WHAT'S UP, BITCHES?!
Yeah, unless I get some feedback from that, I'm going to start off my intros just like that from now on.
So, a few quick developments; I'm not setting a schedule for updatinng this story or my others. I'm going to work on them when I please, and I'm goijg to promise you that only Arceus calling for me will stop me from updating, in which case I'll have a friend of mine post said update of my untimely demise on this story and all my other ones. In which my last dying request will be for him to finish the stories in his or her own way.
Ok, enough with that depressing shit: on with the story!
Reflection cave.
A cave known to house mirror-like crystals, and each one said to be a gateway to a mirror dimension.
A cave that houses an endless labyrinth filled with these crystals that have known to make seasoned trainers wander for days, sometimes weeks, before finally finding the exit again.
A cave that currently contains our noble hero as he searches for a way out of this labyrinthian cavern…
"So… This is the alleged 'keyblade wielder?' How pathetic."
Ash froze, listening for the mystical voice echoing off the walls of the cave he heard mere seconds ago as both he and his pikachu, which was perched on his shoulder, tried to identify the source.
After a couple seconds of listening, with nothing more for the voice to say, Ash started to walk a bit more slowly as he tried to listen for the origin of the voice.
One of the mirrors somehow caught his eye, causing him to start walking towards it. As he stood in front of it, the mirror started to ripple like water, and a figure in a black cloak rippled into existence behind him in the mirror.
Sensing danger behind him, he twirled around, Pikachu sparking some electricity from his cheeks, only to be met with nothingness.
"And here I thought that you were going to be a challenge for me and my organization."
As he tried to pinpoint the source of the words spoken to him, he saw that twelve more mirrors adopted similar-looking black-cloaked beings. Each mirror he looked at with one of these beings had the background behind each one completely different. Flames, the night sky with a moon, a thunderstorm, alternating playing cards…
Before he could look at any other, he heard a "Pika!" coming from his shoulder at the same time that a weight was being lifted off of it. Turning to look at his friend, he found that his friend was no longer there. Looking back at the first mirror, he saw that the hooded figure had Pikachu in his arms, shaking off the electric blasts Pikachu was giving him like it was nothing.
"It seems like you care for this creature. I wonder… what would you do in order to get him back?" the voice said, seeming to come from all the crystal mirrors.
Ash's face twisted into one of anger, and his hand reached into his pocket, grabbed his Pokédex, and pressed the key button, surrounding it in a flash of light before it turned into the Arceus blade.
Slashing it in the air, it created a wave of energy that connected with twelve of the thirteen mirrors, instantly breaking their connection and returning them to just crystals.
He looks back at the first mirror, and he sees that Pikachu was gone.
"If you wish to see your partner again, then prove to us that you can survive without him. Return to home after your current journey is complete. We are eager to watch your progress."
The mirror then starts to crack in a few places before completely shattering into millions of pieces, the pieces scattering across the floor of the cave as the area is returned to silence once more.
~~~4 Months Later~~~
Ash stood at the entrance of Pallet Town in Kanto, a triumphant look on his face.
"We made it," he said, with a smile on his face.
Ruby, now a full-grown Lucario, smiles at his happiness, something that he showed very infrequently these days. Not like he hid the reason why.
Putting a paw on his shoulder, she smiled as he turned his head over to look at her, and, through their aura bond, she said 'I missed your smile. I wish you did it more often.'
He looked into her eyes and said "Well, it's a good thing my reason to smile, however few and far between they have become lately, is still standing beside me."
A blush coming across her face, he leaned down and gave her a quick, yet passionate kiss. As soon as their lips ceased contact, they continued their walk towards his mother's house, her head leaning against his shoulder while his arm was wrapped around her waist.
They were a mere twenty seconds away from reaching the front door when suddenly, Ruby stopped, her smile fading as she said 'Ash, there's a lot of auras coming from that house, and there's more negative energy surrounding those who are positive.'
Frowning as he let go of her, he activated his own aura sight, his eyes flashing red as he saw 13 auras, 9 of which were a culmination of yellow and red.
Reading her trainer perfectly, Ruby closed her eyes as she closed her eyes in concentration. A couple seconds later, his Greninja silently appeared out of his pokéball and his Gardevoir teleported to his side.
They slowly snuck up to the house, and that's when they started hearing yelling.
Ash signaled for his Pokémon to surround the house, and they took off; Greninja hopped onto the roof, landing softer than the morning breeze, Gardevoir crouched next to the ajar front door that lead to the living room where the shouting was coming from, Ruby snook her way towards the backdoor that was opened, and Ash silently approached the cracked window that lead to the living room.
He linked his battle-bond he had with Greninja with both his psychic link with Gardevoir and his aura bond with Ruby so that they could each hear and see everything that the others could.
And then they heard the worst conversation they ever heard.
~~~3RD-PERSON-POV~~~
"You know, same as I do, that his win against Diantha was a fluke." Paul said to Dawn, his voice rising with his anger.
Dawn stared him down, and said "And what proof do you have? Ash has become more skillful with every single region that he travels to, and it all paid out in the end. Isn't that right, Clemont?"
After a few seconds of silence, she looked over at Clemont, who looked conflicted.
"Well?" Dawn asked.
Bonnie looked up at her brother and asked "Why aren't you defending Ash, Clemont?"
He looked down to his sister and said "All throughout our journey, and through his others as I'm hearing from the other people in this house, he's always jumping head-first into danger, and dragging his traveling companions with him through it. Hell, his own Pikachu was turned to stone on our journey, and I heard that he was turned to stone when he traveled to the Tree of Beginning, or something like that. He's reckless and arrogant, and I don't think he's a good role model for you anymore, Bonnie."
Upon hearing that, Bonnie pushed off her brother and said "How dare you say that about your friend! What did he ever do to you that would cause you to say such horrible things about him?"
Clemont's face turned one to anger as he said "How about the time when he decided to meddle with Team Flare? A good twentieth of the population of Lumiose City died that day, and you were almost killed as well. How about when we came across Diancie and he decided to help her out? His recklessness cost his own Pokémon to be turned to stone. How about when he was chased by Team Rocket every damn day of his journey through Kalos with us? How about when Team Rocket captured you and Serena? THAT ENOUGH PROOF FOR YOU?!"
A random Caterpie seemed to slip in the window and watch the whole conversation unfurl without anyone knowing that it was there, and then Max came out of nowhere and punched Clemont in the face, causing him to hit his head on the wall behind him. Max then walked over to Clemont, put his foot on his chest, and said "I could care less if you were a gym leader yelling at a random trainer. I could give less if you were the champion of a region giving some tough love to a fan. But you are the big brother to that little girl over there that doesn't even have a trainer's license yet. You yell at her one more time…" he throws a Pokéball in the air, which summons his Gallade, and he continues with "…That'll be the last time you can speak." Unknown to him, yet completely evident to Clemont as he was the only one looking into Max's eyes at the time, his eyes flashed a dangerous blue for a split second before going back to their regular color.
Clemont simply nodded his head, which was enough for Max to release Clemont. He turned around, only to be hugged fiercely by a sobbing Bonnie. After the second of surprise, he hugged her back with equal vigor, and said "Let's go outside."
As soon as they're out the front door, Clemont tries to follow, but is stopped by an arm that belongs to a blonde-haired kid in an orange jacket.
At the same time, Cilan comes from the nearby hallway following the sound of a flushing toilet, and gives a surprised look to the orange-jacket kid. "Trip? W-w-w-what are you doing here?"
"Hey guys! Lunch is…" a teenager with squinted-eyes wearing an orange shirt and green vest comes in from the kitchen with a tray stacked with sandwiches followed by Iris and Shauna. Unknown to most, Shauna and Trip share a split-second look, making Ash curious as the rest of the scene played out.
"…served." The squinty-eyed teen finished.
Trip looked at the teen, and said "Brock. Did you know?"
The teens stared at each other before Brock sighed, set the tray of sandwiches down on the table, and said, "Yes, I knew, Trip. And I think it's the right thing to do."
"…the right thing to do?... Are you kidding me? Betraying you best friend is the right thing to do? Telling the person that helped you to start fulfilling your dream to give up on his own is the right thing to do?" Trip yelled, his voice getting louder the longer he spoke.
He looked to Cilan and said, "And you agree with this?"
Cilan looked down to the floor and rubbed the back of his neck.
He whipped his head to the four behind Brock and asked "How about you? Do you four agree?"
Three of the four immediately looked down to the floor. Shauna, however, walked over to trip, smiled, and summoned Florges from her Pokéball while turning around and facing Brock and the three girls.
~~~OUTSIDE~~~
Leaving the scene as it was for now, Ash was curious about where Bonnie and Max went off to. Switching his sight over to Greninja, he looked around the front to find that Max and Bonnie were sitting on the front porch, Bonnie leaning into Max's arms.
"It's settled then. We'll wait until they're done fighting, and we'll run away together, starting our journey together. With what I know about Pokémon, and what you know about the Kalos region, I think it would be best if we went there." Max said, lightly stroking Bonnie's hair.
Bonnie smiled, and said, "Thank you for agreeing to this, Max."
Alright, I think we've seen and heard enough. Meet at the front of the house ASAP as quietly as possible.
He then cut the connection, and then snuck his way to the front of the house, catching the two lovebirds out front still sitting on the steps, with Greninja crouched between them and the door, and Gardevoir on the other side of the porch.
Suddenly, Max looked at the ground to his right, where the shadow of the house, and the occupant on the roof, was. He then turned to look up at the roof, stopping to glance at the red Lucario for a split second. Jumping up on his feet and turning his entire body, he also spotted the Greninja crouching on the roof. Reaching for his Pokéball, Ash decided that he should step in before things got too hectic, and said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Max. Greninja can both dodge almost any attack and shoot one right back in a split-second."
Max turned to see Ash, and he ran over to hug him only to be hugged back. "Thank you for defending a friend." He stood there for a few extra seconds before he heard more shouting coming from inside the house, and then he said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, Max…" he let go of the 12-year-old, and glared at the house while clenching his fists and saying "I have some housecleaning to take care of."
Ash walked up to the front door and looked at Greninja. Surround the house, Ash thought. Anyone wants to enter or leave, ask me first. We're going to have a conversation about this, and I intend for it to be a big one.
He looks over at Max, and says "Go to Oak. Tell him to round up all my Pokémon, and have them in their Pokéballs within the next half hour. Let him know what's going on, he'll understand. If he refuses, or demands any further explanation, tell him it's time. He'll know what it means. Ruby, go with them; help keep them safe."
Once Max and Bonnie were off, he threw out two more Pokéballs, and out came his Serperior and Charizard. He looked at Serperior and said "Serpentina, snake your way towards the wall on the western side of the house, and remain next to the window. Once Grace gives you the all-clear, smash into the window and go into standby mode. As of right now, everyone in there is a possible threat."
As Serperior snaked her way to the window, he then turned to Charizard and said "Alduin, I know that you still think that you let me down. Well, today, I'm going to say that we can start completely over if you want. Some 'friends' of mine think that I should quit on my dream. A couple of them, I've helped complete theirs."
Alduin growled with anger, and glared at the door.
"No matter how this goes down, buddy, we won't be coming back here for a while. And since that's the case, I want you to do me a favor, ok?"
Charizard looked at him.
Ash grinned and said "Kick the door down."
~~~MEANWHILE~~~
Inside the living room, Dawn, Trip, Shauna and Alain were basically surrounded by Brock, May, Misty, Paul, Cilan, Iris and Clemont, their arguments going back and forth seemingly going in a circle.
That is, until the draconian roar came from the front of the house, and the front door exploded, causing Brock, Misty and May to jump out of the way of the biggest pieces.
Once the splinters stop moving around, the three on the floor got up and stared at the immensely powerful Charizard standing in the front door.
The Charizard took a few steps in the house, growling at everyone in the room, analyzing the situation, unsure of which side was for his trainer and which side was against him.
After he was a few feet in, his trainer walked in, his azure eyes piercing the looks he was getting from everyone.
He walked over to Trip, setting down his pokedex on the kitchen counter as he passed it, and stretched his left hand out in a handshake. Once he accepted it, Ash said "Thanks for defending me for me."
Trip smiled a bit, and said "Thanks for helping me see that I was wrong last year in Unova."
Ash smiled in acknowledgement, let go of the handshake, and spun around on his right foot to punch Brock square in the jaw.
After the doctor-in-training landed on his rear, Ash said "That was for spitting on my name and thinking that you could come into MY home and thing that YOU know what's best for ME. And for thinking that you could convince everyone here to have me GIVE UP ON MY DREAM! A dream that has already been accomplished, just so you know."
Everyone looked at him with puzzled looks.
He looked around at everyone and said "What? You guys didn't know what I did at the Lumiose Conference?"
Clemont said "Just because you made Champion doesn't make you a Pokémon Master."
Ash chuckled, and said "That's not what I meant. Sure, I beat the Lumiose conference, the Kalos Elite Four, and it's Champion in front of a live audience, making me the first to beat Diantha in five years. But that's not what I'm talking about."
Get in here.
Suddenly, Gardevoir teleported to his side, Serpentina slithered in from a window on the eastern side of the house, and Greninja stepped in through the back door.
Focusing solely on Greninja, his Pokémon was suddenly surrounded in a sphere of pulsating water for ten seconds before being absorbed into a small, two-inch sphere on it's back for a second before it became a pressurized water shuriken about two feet in radius, and it's appearance changed slightly to resemble Ash just a little bit; it's eyes turned red, he grew three black spikes on both sides of his head to look like Ash's hair when his hat was on, and a red spike grew on his head that took on the same shade of red as Ash's hat.
Clemont was the only one who looked unimpressed, while everyone else looked surprised. Cilan glared at Clemont and said, "You didn't tell us that his Greninja could do that!"
Paul then said "Anyone in their right mind who knows Ash would watch all his Conference battles no matter the region he was in. But to witness the transformation in action… that's something else entirely. Something that someone I know would be very interested in…"
Both Ash and Greninja looked at Paul, and before they could say anything, Paul said "Ash Ketchum, I challenge you to a battle. One on one, out front, right now. No-holds-barred, first to faint loses. Game?"
Ash looked at Greninja, and they both nodded to each other. "Deal."
Ash turned towards the door and took a few steps before several things happened at once;
First, Ruby came rushing through the opening where the front door
Second, Charizard growled at something behind Ash.
Third, Ash was flung forward into Ruby with an extreme amount of force, all his Pokémon rolling with him.
Steadily getting up, though with slight difficulty as Charizard landed on him, he heard a voice, deep and ancient, say "So… This is the one who has potential?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Ash saw that the owner of the voice had a black cloak that surrounded him.
"What a shame…" the voice said. "And here I thought we could be friends."
Pushing off the ground a few more feet, Serena managed to crawl right out from underneath him, and he said, through gritted teeth, "Who… are you?"
The being in the black cloak put his foot on Charizard, and applied enough pressure to cause Ash to struggle even further as he said, "My name is of no importance. It has been a long time since I abandoned my true name."
Suddenly, Ash pushed off the ground with all his might, throwing the man off balance, and Charizard was thrown to the left a few meters, surprising Ash. The mystery man took this opportunity to summon a huge grey being with circular legs, robot-looking arms, and a huge weapon that looked like a double-sided hammer.
The being smacked Ash in the side, propelling him through the open entryway, and into the living room, of which pools of complete darkness suddenly appeared around Ash, and arms and hands made of the same type of darkness shot out from the pools, and held down Ash before he could have the chance of getting back up.
Snapping his fingers, a 6-foot-tall egg made of pure darkness appeared, and Bonnie, Max, Professor Oak, and Tracey were thrown out from it before it disappeared just as quickly as it formed.
Several beings, some grey, some purplish-black, teleported in the room. A few beings threw Gary and Professor Oak out the back window where several other beings teleported in and grabbed them.
Several other portals of darkness appeared, and a few other beings clad in black cloaks similar to the first being, all with assorted weapons of interesting design in their hands, appeared out of them before they closed up once more.
One being grabbed Brock and Dawn, threw them against a wall, and fired a few darts at them before they hit the wall, pinning them against the wall that they were thrown at. Snapping his fingers, a few more beings were summoned, these with a slight pink tint to them. They immediately threw Max and May into a corner and surrounded them.
The same lumbering giant that smacked Ash back into the house came in and backhand-slapped Iris across the cheek, sending her flying into Cilan and Clemont, causing all three of them to fly into another one of the lumbering giants, the impact knocking them out as they fell to the middle of the floor, unconscious.
The second lumbering giant raised his weapon to deflect a Hydro Pump sent by Misty's Gyrados. He then turned around, and threw his weapon like a spear, hitting the Gyrados straight in the jaw, and sending it flying at Misty, hitting both her and it's pokeball at the same time, knocking Misty back to the ground, a nasty welt on her head, and she fell to the ground unconscious as the Gyrados went back into its pokeball.
Bonnie was the only one left standing, and the first hooded figure walked towards him, both his hands reaching up for his hood.
Pulling it back, he was revealed to be a man with silver hair.
Immediately, a single name was whispered into his head, in a voice that he's heard only once before.
Xemnas.
Ash looked at all the other beings, and he heard the same voice whisper a single word that varied depending on who, or what, he was looking at.
Assassin.
Sniper.
Demyx.
Xigbar.
Roxas.
Berserker.
Then he remembered where he heard this voice before.
He looked over to the counter, where he set his pokedex down as he entered the house to confront everyone, and he remembered when he was last confronted by any being that was different shades of grey.
He poured some of his energy into his left hand, and felt a magnetism being created between his hand and the pokedex. To everyone able to watch, the pokedex started to jiggle on the counter a bit, slowly inching its way towards the edge until it suddenly floated off the counter and sped towards his hand faster than anyone could see.
Ash caught it, and immediately he was surrounded in a flash of light, dispersing the hands that held him down. He got up as fast as possible, and the pokedex was surrounded in a bit of light before it turned into the Arceus Blade.
Through gritted teeth and furrowed eyebrows, his eyes shone with an infernal glow like the fires of hell as he said "Get out of my house."
OK, so how was that? Your comments here really help myself grow as a writer, and that will allow me to pump out chapters with better quality.
'Till next time!