When I saw Ash being corralled between Mesprit and Uxie, I felt my heart stop. Everything slowed down, I could see my teammates freeze beside me as we all screamed "ASH!" in horror and despair. Suddenly, Honedge glowed blue and white, evolving into a beautiful Doublade, giving Ash the advantage he needed. Now with two swords in his hands, he shifted his stance and slashed in unison, freeing both Legendaries. Silence reigned in the room, no one could believe what had just happened. Ash's aura had aided Doublade to evolve and they freed all three Lake Trio. We won...
WE WON!
"That's how you do it!" Charizard roared, flames erupting around him.
"Perfect job like always, Master," Espeon purred.
"Now, that's a good workout," Herracross smiled in pleasure, breaking out of his Mega Evolution, alongside Charizard.
However, I said nothing. I simply rushed forward and tackled my trainer, my brother, making him collapse on his back. I beamed down, ignoring the Lake Trio floating above me, and screamed. "Ash!" That's when I saw it. Ash's slow response. That's when I felt it, Ash's heart slowing down under my paw. That's when I started panicking."Ash, don't fall asleep! Brother! Wake up! Please!" The spilled down my cheeks, I could not stop it. This is my best friend, my brother... I felt my heart breaking. No matter how much I shook him or how much I begged, he did not reply, falling into a deep slumber. "Please... Ash..."
"Pikachu calm down..." Azelf began.
"... The Chosen One is alive..." Mesprit continued.
"... he simply exhausted himself by using too much aura," Uxie finished.
"Will Master recover?" Espeon asked, coming to stand by my side while lowering her ears and looking at our trainer with sadness, recalling the story of Sir Aaron's Lucario and how he died by using too much aura.
"Young Espeon, your bond with your trainer is strong, you know that answer yourself," Mesprit answered.
"The same ending that befell Lucario will not happen to either of them," Uxie assured us gently. "They are simply not used to using aura the way they have and for so long, they'll need to sleep for a few days, and stop their aura training for a month. But they'll be all right."
"Thank you Lasy Mesprit, Lord Uxie," Espeon thanked the Legendaries, lowering her head to lick Ash's cheek in comfort, before turning to us with a thundering expression. "Wipe those tears rat! Stop your self-pity party! We need to get Master to the human healers!"
"You are too tired to teleport him," Charizard grumbled, stepping forward. "I'll fly him to the nearest hospital."
"I-I'll g-go with y-you," I stuttered through my tears.
"No, you won't," Herracross frowned at me. "Charizard is already flying a human and two pokemon, not to mention, the mission is not over yet. With Ash..." He took a deep breath, turning his head to Ash with regret and sadness in his eyes. "With Ash down, we need you to direct us."
"Y-you are right," I sighed.
I kissed Ash's nose and nuzzled his cheek, before getting off him and allowing Charizard to pick him up. We all watched Charizard fly with a heavy heart but knew that Ash would not want us to leave such an important mission uncompleted. Soon after, Josh, Sarah, and Elite Four Lucian rushed into the room. They breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the Lake Trio freed and all of us not heavily injured, but began panicking again after noticing that Ash was not there with us.
"Master is fine, the lizard took him, Riolu, and Doublade to the hospital. They are simply exhausted, they used too much aura," Espeon assured them before they could go into a full-blown panic.
"Thank you, Espeon," Elite Four Lucian thanked Espeon, with a polite but happy smile. "The rest of the squad is taking Saturn and the grunts to prison. Champion Cynthia has sent us a missive, explaining that their fight was already over too and that she wants us in Spear Pillar." He explained releasing his Alakazam, teleporting all of us.
"Where's Ash?" Utau was the first one to speak, stepping forward for the Kanto Squad. "Is he hurt?"
"From what Espeon told us, he is exhausted himself using too much aura freeing the Lake Trio," Sarah answered, calming everyone in Spear Pillar, except for Cynthia, who looked at me panicking.
"Not that much aura," Espeon assured her, with a mental link only between Cynthia and us, which calmed her down.
"Where's Cyrus and Charon?" Josh asked, noticing that only the Elite Four, Champion, and Ash's Kanto Squad were in Spear Pillar.
"The idiot summoned Palkia and Dialga," Elite Four Flint cursed, passing a hand threw his hair.
"But without the Lake Trio or the orbs, he was not able to command them," Elite Four Gretha explained.
"Which got them all blown up by a Spacial Rend and a Roar of Time," Aaron chuckled. "If I weren't shaking in fear of the powerful dragon moves, I would be amazed by the powerful dragon moves."
"We mostly fought them off, trying to prevent the summoning of the Legendaries, but..." Cynthia sighed.
"Ash did say that something he learned during his journeys is that the Legendaries are waking up, that's what Arceus wants," Josh explained. "If we follow that line of thought, there was nothing you could have done to prevent it."
"Right," Flint scoffed. "Luckily, they decided to leave as soon as they blew Team Galatic to pieces."
"Did you complete your mission?" Cynthia cut in, trying to break the tense atmosphere around us.
"We have," I sighed, mentally thanking Espeon for translating me. "The Lake Trio is free and what was left of Team Galactic is being taken to prison."
"Good," Cynthia smiled. "Lucian, please teleport the rest of Ash's pokemon to him. I'm sure they are worried about him. I'll contact Dawn and Riley, if it is a problem with aura exhaustion, who better to aid Ash than another Blue Knight?" She winked at us playfully, cracking a smile from me. "I'll also inform Lance and Professor Oak of what has happened. I'm sure they'll tell the rest of Ash's friends."
"Thank you," Herracross bowed at her, with Espeon translating for him.
"There's nothing to thank, I am just doing my job," Cynthia's smile was the last thing we saw before we were transported away.
As soon as we appeared in the Pokemon Center room, we were escorted by Chansey to get our wounds checked. By the time, we were finally released, Ash's room was filled with people. Riley was tending to my trainer, while Lucario checked on Riolu and Doublade. A teary Delia was sitting by her son's bedside, with a worried Dawn in her arms. Charizard was guarding our trainer's room with a solemnly I would not expect from my fiery old friend.
"Professor Oak just left, he went to check on his brat-grandson," Charizard informed us. "Nurse Joy kicked May, Max, Brock, and Misty out, there were too many people here. They'll come tomorrow."
"What did Riley say about Ash's condition?" I asked my old friend.
"There's nothing to worry about," Lucario spoke, walking towards us. "What Lord Uxie said is true, he will sleep for a week but he'll be fine."
And sleep for a week he did. Espeon and I stayed by his side, napping on his bed while Ash rested. Herracross and Charizard stayed out of their Poke Balls, guarding the room against anyone that tried to bring harm to our trainer. Guests came and went, Ash was a very popular patient, the most popular Nurse Joy ever had, she said. Doublade and Riolu woke up after four days, joining Espeon and me on the bed. On the fifth day, Lance and Cynthia came in to assure us that everything was done. The Lake Trio were back on their lakes and the world knew about Team Galactic's fall. The Elite Four and Cynthia gave out a press conference explaining that they along, with various Ace Rangers, Ash among them, stopped Team Galactic forever. That Charon and Cyrius were dead, and will never terrorize anyone ever again. Thankfully, no one knew about him being in the Pokemon Center.
Ash's popularity got even bigger... by now we should stop being surprised by that.
It was all finally over. What we came to Sinnoh for, our ranger mission was finally completed. However, to me, it was all grey. I could not muster a single smile. Ash was supposed to be awake for this, to celebrate with us.
On the seventh death, as an act of magic, Ash woke up. He did not wake up in a startle or shock. He yawned, blinking tiredly as if he was simply waking up from a long sleep... in a way he was.
"Hey, good morning," he greeted us, with a calm smile.
I choked a teary chuckle and smiled in amusement. "Good morning, Ash."
What else could I say?