Chapter 29: Revelations pt 1
Ash exhaled with Greninja and Lucario, all three of their eyes glowing blue with aura at the same time.
"Allons-y!" All three moved in synch and began a furious exchange of blows with Felix and his Lucario.
"Channel your aura! Draw upon each other for strength!" The samurai shouted just like Pierre used to whenever he trained Ash and Red.
"Grouu!"
"Gre!" Ash, Lucario, and Greninja all struggled to keep up with Felix and his Lucario. Even Greninja found himself taken back by the red Lucario before him and had to call upon his full strength.
Ash similarly found himself pushed to his limits while exchanging sword-blows with Felix, whose fighting prowess and aura abilities made him nearly unstoppable.
However, Felix smiled proudly when he felt himself pushed back after an aura-enhanced counter-blow from Ash.
"Grouuu!"
"Gre!" Felix's Lucario did the same after Greninja and Ash's Lucario both landed blows against him.
"Now!"
Felix touched his keystone while Ash did the same and synchronized his aura with Greninja.
"Grouuu!
"Gre." Mega Lucario threw up both paws while a veil of water surrounded Ash-Greninja.
Felix and his Lucario stared upon the aura-bonded Pokemon with particular interest.
"Allons-y!" Ash, too glowed with a blue aura and charged ahead, Mega Lucario and Ash-Greninja beside him.
Despite this, Felix and his Mega Lucario fought them to a standstill. Eventually, after an exhausting sparring session, Ash, Mega Lucario, and Ash-Greninja relented. All three panting heavily.
"Shinjirarenai, I've never seen anything quite like this before. It's as if your aura bond had manifested itself in the form of a unique Mega Evolution." Felix approached Ash-Greninja and carefully examined him.
Ash-Greninja didn't quite know why, but somehow Felix's aura made him feel extremely trustworthy. Perhaps it was the revelation that he was indeed Ash's biological father and their similar aura that did so.
Regardless, he allowed Felix to look over him.
"Hmm, you've come a long way with him, Satoshi. However, I can tell that you haven't reached your full potential with this bond."
Ash wasn't surprised by this revelation, and he was still used to being called his original name. He was still getting used to many things regarding Felix. However, none of that mattered even the slightest bit.
The only thing important to him was finding Serena and their unborn child.
"How can we grow stronger?" Ash asked a bit forcefully. Pikachu, Lucario, Felix, and the others understood why he did so and nodded.
"It's not you, Satoshi. It's Greninja. You've completely opened up your aura to him, but he's still concealing a part of himself from you. Until he fully synchronizes his aura with you, the bond will remain unperfected."
Ash and Greninja stared at each other, guilt tearing through the Water Ninja as he thought about Serena and her baby.
"Greninja." Ash muttered.
"Satoshi." Felix approached his son and placed both hands on his shoulders.
"We're going to find Serena. I promise you. We will."
"Grouuu!" Felix's Lucario provided similar assurance to his son, Ash's Lucario.
Pikachu, Charizard, Talonflame, and Tyrantrum came around their trainer and tried to comfort him.
"Ahhh! Magnifique!" Korrina beamed with stars in her eyes and both hands clasped together. Felix and the others now saw the Countess watching them with her Lucario, who mirrored her expression.
Moments later, they both sprinted over and almost pounced on Felix/Lucario, making them both back up and sweatdrop.
"Felix! You're the greatest Lucario trainer I've ever seen! You're even better than le pépé!"
"Grouu!"
"Uhhh, arigatō."
"S'il te plaît! You must take Lucario and I as your students too!"
"Grouuu!" Korrina and her Lucario pleaded while taking Felix and his Lucario's hands, respectively.
"Well, I-"
"S'il te plaît! Remember, I'm technically your daughter in law!"
"Ash, Korrina! Allons-y! We need to keep moving if we're going to reach Avignon Town!"
Red stopped when he saw Felix and a tense standoff ensued as Felix gave the younger man a longing expression.
"Aka-" He started while approaching him.
"Red! My name is Red! Je te l'ai déjà dit!" Red shouted while violently pulling himself away.
"Grauu." Red's Charizard and other Pokemon quickly placed themselves between him and Felix.
"Allons-y!" Red grabbed Ash and Korrina, then pulled them away from Felix, who sighed deeply.
"Red, you can't keep ignoring him." Korrina said while Red grit his teeth.
"I don't have to do anything."
"Red, he's our father-" Ash started.
"Non, he's not! Our father was Pierre! He's the one who raised us, taught us how to be men!"
"Red, he didn't abandon you and Ash. He thought you were dead."
Red held his head in what was clearly visibly pain.
"Ahhh! Cela n'a pas d'importance! What's done is done!? I don't blame him for what happened, but I don't need him either!"
"Red." Korrina tried to place her arms around his shoulders, but he kept moving.
"We don't have time for this. Serena needs us!"
Ash and Korrina couldn't disagree with that, and they continued on to the main camp, where their troops finished packing up.
"Allez! Mettez-y le dos!" Clemont roared in a tone Ash, Red, and Korrina never imagined possible from their friend. He and his Pokemon helped a few squads of soldiers and their Pokemon load up the cannons.
Elsewhere, Shauna and Bonnie both knelt beside Serena's Pokemon, who looked the same shade of grey as the night of Serena's kidnapping.
Shauna and Delcatty both tried brushing Delphox while Bonnie and Dedenne held Pancham. However, neither reacted. Instead, they and Charla all stared at blue iris flowers in their hands, tears dripping down the sides of their faces.
Charizard exhaled deeply and approached Charla.
"Grauuu." He nudged his head against the Charmeleon's, but she wouldn't budge.
"Charrr." Charla choked up on her sense of lament and guilt. She'd failed to protect Serena, failed to stop the Rocket Clan from taking her.
"Grauuu!" Charizard growled, louder this time. His anger finally got Charla's attention, as well as Serena's other Pokemon.
"Grauuu! Grauuuu!" Charizard scolded them for giving up hope so easily and that when the time came, they'd need to help rescue her.
Bonnie and Shauna saw the color return to all three Pokemon in a fiery passion.
"Phox!"
"Cham!"
"Char!" Charla roared, her tail flame exploding into a fiery inferno.
"Grauu!" Charizard nodded back with a proud expression.
After a long day's march, their small army came within a few miles of Avignon Town and made camp for the night.
Ash stared out at the moon with his Pokemon beside him. The chevalier kept his hands clasped together in prayer while a few tears escaped his eyes.
"S'il te plaît, Reduka! Let them be safe. Bring them back unharmed! S'il te plaît, Reduka, hear my prayer!"
"Pika." Pikachu and the others came closer to Ash, while Greninja's expression mirrored his trainer's.
"Gre."
"Satoshi." Ash didn't turn to face Felix, but the samurai sat down beside him regardless.
"Or do you prefer Ash?"
"...You gave me my name. It's only fair you call me it." Felix exhaled deeply and placed his arm around Ash. The chevalier didn't resist, knowing what it meant to Felix.
"Fate can be so cruel. I lost your mother. I thought I lost you and Aka. Now, as soon as I find you both, I learn my grandchild is in danger."
Ash clenched his eyes shut and allowed Felix to pull him into a warm embrace.
"I failed to protect you and Aka years ago. I won't fail again! I swear to Reduka, we will save Serena and your child!"
"Arigatōgozaimashita." Ash muttered, tears streaming from his eyes.
Ash breathed heavily.
"We fought the last time I saw her. She didn't want me to go back to the front, she wanted me to stay with her, but I wouldn't!"
"Satoshi! Enough of that!" Felix took his son by the shoulders and gave him a fierce look.
"I told you we're going to rescue her! Focus on that!"
"Pika!"
"Grouuu!"
"Grauu!"
"Talon!"
"Graww!" Ash grit his teeth and nodded.
"Oui!" Felix smiled.
"That's my boy. One of you anyway." Felix sighed deeply.
"Aka won't even look at me."
"Give him time." Ash assured Felix, who nodded.
"Hai. I suppose I can't blame him for being hesitant. You've both assumed I was dead all this time, and the Kalos raised you. They clearly did a good job."
"Oui, Pierre, and Alexandre both loved us."
"Gre." Greninja muttered upon hearing Alexandre's name.
"Pika."
"Grouu." Pikachu and Lucario both nudged Ash, who similarly gave Greninja a firm expression.
"Do it." Felix added.
"Greninja!" The Water Ninja slowly turned to Ash, who stared deeply into his eyes.
"Greninja! I don't know what's keeping you from opening up with me completely, but if you don't trust me by now, when will you!?" Ash placed both hands on Greninja's shoulders and reached out via their aura connection.
"Greninja, think about Serena."
"Pika!"
"Grouuu!"
"Grauu!"
"Talon!"
"Graww!"
Felix and his Lucario similarly nodded.
"Gre." Greninja teared up but then narrowed his eyes.
"Gre." Greninja grabbed Ash and placed his webbed fingers against the chevalier's forehead.
Ash felt Greninja's aura synchronize with his own in a way it never had before.
"Greninja." Ash muttered. The chevalier's eyes widened when he saw a thousand memories flash through his mind, Greninja's memories.
Ash saw Greninja as a Froakie, slowly opening his eyes until he noticed a Bunnelby and Floette beside him.
"Froak." Froakie and the others then looked up at three young men standing over them. Each one reached down when the youngest picked up Froakie in his arms.
"Hello, little one." The young man said with a warm smile.
Soon the memory changed, and that young man looked slightly older. He knelt over the body of one of the other young men and his Bunnelby.
"No! Brother, what have you done!"
"Froakie!"
Ash trembled when he saw the memory change once more, this time showing the same man who now looked just like Alexandre in a sword fight with another man.
Two massive armies battled around them near the ruins of a massive crystal castle.
"You betrayed Reduka!"
"He betrayed me!" The man roared back. However, as he came in to strike, Greninja revealed himself. Ash caught his breath when he realized Greninja was in his Ash-Greninja form. Or rather, a synchro bond with this man. Unlike Ash-Greninja, he had no watery veil and looked more complete somehow.
"Gre!"
The memory changed again, this time showing Greninja inside the crystal chamber beneath Geosenge town.
An older man wearing a crown showed two boys with honey-blonde hair, Greninja, who nodded his head. This memory and many like it seemed to repeat with different Kings and their sons until Ash saw a very familiar man with two more boys beside him.
"King Charles!" Ash cried.
"Alexandre, Philip, this is Greninja. He's very important to our family."
Ash trembled, and soon his other Pokemon did as well. Each sensed what
happened via their joint aura bond. Even though Felix and his Lucario didn't see what they saw, both knew something unusual had happened.
"Greninja, how old are you?" Ash muttered.
Elsewhere, Red sat in his tent and slowly sharpened his sword with a whetstone with an intense expression. Korrina sat nearby with Lucario and Hugo's Alakazam beside her. Since the priest's death, Red took Alakazam on as one of his Pokemon.
"Red, ca va?"
"Oui." He growled, fire in his eyes.
"Red, I think we should-"
"Korrina, I'm not in the mood to talk about Felix! I told you, he's not my father! All I want to think about is ending this damn war!" Red began violently scraping his whetstone against the sword.
"They come here to our kingdom! Murder our King and countless others! Pillage and plunder the countryside! Now they take Serena! My sister-in-law and my niece or nephew! They murder Father Hugo, Meyer, and Pierre!" Korrina trembled when she saw a raging inferno of hatred in her husband's eyes.
"I'm going to kill them all! Sir Mercer! King Victor! All his wretched routiers! I-"
"Ala!" Alakazam acted before Korrina could and grabbed Red by the shoulders.
"Ala, Alakazam." Alakazam teared up and pointed one of his spoons at the time flower.
"Eh?" Korrina muttered.
Red's fiery rage died down, and he hesitated. With Korrina's support, he slowly took the time flower and touched its top.
The stone lit up and revealed its contents to Red and Korrina.
"C'est parti les garçons! Fortune and glory!" They saw a much younger Father Hugo dressed not in his priestly robes but in brigandine with long-brown hair.
"Alakazam!" Alakazam laughed as he and Hugo rode on a ship with hundreds of other Kalos soldiers.
"Le voilà! Hurlbury!" A soldier laughed as he pointed to a bustling port ahead of them. Galar flags flew over the port and many of its ships.
"En garde!" Hugo laughed when their Pokemon began attacking.
"Non!" Red and Korrina muttered. Alakazam clenched his eyes shut and looked away with immense guilt. The married couple could only watch in horror as the young Hugo and other Kalos soldiers sacked the Galar port, killing many defenseless Galar inhabitants as they did so.
Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. The company then moved through the countryside of southern Galar virtually unopposed, pillaging, plundering, and marauding to their hearts' desires.
"I don't understand!?" Korrina mumbled.
"The punitive expedition." Red muttered, and Korrina gasped in terrible realization. The punitive expedition was a private venture conducted by a company of Kalos mercenaries after King Victor's father's failed invasion of Kalos.
Over two-thousand fighting men sailed to Galar while its armies lay scattered across Kalos and ravaged the countryside. At the time, most in Kalos considered it justice for the Galar's attempts to invade them.
But now, Red and Korrina saw the horrors their soldiers inflicted on Galar and its people. Horrors that Hugo inflicted on them. From his conduct, Red couldn't distinguish Hugo from Sir Mercer or any of the other routiers he'd fought against.
"Non! Non, I don't want to watch anymore!" Korrina wailed, but Red couldn't look away.
"Peace! Peace!" A Galar priest cried as he threw himself in front of a few frightened women as Hugo and several other marauders approached.
"In the name of Reduka, your lord and creator, I beg you, stop this madness!" The priest pleaded while holding out a very familiar pendant of Reduka.
"Tcht." Hugo scoffed while turning to Alakazam, who nodded.
"Reduka?" Hugo leaned forward and stabbed the priest through his chest.
"Who needs him?" Hugo sneered, ripping the pendant from the dying priest's neck and hurling it into the ocean while Alakazam and the other soldiers laughed.
"Hugo." Red couldn't even speak properly, and he felt cold. As the time flower went on, it showed Hugo back on the ship, loaded down with plunder. However, the ship thrashed about in a violent storm, tossing him and Alakazam across the deck.
"Merde! Merde!" Another rogue wave struck and swept both into the ocean.
Hugo's vision went dark, his armor weighing him down while water filled his lungs. Yet just before plunging into complete darkness, he thought he saw something approaching them.
The memory came back, and Hugo violently coughed up water with Alakazam.
"Merde! Where are we?"
"Alakazam!?" Both looked around and realized they knelt on the beaches of northern Kalos.
"Quoi?" The storm had vanished, and serene ocean waves mixed well with sunlight breaking through the cloud cover, giving them a sense of peace.
"Wail." Hugo and Alakazam slowly turned and saw their rescuer. A colossal wailord rested in the water directly across from the marauder and his Alakazam.
"You, you saved us, but why?"
"Alakazam?"
"Wail." Wailord turned and swam away, leaving Hugo utterly bewildered.
"Ala!" Alakazam shrieked and pointed to Hugo's neck.
"Eh?" Hugo went pale when he looked down and realized something hung around his neck. Somehow, a pendant or Reduka had gotten around his neck, but not just any pendant. The same one he'd thrown into the ocean.
Hugo's legs wobbled, and he fell to his knees alongside Alakazam. Both hands in the sand, he stared up at the sky with tears streaming down his face.
"You, you did this, you saved a wretch like me?" Hugo clutched the pendant and then cried out.
"Pardonne-moi! Pardonne-moi!" Reaching down to his belt, Hugo took out a dagger and cut off all of his hair. After which, he abandoned the weapon, his armor, and any coins left on him.
Hugo walked with Alakazam beside him, the marauder no longer recognizable.
Red slowly turned back to Alakazam, who still cried.
"Alakazam, is this true?"
Alakazam clutched the Reduka pendant in his hands.
"Alakazam." Red now felt tears in his eyes and embraced Alakazam.
Author's note
Yep, the first few of several revelations, expect more to come next chapter
We now learned why Hugo was always so forgiving, because he himself needed forgiveness
Greninja's backstory is now revealed, though I'm sure many of you saw this coming
Onto other business,
My original plan was to release the 'final' amourshipping fic when Journey's ends, but that could be months from now, possibly as late as November. This fic is drawing closer to its conclusion and I already have several chapters of the fic completed
Therefore I'll ask you guys, would you rather the fic come out with the end of Journey's or as soon as this one is completed?
Please note that the other movie fic ideas I had would canonically be after the 'final' fic and I'd want to release them later, aka possibly as late as next year.
Another option is I could release the final fic before Journey's ends and then re-release it after based on how the anime ends.
Let me know what you guys would rather have,