AN: Hey Guys! Welcome back to the story! As usual, sorry for the late posts, keeping this up in college is no easy task, especially with the prestige of a college that I am at right now. However, I am determined right now to make sure I see this story to the end.

So, because of that, please make sure you Follow and Favorite the story! Don't forget to review the chapter as well! So, I've been making a timeframe for this story, and I won't lie, I have a TON of work left to do in this story. And I mean a ton. You guys have no clue how much I have left planned for 10 Minutes, so make sure you stick around to find out what I got for you all!

Anyhow last chapter had an EPIC battle, I hope everyone enjoyed it! This chapter will be something interesting as well. Hope ya guys like it, here we go!

ReignZ Presents… 10 Minutes Chapter 35

Last Chapter…

"Hold that thought." She spoke urgently. "Mr. Goodshow is announcing the Elimination Tournament Rounds NOW!" She cried. John immediately ran to the living room and flicked on the television with Ash in hot pursuit.

After winning both their rounds with flying colors (Not without a few scratches mind you), the round robin play was over. They now had to see if they performed well enough of the 64 teams to advance to the next round. They sat down and anxiously awaited for Mr. Goodshow to arise on the platform. There was so much tension in the room that it could be cut with a knife.

Mr. Goodshow looked straight into the camera. "Coming in at Number 2 overall is…" A brief pause followed. Ash and John silently pleaded with Arceus above that this was their names being called. "… Alpha and Omega!"

The room erupted into cheers as a result. Ash let out a whoop of happiness and John hugged Jasmine happily. Delveon and Jolteon noticed their trainers joy and wondered what was happening. Pikachu was seen nearby happily sucking a ketchup bottle. They jumped up and down in joy, but, in their joy, they failed to hear Mr. Goodshow announce that the number one overall team was Serena and Calem.

After about ten minutes of celebration and relief, they then noticed the screen on the TV had changed. It showed all the matchups of the first elimination rounds. It looked as though the top seed was playing the worst seed. And then, they saw their opponent.

They saw their two hooded faces lined up against none other, than the Maple siblings. Silently, they couldn't help but think that placing them at number 2 rather than number one was what Charles Goodshow wanted all along; to help them defeat those who pose any sort of nuisance, annoyance, or threat to them.

And Now… The Maple siblings were up next. It was their turn to meet the future champions of the SOLT.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ash looked at John, who nodded at him, knowing this was the end of the battle. The Next Move's they used would end the fight. Ash called his combination first. "Charizard! Use Flamethrower into an Ancient Power, Then Swoop in with Steel Wing! Give it everything you got!" John cried. "Jolteon! Use Pin Missile and follow it up with a Thunderbolt! Right after, Go in with Return! Let's finish this!"

Charizard formed a group of a dozen boulders and launched them Jolteon's way, then fired off a massive flamethrower, then concentrated every last ounce of energy it had into a steel wing and flew in. Jolteon's body glowed white as it fired off about 20 or so Missiles in the direction of Charizard, then focused a thunderbolt and shot it towards Charizard as well. Jolteon then broke out into a sprint and it's whole body glowed white.

The Rocks and the Missiles connected with one another, creating a group of small explosions. It was obvious that the two moves had cancelled one another out. The flamethrower collided with the electric type move and each one fought for dominance before the flamethrower barely cut through the electric type move. Jolteon saw it racing towards him and ducked to avoid it, but got clipped by the hot flames and making it cry in pain. However, this did not stop it from continuing it's sprint towards its target.

Charizard saw it's opponent and flew towards Jolteon, while Jolteon leapt up to collide with the dragon. And that was when it happened. Charizard lost concentration. He winced in midair and static filled his body. It lost the steel wing and Jolteon roared its name as it plowed into Charizard. The dust and smoke covered the entire length of the field. Ash's cape blew backwards while John's did the same. When the explosion stopped and dust settled, they could hardly believe their eyes.

There were both Pokémon, still standing. Ash couldn't believe it, and John's mouth was slightly ajar. Both Pokémon looked at one another weakly, knowing the end was near. Then, as if it had been planned out, Charizard fell face-first onto the ground and Jolteon collapsed on the battlefield after its knees gave way. Ash and John were stunned into silence.

The entire battle… ended in a draw.

They stayed like that for a few more seconds, taking in what they just saw. They suddenly burst out laughing. "That… was… AWESOME!" Ash laughed merrily.

Present…

Ash moaned under his breath. "Remind me how Gary convinced us to do this when we SPECIFICALLY told him that we didn't feel like taking on such an important role in the Legion?" John answered back quietly. "Because this could lead us to something very important in Team Rocket… Now quit talking…"

The two currently found themselves stalking through a very… unusual place. According to Gary, the kidnappers of Brittney Jones had placed her in the caverns of Cerulean Cave, and they would be waiting for them once they arrived. However, they were not aware if it was a trap of not, so, Gary asked for the assistance of two trained AuraMancers for help. As much as Ash and John didn't like the idea of it, there was a rumor that many young women had gone missing in Cerulean Cave from unknown enemies.

In fact, the FOLT had almost not been built in Cerulean City because of said issue. Nobody dared go inside the cavern in fear of never coming back. However, Mr. Goodshow did not believe the dreaded rumors of Cerulean Cave, and built the Facility anyway. Most people not native from Cerulean City did not know of the rumors, and most locals intended to keep it like that. Cerulean's waterfront brought in so much tourism that it was the largest source of income for Cerulean City as a whole.

Therefore, if it was to be blocked off or quarantined for any reason, nobody would come back. They needed to ensure there was no threat. However, if the townspeople received confirmation that the vanishing girls was in fact true, the town would riot, and the city council would shut down the waterfront.

So, as Ash and John became more aware of the situation at hand, they realized they were not only saving Brittney, but also Cerulean's Economy as a whole. So, they decided that they HAD to go… regardless of how much they disliked Misty Waterflower.

"Eye's on the money boys, you gotta sweep through and check to make sure this is the place." A voice said through earpieces both of them wore. Gary, Charles, and Keeghan were watching and listening to their every move as well, in case Brittney really wasn't there. Gary had left LOS HQ in charge under one of his raider leaders, a woman named Trisha O'Rourke. She was elite in combat and had worked her way up through the ranks and gained much respect from her peers. The reason she was in charge was because the Legion was doing everything in their power to safely get Brittney back from Rocket. So, the Legion rightly or wrongly had their best field agents out and ready. Porter had Razzo tied up behind his arms, to make it seem like they had captured and tortured him. Thankfully, the bruise Gary had left on Daniel's cheek made it extremely believable that he was, in fact beaten up, and not secretly found out to be an informant against Rocket.

They continued to quietly stalk through the cave until the ground began to lightly shake. Ash gasped lightly when two Dugtrio emerged from the ground and cried out, ready to fight. John didn't notice it, but something was off about the two. Ash, however, did.

"Feraligator, come out quick and use Aqua Tail!" John called. The gator roared and immediately began charging up a powerful water type move and then smashed the two helpless ground types aside, knocking the two Pokémon out instantly. John muttered as he returned Feraligator. "Come on… we gotta keep moving. If Rocket is here… here's hoping they didn't hear that…" Ash looked at the two defeated Pokémon on the ground curiously but followed his friend deeper into the cave.

They found themselves fighting off many Pokémon along the way, and all of them were unusually… hostile. John had begun to pick up on it as well; something was off. He just couldn't seem to place his finger on what exactly was so off… but as they finally entered the main cavern, the pieces began to fall into place. The cloaked duo noticed a strange machine with giant metal arms dug firmly into the ground.

Before they could conjure up another thought, a voice was heard. "Well Well… if it isn't the Infamous Alpha and Omega…" The duo turned their eyes towards the metal machine and saw none other than Aaron Harley come out from behind it. "I'll be frank with you, I didn't expect you two to join the Legion, really I didn't." He said.

Ash and John watched carefully as he slowly walked towards them. He then held his hand out to Ash, and John eyed the gesture carefully. Ash silently looked at the hand, and then after a moment, firmly grasped it. "It's really a shame, you two would've been perfect for Team Rocket." The greasy haired man sighed sadly. "I mean that with total sincerity by the way, but that's not why you're here, and that's not why we chose to meet here."

John decided to be the first one of the two to speak. "You're usually an abnormal frequency throughout this cave to disturb any intruders, aren't you?" Aaron looked faintly surprised. "That kind of awareness is exactly what I want in every Team Rocket member. Yes, you hit it nearly perfectly actually, we knew that the Legion was more than capable of knocking off a few puny ground types, but what we didn't expect was for them to send you two. I See they must truly be serious on getting Ms. Jones back if that's the case… but what I don't see is Mr. Razzo… and she will be killed if you don't have him with you today…"

Ash questioned after a small moment, "You mentioned on the ransom note that we would know where to find you, how would we know that this is the place?"

Aaron nodded carefully and Ash and John saw about 6 grunts come out from behind the machine. They didn't appear to be hostile. Aaron smiled a bit and walked around slowly. "For you two, I'm not surprised you aren't aware, but what I am appalled by, is the lack of knowledge they've been feeding you…"

Ash and John calmly watched the man walk around. Gary watched from a secret camera that Ash was hiding in one of his pockets, and he began to lick his lips. Keeghan and Charles noticed this gesture and cocked their head slightly at him. Keeghan went back to watching the feed, but Charles was eyeing his leader carefully.

Harley stood in front of them calmly. "I'm a man of my word. But I need to know that you both are as well." John held firm. "We're not showing anything until we see Jones and her condition." Harley pursed his lips and paused for a brief moment. He then decided with three words. "As you Wish." He gestured to two of the rockets and they went behind the machine. The returned in just one moment to reveal a battered Brittney Jones. She was thrown onto the ground, dirt and gunk all over, clothes torn and blood dripping from her face. Her hands were tied behind her back as she hung her head, seemingly unable to even stand up.

Harley spoke firmly. "She is alive and well, and because she kept assaulting my grunts, I had to Zip tie her. Either way you look at it, I kept my end of the bargain. Now, where is Mr. Razzo? If he is not here, she will soon be gone as well… To a much different place that is." Ash and John turned to one another for a brief second before they calmly nodded, and Ash gave the signal for Porter to move in through the cave with Razzo by covering the camera for three seconds and then taking it off, as though he was silently conversing with John. Ash spoke. "Very Well. An LOS Agent of ours is bringing Mr. Razzo back now. It will only be a moment." Aaron accepted this answer with a curt nod of his own.

Meanwhile, back outside the cave, Daniel chuckled lightly as he looked at Gary with a faint smile. "Guess this may be the last time we see each other." Gary weakly nodded. "If you can't feed us any more information, I understand." Daniel replied. "I hope it won't come to that, but if it must it must." He sighed as Porter pushed him towards the hole that was the entrance to the cave. Keeghan called to him. "On the bright side, at least you get to see how hot she is!"

Gary turned to Keeghan with an angry glare, to which Keeghan chuckled nervously at his leader while Charles shook his head with a small grin on his face. As the two vanished into darkness, Gary said softly. "It was a pleasure meeting you Savior." Daniel, who could hear Gary's voice faintly from Porter's earpiece, said loudly so he could hear it, "Long Live the Legion."

Gary's eyes watered up somewhat, but then turned his attention back to the camera, where he saw Aaron conversing with his two friends. "How is Mr. Oak? I hope he's not too mad at me…" He said with a hint of sarcasm. Ash and John remained silent, knowing the less they conveyed, the less Rocket would know. Aaron didn't take long to catch up on this act and turned his back on the two. He clapped his hands together once and said. "Well, at least everything will be alright."

John didn't really take a notice to it, but Ash did, something was off about his voice. In that moment, he was too cheerful, something didn't seem right. Ash communicated telepathically with John. "John, something is wrong here."

John communicated back. "What do you figure?"

Ash sent. "I don't know yet… just stay frosty."

"Always."Came the reply.

Two more minutes passed and then finally, Porter appeared behind Ash and John with Razzo in tow. Aaron looked happy. "Mr. Razzo! Are you okay!? What did they do to you!?" He yelled when he noticed the bruise. Porter spoke business-like. "He didn't wanna say anything." Aaron bit his lip and then sighed. "Very Well, bring him over." Porter wasn't falling for it. "Nah ah ah, Nice try. We exchange at the same time, standing up, right next to each other."

Aaron paused before nodding. He walked over and grabbed Brittney from the grunts currently watching her. She managed to stumble down the stairs under his assistance as well, but still was unable to hold her head up. Daniel sighed as he knew the inevitable moment was coming. He noticed the girl was looking exceptionally defeated, but he still couldn't see exactly how attractive she was. Ash and John calmly watched Porter push Razzo to about two feet away from Brittney, who was still being held by Harley.

Meanwhile, back outside, everything was going according to plan. Gary was nodding to himself, thinking this was the right decision. He watched as he saw Porter firmly holding Razzo, and then saw Ash turn towards Brittney. He couldn't believe how much abuse she had taken, and how defeated she looked. However, for some odd reason, Gary couldn't help but feel as though something was wrong.

Harley said, "On the count of three, we push them. Is that good with you?" Porter said. "Sure. On your go." Daniel sighed as the switch was about to happen. John, who had been keenly eying for anything out of the ordinary, noticed something about Brittney. She appeared to have no strength in her body to even hold her head up, but he noticed her constantly moving with something behind her hands.

Harley said. "One."

Outside, the trio was watching the exchange nervously when Gary got a single text message from someone. He looked at it. It was from Trisha O'Rourke. The contents were extremely short, but when he saw it, it made him turn white.

S.O.S

Back inside, everything appeared to be normal. Porter still had a firm grip on Razzo, Harley was still calm, and John was still watching Brittney from under the hood, which shielded his eyes from being seen. Ash watched as Harley said, "Two…"

Gary immediately said into the earpiece. "LOS HQ is under attack. I repeat, LOS HQ is under attack."

Porter looked at Ash in a flash, shocked that their hideout had been discovered. Ash gritted his teeth, knowing that every moment Harley waited, it could mean more members of the Legion were being slaughtered, but also knew if he tried to speed up the moments, it could lead to casualties. Meanwhile, Daniel had heard Gary's words through the earpiece and paled. John was still watching Brittney closely. He saw her arm suddenly twitch. Curiosity got the better of him and he took a small step to his right to see around her, and didn't see anything on her arms, but couldn't see anything in her hands. And that was what made him pale.

Aaron had claimed her hands were ziptied.

Just before Daniel was about to be pushed, he looked at Brittney one last time, and saw her slowly raise her head. And what he saw made his eyes widen. Who this agent was made him realize what was happening. He saw not an unfamiliar face, but a familiar one. And that could only mean…

"Three!"

Daniel roared. "IT'S A TRAP!" In one motion, Harley shoved Jones, who flew towards Porter and Daniel in a flash. She threw her hands forward and revealed a short silver knife. In slow motion, she watched as she attempted to plunge the knife into Porter's heart, only to slice cleanly through John's cloak and straight into John's gut as he saved Porter from harm. The sound was nothing short of sickening. The sound of the knife plunging straight into his stomach sounded like nothing Ash had ever heard of. Ash could only watch in utter shock as his friend looked at the wound, and chuckled weakly before stumbling back before landing flat on his back, eyes staring into empty nothingness.

The sounds that followed were chaotic. Grunts were yelling and throwing out Pokémon, while Porter was leading Daniel back out of the tunnel. Aaron immediately ran back deeper into the cave, and Ash punched Brittney once in the face using Aura, knocking her out immediately. Ash watched as he saw the Pokémon line up against him.

Outside, Gary was roaring and charging into the cave with Charles and Keeghan hot on his heels. Ash had thought he would need help defeating his opponents, but what the grunts hadn't seen was Harley switch the machine so that all Pokémon would be unable to attack with a clear conscious while the cave, buying him time to escape.

As a result, all the Pokémon were firing off moves randomly. One of them was a Bronzong, a steel type native to the far away Sinnoh region. It fired a Hyper beam straight up into the top of the cave, and what resulted was horrifying. The whole top of the cave began to shake, and then rocks began to fall. It did not take Ash long to realize the cave was collapsing completely. He got knocked off his feet and stumbled back on the ground and watched in horror and as a giant boulder completely crushed Brittney's unconscious body, killing her instantly.

He then raced for his friend, who still had the gaping would from his chest. He desperately thought of a way out that was related to aura, but even he didn't think he could single-handedly save him and his friend from a collapsing cave.

As he prayed for a miracle, Arceus gave him one. Technically, three. "LET'S GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Ash heard a voice shout over the chaos. He saw Gary, Keeghan, and Charles rush towards him. Ash threw John's left arm over his shoulder while Gary threw John's right over his shoulder as well. Charles led the way out past the crashing rocks while Keeghan followed behind them. They threw themselves out just as the boulders crashed down and totally sealed the rubble inside.

Ash got up slowly. "J-John?" He turned to his friend and realized he still wasn't moving. Ash immediately panicked. "John? JOHN!?" He immediately felt for a pulse, and began to cry as he felt none. He felt John's face, and he was stunned when it felt cold and lifeless. "No… No no no no NO!" He roared. "JOHN!" He began to try and use Aura life into John's body. To his terror, nothing changed. "O-Oh My God! No! You.. can't… go…" Ash whispered as he realized what had truly happened.

Gary grabbed Ash into a hug and Ash wept into his arms. Keeghan and Charles looked stunned. Porter and Daniel, who had arrived before them, watched the scene unfold and realized the unbelievable truth. Omega had saved them. Apparently, Omega's real name was John, and they were both realizing that Alpha and Omega had real names after all.

Ash still was in a state of shock and depression. He was gone. He was truly gone. His ally, his mentor, his best friend… was gone.

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Gary said that Ash should go home, and that he would take care of the LOS HQ, and Ash had the option of coming by and seeing the damage. Ash didn't even know what to do. He told the girls to come by, because he knew the more he kept it from them, the worse it would be.

The girls each took their respective flying Pokémon, with Skyla and Elesa sharing Swanna and Unfezeant. They landed outside Cerulean cave, outside of view from Ash's and John's current location. Ash, however, heard them land. He sighed sadly as he realized what a painful moment this was going to be. He slowly stood up and walked back to the caves entrance to where he heard them land.

Cynthia was the first to spot him. "Hey Love!" She called cheerfully. She jogged towards him and threw her arms around him, giving him a passionate kiss on his lips. She felt as though Ash had lost all the life within him. She broke the kiss and noticed his eyes were bloodshot. She noticed that for the first time in a long time, Ash wasn't wearing his dark cloak in public. He looked as though his soul had been ripped out.

Jasmine noticed this and commented. "A-Ash? What's wrong?" She was confused to get no response from him, but saw him licking his lips. "…" Ash opened his mouth but no words got out.

Skyla blinked at his odd behavior before she noticed the inevitable topic that Ash was going to have to explain. "Where's John?" Elesa, who had been watching Ash closely, noticed Ash sigh and bite his lip, making her nervous. "Ash… where is he?" Jasmine watched him slowly murmur "I…I…I'm…" Jasmine's lip began to quiver. "Ash… where is John?" And that was when she noticed a figure lying on the cool sand in a white cloak on the beach behind him.

She took a step past Ash, and a single step for every second followed. She whispered. "No...No..." She saw the person and immediately a tidal wave of emotions flew through her. "No… No… NO NO NO!" She cried as she ran towards him. Jasmine fell onto the sand next to her lover and cried. "NO! Wake Up! John! Please!" Skyla had noticed Jasmine's behavior and looked around Ash to see what was wrong, and she immediately reacted. "Oh My God! John!" She too ran towards him and began weeping on his lifeless body.

Elesa turned away and began crying as she saw two of her best friends crying over their dead lover. Cynthia's hands were covering her mouth as her eyes threatened to unleash the tears that rapidly built up. Ash whispered. "He saved us. He sacrificed himself so we had a chance to live." Cynthia couldn't take it and began crying.

Skyla stroked John's hair and sobbed. "J-John! No! No No Nooooo!" She wept as tears trickled off her cheeks and onto his face. Jasmine was crying into his chest. "John! Come Back…" She whimpered and entwined her fingers into John's lifeless ones. "No…It's happening all over again…" She broke down completely after that sentence, and Skyla continued to run her hands through his hair, crying and pleading for him to stop, as though this was some sort of cruel joke.

The scene was too much for Ash, and his knees gave out from under him. To him, nothing mattered anymore. Winning the tournament, defeating Team Rocket, becoming a Champion, starting a family, nothing in the world mattered. He realized that the one thing that made him who he was had been engraved into his soul. And then, in one moment, his soul, his life had been ripped away from him. And he, no matter how strong of an Aura-wielder he was, was helpless to stop it.

Ash felt lifeless. For the rest of his life, he would be forever without that part of his soul.

AN: … … … I shocked myself with my writing. Really, I did.

John was of course the Original Character (OC) from this story. But now, Ash will have to continue the tournament and fulfill their dream, on his own. But, will he summon the willpower to succeed? Will he find the strength to find Victory, or will he succumb to the Darkness that is spreading in his body?

Stay tuned for the next upload to find out.

ReignZ