Sinnoh Region, Oreburgh Mines
Ash sighs, glad to have gotten out and drops to the ground. Since he got to Sinnoh all he's been doing is running. Everywhere he went, infected were roaming the place. He was glad he remembered Sinnoh enough to find himself inside the Oreburgh Mines, something which was a good thing since no infected had been seen so far

"Alright, should be safe for you to come out" Ash whispered as Pikachu appeared from his pokeball

Although not happy, Pikachu knew that this was necessary and also knew that he would probably be going into the pokeball as a result of this. He wouldn't argue with Ash if he thought it best to place in his pokeball, but Pikachu hoped Ash would at least let him stay out when it was stay

"I'm glad that there aren't any infected here, but why does this place have to be a maze. I don't know whether I'm going the right way or not" Ash complained as he dropped to the ground

"Pika?" Pikachu asked as he looked at his trainer with worry present.

Ash turned to his starter and slowly shook his head at his question "I'm fine. Still trying to process everything that happened before" he said as his eyes slowly drifted towards his hands 'Why of all times does my aura decide to appear... I'm guessing it has something to do with this whole thing that's happening... but still

Suddenly the ground started to shake as Ash, who had been standing after feeling the shaking ground, was now gripping his head once again and fell to his knees

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed

Ash gave a small smile, trying to let Pikachu know he was fine... but he wasn't and he knew there was no fooling the electric type. Still Ash wasn't going to let himself be a burden like last time

"Let's move. It seems as if infected have finally entered the area" Ash commented out of nowhere

Although curious as to how Ash knew that there were infected coming their way, Pikachu didn't question his trainer and followed after him

Meanwhile in another part of the Oreburgh Mines, May and Brendan also found themselves in the same problem as Ash. Before arriving, Brendan had met up with May during the attack at Snowpoint City where he had saved his childhood friend from either dying or getting infected herself. Brendan was glad he arrived when he did; he wouldn't have been able to live with himself knowing May had died when he had been in the same area as her... also he would have been scared to face her father as well

Since then, Brendan had advised May to get a weapon of her own to use against the infected should she find herself in trouble. Due to this, May had been able to get her hands on a custom red recurve bow and a quiver holding a ton of arrows inside

"Do you even know where you're going Brendan?" May asked as she looked at the cave they had found themselves in. So far, everything here looks the same. It almost seems as if we're going in circles"

"Well unless you have any other bright ideas, we'll keep moving forward. Besides you didn't seem to be against the idea when I first brought it up before getting her. You didn't even complain or utter an idea" he countered as May glared at him, but didn't say anything back since what he said is true

However much to their shock, the whole area started shaking like crazy as both trainers fell to the ground, being unable to keep their balance

"What was that?" May asked

Brendan didn't answer, instead May saw him drawing out his sword "Keep your guard up... for all we know, infected have entered the area" he told her as May slowly nodded and grabbed an arrow from her quiver and placing it on the bow, ready to strike anything that may come

Back with Ash, while he could literally sense where the infected were coming from... that didn't mean he was dumb enough to not panic and run in the opposite direction. Yes, he had said he doesn't want to be a burden, but that doesn't mean he could be much use either

Ash wished he could turn off whatever was making his aura act up this way. All that negative energy and aura oozing out of them... he should be lucky that he was still able to stay sane

Just as he was turning the corner, he suddenly felt himself crash into someone... he was able to tell they weren't infected, something that cause him to relax slightly

Looking at the one who had crashed into him, Ash stared in shock at the person before him... it was none other than someone he had only met once on Iron Island... Riley Gen

Brendan cursed as he and May found themselves surrounded by tons of infected. While walking, the duo had unfortunately taken a wrong turn and as such found themselves face to face with at least 20 infect Pokemon before their very eyes

"Don't let any of them scratch or even touch you! They get their hands on you and it's either you become one of them or die!" Brendan seriously said

Brendan suddenly pushed May out of the way just as a sharp blade made contact with his sword. His eyes met the pitch-black ones of the Unova Pokemon known as Bisharp "Don't just lie there on the ground! You're giving the infected an opening to attack you!"

The brunette stood up and aimed her arrow at an infected Zubat coming towards her. She didn't even hesitate when the arrow was fired. She watched the infected Pokemon stagger back slightly, but other than that didn't seem to be affected by the attack

"They don't feel any pain anymore May! The only way to win is to end their misery. You need to aim to kill!" Brendan yelled as he was finally able to decapitate the Bisharp's head, much to May's horror

"I know it's tough, but you need to do this! It's their lives or yours! Don't hesitate, don't think about it, just fire" Brendan kept saying as May pulled another arrow and placed it on the bow. She aimed for the infected trying to sneak attack Brendan from behind as May followed his advice, not thinking about what would happen and just fired

Brendan turned around as he heard the sound of an arrow fly past him and saw an infected Murkrow impaled in the neck by the arrow. Turning around to May, he saw as she kept firing arrows, no hesitation in her moves, only aiming to keep them save. Not wanting to let May do all the work, Brendan continued as well

Just when they thought it was all over, the ground started shaking again as May who had felt it worst than Brendan, fell to the ground. Looking up, May once again found herself in a familiar position. Her whole body now frozen as she stared at the infected Steelix before her. Her bow was lying beside her, but try as she might she couldn't make her hands move to grab it

Brendan was also having his own problems. That Steelix had caused many debris to fall, some of which had landed on Brendan and trapping him from making any move to help. He could do nothing but watch as May screamed

Back with Ash, he could only look at the aura guardian in training with surprise, still unable to figure out what he was doing here

"Riley... what, but you, how" Ash tried to say, but no complete sentences could be formed

It seems even Riley himself was shocked at seeing Ash "If you're asking what am I doing here, I could ask you the same thing"

"I was in Galar, when the infected attacked. Gou, Saki and I were able to escape and went our separate ways... I chose to come to Sinnoh" Ash revealed

"All the regions but Orre have been affected" Riley sighed as he motioned for Ash to follow

"Orre? Never heard of that place"

"It's not a region that's commonly explored by trainers. In fact, Orre is a region that has no wild Pokemon spotted anywhere. There isn't even a Pokemon League or Contests for trainers to participate in either. The last I ever heard of Orre; they were having troubles of their own with something called Shadow Pokemon. Think of them like infected, only they have had their emotions removed by Cipher"

Ash was able to comment on his, but once again felt as if his head was about to explode as the ground shook. He placed one hand on the wall, using it to support him as Riley, who had also felt the effects looked at Ash in slight surprise at this

"You can feel it, can't you?" Riley asked seeing Ash still clutching his head

The Pallet native just nodded at Riley's words

Before Riley could say anything more, they both heard a scream from further up ahead. Ash seemed to recognize the scream as his eyes widen at just who was in trouble

"May!" he yelled running in the direction the scream originated from, not stopping as he heard Riley yell his name. Cursing, Riley gabbed Pikachu and chased after the teen

'What's she doing here?! Of all the places I didn't expect I'd see her in Sinnoh... I just hope that scream didn't mean what I think it means' Ash though, his mind once again flashing back to a specific part of his dream... the words May said replaying

I'm not afraid to die… I'm just glad you're here in the end at my side

'Could this be that moment?'

Finally, Ash arrived and what he saw, made him turn pale. A boy around his age was seen trapped by multiple pieces of debris and over on the other side... was an infected Steelix, but the thing that made Ash's blood boil was who it was targeting

Not wasting anytime, Ash didn't think about the consequences as he jumped in front of May

Not feeling anything, May slowly opened her eyes and stared at the person before her in shock

"Ash?"

Finally, Ash and May have reunited with one another. I wanted to leave it on a cliffhanger again, sorry for those who wanted more interaction between them. Anyway, Riley has entered the story as well, something which I've been planning since introducing aura into the story. Sorry if you expected something more, but alas, this is what you'll be getting for now. Next chapter is pretty oblivious so I won't reveal it. Till next time ^^