The Golden Doors

After his encounter with Max further up, Ash found himself rushing down a spiraling tunnel far beneath the ground, entering the deepest depths of the Tree of Beginning. As the glowing crystals that lined the cavern walls began to grow even more sparse the deeper he went, Ash soon saw a glowing orange light at the end of the dark tunnel. Feeling an intense heat emanating from the walls around him, Ash wiped the sweat off his brow with the sleeve of his Guardian Robes. Soon, however, the sweltering heat he felt grew to be too much, as he removed his robes over his head and abandoned them behind him. Ditching his tactical vest as well (which held no Pokeballs,) Ash sprinted down the tunnel sporting a plain black t-shirt and jeans, with his team of six clasped onto his belt. While Charizard had seen some action on the battlefield above, Lycanroc as well as his remaining teammates were fully healed and ready for a fight with Giovanni.

As Ash saw the exit (the source of the orange light) the Aura Guardian emerged through it. Pausing at the opening, Ash surveyed the room before him. As two streams of magma poured down next to the opening, the flow continued on the ground, lining the base of the walls to the circular room. Before the trainer stood a large staircase made of stone, leading down to the open room. In its center stood a large set of Golden Doors, about 50 feet tall, with archaic runes written in the symbols of the Unown. On the Golden Doors, a cross-like wheel with four distinct points; the same ring that appeared around the body of Arceus.

Standing at the base of the doorway, with his back turned to Ash was Giovanni, clad in his iconic black suit. As Ash began his trek down the stairway, Giovanni turned to face the trainer upon hearing the taps of his footsteps. "Ash, my boy! So you made it after all!" In Giovanni's right hand was Ash's golden Indigo Crown. Still embedded within it were the red, green and blue Sinjoh Gemstones.

"This the place?" Ash said in a stern tone, glancing about the room. Walking towards his future opponent, he soon met face to face with the Rocket Leader, standing 10 feet apart from him.

"No, no," Giovanni said, keeping one hand in the pocket of his blazer. "Where we are going is just beyond this doorway." Raising his hand and snapping his fingers, the Shadow Mewtwo teleported high into the air above the two men. An intense orange glow appeared within its eyes and the crystal jutting from its shoulder as it established a psychic link with Ash. An intense migraine set into the trainer's head as he crumpled to his knees clutching either side of his head with his palms.

Ash felt like his head was splitting open beneath a sharp blade as he soon began to clench his teeth. Manifesting the Aura within himself, Ash utilized it to shield his innermost thoughts. While he had picked out a capable team to face Giovanni days prior to their meeting, he was certain that Giovanni could have been spying on him via his connection with Mewtwo, as Darkrai had mentioned this before. To play it safe, Ash shuffled his original roster of battlers the morning before, confident that it would be harder for Giovanni to plan against him. Still, if Mewtwo and Giovanni read his thoughts now, they might be able to plan out some sort of counter-strategy in the moments leading up to their clash.

"That's enough, Mewtwo," The cold Rocket Boss said to his Weapon of Destruction. Obeying its master, the glow within Mewtwo's eyes subsided. Jutting out one hand towards its former trainer, Ash's arms were thrown out to either side as he was forcefully held in place by Mewtwo's Psychic Abilities. "It seems as if the boy is trying to hide something. But I can't have him dead. Not yet at least."

Suddenly, a wide array of thoughts rushed into Ash's mind. Giovanni had told him that he wanted him dead, but why wait when he had him so easily pinned down? He could have killed Ash then and there, entered through the doors with the Indigo Crown and claimed the powers of Arceus for himself. Ash soon began to suspect what Giovanni's end goal was. "You set me up!" Ash said, on his knees, under the force of Mewtwo's powers.

"How right you are," Giovanni said as he bent down, meeting Ash at his eye level. "I have been waiting a very long time for this day."

"Have you ever heard of the Tragedy of Sir Aaron the True Aura Guardian? A destined Champion of Arceus who was set to be crowned with Ultimate Power, so long as he chose to accept it," Ash remained silent as the Rocket Leader spoke. "You see, through my journeys across the Multiverse, I have always been fascinated by Sinnoh Folklore; educating myself for the day that I may find the Arceus. No matter where I went, I received no answers. Until I came into this realm and uncovered a Prophecy from long ago. One unlike any of the other myths and legends I had read on my travels."

"Allow me to elaborate. This Sir Aaron in particular was an Aura Guardian fated to meet the creator of our Multiverse. The Alpha Pokemon. Who would grant him what he had desired most. Eternal peace throughout the world. And yet, he perished before that meeting. Stopping a small-scale war, altering his destiny, leaving his Aura to be passed onto a new Champion centuries down the line. Only a fool would throw away a power like that."

"You shut up about Sir Aaron!" Ash exclaimed, as his own Lucario was his former Pokemon. Giovanni gave no reaction, other than a simple glance up at Mewtwo, who forced a surge of pain through Ash's body to shut him up.

"Please, let me finish my tale, Ash. I see you get your rudeness from your father!" Giovanni said, rising back up to two feet, turning to observe the Golden Doors. "This is the part where I fill you in on my grand scheme. To make you fear all of the things that are about to come your way."

"Are you familiar with the Unown scriptures?" Giving a nod to his Shadow Pokemon, Mewtwo flexed its finger forcing Ash to tilt his chin up to observe the engravings shaped like various letters of the Unown Alphabet atop the doorway. "In case you are illiterate it states: UNDER THE ECLIPSE, LET THE MELODY OF A CROWNED CHAMPION RING TRUE! ALONE HE WILL BE CROWNED! SHALL THE BEING OF DARKNESS ENTER THIS HOLY REALM, THE POWER WILL BE BESTOWED TO THE VICTOR ON THE IMMORTAL BATTLEGROUNDS!"

"To be quite frank with you, not even I knew what it meant when I first came to this realm, seeing this quote scribed on a scroll in Celestic Town. But to me, it sounded like the power was up for grabs, so long as I met the other prerequisites. It made sense that there should be many roadblocks ahead, as Arceus has not always been pleased with mortal humans and their actions. It doesn't want just anybody stumbling into its Hall of Origin."

"And so I scoured your world in search of answers. And in my journey to the Spear Pillar, I discovered this magnificent artifact." Reaching into his blazer pocket, Giovanni pulled out a pale blue ocarina, with a red mouthpiece. "My first piece of the puzzle towards answering the great mystery. This ancient, but priceless relic is known as the Azure Flute. In every realm I went to, legend told of a Flute with the abilities to summon forth the Creator, yet it remained unobtainable. That is, until I found it in your home dimension. It is quite literally one of a kind, so I knew that Arceus's gateway must have been housed in this realm somewhere. I just needed to summon the divine beast. However, when I blew it atop Mount Coronet, I was not granted a meeting with God. I was given a vision. This is where I learned of your role as Arceus's Champion."

"You were only ten years old at the time. But I saw a glimpse of your future, fulfilling the goal that Sir Aaron before you failed to achieve; a meeting with Arceus. It was at that moment that I learned that destiny chose you, a mere child to be the next Champion! I knew I had to get rid of you by any means before you learned how to manifest the powerful Aura within you, so that I might have a chance of attaining this power."

"However, I was not the only one to be a refugee in this realm. Wherever I went, that runt Blue was close behind chasing me down. He was certainly a formidable opponent and always watching over you at a close distance, so I had to devise a new strategy. To turn the ones who were closest with you, against you." Ash grew angry at this remark as he remembered the day his life went to Hell. "And wouldn't you know it? They did. At least the ones sensible enough to change their sides." Ash thought back to May, Paul and Ritchie helping him escape from those who wanted to take his Pokemon away. "However, the ones that stayed by your side managed to escape with you. And no one was certain where you cowards had run off to. I must admit, you were hidden away very well." Giovanni crossed back over to Ash, still being restrained on his knees. "Naturally, I thought you had died… As years passed, I grew quite disinterested in you. I figured you would no longer be an issue. So I shifted my focus away from you and back to this Prophecy inscribed on the doorway. 'A Being of Darkness' only meant one thing within my mind. The Devil to Arceus's God; Giratina. With my Warp Technology, I stationed myself within the Distortion World to capture the beast. And while I did, I found someone else in there as well."

Giovanni smirked as he looked up to the entrance of the chamber. Rising from a shadow on the floor, clad in a red cloak, Tobias pulled out a Masterball and returned a black Pokemon hovering behind him. "Pardon my late arrival, Ash!" Tobias said as he began his descent down the stairway. Mewtwo forced Ash's neck to crook upwards to gaze at the man positioned behind him. "But had you seen me within this Chamber with my Master, I suspected that you would have just turned and ran."

"No," Ash choked out, as Tobias walked past him and next to Giovanni. "The Warehouse! You were arrested..."

"And yet, here I am," The trainer said flamboyantly. "You honestly thought that mere bars could hold me? When my Master is one with powers beyond your comprehension?"

"You see, Tobias here was known for his reputation as a Legendary Battler," Giovanni said motioning to his servant. "And that didn't sit well with you, did it? Don't you recall, Tobias, how Ash forced you to leap into the portal that would lead to your lost sanity?"

"That's not true!" Ash shouted, however, Mewtwo would use its powers to clamp the trainer's jaw shut.

"Oh, I remember," Tobias said with a look of dread on his face. "I don't even know how long I was in there for, but that didn't matter. Reality was twisted, and I was forced to hear these dreaded screams, fearing for my life."

"You see, Tobias informed me about your encounter years before, assuring me you were very much alive. Not only that, but you were now a fully fledged Aura Guardian intent on hunting me down. So I must admit, I was now the one in need of hiding. So the two of us left your dimension for a time as I readied my Team Rainbow Rocket Initiative to put an end to you and take this crown. Once you both presented yourselves. In the meantime, the Giovanni from your realm served as the perfect scapegoat." Giovanni jutted out his right arm, handing the headpiece over to his disciple, as he approached Ash once more. "Any questions?" Ash said nothing. He felt foolish for coming here, only to be held prisoner by his mortal enemy. Had he never engaged Giovanni, the Eclipse could have ended, and Giovanni would not have succeeded. At this rate, he didn't see how he would be able to save the world.

"After you revealed yourself in the tournament I sent Tobias here to come and finish you off. Rallying together the companions who turned their backs on you once again. However, you proved to be much stronger than anticipated. So at his failure, I decided to play the waiting game once more. Thanks to your fiancé's younger brother, I finally developed a method of accessing the Tree. Presenting myself before this Golden Doorway, I presented Giratina and the Azure Flute before it, but without the Eclipse or the Crown, I had no luck in opening the door. Until I was presented with another vision thanks to the Flute. I learned that I had the wrong 'Being of Darkness' at my side. A set of deep purple eyes..."

'Mewtwo,' Ash thought, ignoring what the Rocket Leader had to say, but thinking back to the premonition that Mewtwo had regarding this very encounter. 'Deep purple eyes… and a figure similar to its own… It was never another Mewtwo. It was never Giovanni. My Mewtwo was always the Being of Darkness I was fated to battle against…'

"After your victory in the Tournament, the Crown finally presented itself. And I knew that I had to have it. Once again thinking I could kill you, I struck the Plateau with the Rainbow Rockets. While I attempted to imbue Giratina's 'Power of the Shadows' to my last Mewtwo, for whatever reason, I was unsuccessful. Your Mewtwo, however, once under my control, was a spectacular subject! This stemmed from an inner Darkness within itself. Present long before even I corrupted it… And soon it all became clear to me. I actually needed you alive in order for this transfer of power to occur. For you and Mewtwo were the eclipse spoken about in Prophecy. A clash between light and darkness!"

'So that's why he hasn't killed me yet?' Ash thought, growing even more panicked. 'He needs me to take this power all for himself!'

"Shall the Being of Darkness Enter This Holy Realm, The Power Will Be Bestowed to the Victor," Tobias uttered as he moved, positioning himself behind Ash, raising the golden Indigo Crown outwards above Ash's head. "And since me and this monster serve Giovanni, we shall be named the true victors! Taking your destiny as our own!"

'No!' Ash thought to himself, still unable to move. 'They're going to make me battle them two on one!'

As Tobias lowered the crown atop the restrained Ash's head, Giovanni began his soliloquy once more. "You see Ash, I was never the one fated to battle you. It was your own companion all along. While I certainly consider myself to be a 'being of darkness,' I can not let my own pride prevent me from attaining this God-like power. I consider my pride to be a fatal flaw at times." Giovanni then pitched the Azure Flute into the air, as the black Mewtwo caught it in its left hand. Holding the item up to its lips, it blew a melody which rang a hollowed sound throughout the Chamber. Suddenly, the Jewels within Ash's Crown began to vibrantly glow in reaction to the melody. Giovanni bent down, looking Ash in the eyes once more. "You might think that I created a monster, but deep down you know that you created it yourself. If you had dedicated yourself to this Prophecy a little more you could have prevented all of this! If you had come alone years before, YOU could have been crowned without the fate of your world hanging in the balance! But instead, I am forcing you to engage the Being of Darkness so you can defend Arceus! And when you lose, I will attain this Power!"

"Mewtwo may have been the evil you were destined to battle..." Giovanni coldly stated, getting into Ash's face once more. "But I'm the nightmare that's here to take your destiny."

A radiant blue glow surged from Ash's eyes as he let out a yell, as each individual Sinjoh Gem fired off a beam of colored light in all directions. Suddenly, the crown levitated off of Ash's messy black hair, turning into a Golden Orb of light. As it was absorbed into the large Golden Doors, the Arceus Ring insignia glowed a blinding white light. Mewtwo stopped its tune on the Flute, tossing the ceramic item to the floor, shattering it. Raising a hand to lift Ash up with its Psychic powers, the trainer hovered before the opening set of doors, as streaks of white light began to illuminate the Chamber. Fully opening, there was no view of the other side, rather a blinding white light. Regardless, Mewtwo and the floating Ash entered the doorway together, followed by Giovanni and Tobias walking on the ground. Upon their entering, a dark purple glow began to radiate within the doorway. The Being of Darkness had entered, making their destination the Immortal Battlegrounds.

With the chamber now empty of its former inhabitants, the doors began to close on themselves, prepared to seal off from the mortal world.

Arriving mere moments after their departure, Alexa and Lucario found themselves standing at the mouth of the Chamber, witnessing the doors closing in on themselves. "No, no, no, no!" Returning her partner Pokemon, Alexa saw only one way to guarantee she would get down there in time. Taking a few steps back, she broke into a sprint, pulling a new Pokeball off her belt. Pitching her Swellow's ball forwards, the teen jumped out from the large stone staircase just as the bird emerged, landing on its back. "C'Mon Swellow!" Alexa exclaimed, tightly holding onto the back feathers of the bird Pokemon.

With streaks of light shining off its body as it flew, the speedy aerial specialist flew closer and closer to the massive doors. Just as they were only a few feet away before sealing off, Swellow shifted its body vertically as Alexa pressed up against the bird's body to ensure they were able to fit. Alexa Ketchum had made it to the set of Golden Doors, moments before they were sealed off. Entering the purple light, she too was transported to the Immortal Battlegrounds

Ash's vision was foggy at first. While he had teleported from region to region before, this had been nothing like that. Without his immediate eyesight, he looked to the Aura to get a read of the room. Even in this plane outside of his home dimension, the Aura flowed here. Except here it was cold, enough to send a chill down his spine. This was a dark place. The source of this dark energy came from a mass of swirling black Symbol Pokemon that hovered high above the Chamber. The Unown; mysterious creatures from realms beyond human comprehension.

Once he could see clearly, Ash finally got sight of where exactly he was. Before him was a large, rectangular battlefield that was golden in color. Lined along the edges of this massive room were many golden columns; thick in circumference and rising high to touch the ceiling. Giving his eyes a rub, he saw that he was on one end of the field, while Giovanni and his dark servant Tobias were on the other end. The Shadow Mewtwo who had carried Ash in there was nowhere to be seen. He could feel its presence radiating from a small, shadow-filled orb on Giovanni's waist. If they were to battle, Ash suspected that he would not be seeing his former Mewtwo right away. Giovanni and Tobias would be seeking to pick off his Pokemon before the Being of Darkness graced the field, to ensure their greatest chance of victory.

Ash's eyes widened when he soon felt a familiar Aura to him, running up to his left side. "No… no…" He silently uttered. This was not somebody that he could lose on the Immortal Battlegrounds.

"On your feet, Ash! We've got a Multiverse to save!" Alexa said, appearing at the side of her kneeling brother. Removing her Guardian Robes over her head, she tossed them to the side revealing her red jacket, cargo shorts, and team of six on her belt. Upon entering this realm, her Swellow was forced back into its Pokeball.

"What?!" Tobias exclaimed. "How did you-"

"Now, now, Tobias," Giovanni said calmly, raising a single hand. "Let's hear what the girl has to say."

"Listen here you crusty freaks!" The confident teenager said, pulling out a Pokeball. "You wanna rule over everything? It's only right that I make it a fair fight!"

"Alexa-" Ash said, seeing his sister standing tall at his side confronting the enemy. "You shouldn't have come here! This place is dangerous!"

"Shut it, Ash!" His sister responded. "We've got a job to do as Guardians! So are we gonna save Mewtwo or not!?"

Regardless of whether or not Ash had been lured into a trap that would alter his destiny, his sister was right. They were on the Immortal Battlegrounds, where the winners and losers were immortalized in two different ways. If the Ketchums lost, God-like Power would fall to Mewtwo, Giovanni and Tobias and all would be lost. Taking a deep inhale through his nose, a determined look came over Ash's face as he rose up to two feet. Looking down at the shorter teen, he shared a nod with her. As Ash pulled his first Pokeball off his belt, the two Ketchum Siblings turned to face their opponents across the Immortal Battlegrounds. Ready for a double battle where the fate of the Multiverse would be determined in an Ultimate Brawl of Good versus Evil.

Author's Note:

We are now approaching the climactic battle of the series! It is something that I am really proud of, as it is very different from many of the other battles I have written. The stakes are higher than ever.

In this Multi-Part Arc, we will see a pair of Aura Guardians face off against against a team of villains who want to rule the Multiverse and attain God-like Power. Together, the Ketchum's will have to call upon some of their strongest and most reliable teammates to combat this foe. Prepare to see some of Ash's fan-favorite 'Mons take the stage in this battle. Expect each chapter of the Arc to be posted within one to two days of each other (since I have it all written out already.)

Will Ash and his student claim victory, or will the Pokemon of Giovanni and Tobias along with the terror known as the Shadow Mewtwo prevail? Who will be crowned as the Champion of Arceus?

I know I am excited. I hope you are to!

Thank you for all the support as we approach... The Final Battle. Coming Soon.

-Kid Arceus