Hey all! Sorry for taking so long with this one. I didn't write for about a month. The combined weight of being an essential worker (oh yes, because PIZZA SHOPS are SO essential to the American public), schoolwork, and the general stress of this whole situation murdered my drive to write for a while. But, with the semester over and me leaving my apartment to visit home for a few weeks, I really think I can make up for it by having the next chapter out pretty soon. I'll be starting it right away!
Speaking of the next chapter, make sure you read the Author's Note at the end of this one!
Speaking of THIS chapter... If you've been a fan of my writing for a while, then there's definitely a fun little Easter Egg or two in this one. :)
Welp, enjoy the chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own pokemon.
XVI
The sun was shining, the windows were down, and the sunglasses were equipped. Nothing but open road lay ahead, the double yellow lines in the center seeming to continue forever. It was a beautiful day to cruise with no destination in mind, going wherever the steering wheel saw fit.
The car was moving fast. With the windows lowered, the velocity created an abrasively refreshing breeze, causing the hair of both the vehicle's riders to whip around. It was barely a concern at first, but eventually, the car's driver grew weary of her honey blonde threads getting caught in her shades. But instead of closing her window, she simply removed her eyewear, revealing sky blue eyes with gentle iridescences of cyan.
Liking the driver's idea, the passenger removed his sunglasses as well, grinning.
"It's always nice being able to see those." he commented. "You really do have amazing eyes. You know that, right?"
"Yes, Ash." answered Serena, eyes on the road. She was smiling... and blushing. "You've told me. A lot. This is the second time today, actually."
"That is just objectively false." chuckled Ash, looking out the window in mock-defensiveness. "When did I say it earlier?"
"Back at home, when I came back inside from getting the mail. And, speaking of home, I'm gonna start heading us back. The Sun's starting to set. Anyway, you've complimented my eyes twice today."
"Look," began Ash, turning back to the woman beside him. "I can't help but praise the things I love, Serena-"
Ash froze, his eyes widening. Not much had changed since the last time he looked to his left, which was some 8-10 seconds earlier. In fact, there was still a pair of blue eyes staring right back at him But they weren't the light, vivid blue he'd just confessed his love for. No, instead he found his gaze returned by a pair of darker blue eyes, eyes with irises the colors of sapphires and deep oceans.
"...Who's Serena?" asked none other than May, decelerating the car by about half the speed.
Still completely flabbergasted by the existential switcheroo he'd just been dealt, Ash continued to stare at who used to be Serena.
"Ash..." continued May, her tone uneven. "Who is Serena? Why did you call me that? We don't know a Serena... At least, I don't..."
As soon as he heard that last line by May, a sharp chill tore through Ash's chest. He knew what she was suspecting, and just the very thought of doing such a thing to his wife of 5 years caused his eyes to sting; a prelude to tears.
"N-No!" he stammered, rubbing the tears away before they could fall. "C'mon, you know I'd never do anything like that. I love you! I'd never do anything that'd hurt you like that, May-"
Ash removed his fingers from his eyes, and when he did, a small, mortified shriek sounded from his throat. May was no longer driving the car. It was Serena again. However, though the woman had changed, the expression did not. Serena's face bore the same confusion, suspicion, fear, and hurt May's had just shown. It was as if one had tagged the other in, instantly and without trace.
"Who is May?" asked Serena, parking the car. "Ash... are you-... You're not cheatin-"
"No! I'm not! I'm faithful!" cried Ash, losing what little composure his mind could afford him. "Serena, I-"
As he spoke, Ash blinked his eyes. It was a standard blink, nothing special. His eyes were closed for about a 50th of a second, give or take a few nanoseconds. When they opened, Serena was gone, and May was there.
"Ash..." uttered May, stopping the car. "Why?"
Before Ash could even think of opening his mouth to reply, May began to shudder, as if she were shivering. The shaking seemed to intensify as it went on, at a distinctly violent rate, no less. By the 10 second mark, it could not be deemed as anything other than convulsing. Concerned for the woman he loved, Ash reached out to her. But his hand was slapped away by May, whose body was still jolting.
"Don't touch me!" she hissed, her hair starting to sprout honey blonde highlights. "YOU did this to me!"
"I-"
"YoU'Ve bEEN plaYiNG wITh mE! PLaYING WiTh US!"
As May continued to speak, her voice became more and more distorted, becoming a botched fusion of her own and Serena's. As she continued to seize and hurl accusations at Ash through gritted teeth and foaming mouth, the car itself began to melt, the Sun's heat inexplicably tripling. The star's radiance grew thrice in intensity as well, its orange light slowly but surely blinding any eye that dared to remain open.
Ash kept his open as long as possible, watching as May - or Serena's - body began to morph into someone he'd never seen before, a fusion of both girls. For a second, even with the all the chaos of what was happening, and the terrifying state she was in... Ash marveled at her beauty. Even through the Sun's increasingly harsh rays, he could see her blue eyes, one of which was Serena's blue and the other May's. Still intent on trying to help, Ash continued to reach for the girl next to him. Even with the crude light scorching his retinas, as long as he could still see her, he mused... he could still help.
But she was getting further and further away. As she got further, her body began to melt along with their surroundings. What was once a simple sedan had become a long, melting tunnel with horridly powerful light invading through the newly extended windshield. Ash attempted to remove his seatbelt so he could reach her better, but as soon as the buckle unclasped, the Sun's light and heat tripled yet again, burning everything in sight to a crisp.
As the spontaneous combustions of heat ate away at Ash's body, the otherworldly sunlight reduced his eyes to stray atoms. Through the hellish pain, all he could focus on were the distant cries of Serena-May, who seemed to be experiencing the same fate.
"Ngh!" grunted Ash, waking up.
He immediately looked to his left, and saw no one but Pikachu curled up, asleep. He looked to his right, and saw nothing but the fabric of his tent. He then looked down at himself, spotting countless beads of sweat stationed on his bare chest. He then sighed, covering his face with his hand.
Another nightmare.
In the 3 days that had passed since May and Serena's fight, his nights had been riddled with them. Each evening he'd laid his head to rest, his subconscious would bombard him with some sort of stressful, scary, or downright disturbing scenario. And of course, the main characters of these situations were always himself and the two young women in question. The nightmares were a direct reflection of his state of mind in the past 3 days: conflict. The Fellowship had certainly taken a turn for the more awkward since that day, and not a moment had gone by that Ash hadn't thought about his role in the aforementioned change.
Deciding that returning to sleep wasn't an option, our hero stood up, his Aura Guardian attire mystically replacing the loose gym shorts he used for pajamas. From the soft light glimmering through the edges of his tent, he could tell the Sun had already risen, but was still in the early stages of its daily path; the perfect time for a walk through the woods. Alone.
Leaving Pikachu to continue sleeping, Ash parted the curtains of his tent, stepping outside.
"Rough night?"
"What the-..." uttered the Chosen Guardian, startled. Standing before him was a young brunette wearing a blue Fellowship cloak, as well as a pink and white visor she'd forced Gary to buy for her. "Rosa...? How did you-"
"You had a nightmare. Again." explained Rosa. "The fact that I can remotely sense them when you're the most powerful Aura user around means they must be pretty darn awful. Goin' on a walk?"
"Yes." answered Ash, walking past Rosa. "I'll be back soon."
"I've got a better idea." replied the brunette, turning around. "Why don't the three of us go on a little field trip? You, me, and Nate, I mean."
"I'm really not in the mood for anything like that right now." answered Ash, continuing to walk further into the Johto woods. "I've got a lot on my mind."
"No kidding."
Ash stopped walking.
"What exactly do you want from me?" he snapped, turning around to face Rosa.
"I already said what I want. A field trip."
"Where do you want to go so bad that you've creepily stood outside my tent for an unknown amount of time, waiting for me to come out?"
"I was only standing there for 57 minutes." corrected Rosa, as if it were a perfectly normal amount of time. "Anyway, we're going to go get your Charizard. He's one of the only pokemon of yours that you can still recruit, since all the others are lost in the datascape for the foreseeable future. You left him in the Charicific Valley, right? That's not too far, and this is likely the closest we'll be to it for the remainder of our quest."
"Do you just know everything about everyone? By just looking at them?" asked Ash, greatly perturbed by Rosa's knowledge. "That's not creepy or invasive at all."
"I only bother remembering the important things." replied Rosa, her face neutral. "But, as I was saying, that's where I want us to go. If you haven't noticed, you and I have never had an opportunity to talk one-on-one since we've met. This'll be good for us. Good for you. We both know you want your Charizard, and we both know I'm the most qualified person here for helping someone clear their head. To be perfectly frank, you don't have many valid reasons to say no."
"Besides the completely valid reason of wanting to be alone right now... *sigh* Alright. We'll go." conceded Ash. His decision was guided less by the prospect of spending time with Rosa, and more so by the idea of reuniting with Charizard. "I don't know how much talking you want to do, though; with Max's Gardevoir teleporting us there, I can't imagine us being gone for too long..."
"Max isn't here."
"What? What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said: he's not here. I literally cannot clarify that news any further." stated Rosa, raising an eyebrow. "About an hour and a half ago, Max, Serena, and Gary teleported somewhere. I wasn't awake enough to ask or read where they were going before they left, so there's no telling when they'll be back."
"I see..." muttered Ash, cupping his chin in deep thought. "Oh! You know psychic-type moves, right? I guess you can teleport us to the Charicific Valley."
"No."
"No?"
"No." answered Rosa, curtly.
She then walked over to the center of the camp, where the remnants of the previous night's fire pit lay. Sleeping by the pile of charred wood and ashes was none other than Nate. He was curled up in a ball, lightly snoring in rejuvenating bliss. Upon her arrival, Rosa knelt beside him, gently tapping his forehead.
"Nate will transform and fly us there." she sighed, her tone having become noticeably more somber. "It's better this way, anyway. Now we'll have time to talk. See? It's all coming together."
Confused, but not enough to ask any questions, Ash silently nodded his head and watched as Rosa continued to wake Nate up. Nate seemed adamant on not doing so, however. Ash continued to awkwardly watch Rosa poke Nate's face with her pinky finger. It was pretty obvious Nate was already conscious, but it was equally as apparent that he wanted to sleep more.
"This is gonna take a minute or two." she muttered, glancing over her shoulder at Ash. "Got anything to do before we go?"
Ash looked up at the sky for a second, checking his bases. Once the light bulb in his head turned on, he looked to his right, spotting the tent May and Max shared.
"Dear May,
Rise and shine. Me, Nate, and Rosa are going on a "field trip" to the Charicific Valley to get my Charizard. We'll be gone for a decent chunk of the day, so you're on your own for today's training, at least until I get back. I want you to meditate on your Aura and attempt to form a perfect Aura Sphere in your hands. Concentrate, breathe, tap into your power, channel it into your hands, and mold it into a sphere. If you feel confident enough, try launching it.
Max, Serena, and Gary went off somewhere, so the only Fellowship members left at camp are you and Paul. It goes without saying, but you can't leave Paul alone. I'm leaving Pikachu at camp for extra protection as well.
One last thing... be careful aiming the Aura Sphere if you try shooting it. It's not as straightforward of a task as it seems.
Good luck,
-Ash"
May rolled her eyes.
"Oh, how hard can it be?" she mused, her voice raspy.
Still laying down, May put the note Ash left in her cloak and yawned. She'd woken up with the piece of paper resting on her face; quite the greeting. As she slowly sat up and brushed stray bangs of hair out of her face, she let out a deep, coarse sigh. The sigh was a manifestation of two different feelings May had felt as soon as she'd awoken.
The first was relief at the fact that Paul's Aura was the only Aura she sensed in her vicinity. Ash's letter only served to confirm that it was just the two of them, until anyone else returned. Frankly, such a low number of people around was welcome. Things had been quite awkward in recent days. It was suffocating, even for someone as upbeat as May. Paul was by far the most removed from all the madness; he was the ideal company to have.
The second reason she sighed ran a lot deeper than the first. It was largely a sigh of exasperation; she didn't feel like getting up at all. Just sitting up had felt like a monumental task, with every neuron in her head begging her to just lay back down and do nothing all day within the shadows of the tent.
The urge to isolate herself and vegetate in apathetic melancholy was strong, but she was stronger. At least, that was what she told herself every morning. With a quick countdown from 3, May forced herself onto her feet, letting out another yawn as she did. She then reached into her cloak, feeling for her medication. It was always in the same pocket, but much to the brunette's surprise... this time, it wasn't.
For a few moments, she searched both the tent and her own memories, thinking of where she could have misplaced such a valuable item. She always put the bottle back in the pocket after taking it, she mused. There was nowhere else it could be.
It was then that May raised a palm to her face, covering it. The previous day's training with Ash had come to mind. They had been working on her speed and agility, with Ash's lesson plan incorporating a vast array of acrobatics, quick movements, and sudden changes in momentum. That was the only time the bottle could have fallen out without her noticing. They had moved and trained all over the forest; their steps were virtually impossible to retrace.
The bottle was gone.
"...Uh oh." she uttered, blinking.
"So you're telling me I have to stay here with May and Paul to protect them from any potential dangers that occur in your prolonged absence?"
"...That is exactly what I said, yes."
"You're a hot pile of dookie crumbs, y'know that?" questioned Pikachu, crawling out of Ash's tent. "Y'all just ditched me to babysit two grown adults instead of taking me to reunite with one of the O.G. homies."
"Aw man, it certainly smells like whiny bitch in here." replied Ash, his voice echoing in Pikachu's mind. "Good thing I always have my 'get over it' scented Febreeze on deck."
"Don't go droppin' fragrance-based one-liners on me, ya damn deserter. I'm seriously enraged!" bellowed Pikachu, looking around.
It was daytime, and the camp was extremely quiet. At the center of it all, where the fire pit was, sat Paul. His eyes were closed in deep meditation. Unlike his mediation session on the day of May and Serena's battle, this one seemed to actually be working. Pitch black and dark violet wisps of energy softly radiated from his body like steam, giving the purple-haired officer quite the appearance in terms of ominousness.
On the other side of the fire pit, but not as close to the ashes and wood as Paul was, sat May. She also seemed to be conducting her own meditation, the all too familiar azure glow of Aura gently illuminating her frame. Pikachu's gaze lingered on May for a second, sensing a different vibe to her Aura than usual. Her Aura was usually like a raging ocean, with countless waves crashing back and forth in Chaotic Good fashion. But the Aura Pikachu sensed was more of a low tide, the waters greatly subdued.
Dismissing the phenomenon as a product of the brunette's meditation, Pikachu returned his attention to more pressing matters.
"They're literally just sitting here, bro!" he cried, incredulously. "You really don't give two shits about me, huh? You took LUCARIO, who hasn't even MET Charizard before, but left ME here. How? HOWWWW?!"
"In my defense, all of this happened out of nowhere." answered Ash. "My bad for not considering your feelings."
"Yeah, properly considering the feelings of others before your actions..." snorted Pikachu, kicking some dirt. "Ain't too good at that, are ya?"
"... :( ..."
"Whatever." grumbled the yellow rodent, knowing Ash wouldn't have a solid comeback for at least 3-5 business days. "Just go back to gossiping with Rosa, I guess I'll just rot here all day."
"Gossiping?" thought Ash, rolling his eyes. Nate, having been successfully awakened, had shifted into the form of a Charizard, and was smoothly flying his two passengers through the Johto skies. "You'd be freaking surprised. For someone that was so bent on having the chance to talk to me, she's been ridiculously quiet. Y'know she was waiting outside our tent for 57 minutes this morning? Just so she could 1) flex the fact that she can sense my nightmares, and 2) ask to go on this trip? I swear, she's possibly the oddest person I've ever me-"
"You met Kamerion." stated Rosa, interrupting our hero's thoughts. "I'm definitely not the oddest person you've ever met."
"Y'know, I really feel like you're invading my privacy." droned Ash, abandoning his mental conversation with Pikachu.
Rosa's eyes narrowed.
"Believe me..." she muttered. "The feeling is mutual."
Rosa was sitting in the front - Nate didn't allow anyone else ride him unless they were in a life or death situation, such as the battle with Kamerion. But at Rosa's behest, he let Ash on, but refused to let the raven-haired Guardian be the first rider. And so, Ash was stationed snugly behind Rosa, being forced to wrap his arms around her waist for support while his longer legs spooned her shorter ones. It was certainly an awkward position to be in for two people who barely knew each other.
"Anyway," continued Rosa. "I'm sorry for being so quiet. I was thinking some things over. Let's talk now."
"About...?"
"Ourselves. We ask things, and we answer things. Get to know the other person a little better, and maybe help them address some issues they may be dealing with." explained Rosa, looking at the clouds above through emotionally neutral eyes. "I promise I wont read you during it; conversations like these are best had when they're organic. Nothing's off the table, any questions are welcome."
"Alright..." muttered Ash, thinking of a question for Rosa. "I got one: Why can't you use Teleport?"
"..."
"...I mean, nothing's off the table, right?"
"Fair..." sighed Rosa, lowering her head. "The answer isn't simple, so get comfortable. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm sure you already are. *ahem* As you know, Nate and I were meant to be super soldiers based off the pokemon types we have the DNA for, while still having the intelligence and form of humans... if we want to. When I explained Nate and I's nature to everyone else back at Kamerion's base, I told them we were perfect embodiments of fire and psychic types, but that wasn't completely true. Yes, we're successes in what Dr. Feinberg was trying to create, but personally, I don't see us as perfect."
"Why not?"
"We still feel." answered Rosa. "When we use our powers, we feel them. Nate doesn't sustain burns, but he feels the heat of his own fire when he uses it. He feels the pain. It just doesn't injure him. When he shapeshifts into fire-types, he feels his muscles morphing and his bones bending to completely new shapes. When I read people, I feel pressure in my head, as I'm essentially forcing new knowledge into my head, instantly. I'm sure you've noticed, but I prefer using my powers as painlessly as possible when compared to Nate. Even with the pain tolerance I have from all Feinberg's experiments, the feeling of my body twisting and turning into a whole different creature is just too much for me to willingly engage in when I can get by without it. The reason Nate does it all the time with no problems is because he was trained to. The edge that having a psychic-type human on your side gives you doesn't require me to transform. Reading minds is more than enough of an asset. But fire is used for offense. His whole appeal in battle is versatile offense. Nate needed to be able to transform to different fire-types to be of maximum use to the Dark Order. So they made him do it all day and every day, until the pain didn't faze him anymore."
"That's awful..." murmured Ash. "So, if you feel every power you use, then... when you use Teleport...?"
"I feel every atom in my body being ripped apart and put back together in a different place." confirmed Rosa. "It's the most painful of all my abilities, by a large margin. I've only been able to fully perform it twice. Both times were small distances, no more than 2 or 3 feet away. And both times, the pain I felt in that split second was so massive that my body went into shock for 12 hours afterwards."
"Jeez..."
"Yeah. So, that's why I can't use Teleport." concluded Rosa.
"...Insane."
"I suppose that's one word for it..." muttered Rosa. "Regardless, your question's answered. Now, it's my turn."
"Fire away."
Rosa closed her eyes and raised her head, smiling as the sun's vibrant warmth graced it.
"May," she started. "or Serena?"
"..."
"Did you honestly think I'd ask anything else?" giggled Rosa, reopening her eyes. "You've got some explaining to do, oh glorious Chosen Guardian. The very day we arrived in Johto, you and May were training. We were all in our usual states of mind. By the end of that very same day, Serena adopted the lifestyle of an isolationist. It was unexpected for her to wander off with Max and Gary today; she's been spending her days out in the forest, alone with her pokemon from sunrise to sunset. Meanwhile there's May, who feels perpetual guilt for her assumed hand in whatever Serena's problems are. She's been nowhere near as uppity as usual. And then there's you. You're aware that this entire romantic rigmarole has a direct correlation with your behavior, and it weighs on you to the point of suffering persistent nightmares. Yet you don't really do anything to solve the problem itself. You've just become uncomfortably platonic with both girls, which really just makes things even more awkward. Lastly, there's the rest of us. On top of trying to help save the world, we have to endure your dragged out soap opera. Trust me, that's not fun either."
"I literally do not know what I am doing." droned Ash, closing his eyes. "I try my best to do what I feel I'm supposed to do in every situation, whether it be saving the world, or comforting a loved one. But, as we've seen, I just screw up and forget about the bigger picture whenever push comes to shove. My actions either make things worse, bite me in the ass, or both."
"You don't think too much, do you?"
"Why do you feel the need to-"
"I don't mean it as an insult." clarified Rosa. "I mean that you make a lot of choices with your heart, rather than your brain. That's noble and all, but it's obviously not doing you any favors in the situation at hand. May and Serena are both deeply in love with you, and you're responding to both of their advances, most of the time in private. Common sense dictates that that's a recipe for disaster. Something's gotta give, Ash. We can't continue this quest with drama in the way, so I'm asking you: May, or Serena?"
Ash's gaze fell to the landscapes below, a troubled look in his eyes.
"It's not that simple..." he whispered, more to himself than Rosa.
"Being complex doesn't exempt the answer from being overdue."
"...I'll settle this whole thing by the end of the week, alright?" croaked Ash, forcing the words out. "Is that good enough for you?"
"Hey," said Rosa, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not here to force any specific deadlines on you. I'm just telling you we can't accomplish our goal until you make your choice. But yeah, the end of this week sounds pretty neat. So, within the next 4 days then?"
"Within the next 4 days." confirmed Ash, his voice hollow.
"Sounds like a plan. Gotta say, I'm excited to see how things play out." chuckled Rosa, smirking. "Anyway, I guess you've kinda answered my question. Enough to satisfy me. Your turn."
"Give me a minute..." mumbled Ash.
He didn't need that minute to think of a question. It was a moment that's true purpose was rooted in providing time for Ash to cope with the gravity of the mission he'd just given himself. It felt like an impossible task.
Impossible, but imperative.
[Camp...]
"This is fucking impossible..." seethed May through gritted teeth.
Her meditation wasn't going very well. One could even argue she wasn't getting anywhere at all in it. Even when she actually had her medication, she was far from skilled at calling upon her Aura with the same type of precision Ash could. But now, with nothing to help her keep balance in her mind, her Aura felt intangible, with each effort to meditate on it pathetically falling through the cracks. She was experiencing a depressive episode, one of the two major moods her unmedicated mind haphazardly shifted between every couple of days/weeks. At least if she were manic, she mused, she'd be uppity enough to find some motivation.
"Pi?"
May opened her eyes, spotting a familiar yellow mouse standing at her side. Pikachu looked somewhat concerned for her, as he surely must've sensed something was off with her Aura. And if the Aura wasn't enough, she had just cursed, which was something the brunette didn't do all that much in comparison to other Fellowship members. Once May had made eye contact with the electric-type, she immediately reached for Glaceon's ball and released her. At the moment, interaction was the last thing May wanted; pokemon were not exempt from that. Luckily, releasing Glaceon yielded the desired result: she and Pikachu greeted each other and immediately walked off to go do their own thing.
With Pikachu and Glaceon occupied, May returned to her meditating. Once again, a blue glow surrounded her body, but that was all that happened. All she was really trying to do was properly channel the Aura into her hands in hopes of making an Aura Sphere, but that simple phenomenon refused to happen. What made it all the more frustrating was that she'd managed to shoot a shoddy, illegitimate Aura Sphere back at Kamerion's base a few days prior. Her current inability to replicate something as elementary as that truly spoke to the Maple Clan's close connection between Aura and emotion, and it truly fed into the one emotion she was actually feeling at the moment.
Anger.
Deciding to just give in to it and wallow in wrathful self-pity for a while, May abandoned her practice in favor of thinking about all the reasons why she was currently unhappy. It had been a long time since she'd allowed herself to marinate in her own negativity. As dark of a place as it was, there was always something strangely enticing about it; it was if she didn't want to feel better. And so, she continued. The more she thought, the more build-up she felt in the core of her being. This catharsis was what she needed. This was what she wanted. Life was awful. Her meditation was pointless. With death being an unavoidable truth for every living thing, what was the point in trying to save the world anyway? No matter what, the same people being saved would just die later. Why was she wasting time trying to help Ash save them? Why did Blaziken waste his own life to save her when was just going to die someday anyway? They both were. Everyone was. Everything life had to offer was just a waste-
"Ungh!"
May opened her eyes, hearing the voice that had suddenly invaded her ears. It seemed like her Aura had begun to react to her downward spiral of thoughts, because it seemed to be spread about 20 feet in every direction, violently swirling around. Unfortunately, Paul was close enough to get caught up in it. May gasped; she'd been so immersed in her own head that she'd completely forgotten Paul was even there to begin with. Her Aura seemed to have disrupted his mediation, for the black energy that had been calmly dancing around him had become completely unstable.
"Oh man, I'm sorry Paul." sighed May, as she called her Aura back. "I was just-... Paul?"
Even after May dismissed her Aura, Paul's energy continued to thrash and flail about, growing even more unruly. Paul's eyes were still closed, but there was undeniably way more strain present on his face. The unexpected interruption from May's Aura had shaken the delicate hold he had over the Chaos Badge's immense power, and such a hold was hard to regain once disturbed.
"Paul?" repeated May, standing up. "Are you alri-"
Unable to control the power, Paul opened his eyes. His irises and pupils were completely gone, leaving two spheres of pure white. A split second after, a massive wave of black energy discharged from his body, quickly washing over May before she had a chance to even think of evading it. When the wave moved on and past May, she was completely gone, without a trace.
Sensing May's Aura vanishing from the area, Pikachu quickly emerged from his tent with Glaceon in tow. However, before either of them could discern what was happening, they too were washed away by the energy wave.
...
Soon after, the wave dissipated. As the Chaos Badge's energy returned to a calmer state, Paul's eyes returned to normal, his consciousness returning to the forefront of his mind. His eyes were wide, and his face was pale. However, the paleness wasn't from fatigue. It was from dread. Even though everything that had just happened was a complete blur to him, he was still more or less aware of what had just happened. Just like when he'd sent that Dark Order grunt to the ocean when the Fellowship was at the Veilstone City Pokemon Center, he knew where he'd sent May, Pikachu, and Glaceon.
The problem was getting them back.
"Fuck."
[Johto Skies...]
"Hm?" hummed Ash, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" inquired Rosa.
They were still on their way to the Charicific Valley, and were still asking questions to pass the time. However, in the middle of his next question, Ash had stopped talking. Sensing the confusion riddling his head, Rosa repeated her question.
"What? What happened?"
"My connection to Pikachu's been cut off." he stated, his expression blank.
"I'm assuming that's abnormal?"
"It's never happened before, not in this manner at least. A cut like this shouldn't be possible unless we both purposely sever it simultaneously." explained Ash. "Lucario? Any idea what just happened?"
"I'm afraid I am just as puzzled as you are. Even if he were to have lost consciousness or were under the influence of Black Magic that blocks our communication, we would still sense traces of his presence in the link. It seems that somehow, he's forcibly ripped himself out of it without a mutual separation."
"Should we be concerned?"
"...Perhaps. However, given how close we are to the Charicific Valley, I do not think it is something worth turning around for. It is Pikachu, after all."
"Not wrong there. He's probably finally gotten alone time with Glaceon. You know how he feels about eeveelutions." thought Ash, returning his attention to Rosa. "It's probably nothing, though. So, uh, my turn to ask something, right?"
"Yup."
"What was life like before the Dark Order took you? I know you traveled with May, right?"
Rosa smiled.
"Oh, those were the days." she sighed, leaning her head back a little. "Back then, I knew her as Rachel. I was a pokemon trainer, and she was, well... a mystery. I was a lot more... animated than I am now, and she was a lot more... moody, so to speak. We traveled together for a year or two, I collected badges, and she watched over me. It was fun."
"I see. Did you have any hobbies?"
"Hmmm..." hummed Rosa, putting a finger to her chin. "I never got the chance to, but I did plan on collecting trading cards."
"Trading cards, huh?"
[? ? ?]
...
"I summon Bolt-Tailed Thunder Rodent, in Attack Mode!"
In a flash of rainbow light, Pikachu felt his body materialize in a setting completely different from the Fellowship's camp. He seemed to be on top of a skyscraper, with two men standing on opposite ends of the roof. The one in front of him was a lot further away. He was a tall young man with piercing blue eyes and brown, bowl-cut hair. Just one look at this man's outfit rendered Pikachu a fan; he was sporting a long, white jacket with a few more straps and zippers than truly necessary. But it was the extra-ness of this young man's attitude that brought the entire look together. That, and his overly dynamic pose.
Still, as cool as the guy looked, he was nothing compared to the guy standing just a few feet behind Pikachu. Never had he seen such colorful hair before. Was it blonde? Was it magenta? Was it black? Alas, it was all three. He seemed to be wearing a blue high school uniform with a black shirt underneath. Hanging around his neck (by a totally sick chain, no less) was an upside-down golden pyramid with an eye on it. Pikachu didn't know much about what was going on, but he knew one thing.
"This man's got drip." he thought, eyes wide.
But who was he?
"But that's not all, Kaiba!" continued the man with multicolored hair. "With my Bolt-Tailed Thunder Rodent's special effect, I can special summon another monster onto the field as well! This is the power of the Heart of the Cards! GO, ARCTIC FOX-DOG PUP!"
Pikachu's eyes widened as Glaceon materialized next to him, right as the man placed a brown trading card on a device attached to his forearm. Greatly confused, Glaceon looked at Pikachu. But he had no answers for her.
"Hmph. Those are some cuddly pets, Yugi. Am I supposed to be too enamored by their cuteness to attack?" spat the man on the other side of the roof, Kaiba. "Fat chance. If you think your woodland creatures and fairy-tale furballs will be enough to win you this duel, you're as dense of a duelist as Wheeler. Now, feast your eyes upon a real Duel Monster! I summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Right on cue, a massive dragon with shining white scales materialized on the other side of the battlefield. Between the colossal size, sharp teeth, wings, and beady blue eyes glaring right at them, Pikachu and Glaceon could not dub it as anything other than terrifying. And to top it all off, Pikachu could not sense Ash's presence in his mind in any way whatsoever. Their connection was cut, completely.
Too overwhelmed to bother questioning his situation, Pikachu let out a deep sigh and got ready to fight.
[? ? ?]
"May?"
May opened her eyes, a familiar yet unfamiliar voice prompting her to do so. Her current situation confused her right off the bat, because she was sure she hadn't been sleeping a mere 5 seconds ago. She was at camp, with Paul. But apparently something must have changed. Instead of camp, she found herself in a rather large bedroom, one with a second bed a couple feet away from the one she was laying on. Judging by the decor and various items laying around, the room seemed to be shared by two people, one of which was standing at the foot of the bed she'd awakened in.
He had tan skin, raven-black hair, and brown eyes.
"Ash...?" mumbled the brunette, raising an eyebrow.
He looked somewhat younger than the Ash she knew, and she sensed nothing powerful about his Aura whatsoever. This Ash seemed to be no different from the average person.
"How the heck are you up here?" asked Ash, mirroring May's raised eyebrow. "I literally just saw you downstairs with Red and Serena."
May blinked her eyes.
"Red...?" she inquired.
"Also, if I might ask..." continued Ash, taking a few steps closer. "Why are you dressed like... Hm, I don't even know what to call it. A blue wizard? Oh! You're not wearing a bandanna either! What's up with that?"
Still unable to figure out what was going on, May simply stared at Ash, desperately trying to figure out whether any of this was real or not. It certainly felt real.
"And to top it all off," said Ash, now arm's length away from May. "You seem very... deflated. What's wrong? Is everything alright? You're not sick, are you?"
Right as Ash raised his hand to feel May's forehead in search of a fever, wisps of black energy began to materialize around the brunette, quite violently. Having never seen anything like this before, Ash's eyes widened more than they ever had in his entire life.
"UHHHHHHH?!" he uttered, taking countless steps back.
He kept walking backward until his back was against the bedroom's door. By the time he'd bumped into the wooden entryway, the energy had ceased to exist, taking May with it. Beyond horrified at what he'd just witnessed, Ash proceeded to let out a deep, guttural scream with the force of a thousand teenage voice cracks. The scream was to continue for as long as his lungs would allow, as the young raven-haired teen was quite certain he'd just witnessed the shadows of the underworld abruptly claim the love of his life.
However, his cry would be cut short by the door he was leaning on being kicked open. While Ash fell face first onto the floor, the person responsible for kicking the door entered, followed by two young women. The young man responsible for Ash's fall calmly walked around the room in search of any dangers, feeling like quite the badass as he did it. He'd always wanted to kick open a door; that dream was finally fulfilled. But before he could bask in the glory of it all, he was shoved aside by a brunette who desperately wanted to get to Ash.
"Ash!" cried none other than May Maple, her voice laced with concern. She quickly knelt beside her boyfriend, cupping his face with her hands. "We heard you scream! So we had Red kick open the door even though it wasn't locked! Are you okay?!"
"What was all the commotion about?" asked Serena, hands on her hips. "You really scared the crap out of us, you know."
Wide-eyed, Ash looked straight into May's eyes for a solid 30 seconds before looking to Serena, then Red, and then the spot the other May had just been in before her disappearance.
"Uh-uhmm..." he stammered, standing up with May's help. "I, uh... Y'know what? It was nothing. Let's just go back downstairs."
Paul opened his eyes, his breathing labored and hoarse. He looked at his surroundings, and much to his exasperation, he was still alone at the camp. Throughout his days of meditation and private training, he'd come to realize that manipulating space was the easiest of his three abilities to use, but it was still quite tiring. Manipulating time was harder, and took a lot more out of him than manipulating space. And then there was manipulating dimensional passages and antimatter; the hardest and most strenuous of all. It was just his luck that in the one moment his grip over the Chaos Badge's powers was disturbed, he'd accidentally sent Pikachu, May, and Glaceon into different dimensions.
An entire hour had passed since they'd been whisked away by the wave of obsidian energy, and he'd just then made first contact with May's quantum signature. Unfortunately, his attempt to bring her back into their home dimension failed. She'd just been taken elsewhere, due to Paul's abysmal control over dimensional magic.
"Dammit..." he growled, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He didn't have much left in him. He had to bring May, Pikachu, and Glaceon back, before his body gave out. By the time he'd wake up from passing out, he'd lose all trace of them, which would be less than ideal. Unwilling to let that happen, Paul returned his focus to the Chaos Badge's power, giving it another shot.
"Come on..."
[? ? ?]
...
"...and that's what happened."
"So you're telling me that, at random, a mass of black energy formed on your ceiling and spit her out onto the floor?"
"Yes."
"Peculiar."
"Very. Should I call Drew, Serena, and Clemont?"
"No, I don't believe that's necessary yet. Though it does sound reminiscent of Haxs' shenanigans, there's no way for us to truly know if it was him. The only one that can really give us any insight on what happened to May is May, and she's... asleep... Oh."
"Yeah."
"I suppose Haxs may be involved, then... But-"
"Hold on, Dawn. She's waking up."
"Oh! Wonderful timing."
May opened her eyes, letting out a small grunt as she did so. Once again, she found herself in a bed, and once again, she was completely unfamiliar with her surroundings. She seemed to be in some sort of dorm or apartment. However, she had little time to analyze her location, because two people were peering down at her with two very different expressions: one of concern, and one of intrigue. May recognized the concerned one as Ash Ketchum (again) and the intrigued one as his past traveling companion, Dawn Berlitz. But, just like the Ash she'd been speaking to a few moments prior, there was something undoubtedly off about him. While this Ash certainly looked about the same age as the Ash she knew, his Aura was something else entirely. It was certainly powerful, but in a different way.
In fact, both Ash and Dawn felt quite different from any living creature May had ever encountered. They almost seemed... inhuman.
"May, what happened?" asked Ash, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You literally just fell through my ceiling and weren't moving, so I picked you up and put you in my-... wait... what happened to your-"
"May, how are your eyes completely blue again?" questioned Dawn, eyes narrowing in curiosity. "That shouldn't be possible."
"I'll tell you how it's possible. Haxs." seethed Ash, balling his fists. "This has his tea-sipping ass written all over it. Somehow he broke our connection. But... no, I still feel it. But I don't... what the... *sigh* Okay, now I'm just confused."
"How so?" asked Dawn.
"I still feel the life-link between May and I." stated Ash, eyes glowing blue. "So it's definitely not severed. But I don't feel it coming from May. But at the same time, I do. But not the May right here, if that makes sense. It feels like May is on her way up here right now, in the elevator. But she's right here. So there is, without a doubt, two of them. How on Earth did you clone yourself, May? That's my thing."
At the sight of Ash's eyes glowing blue the same way an Aura Guardian's would, May finally opened her mouth to speak. However, the opportunity to do so would be ripped from her hands before a single word could be said. Once again, the shadowy essence of the Chaos Badge suddenly enveloped her body, pulling her out of whatever dimension Paul had inadvertently hurled her into.
...
"Hey hey hey!" greeted May Maple, entering the room mere seconds after May vanished. "Oh, hey Dawn! Y'know, I thought I heard your voice on my way up. What's going on?"
Ash and Dawn turned around, rendered absolutely speechless by the entrance of a May Maple with irises that were blue in the outer sections, and brown in the inner areas around the pupils. This was the May they knew.
Noticing their perplexed gazes, May frowned.
"What?"
"Almost there..." wheezed Paul, his nose bleeding. "...Got it."
Paul opened his eyes, expecting to see May, Pikachu, and Glaceon in front of him. This time around, he was absolutely certain he'd returned all three of them to the dimension they belonged in, yet, once again, he found himself alone at the camp. Since he knew they were definitely in the right dimension at least, there were only three possibilities: they were either in the wrong place, the wrong time, or both. Luckily, spatial and temporal mishaps were easier problems to fix than dimensional ones. But with the scarce amount of vitality he had left, it was still going to be an arduous task to bring them back.
His head was pounding, his ears were ringing, and his body was aching... but he was almost there.
"Fine." he thought, taking a deep breath. "One more push..."
As he perused through the fabrics of reality, he managed to pinpoint where he'd sent Pikachu and Glaceon. They wouldn't be too hard to get back; they were relatively close, in both time and space. May, however...
"10,000 years in the past...?" grumbled Paul, eyes narrowing in frustration. "What a pain in the ass..."
[? ? ?: 10,000 years ago...]
At this point, May had given up on understanding what was going on. Instead of suddenly waking up in a new location like she had the previous two times, she was completely conscious when she arrived in her newest location. The last thing she remembered was looking at another Ash Ketchum with glowing blue eyes. Now, in the blink of an eye, Ash and his apartment were replaced with countless men and women with glowing blue eyes frantically running around in what seemed to be an archaic temple of sorts.
At the very least, May wondered why no one was confused to see her, like everyone else she'd recently spoken to was. But such ponderings were dismissed when she realized she blended right in with these people. They all wore the same blue cloak she did, or at least, similar ones.
These were Aura Guardians.
"Uh, excuse me," called May, reaching out for the nearest one. "What's all the commotion about?"
In response, the Guardian stopped in his tracks and turned to May with a wild look in his eyes.
"Are you daft, woman?!" inquired the Aura Guardian, his tone an incredulous one. "Brecht's forces lay siege to The Corridors! This is no time to dawdle and meander! Follow! We must reinforce the front lines!"
Even in her depressed state, May's eyes widened exponentially at such an answer. Her mouth slightly agape, she looked upwards and around, taking in her surroundings. Once being told that she was in The Corridors of the Aura, her mind began to piece together that yes, she indeed was. It was just as Aura Guardians: A Complete History described it. Her eyes widened even further when she processed the rest of what the Guardian had said.
Siege?
Front lines?
Brecht?
"Um, Sir," started the brunette, a strange rush of nausea overtaking her stomach. "I don't-"
"I said, FOLLOW!" roared the Guardian as he grabbed hold of May's hood, pulling her along with him.
May attempted to wriggle free from the man's grasp, but it was far too tight, and they were moving far too quickly. Within a few moments, they were on the bloodstained front steps of the Corridors of the Aura. It was only then that the Guardian let go of her and went off on his own, leaving May to her own devices. Alone, May took the opportunity to survey the area through Aura-lit eyes. Instead of the Distortion World, the Corridors were surrounded by a rather large village crafted from wood, stone, and mortar. May would have taken the time to appreciate such outdated architecture if the settlement wasn't being overrun with fires, dead bodies, and physical manifestations of Dark Aura and ill will. In any direction she looked, people were dying gruesome deaths.
It was terrifying.
"Get down!" hollered a nearby voice, startling May from her terror-induced trance.
If the sudden shout hadn't been enough to gain the brunette's attention, the feeling of being tackled to the ground certainly had been. Once her head finished spinning from the rough landing, May looked to the man responsible for her fall. It was another Aura Guardian, a man different from the last one. He had already gotten off of her, and was looking down at her with concern; a familiar sight to say the least. His skin was tan and his hair was black, but this time, he wasn't another Ash doppelganger. The traits were just vaguely similar.
"You ought to be more careful, young one." he advised, returning his gaze to the battle-torn town below. "Staying in one spot for too long will grant you certain death."
May then looked to where she had just been standing, spotting a small crater with residual Dark Aura steaming from it. It was safe to say that this tan-skinned Aura Guardian had just saved her life.
"Sir Ketchum!" called yet another voice.
May looked towards the town, spotting yet another Aura Guardian running up the Corridors' massive staircase. His cloak was spattered with countless blood stains, and he seemed to have recently lost an eye.
"What is it, Sir Maple?" answered Sir Ketchum, the Guardian standing by May.
"We must retreat." gasped Sir Maple, catching his breath once he reached the top of the staircase. "We are losing too many. Entire clans are being wiped from the Earth before our very eyes. The madness must cease, for now. We are sustaining all these casualties, and Brecht has yet to even appear on the battlefield. We should retreat and re-evaluate our strategy with our remaining forces."
"Retreat to where, exactly?" questioned Sir Ketchum, with hostility. "The Corridors of the Aura are where we are at our strongest. If we cannot end this war here, then all is lost. We stand and fight, until the end. Such is the will of Arceus."
"No. The will of Arceus is not for us to perish like this." answered Sir Maple, closing his remaining eye. "We must-"
Just then, a massive shift in the atmosphere occurred, silencing Sir Maple. It was a power with magnitude unlike anything May had ever felt in her entire life, causing her stomach to turn in a fit of unfettered dread. Never had she felt pure malice, hatred, and rancor at such a gargantuan scale as what she felt right then and there. Its strength surpassed that of Sir Tobias's on the day he'd taken Ash, five years ago. It surpassed Kamerion's overwhelming power in his 9th and final form. Even though the very core of her soul hated to admit it, the dark and malevolent Aura May was sensing even eclipsed the colossal weight of Ash's Aura, which seemed to be bottomless. Just acknowledging this presence was enough to render her immobile, her vision and thoughts suddenly becoming far less clear and coherent.
She looked at the two Guardians standing before her. Their backs were to her, so she couldn't see their faces. The only response she could gauge from them was the duo powering up their own Auras so they could withstand such an immense spiritual pressure. Sirs Maple and Ketchum were powerful, from what May managed to perceive. However, they were not powerful enough to rival who or whatever was coming. Regardless, they both began began to move towards the source of the atmospheric shift.
"Brecht approaches." noted Sir Ketchum, closing his eyes. When he opened them, a pillar of Aura erupted right next to him. "Come, Sir Maple. I will be in need of your anger. You and I will keep him at bay for as long as we can, until Sirs Hylus, Gen, and Arlon can assist us."
Out of the column of Sir Ketchum's azure light emerged Entei, in all his regal glory. Without hesitation, Entei lowered himself so that Sirs Ketchum and Maple could mount him. The two Guardians wasted no time in doing just that.
"We must place our faiths in Arceus... as well as the Aura." declared Sir Ketchum, holding on tightly to Entei. "Regardless of what happens, this war shall end. Today. Now advance, Entei!"
Without skipping a beat, Entei then took large leap forward, carrying the two Guardians down the steps of the Corridors and towards the battlefield. Still barely able to move her body, May could only watch through half-closed eyes as the carnage and chaos further engulfed her surroundings. There was nothing else she could do. Her mind held so much confusion, and so many questions... but one thing was certain:
She had to have been dreaming.
[Dark Order: Main Headquarters...]
In a room full of monitors, machines, and keyboards, several Dark Order underlings were busy at work. Though none of them were powerful fighters, their presences in the Order's ranks were of the utmost importance. They were the Sensory and Intel Division, the team responsible for the handling all the information and data various scouts, spies, and machines compiled for their organization. At the moment, things seemed like business as usual... until a certain computer screen started flashing bright red.
The keyboard already manned, the grunt at the desk read the bold black words that were also flashing on the screen. When he finished, he dismissed the alert, which caused the screen to present him with a series of wavelength readings, graphs, and charts, all off which were constantly fluctuating at speeds he'd never seen before. Barely able to keep his composure, he stood to his feet.
"I'm picking up ABSOLUTELY RADICAL readings over here!" he cried, waving his arms around. "Off the charts!"
"What type of readings, Bartholomew?" asked another grunt.
"The ABSOLUTELY RADIC-"
"Just shut up and let me see." sighed the other grunt, shoving Bartholomew out of the way before he could finish. When he took a gander at the screen's contents, his eyes widened. "What...? Ernesto!"
"What's up, Pierre?!" answered a third grunt on the other side of the room, Ernesto.
"We're picking up absolutely radical readings in quantum space-time tearing around the Johto Region. It seems to be coming from some remote forest. Only the Chaos Badge can distort reality at this level, so it's gotta be the Chosen Guardian and his cohorts. Get up and notify Doctor Feinberg immediately!"
"The Doctor isn't here." replied Ernesto, shaking his head. "He traveled to Unova yesterday evening for a meeting with Captain Kurt today. I suppose we could still contact him, but it'd be unwise to interrupt a meeting between two Grand Disciples. Especially when Commander Alexander is right here in the same building as us. This is HQ, after all."
"Alright, then go tell The Commander!" ordered Pierre. "Just make sure you knock, first. Don't wanna end up with your head blown off like Pablo. Speaking of which, can we talk about that? I feel like no one has! I can't be the only one who thinks The Commander's actions that day were ridiculously uncalled fo-"
Suddenly, Pierre's head exploded, leaving his sentence forever unfinished. While Bartolomew, Ernesto, and the rest of the grunts in the room screamed in terror, a shadowy figure suddenly came into visibility, almost as if he'd been there the whole time. As soon as the grunts saw the mask, black trenchcoat, and Dark Aura, their screams ceased. Even though Pierre's blood and gray matter were splattered all over their faces and clothes, they still knew to calmly kneel when in the presence of the Commander of the Dark Order himself.
"Goodness gracious. I came here to secretly examine the work ethic of Feinberg's men when he wasn't around, and instead, I end up deleting one for talking smack behind my back." noted Commander Alexander, shaking his head. "Absolutely radical, am I right?"
...
"Tough crowd." observed Alexander. "So, it seems like you've located the Chaos Badge's current user! Perfect! He's out there performing magic tricks in a Johto forest, correct?"
"Yes, my lord." answered Bartholomew, watching as Pierre's blood slowly spread across the tiled floor.
"Good work, gentlemen. I'm impressed. Feinberg trained you well... except for this one over here." said The Commander, nudging Pierre's corpse with his foot. "Anyway, you all can sit back and relax for now. I'll take the reigns from here."
...
"I..."
...
"...*cough*..."
Feeling as if he were already dead, Paul let out a frail breath and fell onto his side, no longer having the strength to sit up.
"...did it."
As if on cue, three manifestations of pitch black energy appeared in the air, just a few feet away from the purple-haired mage-in-training. His eyes would close before he could witness the fruits of his efforts, but he knew he'd gotten the job done. Right as his consciousness faded in favor of mandatory rest, May, Pikachu, and Glaceon were ejected out of the Chaos Badge's energy blobs, the trio landing sloppily on the camp's grassy ground.
Groggy and disoriented, Pikachu was the first to scramble to his feet.
"What the hell just happened...?" he murmured, rubbing his eyes. "My head... is pounding..."
"Pikachu?"
"Ash?" questioned the yellow rodent, his ears perking up. "Yo! What's good?"
"What the hell happened? We haven't been able to contact you for like, 3 hours! Heck, you missed Charizard's first moments in the mental link!"
"I did?! Charizard! You there, my man?!"
"RAWWWWWWRRRSHNUHGGLR!"
"...Yeah it turns out he's not very verbal, but he's here." said Ash, dismissively. "We're on our way back. Seriously though, what happened to you? Are May and Paul okay?"
Pikachu shrugged.
"I dunno, man. I fell asleep, or something. The last thing I remember was May and Paul meditating. And now..."
Pikachu looked around, spotting the two people in question completely unconscious just a few feet away.
Paul's eyes had bags under them, and twin trails of blood were trickling from his nostrils. His breaths were shallow, and even though he was unconscious, his body was still shivering, quite violently. In short, he didn't look too good.
May was face down on the ground, motionless. Her hair was a mess the likes of which Pikachu had never seen, and her cloak was tattered, stained, and frayed at the edges. She looked like she'd been through quite a lot.
"...And now they're just, like, napping." finished Pikachu, nonchalantly. "Point is, everything's fine."
"Well, that's a relief. I guess there's no need to be worried, then. Sit tight and continue keeping watch over them. We'll be able to fly faster now that Rosa and I each have our own rides, instead of combining our weight on one. We'll be back in an hour or so."
"Gotcha."
And with that, Pikachu set his sights on Glaceon, eager to talk her up some more. Did he have a thing with Serena's Sylveon already? Debatable. But nothing was official yet, so, in his mind, there was nothing stopping him from flirting. However, just one look at Glaceon made him think twice about suavely asking her how an ice-type could melt his heart so easily.
She was sitting by May's side, with great worry in her navy blue eyes. Before Pikachu could even consider his course of action, Glaceon spoke up.
"Something's not right..." uttered the ice-type, sounding as if she could burst into tears any second.
"Whatcha mean?" inquired Pikachu, coming closer.
He quickly scanned May's Aura and found nothing too out of the ordinary, considering how it had felt earlier. The only thing worth noting was that, even though she was unconscious, she seemed stronger than before.
"Must've been some kickass meditating..." mused the unconcerned mouse. He then took note of the damaged state of her cloak, which had been completely fine the last time they were all conscious. "Even looks like she got some training done while we were out, too... What a fucking QUEEN."
However, Glaceon bore no such nonchalance. Her training with May hadn't advanced to the point where she could sense her owner's Aura, but still... sometimes the supernatural wasn't needed when it came to analyzing a loved one, conscious or not. Seeing as, just like Pikachu, she had no recollection of her experiences during their inter-dimensional fiasco, she found herself wondering how the change she felt in the brunette's presence could be possible. They were all in the same place she remembered them being in before losing consciousness, May couldn't have gone far. Such an inconsistency wasn't enough to dispel Glaceon's worries, however. The periwinkle eeveelution always trusted her instincts when it came to May; May was her mother, of sorts.
Before answering Pikachu, Glaceon nudged May's head with her nose, hoping to wake her. She failed. It didn't seem like she'd be waking up for some time.
Glaceon's ears drooped.
"She's... different."
...
...
...
[1 hour later...]
...
...
...
Very little had transpired in the hour that had passed. Paul had yet to regain consciousness, nor had May. Too absorbed in the well-being of the latter, Glaceon had not left her alone, sitting comfortably on the brunette's back. Meanwhile, Pikachu had retreated to his tent to sleep off his headache, far too bored to do anything else. At Glaceon's behest, he'd scanned May's Aura a couple more times, with more diligence than the first time. Each time, he didn't feel anything too crazy. Maybe Glaceon was the crazy he should've been sensing. Maybe she wasn't the one for him after all. Who wanted a worrywart for girlfriend anyway? Certainly not Pikachu.
"Sylveon would never..." he muttered, staring upwards.
He was laying face up, staring at the top of the tent. He was bored. So very bored. He desperately wanted something interesting to happen, something that'd make the day memorable. To him, seeing Charizard later wouldn't count, as he wasn't taken along for the journey to retrieve him. He wanted his own adventure, his own action, his own extravagance.
There was only one thing to do.
"Once upon a time lived a god of dope rhymes," he started, closing his eyes. "he lived like a king, sippin' Oran Berry wines. His kingdom was so fine, fuckin' baller by design. Smokin' crack? Nah, it was no crime. He never had no meth, but loved the percocets, he-... Oh no."
Never one to abandon a rap without good reason, Pikachu opened his eyes. He sensed about 30 Auras closing in on the camp, all of them distinctly malignant. In all honesty, the sensation didn't surprise him. The Fellowship had been training and living in the same woods for 4 days in a row, it was only a matter of time before the Dark Order located them. The reason he felt such immense dread was due to the fact that besides Glaceon, he was the only one in good enough condition to fight them off. And there were 30 of them.
"Man, I just wanted to relax today." thought Pikachu, blatantly lying to himself. "This is some bullshit."
"Pikachu." echoed Ash's voice, within Pikachu's head. "Don't panic, but I'm sensing some of Dark Guardians heading your way. Rosa and I are close, but they're still gonna get to you guys before we do. Just hold them off until we get there, alright?"
"Boi, I KNOW you sense THIRTY of those mofos." grumbled Pikachu, getting up. "'The fuck you want me to do about 'em?"
"I want you to stop whining and get your ass out there! None of them are that strong anyway, you guys can easily keep that many grunts occupied."
"RAWWWWWWWWRSHNUHGGLR!"
"See? Even Charizard thinks you're being a little bitch."
"Easy for you guys to say!" replied Pikachu, making his way towards the tent's exit. "You're not the ones holding off 30 enemies all on your own!"
"But you're not all on your own...? What about Paul? And May?"
"What can PAUL do?! I've YET to see him do ANYTHING crazy with that Chaos Badge! He probably couldn't save the rest of us here if our very existences in this REALM depended on it!" retorted Pikachu, emerging from the tent. "And as much of a Hot Aura Waifu as she is, against 30 guys, even May's not..."
Upon exiting the tent, Pikachu was met with two sights. The first was Paul still out cold, though he seemed to have stopped shivering. The second was May wide awake and on her feet, with Glaceon standing at her side. The Fresh Snow Pokemon was looking up at her master with the same concern as when she was unconscious, but to a somewhat lesser degree. Unable to see May's face from his angle, Pikachu could not see that her eyes were quickly and methodically darting around in several different directions, as if she were locking on to several different unseen targets. Once the count had reached 30, May put her hands forward, her irises shining with azure light.
An Aura Sphere began to form in front of her. And another. And another. And another. It wasn't long until 10 of them were floating in the area close to her person, waiting to be launched. It was when she did launch them that Pikachu's eyes widened. Each sphere went whirring in a different direction from all the others, in angles so obscure that they had to have been calculated for very specific targets. A split second passed between the spheres being launched into the surrounding woods... and the 10 simultaneous cries of pain heard afterwards.
Right after she fired the Aura Spheres, May looked down at her open hands, closed them into fists, and opened them again, her expression completely blank the entire time. She then returned her attention to the woods, sprinting right into them without warning.
"May's not what?" asked Ash, waiting for Pikachu to finish his sentence from earlier.
"May's not playin' around..." uttered Pikachu, awestruck. "Holy..."
Pikachu made his way over to Glaceon, who was standing in the same spot she had been the entire time. They both watched in complete silence as several yelps and hollers echoed from the forest, accompanied by nothing but flashes of blue light here and there. Each scream seemed more pained and agonized than the previous, forming a somewhat morbid crescendo of cries the likes of which neither pokemon had ever heard. After about 30 seconds, the forest went completely silent. And then, footsteps. Slow, uniform footsteps. As the steps grew closer and closer, two blue dots appeared from the darkness of the thick foliage, growing nearer and nearer.
Eyes.
As the owner of said eyes returned to the camp, they lost their glow, returning to their normal sapphire color. May had returned, her face eerily straight. She seemed no more damaged or hurt than when she'd sprinted into the woods, yet her breathing was quite strained.
As soon as she cast her gaze upon Glaceon and Pikachu, she collapsed.
"Okay." conceded Pikachu, still as a statue. "She's different."
...
...
...
[Later...]
...
...
...
Night had fallen by the time Paul's eyes had opened. He attempted to sit up, but found it to be much harder of a task than he had anticipated. The furthest thing from a quitter, however, he muscled through the nausea and forced himself upwards. His efforts were rewarded with the gentle warmth of the fire burning in the pit he'd passed out near. Across from him was a large and powerful-looking Charizard, staring down at him with a very distinct lack of respect. A cassanova of condescension himself, Paul snorted and looked elsewhere, not giving Nate the satisfaction of an intense staring contest. And so, he looked to the left, spotting Rosa, with a fast asleep Nate resting his head on her lap.
...Paul's head whipped back to the Charizard he'd looked at, eyes wide.
"He's Ash's." clarified Rosa, giggling. "Nate doesn't stay in pokemon form if he doesn't need to."
"...I see." replied Paul, blinking.
...
"When did you guys get back?" asked Paul, breaking the short silence.
"Some 5 or 6 hours ago." explained Rosa. "What happened? We came back to you and May unconscious. Both of you looked like you'd been through a bit more than just meditating. It took Ash 2 hours to heal you, and he's still healing May in his tent. The 29 dead - or, somehow, worse - Dark Guardians in the forest were pretty disconcerting as well."
"I can't speak on the corpses. Those weren't there the last time I was conscious." answered Paul, closing his eyes. "As for the rest, can't you just read what you want to know from my mind? That's your power, right? Use it."
"I've been told doing that without consent comes across as creepy and invasive." replied Rosa, rolling her eyes.
Paul folded his arms.
"Hmph."
Rosa stared into the fire, her face full of conversational exasperation. Talking to Paul was like pulling teeth. However, she needed the information from him, so she had to press onward.
"So are you gonna tell me, or...?"
"It's not like I have anything better to do. Sure." replied Paul, opening his eyes. "It all started when May woke up this morning..."
...
[Meanwhile...]
...
A pair of sapphire eyes burst open, their dreamless slumber coming to an abrupt end. No outside stimuli or phenomena had woken her, yet the awakening was as frantic and frazzled as could be. Through stray strands of her brown hair, May looked around, eyes wide and her breathing heavy. The last things she somewhat remembered were Dark Guardians, and nothing more. Her memory seemed to hold fragmented snippets of some sort of battle with them, but nowhere near enough for her to discern whether it had all been real or not. The only memories she could clearly and accurately recall were her hours of failed meditation in the morning.
"Hi."
"AH!" shrieked May, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest.
"Oh, sorry." apologized Ash, lighting up the tent with a handful of Aura. "I guess it is pretty dark in here. My bad."
"You really got me..." sighed May, calming down. "I sensed you were nearby, but not that close."
"First rule of being an Aura Guardian: Always stay on your guard." joked Ash, scratching his head with his free hand. "But judging by the way you woke up, it seemed like you already were. Anyway, you've had quite the day, huh? It was scary to see you so banged up. I healed it all, but honestly, it would've been quicker if Max did it. None of my masters in The Corridors were healing experts, so I'm really nothing special at it."
"I don't really remember anything..." muttered May, her tone a low one. "I just remember failing miserably at making an Aura Sphere."
"Really? According to Pikachu, you were shooting them *ahem* '~like you invented them shits~' earlier. Y'know, I'm extremely impressed you took down all those Dark Guardians on your own. You really are a natural talent at this stuff. Luckily, you left one of them alive... just barely, though. Anywho, Rosa did some mind trick on him that forced him to report false info back to their HQ. They think we teleported away and aren't in Johto anymore. Thanks to her, we should at least be able to spend the night here before we actually do teleport away tomorrow."
May looked at Ash in complete and utter confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
Ash stared back, just as befuddled.
"Wait... You really don't remember?" he asked. "Any of the attack?"
"I don't."
"...Are you alright, May? You don't seem like yourself." inquired Ash. "Your energy is a lot less vibrant than usual."
"I'm fine." lied May, laying down. "I really don't remember a lot of today, and as long as we're all safe, I don't think it matters. I know I was just asleep... but I think I want to go to bed. I'm still just... drained."
"But uh... this is my tent."
"I know." replied May, staring at nothing in particular.
She felt even worse than she had in the morning, somehow. At least then, she was able to feel rage. Now, she was just tired, and in desperate need of being held. Truth be told, even being alone with Ash wasn't improving her mood. But she knew it was what her usual, healthy self would have wanted. Even if that version of May Maple wasn't at the forefront of her being, she knew to honor her wishes above all else.
She'd have Max or Gary help her acquire a new bottle of medication the next day. They'd figure something out, though she couldn't be bothered to brainstorm how, exactly. At the moment, all she wanted was more sleep, warmth, and darkness. By closing her eyes, she was well on her way to the first, and once Ash extinguished the Aura in his hand and [awkwardly] laid beside her, the latter two were becoming a reality as well...
...
Welp, that's that! This chapter was tough to plan out, but once again, I had a great time writing it.
As for the next chapter... It will take place at the same time as this one. It will be covering what Serena, Gary, and Max were doing that whole time. This chapter 16 and the upcoming chapter 17 are very much meant to be companion chapters, due to them occurring at the exact same time, as well as the fact that one largely focused on May, and the other will heavily be revolving around Serena.
Seeya soon and stay healthy,
~DarkSlash9
