HEY ALL!
DarkSlash9 here, with a new chapter! I bet you all thought I'd left, or was dead, or both. But no, I'm still quite alive. Let's play a game. It's called 'Why I fell off the face of the Earth for a year!" It's a little multiple choice game. Here we go!
A. Almost got kicked out of school for something I didn't do
B. Transferred schools
C. Quit my job because they were finding loopholes in store policies so they could get away with underpaying me, had to find a new one
D. Went through the pain of a break up with my girlfriend of 2 and a half years, only for us to realize we made a terrible mistake and end up getting back together 3 weeks later
E. Struggled with depression and anxiety
F. Signed myself up for weekly visits with a therapist
G. My laptop got fuckin soaked in water (I lost about 7500 words of a chapter that I'd been writing, now I have to start it all over. Sorry, Pokemon: Divinus fans) and I had to buy a new one
H. My dog died
I. My dad and my sister both got into car accidents, theyre okay
J. I got into a car accident, I'm okay, the car wasn't (fuck icy roads)
K. ALL OF THE ABOVE
Well the answer may surprise you, but it is indeed choice K, all of the above! 2018 was undoubtedly the worst year of my life, and oh man am I glad its over. I went through a lot of hardships and shit I didn't see coming, but hey, that's life. I'm just lucky I have friends and family who stuck by me and kept me smiling (most of the time) through all of it, and glad I was able to get the help I needed when I really felt like my life was turning into garbage. Never be afraid to ask for help if you're hurting inside.
Anyway, with all the stuff that happened, I hope it helps explain why it took me forever to update anything on here. I thank all of you for staying patient and not giving up on me if you haven't. I've been doing much better these days and am honestly feeling the best I have in many many many months.
And so, without further ado, please enjoy the newest chapter of Pokemon: The Fellowship of the Aura!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon. ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)
XI
It was a beautiful day, sun shining. Few clouds marked the sky, nothing but white splotches on a broad, blue canvas. The breeze light and the birds chirping, this was a serene day, one of grace and good tidings. It bore weather fruitful for activities of any kind, whether it be riding a bike, going on a jog, walking a pet, or even... beating the honest to God sh*t out of your enemies.
Our hero found himself charging towards Giovanni, staff in hand, quite ready to do the latter. In seconds he'd closed the distance between himself and the crime boss, and once close enough, he swung his weapon, aiming for the head. Unfortunately, the strike could not be deemed successful, for Giovanni, able to see through Ash's speed, caught the staff.
"Trying to end me in a single blow?" chortled Giovanni, smirking. "Do you fear my power that much, Ketch-"
"Pika!"/"BITCH!" hollered Pikachu, jumping up from behind Ash.
Pikachu's tail glowed bright with the essence of an Iron Tail, aiming it right for Giovanni's face. Unfazed, Giovanni leaned his head back. With his free hand he swatted Pikachu away, sending the yellow rodent tumbling through the grass like a rock skipping on water. Angered by this, Ash growled and shoved Giovanni forward and into the lab, through the very same hole the crime boss and his dark comrades had created moments prior. Aura began to dance all over the young Guardian's body as he sprinted into the lab, busting a new hole out the opposite side of the building seconds later, Giovanni in his arms. From then on the two became nothing but blue and red blurs clashing and zigzagging throughout the nearby fields, with a disgruntled Pikachu following not too far behind.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship began its own battle against Butch, Cassidy, and Wade. As soon as Ash and Giovanni had taken their battle elsewhere, Butch and Cassidy lunged at May, Max, and Serena, hands festering with Dark Aura. May and Max jumped out of the way, dodging the initial swipes, while Serena chose a more offensive option. Once Butch was close enough, she raised her leg, turned her body, and caught him in the neck with the cleanest of roundhouse kicks. Wasting no time, she pointed her finger at Butch, who lay groaning on the ground nearby.
"Braixen! Flamethrower!"
Braixen did as commanded, launching oodles of fire at Butch. But the attack did not connect. Not quite ready to be roasted, Butch had rolled out of the way. As he did, he aimed his palm at Serena, blasting a barrage of Dark Aura Spheres her way. Without command, Serena's Sylveon cast Protect, a force field of energy immediately materializing to protect its master from any potential damage. The impact of the spheres colliding with Protect caused a cloud of dust to rise into the air, engulfing Serena and her pokemon.
Cautious, Butch waited before entering the dust cloud. That proved to be a mistake. From the cloud, the sound of yet another pokemon being released could be heard. Quickly brushing away a stray strand of hair from his eyes, Butch put both hands forward, preparing himself for whatever was coming by charging a slightly larger Dark Aura Sphere. As the dust cleared, the silhouette of a large beast began to form.
Butch gulped. "These pokemon are a problem..."
From the nearly vanished dust cloud charged Serena's Pangoro, with Serena fearlessly riding on its back. Panicked, Butch fired his sphere, only for it to be backhand swatted away like a gnat, courtesy of Pangoro. The Daunting Pokemon lost no momentum during this action, quite intent on smashing Butch to smithereens as soon as possible.
"Pangoro! Hammer Arm!" shouted Serena, stealthily pulling one of her knives out from under her cloak.
Pangoro's hand began to glow, and once it reached Butch, it slammed its fist downward. Butch was able to evade at the last second, feeling the ground tremor from Pangoro's brute strength. A wave of relief came over him, the green haired crony beyond glad that he hadn't been reduced to a Jackson Pollock panting by the attack. Unfortunately for him, taking that 1.5 seconds to sigh was yet another mistake he'd made in the battle; he had given Serena enough time to take aim. From atop Pangoro, she hurled her knife at Butch, the blade heading straight for his chest at breakneck speed. By the time Butch even saw the blade coming, he could not dodge.
...
Luckily he didn't have to, for a Dark Aura Sphere intercepted the attack, causing Serena's knife to land on the grass a few feet away. Both a surprised Butch and a mildly irritated Serena looked in the direction the sphere had come from.
"Bakugo!" shouted Wade, his hand still glowing with Dark Aura. "Get your act together! She doesn't even have powers, and somehow she's already got you on the ropes?!"
"It's Butch, Sir..." corrected Butch. "And perhaps you could aid me...? Your power does exceed mine... substantially."
Serena glared at Wade, realizing he had, in fact, not been part of the battle since it had started. He had hung back, letting Giovanni, Butch, and Cassidy do all the fighting. She wondered why for a second, but decided there was no point in doing so; she'd just take him down once she finished with Butch. However, she couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable when Wade cracked a slow grin, shaking his head.
"Just take her down, Bolin." ordered Wade, folding his arms. "Like I said, she has no powers. If you need a superior's aid to win against someone like that, you're as useless as the soil you're sitting on. Besides, Cassidy over there seems to be doing just fine with her opponents, and they can actually DO things!"
And so she was. While Butch had been forced to stay on the defensive for nearly all of his battle with Serena so far, the opposite had happened in Cassidy's battle with May and Max. The blonde ex-Rocket was on a tear, viciously attacking both siblings without letting up. She was launching Dark Aura Spheres left and right, and whenever the siblings would dodge, they'd find themselves subsequently in danger of being harmed by a physical attack. Cassidy's speed was all too formidable, and even though it was a two on one fight, she held a firm grip on the advantage.
"Come on, fight back!" she goaded, shoving Max. "This is WAY too easy!"
Max stumbled and fumbled a few feet off, his face receiving a generous helping of dirt as it collided with the ground. At the sight of her brother being manhandled, May growled and reached for Glaceon's pokeball, releasing the ice-type within. The Fresh Snow Pokemon materialized before her, already poised for battle.
"Ice Beam!" commanded May, her anger evident in her voice.
Glaceon nodded and charged the attack in her mouth, firing the beam moments later. But of course, success would not come so easily. Quick on her feet, Cassidy sidestepped, causing the beam to miss her body by mere inches. She turned her head and watched as the attack hit a nearby tree, freezing it. She then locked eyes with May, smirking.
"You missed."
"Shut your ugly face or we'll freeze it shut ourselves!" declared May, stomping a foot on the ground. "Glaceon, Ice Beam!"
Once again, Glaceon charged and fired a beam of pure cryogenic energy, headed straight for Cassidy. This time however, Cassidy did not immediately sidestep. Instead, she enveloped her hand in Dark Aura, and when the beam was within arm's reach, she slapped it to an entirely different direction. Unlike the previous Ice Beam, this newly redirected one hit its target... the target Cassidy had chosen.
"Hah, I didn't even know if that would actually work." admitted Cassidy, staring at her handiwork. "The power of this Dark Aura is truly incredible..."
Glaceon's gaze traveled to where her attack had ended up, her ears drooping in embarrassment over the terrible result.
"Crap..." muttered Max, frozen in a block of ice from the abdomen down. "I really should've dodged that..."
"Yes, you should've." agreed Gardevoir. "Now I'm stuck in my ball, which is frozen to your waist, which means I can't help. Why didn't you move?"
"May's Aura distracted me." answered Max. "It cranked itself up to high as soon as Wade stepped out of the lab. No doubt because he's the one that took away that Rosa girl a couple years back. To her, this fight with Cassidy is just an annoyingly efficient road-block that's stopping us from getting to Wade. We're Maples, our Aura gets stronger the more emotion we feel. But May can't use her Aura voluntarily. So it's just swelling up the angrier she gets. If I can just get her to release what she's been subconsciously collecting... Cassidy would be done for."
"Max!" called May, her tone softening. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think she'd-"
"Don't worry about it! You don't need me to win th-this!" answered Max, shivering from the cold. "You just have to let loose on her! Your Aura! Give in to what you're feeling, m-make it your strength!"
"Max..." murmured May, narrowly dodging an attack from Cassidy. "I can't-"
"You can! We want to save Rosa, right?!" asked Max. "This is the best opportunity we've had in years! Wade is right there! All we have to do is get past Cassidy! Your feelings, give them form! Manifest them! You have to be feeling it swell up, don't you?!"
May bit her lip, Max's words reaching her loud and clear. He was certainly right, she definitely felt something building up in her chest as her emotions ran higher and higher. And he was right, Wade, the man that had taken Rosa away, was right there. She was currently fighting a losing battle against Cassidy... but it didn't have to be one. She knew she had the power... but not the slightest idea on how to use it.
"Just focus it..." ordered Max. "Channel it from your body into the outside world. Bring it out, you can do-AGH!"
Max howled in pain as a Dark Aura Sphere suddenly nailed him square in the face, destroying his glasses on impact. Two streams of blood began to slowly fall from his most likely broken nose as his head lolled back and forth, the teen trying his best to stay conscious. But it was a failed effort. He slumped forward, blood dripping onto the ice that kept his temporarily limp body in place.
Wide-eyed, May glanced at Max, then at Cassidy. Cassidy - who had shot the sphere - was concealing her laughter to a low giggle, as if the greatest joke of all time had been told in the silence of a library.
"He really thought he would get it out of you, huh?" chuckled Cassidy, hands on her hips. "It was just so corny, I felt all too obligated to shut him up. I hope you understand- well actually, I know you understand. You probably didn't want to hear it either. It's not easy to hear someone cheer you on to do something you know is impossible. Knowing you'll inevitably let them down, despite how much faith they're putting in you. Must suck. You should thank me!"
May ignored Cassidy's words, slowly stepping forward. Her hands were balled into fists, tight ones.
"Butch and I may be low in rank, but thanks to Wade, our superior, we know a thing or two about you May Maple." declared Cassidy, grinning. "We know you can't use your Aura. We know you want to find your dear friend Rosa... if she's even alive, that is. But... is that what you really want? Or is that what Rachel wanted? Is she even alive in there? Or did you snuff her out and become May again the moment the jig was up?"
May was getting closer, but that didn't bother Cassidy. She had the situation under complete control.
"Either way, you're both a weakling, and a liar. A horrible combination! So yes, come closer, I'll put you out of your misery, right here, right now!"
Cassidy took a step forward, charging a fist full of Dark Aura. The attack, once it connected, would surely knock the wind out of the brunette, rendering her writhing on the ground in pain. Once May was out of the way, she'd help Butch deal with Serena. Together, they'd surely defeat her. And then, with the Chosen Guardian's followers out of the way, they could all join Giovanni, and together, they'd defeat Ash Ketchum, claiming victory for themselves. Their names would be known by all, the brave warriors who defeated the Chosen Guardian of the Aura. They'd become legends. Elated by what the future held, Cassidy reared her fist back, ready to punch.
"Now, die!" she roared, absolutely sure that nothing could possibly go wrong. "Die by the hands of Cassi-"
Unfortunately, something went wrong.
"Wh-what?" stammered Cassidy, absolutely flabbergasted.
In an utterly shocking turn of events that nobody could have possibly seen coming, May had caught her fist. In an even more shocking turn of events that truly boggled the mind, May's body began to take on a blue glow, and suddenly, flames of Aura burst from within. They danced all over her body, relishing in their long awaited freedom. But then, in the most electrifying turn of events in recent memory, May did the unthinkable: she punched Cassidy in the face, the hit creating shockwaves as a testament to its power. And just like that, it became Cassidy's turn to have a bloody nose.
The blonde villain stumbled back, but retained her footing. She locked eyes with May, and when she did, she saw something she surely hadn't seen before: the menacing stare of an awakened Aura-user, complete with glowing blue irises. But it wasn't the glowing that suddenly paralyzed Cassidy's body with fear... no, it was the cold, calm, and deadly anger she felt in it. And the anger only seemed to fuel the Aura, as more and more began to materialize around the brunette, swirling in a deadly torrent.
A sleeping giant had been awoken.
"Holy shit..." muttered Gary, watching from a distance as May's Aura unleashed itself.
He slowly reached into an inner pocket of his lab coat, pulling out a small PDA-like device. He turned it on and pointed it in May's direction, pressing a button as he did. The screen on the device lit up, numbers appearing on the screen. The digits kept changing for a few seconds, until finally, they stayed at one number. Gary looked at the screen, and when he did, his eyes widened.
"Energy: Fighting-type... Power level... Over 9000?!" he read, his voice cracking in disbelief. "There's no way that can be right! An average Lucario's energy reading maxes out at around 900... and this thing is telling me May is releasing more than 10 times that?! Well, okay, maybe if I scan Ash in comparison..."
Gary pointed his device in a new direction, towards Ash, who was even further away, battling Giovanni. Our hero was moving very quickly, but that wasn't a problem. This device was built by none other than Gary Motherfucking Oak, its specs were limitless by design. The reader locked onto Ash, and in seconds, it came up with a reading for him as well.
"Energy: Fighting type... Power level... ah, alright, approximately 180,000. Well, okay then." read Gary, calming down somewhat. His eyes then widened. "Wait, ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY THOUSAND?! Damn! What in the fuckin' world is that... all... a...bout...?"
Suddenly, Gary's device began to beep. He had immediately trailed off at the sound of this, for it had never made such a sound before. He looked at the screen and frowned, eyes narrowing.
"Unknown energy type detected...?" he read, raising an eyebrow. "Pfft, bulllllllshit."
It had to have been a bug. There were only 18 types of energies, everyone knew it. But Gary, as a Researcher, knew it for absolute certain. But, with the utmost curiosity, he looked at the direction in which the screen was pointing towards. An uneasy feeling formed in the pit of his stomach as he pinpointed where the power was coming from. The unknown energy was coming from neither Serena, nor Butch, nor May, nor Ash, nor Giovanni, nor Max. It was from the only person there he didn't recognize.
Max's eyes slowly opened, his senses returning to him. He looked down; he was still immobilized by the ice. Once he saw his glasses broken on the ground, he sighed, muttering a few curses under his breath. But as soon as he sensed the energies in his surroundings, he looked up. What he saw was quite satisfying.
May was punching Cassidy. A lot. Her Aura was bursting and dancing all over her like blue solar flares, the display growing every time she swung her fist. Cassidy was doing her best to dodge, but she was definitely outclassed by the warrior she'd accidentally helped awaken. And so, when May suddenly changed things up and aimed for Cassidy's gut instead of Cassidy's face, the blonde villain could do nothing to evade the critical blow. She was sent flying several feet away.
"She did it..." sighed Max, smiling. "She-... what am I sensing?"
Max looked around, scanning the area for the source of this odd feeling. It had come out of nowhere, with no buildup at all. One second he felt nothing, the next... danger. He'd never sensed anything like this before, it was a new stimulus entirely. However, if there was one thing for certain... it did not feel like good news, not in the slightest. This notion was only bolstered when he was finally able to pinpoint where it was coming from...
"WADE!" roared May, stepping forward.
Wade ignored May's call. Instead he glanced at Cassidy, who was out cold on the ground nearby. He then looked to his left, and saw Butch laying motionless in a patch of embers and smoldering grass, with a virtually unscathed Serena standing nearby. He then looked at both May and Serena, the former staring him down with flames of Aura swirling around her, and the latter staring him down with a knife in her hand. Wade slowly nodded his head, acknowledging that this wasn't exactly the safest scenario for him. Luckily, he had his trump card. He slowly raised his prosthetic hand, a low chuckle escaping his throat.
"WADE! FIGHT ME!" hollered May. The adrenaline rush of awakening her Aura in full had sent her into a highly aggressive state. "FIGHT ME NOW!"
Meanwhile, Serena glanced at May, then at Max. Knowing that May was a Maple, she wasn't all too surprised by the Aura the brunette was releasing in response to her emotions. However, when she looked at Max... a red flag went off in her mind. The way he was staring at Wade... he looked on edge. Deciding to take a look for herself, Serena turned her attention back to Wade. His prosthetic was engulfed in an energy as dark as the blackest void, a lack of light so daunting that it almost looked otherworldly.
"FIGHT! ME!" chanted May as she slowly walked towards Wade, the ground shaking a little with each step. "TELL ME WHERE ROSA IS!"
"Dead." uttered Wade, the black energy suddenly dispersing.
May faltered for a second, a look of deep emotional devastation overtaking her. But it didn't last, for an even deeper rage took its place. The Aura around her grew twice as large as her raw emotions pumped more and more power into it. What was a slow, powerfully confident walk towards Wade had suddenly turned into a mad dash, the brunette ready to rip him apart until there was nothing left.
But she never made it to him.
Serena's eyes widened as all the Aura around May had suddenly dissipated, the Pokemon Coordinator coming to a complete halt. She couldn't see May's face from her angle... leaving her greatly confused as to what had just happened.
"Did that black energy from before have something to do with it...?" she thought, her eyes traveling back to Max.
Max was also as still has May. His face no longer held the uneasiness it had held before. Now his face was straight, with... dilated pupils?
"Serena, get the HELL out of there! NOW!" shouted a voice from behind Serena. "MOVE!"
The honey blonde turned around, the voice being familiar, but not familiar enough for her to listen right away. That proved to be a mistake of drastic proportions, as suddenly, she felt her body freeze up. Before she could even question what was happening to her, her vision began to fade into black, the last image she saw being Gary Oak running towards her in the distance, waving his arms frantically.
And then... black.
...
"Dammit..." swore Gary, stopping in his tracks once he saw Serena's pupils dilate. "How did none of them notice?"
Gary glanced at the ground, where a black, hexagonal pattern covered it, spreading upon both grass and dirt. The pattern had spread out from Wade's feet as soon as the mysterious dark energy around his prosthetic hand had dispersed. The pattern was still spreading, though it seemed to be slowing down the further it got from Wade, the source. Cursing under his breath, Gary took steps back, the pattern finally stopping when he was nearly 100 yards away.
But even from such a distance, he could still see the evil grin plastered on Wade's face.
Meanwhile, in the fields, Aura erupted and flashed, as the Chosen Guardian did battle with his first formidable foe since the completion of his training. He was by no means being overwhelmed by Giovanni, but the crime boss was most certainly skilled in combat. His eyes could follow Ash's movements, and his blows were quite hefty. However, Ash was fighting at something of a quarter of his full strength. It was at this handicapped level that Giovanni was able to keep up with. But even with Ash not battling in full, the fight was intense. But, deciding he'd had enough entertainment from Giovanni, Ash decided he'd end the battle within the next few moves. Besides, he had to get back to his friends before they could possibly get hurt.
"Alright Pikachu, it's time to end this clown." declared Ash, slapping away an Aura Sphere Giovanni had sent in his direction. "Keep him occupied for a minute. I'm gonna put a spell together."
"What kind of spell we talkin' bout?" inquired Pikachu, shooting a Thunderbolt at Giovanni, who dodged.
"The Sir Riley kind. Flashy." replied Ash, closing his eyes and placing the end of his staff on the ground. "If he was here right now, he'd LOVE what I'm cookin' up."
"Alright, I fuck with the vision. Get chanting." said Pikachu.
And then, without delay, Pikachu used Double Team, creating a small army of himself. They all spawned in seconds, all their eyes fixed on Giovanni, who was standing in the distance, looking slightly out of breath from the strain of the battle. All the Pikachus charged towards him and activated Volt Tackle, becoming a brilliantly terrifying field of electric mice enveloped in pure golden energy: the most raw of nightmare fuels. Giovanni planted his feet on the ground and surrounded himself in Dark Aura as he prepared to defend himself.
Meanwhile, Ash began his chant.
"Saya harap Anda siap untuk meme saya... Saya harap Anda siap untuk meme saya..."
As Ash chanted, a massive amount of Aura began to swirl through the surrounding air like stardust in the cosmos. But as the chanting continued, the mist-like aura began to thicken, getting harder and harder to see through. It began to spread through the entire field, eventually catching both Pikachu and Giovanni's attention. Irritated that he hadn't noticed the amassing Aura sooner, Giovanni swatted the nearest Pikachu away, which coincidentally, was the real one.
"Your schemes cannot defeat me!" roared Giovanni, charging a particularly large sphere of Dark Aura. "You WILL die here!"
The spell nearing completion, Ash opened his eyes. Through the mist of blue he could see a red light getting closer and closer, headed straight towards him. But as calm as ever, he raised one hand and slammed his palm onto the ground beneath him. As he did, the Dark Aura Sphere flew right over him, missing its target.
"Bitch, please..." muttered Ash, rolling his eyes as the ground began to shake. "Rise and skewer, Rising Stalagmites!"
The Earth rumbled as the mist of Aura descended into the ground, only to emerge back into the air as jagged spikes of solid Aura. From Ash, they rose across the field at breakneck speed, a wave of danger making its way directly towards Giovanni. His reflexes sharp, the crime boss attempted to leap into the air to avoid being impaled by the spell. But as he tried, he felt his body almost rebel against him, refusing to jump fully. This strange phenomenon proved to have painful consequences. As one of the spikes managed to drive itself through his calf, he roared in pain and looked down, spotting small sparks of electricity dancing around his body.
"Yeah, that's right motherfucker. Touch a Pikachu, your ass can get paralyzed. It's called Static." taunted Pikachu from underneath the surrounding Aura stalagmites, the spell fazing harmlessly through him. "Never touch me again."
"Honestly, I wasn't even counting on that happening. I actually WANTED him to jump so you could use Thunder and bring him back down with the bolt, straight into the spikes. Violent, I know, but at the same time... fuck this guy. I've always hated him deep down. Poaching pokemon... stealing and trafficking pokemon... training them for crime... he's scum." thought Ash, walking through the spikes towards Giovanni. His hands were gripping his staff rather tightly. "I don't necessarily enjoy killing these Dark Aura users we've come across, but just this once-"
"Hold up." interjected Pikachu, his ears standing. "Do you feel that?"
"What?" inquired Ash, halting. "Do I feel wha-aaaaattttt... What the hell- this doesn't feel like Aura or Dark Aura. Lucario, do you kno-"
"Giovanni is unable to continue the fight. You must return to the rest of the Fellowship. Immediately." echoed Lucario's voice, with a distinct sense of urgency. "This is... no, I will explain later. As of now, you must go!"
"You heard the man," hollered Pikachu, climbing up to Ash's shoulder. "let's go save everyone's asses from whatever this is. Something about the way it feels just makes my stomach turn... No cap."
"No what?" asked Ash, raising a brow. "No cap? What does that even mean?"
"Oh shit I haven't filled you in. Cap = lie. No cap; no lie." explained Pikachu. "I tell ya, my slang's been on the absolute upgrade as of late. I'm learning new heat every day, ZERO caps to be found."
"Damn, I think I'm gonna start using that. It rolls off the tongue pretty nicely. No cap. Nooooooo cap, fella. No ca-"
"RETURN TO YOUR COMPANIONS BEFORE IT BECOMES TOO LATE, ABSENCE OF CAP!" roared Lucario, figuring the only way to get two idiots to listen was by speaking their language... to the best of his ability. "NOW!"
"Uhhh um, fuck, right!" stammered Ash, sprinting towards the lab at top speed. "I hope everyone's alright..."
Serena opened her eyes, finding herself in a place that, while familiar, was definitely not where she was supposed to be. After spending years wandering the world alone, Serena's guard was always up, her body always ready for any coming battle, surprise, or ambush. But just one whiff of the air around her at this very moment caused her body to relax itself completely, a completely involuntary action.
Serena was in her house... her actual home in Vaniville Town, Kalos. She hadn't seen it in nearly 5 years, but everything seemed to look exactly the same as it did... on the days before she left to find Ash. She seemed to be in the foyer, with the front door right behind her.
"What... am I..." she whispered, taking steps towards the stairs. "...doing here?"
Her legs seemed to almost be moving on their own, and with each step she felt her confusion cease and retreat, until all trace of it was gone. She was home, no questions needed to be asked... right?
Serena walked up the stairs, and when she was at the top, she headed down the hall. She walked right past her own room, not even taking a second to glance inside. Her mind and body were in complete agreement that her current destination was a different room. She reached the final door of the hallway, and as soon as she reached it, she could hear sounds from the other side. Sniffling, crying, hiccups... all these sounds and more, with the deepest pain woven in them.
Serena opened the door.
"Mom...?" she whispered, entering the room.
In the room was her mother, sitting on the edge of a bed, face buried in her hands. She was crying a cry steeped in hurt and sorrow, her voice growing coarse with every creaking inhale. Seeing her mother cry like this felt like a jagged dagger plunged into Serena's heart, with the blade twisting as it forced itself deeper in. The honey blonde quickly approached her mother, intending on hugging her.
"Mom... what's wrong?" she asked, wrapping her arms around the crying woman.
But her words fell on deaf ears, her arms wrapping themselves around nothing but each other. As her limbs phased harmlessly through her mother, Serena's eye brows furrowed, the most bewildering of confusions overtaking her mind. But before she could even think of what could possibly be happening, her mother began to remove her hands from her face.
"Serena..." she sobbed, before covering her face yet again.
"Mom... I'm here... I'm here, I'm right here!" assured Serena, her voice growing more and more panicked each word. "Mom?!"
Serena tried once again to touch her mother, but to no avail. It was as if she were on a separate plane of existence. She took a step back from her crying mother, feeling the sting of fresh tears begin to take over her cyan eyes. Almost as if on its own, her gaze traveled from her mother to the digital alarm clock by the side of the bed. The time seemed accurate in regards to the light entering the room through the windows: mid afternoon. But the date was what truly got Serena's attention. It was definitely wrong. It was 4 years back... just 6 days after she'd left home.
At this realization, reality seemed to alter around Serena. The lighting in the room began to alternate between dark and light. Unnerved, Serena's stare quickly turned to the window. The sun was flying through the sky and down the horizon over and over, night and day each lasting mere seconds. She turned back to the clock, and saw the numbers changing so quickly they became nothing more than flickering eights.
As the days passed on milliseconds at a time, Serena could do nothing but watch as her mother seemed to stay in the same spot, her heart-wrenching sobs being the only stimulus remaining at normal speed. At this point, Serena could only cry tears of her own as the most mortifying of scenes played out in front of her. Her body felt as it was frozen in place, forced to watch her mother cry for her throughout what seemed to be an indecipherable number of days.
Time began to lose meaning altogether, until the honey blonde found herself trapped for what felt like years on end.
Once again, May Maple found herself in total darkness. Just a split second ago, she'd been ready to tear Wade apart with her newfound control over her Aura. But now, she found herself uncomfortable and full of fear, for this was a setting she was familiar with. Her pitch black surroundings instantly reminded her of the nightmare she'd experienced the night before. Feeling a sickening mixture of paranoia and claustrophobia churning within the core of her being, May began to hyperventilate.
But maybe... maybe if she called upon her Aura, she could escape whatever dimension she once again found herself in? She clenched her fist and attempted to call upon the azure life energy, but to no avail. Instead, she was presented with something else for her troubles. A mirror. The same mirror that had appeared before her in the nightmare.
"No..." murmured May as she looked into the mirror, her reflection once again showing her with black hair and green eyes. Rachel. "Not again..."
Expecting the voices she'd heard in her nightmare, May waited. But they never came. She looked around, somewhat confused as to why she hadn't heard the voices yet. She returned her attention to the mirror, and when she did, an arctic chill ran through her body, as if dry ice had instantly frozen her body. Her reflection was no longer a mere image, but instead a moving entity of its own. Rachel's eyes still remained looking into May's, but her body was not frozen in place like May's. She was moving. Her hand reached forward as she did the seemingly impossible and emerged from the mirror.
Unable to move, May could only watch as Rachel stepped completely out of the mirror in a body of her own, with her face straight and void of emotion. The black haired being's hand reached for May's neck, coming into contact with its target with no resistance. Any part of May's mind hoping this experience wasn't real was quickly silenced when she felt her airways constrict and tighten, her ability to breath being at the mercy of Rachel.
Evidently, Rachel was not a merciful being.
Her grip only grew stronger and stronger until May was finally able to move her body, only for the brunette to fall onto her back and convulse as her diaphragm pleaded for air. Rachel followed her down, taking a knee next to May's body, her hand still squeezing at May's throat. May's vision began to blur as her consciousness wavered in and out, her only sight being a still neutral-faced Rachel looking down on her.
"You..." uttered Rachel, her voice identical to May's, but of a more sinister tone. "are powerless."
Rachel squeezed harder, and as she did, blue energy erupted around her.
"You..." uttered Rachel, green eyes locking with sapphire. "are weak."
Rachel squeezed even harder, and as she did, crimson energy erupted around her in an even larger display as the still burning blue energy.
"You..." seethed Rachel, allowing her face to finally show an emotion; anger. "are NOTHING."
Unable to do anything but listen, May could only stare into Rachel's eyes as her alter ego continued to strangle her. Her consciousness was unstable, but against all logic, it refused to go out completely, when it surely should have moments earlier.
She was trapped.
"Unghhh..."
Max's eyes fluttered open, his head feeling foggy. Through his glasses, he could tell he was in an area with an abundance of bright light. His immediate thought was how odd of a situation he was currently in. First of all, he seemed to have woken up standing, not laying down. Second, the last thing he remembered was majority of his body being encased in ice during the battle with Wade, Cassidy and... Bentley? Whatever the third guy's name was. He certainly hadn't been in whatever glowing place he currently found himself in. And last but not least... he was certain light this bright would trigger the transition lenses in his glasses. But there he was, blinded by the light anyway.
"Ah wait... my glasses broke earlier..." he muttered, looking around. "Wonderful..."
As his eyes grew accustomed to the light around him, he was able to make out where he was. As he took in the sights around him, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and take it all in. He seemed to be in the middle of space, the beautiful colors of the cosmos surrounding him. Countless suns twinkled in all directions, a never ending landscape of nebulas and stardust expanding as far as the eye could see.
"How am I breathing?" he asked aloud, taking a step forward. "I'm in space."
He immediately looked down, realizing the better question should have been what he was standing on. His eyes widened. The only thing keeping him from falling into the never ending frontier of space was a glowing white platform of seemingly celestial light. Perplexed, he took a step forward. As he did, a new platform appeared in front of him, slightly higher up. He took another step, and suddenly countless other platforms spawned, forming a glowing staircase to the heavens.
"Well... I guess I've got no choice but to follow this, right Gardevoir? ...Gardevoir?" thought Max. But he received no answer. His eyes narrowed as he took another step forward. "Something about this is reallllllly rubbing me the wrong way-"
Though his footing was sturdy and his step a safe one, Max somehow found himself tripping over what seemed to be nothing at all. He attempted to put his arms forward to break his fall, but he was unable to move them. And so, his face ended up colliding with the next glowing white step.
But it didn't end there.
Somehow, defying all laws of physics, the impact of his face hitting the step was enough to launch his entire body upwards in a forward flip motion, ending with his face hitting another glowing white step. And then, it happened again. And again. And again. It just kept happening, leaving Max in a permanent loop of falling up a flight of stairs, hitting his face at every single instance possible.
His cries of pain and frustration echoed across the galaxy.
"Heheheheh... Fuck you, Max Maple." chuckled Wade, staring at Max's ice-immobilized body. "Feel the sting of my revenge..."
Wade Felix had a fairly nice view. The three enemies that had been so sure they were going to defeat him just moments earlier were now trapped within their own minds, with nothing they could do to save themselves. He'd let May and Serena's minds handle themselves, but for Max in particular, the villain had added his own input into the experience. He could tell his customized illusion was taking quite a toll on the younger of the Maple siblings, because while Serena and May's faces both looked distraught and/or distressed, Max's held nothing but pain and frustration.
"Only a fraction of the frustration that comes with losing an entire hand, though." thought Wade, his smirk transforming into a hard frown. "Don't worry though, all three of you will be put out of your misery soon."
Wade reached into a pocket of his black trench coat, pulling out a black pistol.
"Don't even think about it!" shouted Gary Oak from 100 yards away, seeming to be holding a gun of his own. He had it pointed at Wade. "You shoot, I shoot!"
Wade rolled his eyes.
"You can't hit me from that far and you know it!" called Wade, raising an eyebrow. "I can just tell your aim is trash!"
"You don't know me, dipshit!" retorted Gary. "Drop the gun, now! What even is that, a Glock 17?! 'Might as well have brought a Nerf gun!"
"It's a Beretta 92FS, you blind prick!" hollered Wade, rolling his eyes. "How can you expect to shoot me if you can't even tell the difference between the two most popular handguns on the market?!"
"Because both brands ain't got nothin' on my motherfuckin' Desert Eagle! One bullet from this item here and you're DONE!" sassed Gary, tilting his head. "Now drop the fucking gun, before I blow your head off! Don't think I won't do it! Mama Oak didn't raise a bitch!"
"Go ahead, I implore you to give it a shot! From 100 yards away? You can't touch this!" taunted Wade. "You've never used that thing in your life, I can just tell! The recoil alone will probably break your twig of an arm!"
"Fuck you! I lift!" roared Gary. "I'm the baddest mofo out here, bar none! You know who you're dealing with? You're not dealing with some simpy little cuck that can't kill a fella if he has to! You're dealing with Gary Motherfucking Oak, the best of the best! Top of the goddamn gene pool, cream of the crop! Big brained! I am quite literally the smartest person here right now, by a country mile!"
"Hate to tell ya kid, but your smarts wont do jack shit for you in this situation." declared Wade, pointing his gun at Gary. "Lets see how powerful that brain of yours is when there's a hole in it."
"Hole or not, I'm definitely smarter than you." answered Gary, nonchalantly putting his gun back in his lab coat. His mouth curved into a clever grin. "I did just keep your dumb ass occupied for an entire minute and 9 seconds. All while pointing a plastic water-gun at you."
"So wha-"
The conversation came to an abrupt end as suddenly, Wade found his face becoming very intimate with the dirt he was previously standing on. As he wondered what on earth had just happened, he realized someone was definitely shoving his face into the ground, their grip on the back of his head a tight one. He tried to lift his head somewhat, but all he was able to accomplish was turning it slightly to the left, allowing him to see a blue glow coming from whoever was holding him down.
But who was he kidding? He knew who it was.
"What did you do to them?" asked none other than Ash Ketchum, the Chosen Guardian of the Aura. "I'll only ask once."
"Heh, why should I tell you anything?" chortled Wade, managing to keep his cool even in the face of a foe far stronger than him. "My lips are sealed."
"If I were you I'd reconsider." replied Ash, shoving Wade's face into the ground even harder. His hand was already smoldering with Aura. "You were talking a big game earlier, blowing my friends' heads off and all. If you don't tell me what the hell is going on here, you're about to feel some real irony, on a morbid scale."
"Go ahead, kill me. Pop my head like a balloon with your oh-so-righteous Aura." dared Wade. "That'll just keep them trapped forever. You may have the power in this situation, but I have the control."
"The hand." echoed Lucario's voice. "It's coming from his artificial hand..."
"What is it?" spoke Ash aloud.
The question was meant for both Lucario and Wade. Ash glanced at Wade's prosthetic hand. It looked like a normal prosthetic, but it was abundantly clear that the energy they'd all sensed - as well as the black hexagonal pattern that stretched across the ground - was emanating from it. Just one look at May, Max, and Serena's faces, and he could tell whatever they were experiencing was nothing short of Hell on Earth. Ash had only avoided the pattern by leaping into the air and landing directly on top of Wade, but Pikachu... Pikachu hadn't been so lucky.
Pikachu opened his eyes, wondering where he was. Just moments ago, he'd been running back to the lab with Ash, but now he found himself in an all white room, with no exits whatsoever.
And then, it happened.
Thousands upon thousands of pokeballs came flying in his direction, all of them flying with the intent to capture him. Pikachu's eyes widened.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"
"Well, if you must know..." began Wade.
"It is..." continued Lucario. "Black Magic."
"Black Magic...?" questioned Ash. "Like, witchcraft or voodoo?"
"Yes..." answered Lucario, his voice grave in tone. "I will explain the details of it later, but for now, we must focus on freeing the Fellowship from his hold. Black Magic revolves around items known as "catalysts". For the user to access the magic, their body must be in contact with the catalyst. In this case, the catalyst seems to be his artificial hand."
"So I just have to remove it?" asked Ash. "Hm, seems simple enough."
Ash reached for the prosthetic with his free hand. But Wade was no fool. When Ash went for it, he moved his arm one way. When Ash's hand followed, he moved it another. This repeated for 30 whole seconds, an elaborate game of cat and mouse, the hunter and the hunted. But eventually, Ash grabbed the hand, tugging at it as soon as he did. The hunt had come to an end.
Seeing as his only leverage in the situation was literally about to be snatched away, Wade had no choice but to resort to desperate measures. Right as Ash was about to remove the hand entirely, it suddenly burst with the same dark energy as before, the force of the blast enough to make Ash let go. But the energy did not dissipate like before. Instead it stayed in tact after the small blast. It began to slowly sink through the air, landing on the dirt around Wade's prosthetic like a pitch black syrup. The strange liquid began to increase in volume, until it grew to a puddle that surrounded both Wade and Ash entirely. It then sunk into the ground.
Ash glared at his surroundings, preparing himself for anything.
"What the hell..." he muttered, eyebrows furrowed. He'd never seen anything like this, and his Masters had never told him of anything like this. "What did you just doOooOooOoooOO-"
The ground began to rumble, specifically around Ash and Wade. Cracks began to appear in the dirt around them, until finally, the ground beneath them quickly raised itself an entire foot into the air. Once airborne, the chunk of earth flipped itself over like a coin and planted itself back in the ground, a dust cloud rising afterwards. Startled by the unexpected speed of it all, Ash had allowed himself to be completely buried, with Wade seeming to have suffered the same fate.
"What the..." murmured Gary, watching from afar.
He could barely believe his eyes. What a day it had been for him. A little over an hour ago he'd been in his lab, doing his thing. And now, supernatural phenomenon after supernatural phenomenon unfolded before his eyes, with no end to the craziness in sight. Seeing as Ash had just been swallowed by the ground, he instinctively began to take a step forward. He stopped himself however, his mind remembering that if he'd gotten any closer, he'd fall victim to Wade's magic.
But maybe he didn't have to do anything? As the smoke cleared, he began to make out what appeared to be someone emerging from the ground. Willing to bet all the money he had that Ash was stronger than Wade, he assumed it was the former.
"...Ashy-boy?" inquired Gary under his breath. "That you, bud?"
The smoke cleared completely, revealing that Gary was wrong. It was Wade. Gary frowned.
Meanwhile, Wade stood up, freed from his self-inflicted burying. He brushed some dirt out of his hair before looking around, a somewhat bewildered look on his face. He'd kept his cool during Ash's short interrogation, and that was far from an easy task. He could feel that the Chosen Guardian was all too serious about killing him. It took all the bravado in his soul to not soil his Fruit of the Loom underwear right then and there.
"I gotta get the fuck outta here." he declared, shaking his head.
"Don't even think about it!" shouted Gary Oak, from 100 yards away, gun in hand.
"Not this shit again..." growled an exasperated Wade, turning to Gary. "Were you dropped on the head as a kid or something?! You already told me that gun was a fake, I'm not gonna fall for this charade twi-"
Wade's mouth immediately shut itself as soon as he heard the unmistakable sound of a single gunshot. His eyes grew wide as he saw ribbons of smoke come from the gun Gary held.
"You thought I was serious when I said it was a toy gun? Twas nothin' but a bluff within a bluff." revealed Gary, a wild grin on his face. "I dunno pal, it seems like your parents had the butter fingers, not mine."
Wade glared at Gary and then looked down at his body, immediately wondering where he'd been shot. He didn't feel any pain, so where...? His answer became clear as soon as his gaze traveled to his prosthetic hand. The top half of it had been completely blown off by Gary's shot.
"No no no no no no..." he muttered, panic setting in.
Wade looked on the ground, and noticed the area of effect for his magic getting slowly smaller and smaller. Within 60 seconds, May, Max, and Serena would definitely be freed, and able to get within arm's reach of him. This was not how things were supposed to go, not at all. Well aware that the battle had been lost, Wade immediately reached into his pocket, pulling out a walkie talkie of sorts. He quickly put the device to his mouth, his eyes locked on Gary. He knew the brown-haired Researcher wouldn't shoot him dead while he still had a hold on Serena, Max, and May, or else they'd be trapped forever. But he had a feeling that as soon as they were freed... he'd be a sitting duck.
"This is Officer Wade Felix," he panted, nearly fumbling on his words. "I'm requesting IMMEDIATE transportation by portal for Officers Giovanni, Borsch, Cassidy, and myself to Sinnoh Base. Not a drill. Code 294824. Please respond."
The walkie talkie vibrated less than a second later.
"Granted." answered a voice from the device.
A portal immediately began to materialize next to Wade, but slowly. The same seemed to happen for Butch and Cassidy as well.
"Awww no." growled Gary, reloading his pistol. "You sons 'a bitches blew up half my lab. I'd listen to a 6ix9ine album on repeat before I let you get away."
Gary fired two more shots at Wade, one hitting the villain's leg and the other hitting his prosthetic hand. More chunks of the hand flew off, and as a result, Wade's magic began to deplete even faster. As this happened, the ground beneath Wade began to rumble and break, the bright blue light of Aura shining through the cracks. Wade looked down, well aware that he was screwed if the portal didn't hurry and finish forming.
"Come on, come on, come on..." seethed Wade through gritted teeth, begging the portal to complete itself. "Pleas-"
The ground beneath Wade finally opened, blue energy spewing from the fissure. The shockwave alone was enough to completely cancel out the remaining magic Wade had on the field, subsequently releasing May, Max, Serena, and Pikachu from his spell. Out of the ground climbed none other than Ash Ketchum, covered in dirt from head to toe. In fact, the only parts of him that weren't a dusty brown were his eyes, which held a fierce, blue gaze focused solely on Wade.
"Nice trick." commended Ash, cracking his knuckles. His voice was calm, but a dangerous calm. "But it'll take a little more than that to knock me dow-"
Never one to freeze up under pressure, Wade quickly charged up a Dark Aura Sphere in his real hand and fired it at Ash's face, quite effectively knocking our hero down. As Ash fell onto his back, Wade looked behind him, and saw that the portal was just about finished forming. He began to hop towards it, his gunshot wound from Gary rendering one leg unusable.
But unfortunately for him, he had more to worry about than just Ash.
"You're... not... getting away..." growled a voice all too familiar. "Get... back here... Wade!"
Wade glanced behind him and saw a newly freed May Maple just feet away from him, stumbling closer and closer. In response, he turned back around and hopped towards the portal even faster. It had to have been the slowest, most clumsy chase ever, but it was of colossal importance to both people involved. But May's resolve to catch her prey proved itself to be stronger than Wade's will to escape; she'd managed to grab hold of him right as he entered the portal.
Meanwhile, Serena and Max came to, the former's head still spinning from the experience Wade's spell had put her through. Her vision returned to her before her sense did, however. And so, when she saw a brown-haired female just a few yards away, her mind immediately identified her as the woman her entire illusion had been focused on.
"M-...Mom!" drawled Serena, barely in control of her own body.
The honey blonde beauty sloppily ran towards May and Wade, eyes half open. Once close enough, she leaped onto May and Wade, ushering all three of them into the portal. Still immobilized by ice, Max eyes widened, the teen having just fully regained his senses as this happened.
"We have to go after them!" shouted Max, channeling his Aura in an effort to destroy the ice around him. "May!"
Fully recovered from Wade's unexpected attack on his face, Ash stood to his feet and rushed towards the portal. At the rate it was closing, it was all too evident he wouldn't make it in time, let alone fit through the tiny hole it had become. But luckily, there happened to be an ally small and nimble enough to get the job done.
"Pikachu!" roared Ash, his tone one of desperation. "Go!"
"Yessir! I got thisss...!" declared Pikachu, his voice slurred. "Goodness... my head is fuckin' pounding..."
Much closer to the portal than Ash was, Pikachu quickly shrugged off his dizziness and leaped into what little space of the gateway remained. He had truly entered at the last second, for the portal shrunk into nothingness almost immediately after. Staring at where the portal had just been, Ash balled his fists, well aware that wherever May, Serena, and Pikachu had ended up... they weren't safe. He felt an anger swell from deep within as he came to terms with the fact that 3 friends he held dear were just taken from him, stolen by the enemy.
But as quick as the anger came, it left. He'd come to an understanding within himself, and he was sure it was an understanding that would don upon Wade very soon. It was no secret that Ash would come for those he held close to his heart, especially when it came to May, Serena, and Pikachu. He didn't know how much information the Dark Order had on him, but they'd at least know that. Yes, they'd be expecting him. But expecting him didn't mean they'd be ready for him. No... the way he felt at that moment... no one would be ready.
The battle had ended, but the war was just beginning.
And that's that!
Where will Serena, May, and Pikachu end up?
How will Ash, Max, and Gary get to them?
What's the meaning of this "Black Magic" Wade uses?
Find out the answers to all these questions and more in the next chapter of Pokemon: The Fellowship of the Aura!
It's good to be back,
~DarkSlash9
P.S. Keep on the lookout for the next chapter of Pokemon: Divinus (for those who read it), it's high time I wrap that saga up!
