Into The Tree
"So this is the place," A young, orange-haired trainer said, upon touching down on the grass outside the Tree of Beginning. Returning his Charizard to its ball, the man stepped towards the towering rock formation before him, gazing up at its vegetation and blue crystals. "We did a sweep of the top already. That means only one more place left to check. If Mew's in there, I bet it's at the Heart of the Tree."
"I still don't feel great about this," His comrade said, dismounting a Charizard of his own and returning it to its pokeball. Clasping the item on his waist next to a Masterball, he stepped forwards. "The people of Rota are unsure what Mew's connection to this Tree is, but it certainly seems like a power we shouldn't be messing with. Besides, remember the last time we tried hunting it down?"
"C'Mon Red. This 151st Pokemon is a Legend in our home dimension. If we could catch it back home, it should be no different here."
"Are you forgetting that we didn't catch it back home? We tried and then got spit out here. This time, I'm not so sure I want to gamble on getting stuck somewhere with no means of return," The Trainer Red said, putting his gloved hands in his pockets.
"Well hey, you brought that other Masterball, right?" Blue said, turning towards his friend and clasping a hand on his shoulder. "Sounds to me like catching this thing is a sitch! Besides, wouldn't you want to add the Phantom Pokemon to your incomplete Dex?"
A grin grew upon the other trainer's face at the mention of obtaining data on Mew. Finally the goal put in place by the Professor Oak in his dimension could be achieved. Not only that, but he could finally aid his oldest companion and rival in finding a way home. "Alright, you've convinced me. It's probably for the best that an Aura Guardian leads you through that Tree." Bumping fists with his companion, Red tugged on the straps to his yellow backpack.
"That's the spirit! We'll go in, find Mew, and be outta there in no time!"
"Set him down right here, Incineroar!" Blue said to the Alolan starter who was aiding in carrying the injured Champion of Galar. Making sure to avoid his damaged arm. Throwing his blue Guardian robes off his body, Blue tore off a piece of fabric and stuffed it into Alex's mouth. Having Incineroar holding his damaged hand to keep his right arm extended outwards, Blue ran a hand cloaked in Aura down the length of his arm in an attempt to heal it. A wave of pain rushed over the Champion, as he opened his eyes (which radiated blue with Aura) and let out a muffled scream, as his teeth sank into Blue's cloth rather than his tongue. Growing faint, his head drooped down as the pain was too much for him.
"Shit! Is Alex alright?!' Alexa said running down the tunnel with her Hitmonlee, Aegislash, Ash, Pikachu, and his Lucario in tow.
"I'm getting some superficial healing done, but this looks serious," Blue said, pointing out his blackened skin. "He overloaded his band. My guess is that his regulator was designed specifically for Galar Particles, so the instability of the Tree Particles compromised its internal matrix. Essentially, he overloaded the damn thing and the only place for that unstable energy to go was right up his arm."
"You think he'll be alright?" Ash said to the older man tending to him.
"I can't say," The orange haired trainer said. "But it's probably best that we don't move him."
"So we're just going to leave him?" Alexa said.
"Believe me kid, I've been in this Tree before," Blue said, looking into Alexa's blue eyes. "This is a dangerous place. The closer he is to the exit, the safer he'll be. He's alive and that's all that matters."
"Blue is right, Alexa," Ash said, placing a hand on one of the blue, glowing crystals jutting out from the cavern. "We're gonna have a tough road ahead of us. It's best to keep him safe here."
"You're right… It's not like we can just carry him like this into a battle with Giovanni…" Alexa said.
Reaching into the unconscious champion's robes, Ash pulled out two of Alex's Pokeballs, bringing out his Sirfetch'd and Dragapult. Filling them in, Ash gave them the orders to look after their trainer while the three remaining Guardians made their way into the depths of the Tree. Nodding their heads, the two Pokemon stood at the ready on either side of their unconscious trainer.
"Let's move," Ash said, pulling a Pokeball off his belt. "We're gonna have to find Giovanni before the Eclipse ends if we want a chance at saving our world!"
"Right!" The two remaining Guardians and Pokemon said in unison.
"Lucky for us, I know someone who can sniff him out! Go Lycanroc!" Emerging from its ball was Ash's orange, wolf-like Pokemon. Putting its black nose to the ground, the canid took the lead, walking the group into the darkening depths of the tunnel, leaving Dragapult, Sirfetch'd and Alex Peters behind. As Ash and his company moved out of sight, an orange globular being exited from one of the crystals high above the unconscious Professor's head.
With Lycanroc sniffing at the ground below, leading the party through the crystal-walled cavern, approximately five minutes had passed since departing from their unconscious friend. With the caverns being lined with glowing blue and green crystals, designated features down the path were hard to make out, but so far the only direction they could move in was down. Suddenly the group found themselves held up at a fork in the road, uncertain of where to go. Sniffing at the ground in both places, Lycanroc growled, throwing its head to the left signifying that this was the direction that they were to head in. Without question, Blue, Ash, Alexa and their accompanying Pokemon followed the canine, which led them to a large, open cavern, with large blue crystals protruding up from the ground. Lining the walls of the cavern, as the group looked up towards the 30 foot tall ceiling, the group observed the many wide openings that connected a network of chambers to this one room. Lycanroc continued to sniff at the ground, testing out each entrance so that it may lock onto Giovanni's scent.
Breaking off from the group while they awaited for Lycanroc, Blue stepped forwards towards the large crystal structure in the center of the room. Gazing into it, the spiky haired man saw his reflection, along with the long scar across his face, which he had obtained from his encounter with Giovanni following the All-Stars Tournament's closing ceremony. Triggering a memory, a voice began to echo out in the older Guardian's mind.
"Blue! Are you crazy! You can't just attack Mew like that! You could've hurt the damn thing!"
"C'mon Red! This is the closest we've come to capturing it! I'm not letting it slip away again!"
"I say we call it here. You can't feel it, but I can. The Aura of this Tree… it feels like it's crying."
"That's probably the most bizarre thing I've ever heard. We're here for the Mew, not the Tree. Now let's go before it gets away! It took off just down this cavern! Once I get my hands on it, we've got our ticket back home!"
"You mean your ticket home. I'm not leaving this dimension."
"All because you met some girl?! What about our lives back in our Kanto! What about your mother?"
"I'm sorry Blue, but this is my home now…" Blue stood speechless as the trainer in the red jacket turned his back to him, exiting the cavern, and leaving him standing there alone.
As Blue stared at his reflection, he was taken out of his daydream by the sound of Ash's Lycanroc growling at the tunnel which they had just come from. Leaping forwards, Lycanroc, Incineroar, Lucario, Pikachu, Hitmonlee and Aegislash lined up, putting themselves in front of the trainers, staring into the darkness of the cavern behind them. From its flaming belt, Incineroar fired a flaming shot into the dark, which illuminated the once dark cavern. Lined up along the walls were several orange antibodies, which all resembled a different Fossil Pokemon.
"LET'S MOVE!" Ash shouted, grabbing Alexa's hand, running off into the nearest tunnel. Following behind were Blue and their Pokemon. In pursuit, the Tree's defense mechanism soon entered the large chamber, and followed the group of Guardians into the tunnel they entered. Moving out towards the walls of the tunnel, each orange antibody entered a crystal along the walls of the cavern.
Looking behind her as she ran, Alexa witnessed the antibodies enter the crystals. "Ash, I think we're safe!"
"Just keep running!" Blue exclaimed. "These bastards are tricky!"
"I'M SORRY!" A much younger Blue shouted in fear, trapped inside of the orange body of an Armaldo. "I wasn't trying to disturb anything! I just wanted to go home!" The feeding entity did not reply however, absorbing the trainer deeper and deeper into its body. 'Shit! I'm never going to get home now!' As Blue became enveloped by the antibody, a second one shaped like an Aerodactyl soared in front of him, merging its body into the one currently feeding on him. As the two combined into an orange, globular mass, the only piece of blue remaining would be his hand. Swinging it around in an attempt to grasp onto anything, his hand stuck out upwards as he had accepted his fate.
Before he could get consumed, however, the fingerless-gloved hand of a trainer grabbed onto his exposed hand. Sending a blue pulse of Aura down his arm, the orange antibodies around him exploded, as he was freed from the Tree's defense mechanism. Coughing as he caught his breath, Blue saw his companion Red standing tall before him. Looking up, he saw two Masterballs and a single Pokeball on his belt.
'No…' Blue thought to himself, upon seeing the second Masterball. "You came back for me?"
"I couldn't leave my best friend to die here, but we're gonna need to get out of here fast!" Taking off his yellow backpack and tossing it to Blue, Red forced the man to put it on as he picked him up by the back collar of his bomber jacket and forced him to run down the length of the cavern. As they ran, a swarm of more antibodies chased them down, as the crystals along the cavern walls began to dissolve into grey particles, a sign of the Tree around them dying.
"What did you do!?" Blue exclaimed at the man as the two ran.
"Like I said, I was just trying to help you! But I made a mistake!" Suddenly the man turned towards the antibodies and came to a stop, which forced Blue to halt his progress. "Blue, I have to make things right here! You just take my pack and keep on running!"
"Red are you crazy?! What are you going to do?!"
Turning back around to his friend, Blue saw purple Aura radiating from the eyes of his companion as a tear rolled down his face. "Blue… just leave. Promise me that you'll watch after Delia and Ash!"
"RED! NO!" Blue shouted, reaching a hand out to his friend, as he watched the orange matter plow into him, building up into one large orange mass. As the antibodies took on a purple hue, they retreated back within the crystals of the Tree, while Blue turned around, making a run towards the exit.
Falling onto the grass outside the Tree of Beginning, Blue pounded on the ground with a fist as tears ran down his face. 'It's not fair! Why did he do this?'
From behind him, the crystals structures that made up the Tree of Beginning began to regrow themselves behind him, as each one began to glow bright yellow, firing a beam of light into the sky behind him. Noticing this, Blue turned around, witnessing the Tree radiating a vibrant, soothing energy. Red had given up his life essence to preserve the Tree and the Pokemon that inhabited it. Taking the yellow pack off his shoulder, Blue unzipped the bag and opened it. Inside were a number of Red's Pokeballs. Ones filled with Pokemon that he couldn't risk getting eaten. Pokemon who would never see their trainer again. All because of Blue. Grabbing locks of his orange hair, Blue wailed before the glowing Tree of Beginning. 'I'll get you back Red… I'll learn how to use my Aura and find a way to bring you back…'
As the party grew fatigued from running, a large orange glob exited from one of the crystals in front of them. Charging forwards, Ash's Lucario fired off an Aura Sphere at the oncoming attacker, causing it to burst, splattering on the cavern walls. As the group passed, the being reformed, and started its pursuit behind them once more.
After passing a blue crystal lining the wall, another antibody made the jump out of it, latching onto Alexa's free right hand. "Ash!" The teen exclaimed with a panic, feeling the antibody latch onto her wrist. Giving her sister a tug on the left arm, Ash pulled her free. Together the two Ketchum siblings began running away, however the antibody appeared to be satisfied with something, not making chase. 'What the-?' The teen thought to herself. Turning back, she noticed the only antibody that was still chasing them was only after Blue. Glancing down at her wrist, she noticed it was bare of the white Dynamax bracelet Alex had given her.
"Eyes forwards Alexa! We gotta keep running!" Ash said, still holding his sister's left hand.
"Wait Ash!" Alexa said, digging her heels into the ground, causing Blue to run past them with his antibody in pursuit. Cupping her hands to her mouth, Alexa shouted forwards: "Blue! Ditch the Dynamax band!"
"If you say so!" The man said unclasping his white bracelet and tossing it on the ground behind him. Suddenly his pursuer shot downwards onto the accessory, absorbing the bracelet into its body. Rising up, it slowly levitated past Ash and Alexa (ignoring them), reentering one of the large crystals that lined the walls. Left panting, the group of trainers and Pokemon finally had a minute to catch their breaths.
"Thanks for the save, kid," Blue said between pants.
"How'd you know the bracelets were what they were after?" Ash said, turning to his sister.
"Because the one that latched onto my wrist dissolved it right off!" She said, pointing to her exposed wrist. "And you gave yours to Brock, so they were never chasing after you in the first place."
"But I thought Alex designed these to mask our presence," Blue added. "Make it so that we gave off the same wavelength as the Tree's defense system."
"Wavelength or not, tech is still tech!" The teen said. "If the Tree deems it a threat, it's still going to come after it. But you know what isn't a threat to the Tree? Us Aura Guardians!"
'Can this be?' Blue thought to himself. 'Am... I worthy to pass through this Tree now?'
"Well how about that," Ash said, stepping forwards to his sister. "Put your faith in an old legend and it ended up working out for us."
"The question is- Did Giovanni and anyone else he brought meet a similar fate," Blue said.
"I wouldn't bet on it," A female voice said in the cavern before the trainers. Stepping out from the darkness and into the light of the crystals was the red haired, white suited Rocket Admin who worked closely with Giovanni: Arianna. Tossing a Pokeball forwards, she released the red, spider-like Pokemon of Ariados. "Giovanni is waiting for you, Ketchum. But I'm afraid I cannot let your friends move any further."
"I take it we're heading in the right direction then," Ash retorted. "I'll take you out real quick and go meet with him."
"You just leave her to me, Ash. It's best your Pokemon stay well rested for the battle," Blue said, stepping forwards, throwing out his Charizard. "You two go on ahead."
"Right!" Ash said, as he and Alexa gave a nod. Together with their Pokemon, they rushed past the Rocket Admin, who stepped aside to let them go by.
Ariana turned back to the veteran trainer and said: "Well I certainly haven't seen your face for quite some time. You're looking rather old, and scarred. Is that why you are here to take the fall for those pests?"
"Not all of us have the luxury of travelling around the cosmos like you," Blue said. "Besides, those two kids mean a lot to me. That's why I'm gonna do my best to make sure they are safe from the likes of you."
"Unfortunately for you, you just sent them running of towards their doom."
Without any commands from their trainers, their respective Charizard and Ariados lunged at each other, engaging in combat.