Summary: Ash discovers that his destiny is far greater than anyone ever imagined.
A/N: This is my first Pokemon fic, and it's something that's been running around in my head for a while. I haven't seen any of the Advance show past the episode where May wins the Fallarbor Town Pokemon Contest, so this could probably be considered AU after that.
Flames of Destiny
Flames rose high into the air, dark smoking marring the otherwise perfectly blue sky. It had been two days, but still the fire burned, as hot as when the inferno had first begun. Amazingly enough, only the tower--the tall ediface that had been built out of respect for the great bird pokemon Ho-oh--remained on fire. The rest of Ecruteak had been put out almost immediately.
Acrid smoke drifted towards Hikari's vantage point, and he had to cover his nose and mouth with the tattered and burnt sleeves of his novice robes. He should leave, he knew, but couldn't. Three pokemon had escaped--strange and never before seen, yes--but escaped they had. His master could have escaped too. Had to have escaped.
Hikari choked on a sob that he refused to release. Crying now would only admit defeat--and he knew his kind master was still alive. Ho-oh surely wouldn't have taken him, not when he had spent so much time with the bird, speaking with it and returning with the translation. No, his master was probably still down in the city, helping to evacuate survivors--despite the burning tin tower.
"You seem sad," a soft voice noted from behind him.
Hikari whirled around, having not heard anyone come up and stared at the man with ebony hair pulled back at the nape of his neck and wearing the black cloak of a Master Swordsman. His face was young, though the golden brown eyes showed a weariness and wisdome that didn't match his youthful appearence. Hikari had never seen such a wonderful sight in all his life.
"Master!" he cried, launching himself at the figure, "You're...." he fell flat on his face, leaves and sticks leaving scratch marks, "...okay?"
On closer inspection, Hikari could see that the master was partially transparent. A choking sort of pain filled his chest, and the tears that he had held back for so long in the hope that everything would turn out all right filled his eyes and ran unchecked down his cheeks. He pulled his knees up to his chest, burying his face from sight as sobs racked his small body.
Finally, the fit subsided, and he gasped for breath before looking up into the tragic features of his master. "Why?" he whispered, "why were you taken? And why are you here now?"
The figure knelt beside him, reaching out as though to comfort, but Hikari flinched away, and he drew back his hands, folding them on his knees. "I...have something to ask of you, Hikari. And it will be no easy task." The ghost looked up and over at the blazing tower, and his demeanor grew even more sorrowful. "What happened this past week has proven that man and pokemon are not yet ready to work with each other. Not in the way that Ho-oh intended."
"But Master..." Hikari protested, "It was just a few...." his voice stopped before he could say the word rebels at a sudden fire in his master's eyes.
"No," the man said harshly, shaking his head, "It was not. Those people, the people of that city and others were ready to believe that Ho-oh and all pokemon intend to one day destroy human kind. And the pokemon...many firmly believe that humans will one day destroy them." Again, the sad look returned to his face. "This thing, this war, it must never be repeated. Because if it is, then one of those two outcomes will be your great-grandchildren's future."
Hikari swallowed and averted his gaze as he imagined the horror of that prediction. Then he looked back at his master. "Ho-oh is supposed to bring peace," he said, "as you told us all when you began your conversations with it. It stopped this war and saved three pokemon." Even if it couldn't save you. Hikari left that thought unspoken though.
The ghost sighed, a lengthy, weary sigh. "What Ho-oh did was out of fear and desparation. Those pokemon would not have needed saving had I...it simply thought out the consequences of its actions. Hikari, I don't have much more time, even now my strength is fading."
The ghost was indeed becoming more transparent as he spoke. "You must never let this happen the people of Ecruteak that Ho-oh will return when man and pokemon work together as one. Teach your children the meaning of peace, and the values of pokemon. Teach them to be kind to the creatures, to treat them as family. Watch for Suicune of the north wind, Entei of the volcano, and Raiku of the storm."
"Master!" Hikari cried as the ghost faded further, "Will Ho-oh return one day? Will he? Master, don't leave me! I don't know what to do! Ash! Ash please!"
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Ash Ketchum jerked awake and stared blearily at the dying embers of the campfire. Ever since Morty had told him the legend of Ho-oh, he'd been having dreams like that, intermittantly. That one though, was always the most clear, and always left him with a feeling of foreboding that he couldn't understand.
He looked around at his companions to make sure his dream hadn't awakened them. Brock was snoring and muttering something about Jenny. Max was curled up, finger in his mouth and smiling as he slept and May was sprawled on top of her sleeping bag, sleeping peacefully.
"Pikapi," Pikachu sleepily questioned. It was still curled on Ash's pillow where it had fallen asleep, but its ears stood alert as it waited for its question to be answered.
"Just a bad dream, Pikachu," Ash answered, reaching up to pet the yellow rodent between its ears. Pikachu chaaed in satisfaction and then bounded into his lap to be petted more fully. Ash grinned and complied, his fingers massaging the soft, supple fur, and then attending to the red cheek pouches that contained the electric type's element.
It seemed like so long ago that he had first set out on his journey to become the greatest Pokemon Master ever. Pikachu hadn't even liked him all that much, refusing to get in its pokeball and generally anything that Ash asked of it. They'd come a long way since those days, almost as if seeing that strange golden, sparkling pokemon had set their feet on the path of destiny. Together, they had been in three tournaments, winning one and placing high in the other two. They had saved the world.
Ash's grin slowly faded as fragments of the dream returned. He could almost smell the acrid smoke of the burning tower, but knew that it probably came from the dying campfire and his imagination. Hikari's last question still rang through his mind, burning his ears. "Will Ho-oh return one day?"
Then Ash laughed. He was being silly. It had simply been a dream brought on by the excitement of the day before. He had won his fourth badge in the Hoenn league, and was still on an adrenaline high from the heated battle. He always had that particular scene in his head after winning a big match like that. The other visions were more innocuous and vague.
"Pika!" the yellow rodent cried as Ash accidentally rubbed the fur in the wrong direction in his distraction.
Ash shook his head quickly. "Waaa! Sorry Pikachu, I didn't mean to, don't..."
Electricity sparked at its cheeks, and its eyes were narrowed dangerously. Ash's plea was too late to stop it though, and it released a powerful thundershock, that inadvertantly hit their sleeping companions.
"Waaa! Pikachu, what'd you do that for!" Max cried, still smoldering from the attack.
"Yeah, I was having the most amazing dream," Brock said, his voice sad.
"And I was sleeping," May accused, rubbing her hair, futily trying to get it to lay down. The static from the attack was still high though.
Pikachu had the grace to look sheepish, and Ash put his hand behind his head, laughing in apology. "Heh, sorry about that guys."
"That's okay," May said cheerfully, jumping up. "It's morning anyway."
"Speak for yourself," Max muttered, but stood up anyway. "Why are you so happy this morning, May?"
"Why shouldn't I be happy, Max! The sky is blue, the air is clean, the birds are singing..."
"Okay, okay, we get it," Max held up his hands in supplication, "could you go be cheerful somewhere else though?"
Ash grinned as the two siblings began arguing before standing and stretching, the dream forgotten in the normal routine. Then he took three pokeballs from his waist and released the pokemon from within. A small blue bird with a red breast flew up and landed on his shoulder, while a green lizard with protruding yellow eyes and a crab like water pokemon chased each other around. Ash's grin grew wider as he watched them.
"Okay guys," he asked, "Ready for some training?"
The four pokemon, Pikachu included, all sounded their willingness to this idea and they walked off into the forest, leaving Brock behind to deal with the squabbling sister and brother.
"Breakfast will be ready in an hour," the squinty eyed older boy called after him.
Ash acknowledged him with a wave of his, before catching up to his pokemon.
The forest wasn't as dense as some he'd been in, and volcanic ash from Mt. Chimney still rained down every once in a while, but it was nice enough. The small stream they had camped beside, widened and then emptied into a small lake. Corphish, clicked its claws in anticipation and Ash laughingly let it go jump in the water. It had been instrumental in his defeat of Flannery's fire type pokemon, so it definitely deserved some R n' R.
"Okay, Treeko, Taillow, Pikachu," each of the pokemon looked up at him expectantly as he called their names, "Let's see how long we can stay underwater."
"Pika!" Pikachu cried and took off at a run to jump into the lake, coming up beside Corphish and spitting water out.
Taillow fluttered to the edge of the lake to await its trainer, and Treeko followed Ash at a more sedate pace. Ash shelled off his shirt, jeans, shoes and socks, and then jumped into the lake, nearly hitting both Corphish and Pikachu. Treeko, eased itself into the water, Taillow following closely.
"Ready guys?" There was a chorus of pokemon speech, agreement all around. "Okay, on three, we're gonna dive and see how long we can resist coming back up for air. One. Two. Three!"
As he finished the word three, they all dove beneath the surface of the lake. Ash swam as far as he could, noting that the lake was a lot clearer than he'd expected. Normally there was mud and sediment obscuring his vision, especially after all the splashing they had been doing. But he could see as if through thick glass.
Taillow, a flying type swam back up to the surface before any of the other pokemon. Treeko and Pikachu however, stayed with Ash until his own lungs began to feel as though they were on fire. He signaled to the others that he was heading up, and they nodded agreement, heading up themselves. He grinned and started to follow them, when something snaked around his leg, catching him and effectively stopping him from surfacing.
Bubbles escaped his mouth as he struggled against whatever it was, his hands beating at the tentacle like vine. He looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the attack, but couldn't see anything. Then, a red, pulsating light filled his vision, and he fell unconscious.
tbc.....