He didn't mind that change of course. It was actually rather nice. But still strange and Ash found more and more changes in Lucario with each passing day.
He was so much more…open than before.
Before, despite trusting Ash and his Pokémon, he'd still closed himself off, trying to shield himself from them and any possible pain. But now. He'd definitively opened up.
"Ash, you okay?" Blinking the teen refocused, to find Riolu looking at him worriedly.
"Ha, yeah I'm fine. Sorry, I did space out a little there."
"A little?", asked Pikachu and leaped onto his shoulder. "I was about ready to spark you back to awareness."
Ash cringed at that. While he appreciated Pikachu waking him when he overslept, it had gotten increasingly uncomfortable ever since Pikachu had given up Thunderbolt to relearn Thunder. "Yeah…let's go get some dinner", stated the teen before his beloved starter got the idea to still shock him 'back to awareness'. Ash wanted to walk out of the room, when Lucario blocked him.
"Yeah?"
"Do you really want to leave in that?", asked the Pokémon, glancing pointedly at his attire.
Glancing down, Ash blushed when he realised he wore nothing but his boxers and an undershirt. "Oh…yeah…probably should put something else on", chuckled the teen and turned around. He walked over to the heater where he'd hung up the spare-clothes that had stayed relatively dry inside his bag. Quickly he pulled on a pair of jeans, a white T-Shirts and some socks and shoes and turned to his Pokémon.
"Alright, let's go."
He grabbed his belt with his Pokéballs as well as his wallet and walked to the door. Pikachu and Riolu leaped onto his shoulders once more and Lucario followed close behind him. Before he stepped out of the room, he turned back to the two Hoenn-Natives and stated: "We'll be back in about an hour." Both nodded, busy with whatever they did. The door closed behind them and the group of one human and three Pokémon made their way down the corridor.
"Where do you plan to go?", asked Lucario, catching up to walk by Ash's side.
"There is this nice little restaurant Brock found the first time we were in the city. It's pretty good and serves humans and Pokémon, so I thought I could let my entire team eat there, then buy something extra to give the legendary Pokémon somewhere out of sight." Ash glanced down at the Pokéballs dangling from the cord around his neck. "I know they said they don't need food as often as humans or normal Pokémon do, but as a Pokémon trainer it goes against everything I learned to not give the Pokémon I'm travelling with something to eat."
Lucario nodded in understanding, a small smile on his lips. "I see. I think they will enjoy your…gift."
"Hopefully Rayquaza doesn't expect to get too much just because he's big", snickered Pikachu to himself.
"If he does, I'm pretty sure Celebi and Latias won't mind teaching him a lesson", answered Ash with a shrug.
"Oh now I hope he's expecting it, because that's a lesson I've gotta see", laughed Riolu, his small form shaking with snickers.
Ash grinned back at his Aura Keeper, to blink surprised when he heard soft chuckles from his left. Glancing there, he found Lucario covering his mouth with his paw, obviously intending to hide his amusement. That was another change in Lucario he'd seen recently. A while ago he'd been only stoic and calm but now, now he actually laughed at times. Shaking his head slightly, Ash called a greeting to Nurse Joy before the four of them left the Pokémon centre. After a few minutes of walking, Lucario suddenly asked: "I do not quite understand, why May and Max didn't think to wait for you before they went to get dinner."
Ash tilted his head, wondering how to answer that, when Pikachu stated: "It's not that surprising. The only human with a stomach and appetite to match Ash's is May and the last time any of us ate something was breakfast." Ash rolled his eyes at that explanation, but nodded. It was true after all, though he liked to think that he'd gotten quite a bit better at controlling his stomach.
"Ash! We told you we won't need anything to eat anytime soon."
That was the first thing Celebi said after she'd properly appeared from her Friend Ball, along with Latias from her Heal Ball and Rayquaza from his Luxury Ball. Rayquaza and Latias didn't seem so put out about Ash letting them out to give them something to eat and both glowered at the smallest present legendary, prompting snickers from Pikachu and Riolu.
"I know that", answered the teen and rolled his eyes while he placed the plastic-bag with the food down. "But we went out to eat anyway so I just bought something for you guys too. You can ask my Pokémon, it tasted great, didn't it?"
"It sure did", agreed Pikachu and Riolu immediately.
Celebi frowned and looked at Lucario, who chuckled and answered: "It was quite the delightful dinner Celebi. At least try it." The Grass-Type huffed, but relented rather soon.
"We'll I'm not upset about you getting us food Ash", cheered Latias and nuzzled him happily. Ash laughed at her antics and petted her head.
"Then show us this great food Chosen One", urged Rayquaza.
Ash grinned up at the deity and opened the bag. He first pulled out Celebi's. "Here", he held it out. "It's specially made for Grass-Types."
Celebi hesitated for a while, but then she sighed and took the packed up food after all. She opened it, to find something that looked suspiciously much like spaghetti Bolognese. "Ash?" He grinned.
"Don't worry Celebi, it's supposed to look like that." He grimaced slightly. "I definitely couldn't eat it without getting stomach-ache."
Lucario glanced at him and asked suspiciously: "Why does this sound like it happened already?"
"You don't wanna know", answered the teen dryly and pulled out another package. He handed it to Latias, who opened it immediately and gave a surprised squeal. Because in her box was something that looked a lot like strawberry mousse garnished with all kinds of berries and some red sauce. "I remembered Latios mentioning you like sweet things. It's specially made up for you typing too, just like Celebi's and Rayquaza's."
Latias gave a grin at that and pecked his cheek, before shooting off between the trees. Ash blinked thrice, before he turned to the laughing electric-type next to him and asked: "What was that?" Pikachu only dissolved into new squeals of laughter and since Riolu wasn't much different and Ash could guess Rayquaza was getting impatient, he pulled out the last package.
It was twice the size of Latias. Despite all Riolu said, the teen himself really didn't need legendary Pokémon going at it over food right now, so he had bought something bigger for the biggest legendary Pokémon. "Here. I hope you like it. I didn't know much about your preferences, so I could only work with the typing."
Rayquaza grinned at him and answered: "Your gift is much appreciated Chosen One. You worry too much."
"Chosen One again", groaned Ash. "I just got Latios and Moltres to stop calling me that. Now you too?"
Rayquaza roared out his laughter and Ash could only thank whichever deity watched over them right now that they were at least a mile from the city, behind a big hill and the sun had already set. The great green dragon settled on the ground and his dinner, which looked like two, to a human, rather giant filled turkeys, maybe Ash had overdone it a little there, was gone in two quick bites. He blinked twice, before he roared another laugh.
"Amazing Chosen One. I cannot recall when the last time I tasted something so delicious was."
"Could you be a bit more silent?", hissed Lucario from his perch between the roots of a tree. He'd settled down there after Ash had given the Dragon-Flying-Type his dinner. Riolu lounged in the branches of the same tree, while Pikachu still tried catching his breath. A rustle by his feet caught Ash's attention and he looked down. Celebi packed the remainders of her dinner away neatly, before she flew up to face the teen. In a flash, she hugged him shortly, then shot off and settled in a different tree.
"Okay? That was strange", stated the teen, before he turned away and settled down next to Lucario. He leaned against the tree and closed his eyes, sending out his Aura.
It wasn't really Aura Sight yet. He could barely make out shapes, but to see all the life around him, the energies that also surrounded dead things like rocks, was amazing. Their world was so full of light and life. This only steeled his resolve to help out with the Dark-Sides as much as he could. He wanted to preserve this wonder only so very little people would ever get to see.
"Amazing, is it not", asked Lucario softly.
Ash didn't bother answering aloud. Lucario could read his aura well enough to know the answer. Finally though he whispered: "I still can't believe that the Dark-Sides want to destroy all of this." He felt Lucario's aura darken in anger, before it calmed again and returned to its usual powerful shine.
"But it is what we fight for. What we want to preserve, is it not. It gives us a reason to give our everything. For our right to exist in this world. A world full of life, love and laughter." Ash smiled when Lucario's words brought back happy memories from all his journeys. For another hour or so everyone just relaxed and enjoyed the rare moment of tranquillity, before Ash opened his eyes and stretched. He stood up and fumbled for the Pokéballs on his necklace.
He looked over the clearing to where Latias had fallen asleep after returning, Celebi asleep against the Eon-Dragon's side. Rayquaza was dozing nearby, but opened his eyes when he felt Ash move. He watched silently how the teen recalled the two female Pokémon, then gave a short nod and Ash raised the deity's Luxury Ball, when Rayquaza's head suddenly shot up.
"Rayquaza what's wrong?", asked the teen loudly. Pikachu and Riolu snapped out of their dozing and Lucario was on his legs immediately.
Rayquaza raised his head to the starlit sky, his eyes narrowing. "A Dark-Side is flying up there", growled the green dragon out. "I can sense them."
Ash tensed and Lucario stepped next to him, his eyes closing and bangs rising. His frown grew more pronounced a second later and he growled: "I can't recognize them either but…someone's up there with them! A human!" Ash gasped and looked up into the night-sky as well. He saw nothing.
Suddenly Rayquaza roared, sounding enraged, and shot straight into the air, like an arrow. "Rayquaza!", shouted Ash after the legendary, but he was too far away already.
"Lucario what's going on?!", asked Pikachu frantically.
Lucario concentrated more, then his eyes shot open and he looked up as well. "The human and his Pokémon are falling! The Dark-Side must've shot them down."
"Oh no", whispered Riolu.
The group of four couldn't do much more than watch and wait for Rayquaza to come back down. Ash didn't know whether luckily or unfortunately was a better word to describe the fact that the Dragon-Flying-Type was back rather soon. He lowered himself onto the ground again and then slowly lowered his head. A Skarmory was caught in his arms and its trainer dangled from his mouth. He gently placed them onto the ground, but his eyes were burning. Once he was done he growled loudly and spat: "I saw the Dark-Side. It was Dark-Latias that knocked them down. She broke free too."
Ash was so relieved he'd just recalled the Dragon-Psychic-Type. She wouldn't have taken those news well without Latios being around. Finally Ash turned to look at the Pokémon and human Rayquaza had saved.
The Skarmory looked beaten up, but Ash was sure it would recover. Now to its trainer.
He didn't see much but a mop of silver hair. No surprise when he lay face first on the ground of course, so Ash kneeled down next to him and quickly turned him over. To fall back and land on his butt in shock.
That just couldn't be.
"Ash?", asked Lucario, Pikachu and Riolu worriedly, while Rayquaza, in the same voice, asked: "Chosen One?" The teen couldn't answer for a second. He only stared at the familiar pale features surrounded by the silver hair. The other's clothes were torn and ripped from the attacks he and Skarmory had taken, but Ash could still recognize them and the bruised face.
"I take it you know him?", questioned Lucario carefully.
Ash nodded and muttered: "Though I'm surprised Pikachu doesn't recognize him."
"Should I?", asked the mouse.
"Definitely, considering he saved the both of us from that Lairon-stampede about two years ago", answered the teen.
Pikachu titled his head, then his eyes widened and he jumped to the man's side. He took a quick, but thorough, whiff of the others scent and exclaimed: "It is him!"
"Who?", asked Lucario, Riolu and Rayquaza unison.
Ash smiled dryly and nodded to the man: "Guys, meet the son of Devon Stone and former Hoenn-Champion Steven Stone."
I know Swift Swim normally just works in the rain, but just roll with me on this one. I don't see why only rain should help that ability give an Advantage. I mean, when everything is soaked, isn't it wet enough for Swift Swim then?
Mew - Dark-Mew
MewTwo - Dark-MewTwo
Celebi - Dark-Celebi
Manaphy - Dark-Manaphy
Suicune - Dark-Suicune
Raikou - Dark-Raikou
Entei - Dark-Entei
Articuno -
Zapdos -
Moltres -
Ho-Oh –
Lugia – Dark-Lugia
Latias - Dark-Latis
Latios - Dark-Latios
Dark-Palkia
Dark-Shaymin