3 weeks later
It's been at least 3 weeks since Red and Leaf joined the group consisting of Ash, May and Brendan. Riley had left the group to try and find some healing equipment for their Pokemon
As such before he had left, Riley had done before leaving was train Ash in aura during those 3 weeks. Ash had the basics down after rigorous training due to the seriousness of the situation and he hadn't complained once during the training, understanding the necessity to learn and use his abilities. Another thing, Riley who was unofficially their leader, decided to leave Ash in charge, something which surprised no one except Ash himself after hearing this
Sure, Ash had mentored people like May and Dawn, but to lead a group to survival? He wasn't too sure about his chances to lead them to safety if he were being honest... the responsibility of being in charge of their lives didn't sit well with him
Currently the group had managed to find a place to take a break near a lake. In the 4 days they had traveled, no infected were battled, something which made half of them uneasy about
Infected were all roaming around. To not encounter any is considered to be a bad sign. It's as if something is about to happen soon... whether it will result in death or not, no one knows for sure
Ash was sitting on a branch with Pikachu currently out of his pokeball again since they were in the clear. He watched as Brendan and Red both splashed each other with water, while Leaf was seen doing her best to heal a couple of Pokemon with berries she had been collecting along the way
"Pika?" Pikachu asked as he saw the faraway look on his trainer's face
"Do you think I can do it? Riley might have taught me how, but I don't know what will happen when the time comes where I'll actually need to use it" Ash said after a moment, looking down at his hands
Pikachu's ears dropped. His eyes turned to the brunette slowly climbing up to join them, begging her to help his trainer as he wasn't sure what to do
May, who had heard Ash, sighed as she slowly sat down next to the distraught teen "Ash you need to stop doubting in yourself. You could never hurt anyone. That's just who you are, willing to risk yourself for others. I know you'll learn to control your aura. You and Riley both are the only ones so far that can cause damage to the infected without the need to kill them"
"Riley trusted me to keep the group safe... do you really think I can do it?" he asked her after a moment of silence between the two
May gave him a determined expression "I know you can! When you put your mind to something, you won't stop until you get results"
Ash gave her a small smile at this and looked back at everyone. He wondered if things could go back to the way they were before all this started... back to exploring new regions, catching new Pokemon, meeting new people and entering competitions. However, Ash knew that deep that it was all wishful thinking... those days are gone and there was no returning to having things be exactly the same
Leaf sighed as she finished with the last Pokemon in need of healing. She just hoped Riley would be able to find anything, even bandages would do. Berries alone won't do much. Her mind briefly wandered to the old days where she didn't need to worry about looking over her shoulder. The world had changed and she along with it. If she wanted to survive this world, she knew that she needed to become stronger. She still remembers her first kill and how she hadn't even hesitated when she thrusted her blade into the neck of an infected human and then how she just kept stabbing, letting out every emotion that day. Since that day, she knew her old self was no more and if she was being honest at times, she wished she had at least kept her teasing and mischievous ways
By now both Brendan and Red had decided to have a mock sword fight as the two circled around one another. Brendan blocked a slash and thought about his childhood friend. He had seen May change after almost dying twice by infected. She was tried of being saved by others and had been training with her weapon ever chance she got. While he didn't know Ash like May, even he could tell that the teen had also changed. Not to mention the fact that he had powers unlike any he ever heard... must be tough for him to control his abilities
Suddenly they heard Ash shouting as the group looked above to see him return Pikachu into his Pokeball. Seeing this, Leaf returned all the Pokemon currently out and placed them in her bag, making sure to remember to give them back to their trainers
"Infected! A whole group of them are heading this way!" Ash said as soon as he touched the ground with May close behind him
"Damn! I thought we'd shaken them off after not encountering any for quite some time. Knew it was too good to be true" Red sighed as he shed his sword and whipped out his gun from its holster. Leaf grabbed her knife and flipped it in the air as she saw Brendan draw his sword in front of him. May had her bow ready, arrow drawn as she looked around the area
Eyes widening, Ash moved to the front of the group as multiple infected appeared. Cursing at the massive group, the teen just hoped this would work after having seen it during a movie a long time ago
Knowing time was at the essence, Ash felt his aura as he saw his palm glowing faintly. Without a second thought, he brought his hand down to the ground as everything started shaking, causing the infected to be knocked off balance as a result and fall to the ground
The group looked at Ash in shock. They didn't expect that to be honest. Sure, they had seen Riley and Ash training at times, but this was the first time they actually saw Ash officially use his abilities in battle
Standing up Ash noticed how the impact from his hand had slightly caused the ground to shatter slightly. Maybe he had put to much into that attack... but at least it had done the job!
Turning around and seeing his friends in a state of shock, Ash narrowed his eyes at them, with a few thinking they saw his eyes flash blue for a second "Hey! I get I surprised you, but don't let this opportunity go to waste!"
Realizing Ash was right, the first to react was Leaf as she took advantage of his... let's call it shockwave or aura-quake attack... and killed as many infected as the female could. Red and Brendan were next as Red started shooting at the flying types and Brendan slashed any near the former Kanto champion
May was slower to react as she kept staring at Ash. It wasn't until she heard her name being shouted that she snapped out of her trance. Aiming at various infected humans since the others were taking care of the infected Pokemon, May let her arrows fly
Leaf grabbed her knife with both hands as with a cry thrusted herself into the infected and slammed her knife into their neck. She pushed it in as far as she could and with as much strength as she could slashed the neck from inside. Blood spilled over her, but she ignored it as she flipped over the infected, getting her knife free just in time to jam it into an infected Ursaring's forehead. Leaf wondered if she somehow lost her humanity along the way since she felt no remorse for killing any of them nor did she regret the lives she's taken either
Brendan now wished he had two swords on hand since there was so many. While they had been able to take out many, they just seemed to keep coming. Brendan had almost been slashed or bitten by an infected due to the sheer number "Brendan!" he heard as he saw a sword thrown to him. Catching it Brendan thanked Red for allowing him to use his sword as the teen was now able to defend himself better with two swords 'Note to self; find another sword after this'
Red hid behind another tree as he reloaded his gun. He's glad he had gotten a ton of ammo, otherwise he'd be a sitting duck. Taking aim, the former champion fired as the infected Starly was seen falling down having been hit in the side of the head. It had taken him some time to master shooting, but Red had done it and was now considered the marksman of the group
May was soon thrown into a tree as she slammed hard against it. She looked back up at up at the infected that had tossed her and transformed her bow into a sword as she jammed an arrow into the eye of the infected Drapion
Suddenly she felt a slight breeze from behind her as she saw Ash with his hands stretched out and when she moved her eyes across from him, she saw an infected Gardevoir crushed under a pile of trees
However, an attack blasted May and Ash away from the group as both landed a few feet away from their last position, but were being circled by a group of infected as a result
Ash noticed the brunette's shaking and grabbed her "Don't be afraid... we'll get through this in the end" he told her as she stopped shaking
May slowly turned to look at him, her eyes holding nothing but graditude "I'm not afraid to die" she started saying as Ash suddenly realized that the words being said were the same as the ones from his dream "I'm just glad you're here in the end at my side"
However, what neither expected was for a looked like a flash grenade to appear. Ash's eyes widened as he grabbed May and pulled her in close to him. Thinking back to his lessons, Ash was able to draw a protective shield to protect them as an explosion followed causing many infected to get thrown back and stabbed by branches or to literally be blown to bits
Ash and May looked at the scene in shock as the Kanto-native released the protective barrier. The teen wondered where that had even come from since he didn't think any of them had any bombs on hand
"Save the cheesy romance for after. We still need to keep going" Red cut in, shooting the remaining infected through the head, while Brendan and Leaf were seen slashing away the ones following
"Did you send the bomb?" Ash asked as Red turned to look at him confused "I thought that was you"
Shaking his head, Ash helped May of the ground, as the brunette grabbed her weapon and started shooting arrows rapidly at any infected, her priority making sure Ash didn't die since he and Riley were there only hope against this war with the infected
Ash was going to join in when he could suddenly feel something as he moved his head just as a shot was heard. Everyone's eyes widened at hearing this and turned towards Ash
"Don't move" a voice said with the sound of a rifle being reloaded heard in the background
Ash's eyes widened at this. He put his hands up and turned around slowly as he couldn't believe the person who stood before them "Gary?"
Yes Gary has entered the story! You didn't think I forgot bout good old Gary Oak right? Anyway that part in Ash's dream has finally become true! I knew I was going to make that happen during a battle against the infected ^^ Anyway on another note Ash used aura in this chapter having been trained by Riley for 3 weeks every chance they got. Yes Riley left the group. I didn't plan on having him stay for long, plus there's more to his leaving than the reason given in the story. Anyway next chapter the group will be on the run from the various infected now overrunning the Sinnoh region
P.S. when I said this story was inspired by the virus, it was because it reminded me of Resident Evil. That's why it includes zombies and such. Just because I added that COVID inspired doesn't mean that the story will have the same path as the virus. Other fandoms have also included the virus. But if any of you feel insulted by the plot or anything, I apologize...