AN: Hey everyone!
P: What's today?
T: Well, if we look at the timeline… oh, who am I kidding! I think we all know what comes after Cerulean!
K: I hope so. You could also just look at the end of the last chapter and make a guess.
SV: Well, how about we just get started on the chapter then? Don't own Pokemon, let's go!
The entire group was up and ready to leave extremely early the next day, simply because Misty didn't want to hang about in Cerulean for much longer. As usual, Ashley was up before them, and nudged Volta awake.
'Don't wanna.' He complained, rolling over.
"Volta, get up. We're leaving soon and I'd like to practise."
'Alright.' He groaned, sitting up and blinking. 'Hope we don't explode anything.'
"Just be careful. Focus on getting Aura to your paws, and make sure you tell me before you try and make Aura Spheres." She instructed, starting to shape the attack herself. "When we get into the forest, we can start making excuses for getting out of the campsite and somewhere far away. Plus, any explosions from Aura can be played off as training."
'It is training.' Volta replied, sitting next to her and focusing himself.
"True." She paused, thinking. "Actually, it might be a good idea to focus on getting the passive boost to a high enough level."
'Passive boost?'
"Aura can be manifested, or it can be used to boost. The boost has two versions, active and passive. Active need to be activated- it's kinda in the name- and Adepts like the Kingdom's Lucario use it to climb walls, run faster than sound for about ten seconds and some older ones can hit the light barrier for about a second before they need to stop, and punch things through the sound barrier. Passive happens when you unlock Aura and can be made more powerful with practise. It's not as good as the active boost, but it's good for fighting, running, that sort of stuff." She lectured. "I'm not nearly good enough to use an active boost with any worth, but running is a bit faster and I tire slower than I should."
'So, if we get this passive boost to be strong enough, it'll help in the League.' Volta summarised, still focused on flowing Aura around. The yellow coating flickered as he spoke, but settled when Ashley took over with a laugh.
"Yeah. Plus, something like brushing the light barrier is great. It's like teleporting without a flare. 'Mya' mentioned once that the only time she hates teleporting is when that flare goes off, because it announces your presence."
'So can Mya do it too then?'
"Nope, but she wishes she could. The flare comes from going faster than light speed by a lot, because… you sort of put a bubble up, then when you hit the speed of light it collapses around you and any passengers to make sure you don't get squashed by the speed."
'Great. Now I'll be petrified of teleporting forever.'
"It's only dangerous if the person you're going with is inexperienced. Most Pokemon are taught by their parents, while Mya and most the others just knew how already."
'Right, so going with Mew is perfectly safe. Good.' A soft knock on the door interrupted their conversation, and startled both of them enough for the Aura to fade.
"Ashley? You awake?" Misty's voice, still a little nervous from before, drifted through.
"Yeah, I am." She stood up, opening and looking around the edge of the door. "I'll be ready to go in a minute."
"Alright. We'll meet you downstairs." The red haired girl closed the door as she left, then Volta pushed it open again.
'I'll wait with them.' He told her, leaving quickly. She chuckled, getting ready as she did so, picked up her bag and got halfway to the door again before pausing. Putting it back on the bed, she opened it to see a little green Pokemon looking up at her. Zy had opted to stay in her bag overnight for whatever reason, so she picked it up now.
"Have a good night?" It flashed a few times, then seemed to remember the language issue and nodded instead. "That's good. We're moving now, so we'll be in the forest for a while." It nodded again, so she assumed it was fine with that and put it back in her hair, promptly regaining her hairclip. Finally getting moving properly, she put her bag on over one shoulder as she hurried down the stairs to the lobby.
"Let's get moving before someone recognises me." Misty begged. "I don't want to face my sisters."
"Alright. Lead the way, we'll go through the forest."
"Right." Somehow, Misty and Brock managed to contain their curiosity until they left the city, when the older boy turned to her.
"So, did you get any of that picture stuff done?"
"Started the Zygarde one. It's not very good, Zy'll probably laugh himself silly, but the other Pokemon I'd like Misty to describe again to see what I can do." Volta had made his way back to her shoulder at some point, and laughed lightly.
'Yeah, because you definitely need that.'
"Well, we'll stop and take a break around midday. We should do that then." Brock told her, to a careful nod.
As Brock had promised, they stopped at a nice pond near midday. Everyone's Pokemon were out, and they were enjoying some time to talk. Brock had done the cooking, a fact that had had Ashley swearing he had a pocket dimension of his own, and they'd all helped clean it up. It was actually just as Misty was sitting down next to Ashley, ready to start describing the Pokemon again so she could try and draw it, that Ves and Volta drew her attention to something of greater importance.
'Hey Ashley, we've got a problem over here.'
"What's wrong?" She asked, on alert.
'Volta's mentioned feeling a sort of pressure, and the rest of us can feel it too. We were wondering if you could.'
"What sort…" She began, before reaching for her Aura. She could feel something, and it worried her. She'd felt it before, when she was younger, but it had been worse than this. "Oh hell no!" She scrambled up, throwing the sketchbook and everything else into her bag. "Everyone, return your teams now!" The sheer commanding tone of her voice had the other trainers scrambling to obey. Misty opened her mouth to ask why, but the Adept preempted her. "I'll explain why later, but let's just say that if you don't, their lives will be in danger." Her own team recalled, she looked to Volta. "You and Zy get in my bag and stay there. You might be safe, but there's something you should drink anyway." Reaching in, she pulled out a collection of small flasks, something she'd began carrying with her after that first time. "It's temporary, but it'll help a bit." She passed the others to her friends. "Drink these, then follow me. Don't ask questions, I'll explain what I can later, for now we need to find the source of this and see what we can do." Keeping the largest of the flasks to herself, she drank about a quarter, shuddering at the disgusting taste. Luckily, it was working, and the slight pressure she could feel faded to nothingness. "Right, let's get moving and try and fix some of this." Sprinting off with her two friends in tow, she was so focused on trying to find the source that she missed the glance they shared.
What could have happened to cause this?
It was easy enough to find the source of the issue. As they got closer, Ashley began to get a pounding headache, and quickly drank some more of the mixture.
"Stupid damn blights." She muttered. "Why did there have to be one now? There's a limit to what I can fix, but if we get lucky, then it might not be too bad."
"Ashley, what's going on?" Misty asked, while the paused for breath. "I don't understand."
"For now, you don't need to. The full story's a bit worrying, but the summary is there's a sort of very rare, naturally occurring blight. It doesn't really affect humans, unless it's very powerful, but the main thing it does is make Pokemon extremely ill, and will kill them quickly. It can only affect people with special gifts, like Psychic powers, and empaths can sometimes be affected as well." Ashley realised she was straying into the territory of knowing too much again, but she didn't care. This was more important than her safety. "I think I can fix it, I learned how once, but the issue is finding how many Pokemon were affected to heal them."
"Excuse me?" The sudden intrusion of an unfamiliar voice caused Ashley to spin. A girl, around fifteen, was behind them, slightly hunched over and clearly out of breath. "Did you say you know how to fix this?"
"I do." She confirmed. The girl sagged in relief.
"Thank Mew. About three days ago, the Pokemon I take care of started getting sick. I haven't been able to heal any of them."
"Right, three days, that's good. Shouldn't be too serious, so I can try and heal them. Where to?"
"Just follow me." The girl started running, and Ashley followed. For a second, both Brock and Misty hung back, startled.
"This is one hell of a personality change from her." Misty blinked.
"I'd say. Who knew she was so commanding?"
"Well, she said she'd explain things, and if a lot of Pokemon are sick, we should go help too." Brock nodded, so the friends started running after the two.
The Aura Adept and the other girl arrived well before the others, so Ashley went straight over to one of the Pokemon and started checking it over.
"What've you tried?"
"The normal stuff first, like Oran and Pecha berries. Then I tried Potions, then some herbal types."
"Right." Deciding just to chance it and hope that the use of Aura wouldn't make anything happen to her, she looked about in Aura Sight. "Looking at this place, I think we might have a problem, but I can definitely cure the Pokemon. The area is another case."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I've seen this before, once. It's like a blight, affecting something called Aura. Pokemon have quite a bit, so they tend to get affected first. People can get affected by it, but it takes longer unless they have a gift." Shutting down her Aura Sight as her friends arrived, she stood, smiling grimly. "I can heal this, that's for sure. Sitrus berries are preferable, but Oran will do, if you mix it right. Pecha is also helpful, since it counters poisons and the blight is like one anyway. I've Revival Herbs in my bag, so I'll get those in a second, and hopefully…" She trailed off, digging through her bag and pulling out the Revival Herbs. Brock had set up a table when he'd gotten here, and she gave him a thankful look as she put them down. "Ah, here it is." She pulled out a bright pink flower. It had six large petals, and little yellow buds sat in clumps at the center. "It's a Gracidea Flower. They grow fast, so we can use this. Misty, Brock, can you go and find as many Oran and Pecha berries as you can. Keep your Pokemon in their Pokeballs, since I don't know how much this'll affect them. If… sorry, I never got your name." She apologised.
"Melanie."
"Right, Melanie, can you stay here and wait for them to get back? I'm going to set something up a little ways from here. It'll only take a few minutes, if I get lucky, but the actual purpose tends to take longer." She waited for nods of confirmation from each person before the group of three ran off, with Brock and Misty heading back the way they came and Ashley running for the forest. "Volta, I need you to do something. Remember the area Misty described yesterday?"
'Yeah?'
"Sui passed over the water there. Can you take on of the empty flasks and get some water? I'll be in the clearing over there for a while yet. Drink some more of that stuff before you go."
'Alright.' When Ashley halted in her chosen spot, Volta leapt out of the bag with as big a flask as he could carry. 'I can kind of smell Suicune, I think. Smells like fresh water and cool winds.'
"That'll be Sui. Follow it." She instructed, dropping to her knees with the flower. "Now, for Aura to do half the job…" She planted the flower, then took the flask she'd been using. "Mew, this is gonna suck." She grimaced, then downed the rest of the mix. "Gross, but more survivable than the alternative. To work!" She declared, then put her hand gently on a petal and began pulsing Aura. The little yellow buds shook, and she quickly blew to spread the dust around. When it landed on the ground, she moved her hand to follow it and kept at work. More of the flowers burst into being, but the petals stayed closed. Very little more dust fell, but she kept using Aura for a solid minute before she ended the flow with a gasp. Still, she thought happily as she looked around. It's worth it.
Nearly half of the clearing was covered in flowers, and about a quarter of those were fully bloomed. The rest were about halfway, and she hoped that they'd be close enough by the next morning. If she kept up the Aura work, she might be able to get the rest up to full, but she also might kill herself and she really didn't want to take that risk. As she pulled the original flower from the ground, she carefully tested the buds to see how much of the pollen was left.
"Enough." She decided.
'Enough what?' She jumped slightly as Volta bounded into the clearing, the now full water bottle being held in place by his tail.
"I need the pollen for the mix we're making. Not much, just this one flower might be enough for what we need, but that's not the reason for the flower garden I've just made."
'Then what is?'
"Later. Let's get this back, get to work, and see what we can cure." Taking the bottle from him and holding the flower in the other, she let him climb up to her shoulder and back into her bag. Ashley started running, heading straight for the clearing where the sick Pokemon awaited. "Sui, I know you're the north wind. Do me a favour and blow some of that pollen towards Sinnoh? We need their help." And, while she wasn't sure if it was her imagination, she could have sworn that the wind behind her strengthened slightly, and a few little glitters of pollen rose up from the clearing in answer.
When she got back, Ashley saw that neither of the other two had returned. That was both good and bad; she was able to avoid questions about what she'd been doing, but it also meant that she had to wait to start. Instead, she set down the two things she was carrying on the table, and dug a mixing bowl and a few other supplies from her bag, and waited with Melanie.
"What were you doing?" She asked. "That's the same flower from before."
Ok, maybe she hadn't managed to avoid the awkward questions.
"It's nothing." She replied, putting the bowl to one side.
"You're lying." The calm, matter-of-fact tone with which she accused her made her turn sharply.
"How can you tell?"
"I can see it. You've a blue pattern around you, which I don't see on most people, but it has a hint of yellow on it. That means you're lying." At the end of that sentence, Ashley's brain went into overdrive.
Right. Adept or Psychic?
I'd know if she were Psychic, since my Aura'd be acting up, although that isn't confirmed since Mew used to be fine around me, and the same the other way. If she were Adept, however, I'd see her use Aura Sight to look, so it can't be that. Best guess is Psychic, or maybe…
"You're an empath?" She asked, surprised.
"I don't know."
"Right. Well, there's a way to check." Closing her eyes, she focused on a few memories, one's she knew would make her angry, while she suppressed her Aura. "What colours are there now?"
"The same teal, but also red." That was all the confirmation necessary, so she opened her eyes.
"Yep, empathic. That's cool, I've never actually met one." Ashley smiled.
"How do you know, though?" Melanie asked.
"One of my friends is Psychic, and I know how to recognise them. But still, that means you're safe, at least for me." Instead of letting the other girl question it, she looked for Misty and Brock, then flared her Aura in one palm. "The teal colour is because I'm an Aura Adept. We're rarer than Psychics and empaths, and have that pattern."
"Oh." Melanie's eyes widened. "So you were lying because…"
"...I'm not sure who I can trust, since it's such a rare gift." Ashley finished, with a nod.
"I'll not say anything to your friends, then." Melanie replied. "I might tell them about my own."
"That's fine." Further conversation on the matter was interrupted by the return of Misty and Brock, both of which were carrying as many Oran and Pecha berries as they could. "Right, bring those over here, then go and make sure that none of the Pokemon are getting any worse." She glanced back at Melanie as the both of them left again. "There's another draught in my bag. You might want it. You've been around this stuff for three days at least, so you might be affected soon." The girl paled slightly and nodded, opening the bag that was on the side of the table, away from the rest of the equipment. "Volta, pass her a drink please. There should be an extra somewhere in there."
'Ok.' There was the sound of a bit of digging, then a tiny flash in the corner of her eye before he popped up with the bottle. 'Here you are.' He handed it to Melanie and looked at his trainer. 'This bag is awesome! Why is there so much room?' Frowning, both from concentration of making the draught and trying to use telepathy, Ashley gave a quiet reply.
'Mew.'
"That is disgusting!" Melanie exclaimed, retching. "What is this stuff?"
"Oran berries, Pecha berries, water, and Gracidea pollen. It's bad because of the pollens, because it's kinda sharp, but at least it's not poisonous. It wouldn't even be that bad if it didn't react with the gifts we have. Gracidea pollen… well, I'll explain properly later." She gave up talking, focusing completely on the mix. It was actually quite simple, but the issue was the pollen. At the moment, she had a very limited supply of it, and she couldn't afford to go to the clearing she'd planted them in to get more. While the pollen was useful and completely necessary for the mix she'd need to cure the blight, it's actual purpose was far more valuable. If it took too long, she'd need to go and get another flower to try and make another mixture for the Pokemon, but she hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"Can I help in any way?" Melanie asked, watching her work.
"Since you look after the Pokemon here, you'll know which ones got sick first." Ashley stated. "If you can go and get them, then help Misty and Brock get the rest of the Pokemon together."
"Alright. There were quite a lot of Water types to get sick first, so what should I do with them?"
"When I've finished mixing some of this, you can take it over to them."
"I thought this stuff stopped you getting sick?"
"Nah, this stuff cures it. The stuff that stops you from getting blighted has a really minor amount of something called Flutterbush, a rare plant from Alola. It's actually quite cool, and it helps stop the blight, because it's sort of a preventative for a lot of poisons."
"How do you have so many of these rare plants?" Melanie asked, astounded.
"A lot of luck and a few favours." She answered shortly. The other girl hesitated for a moment, then nodded, accepting the answer, and running off to the Pokemon. She knew Ashley was lying, but the Adept was lucky that she didn't press the matter. In truth, Sui had bought some of the plants back from a trip to Alola to do her duty as Purifier of the Waters, while Mew had given her a Gracidea flower when they'd first run into the blight and she'd been taught how to cure it. Both of these plants now resided in her aunt's garden, where she'd carefully grown them before keeping the amount that she'd need for her own work in a pocket in her bag. The Gracidea she grew at home grew naturally, since she didn't need to create a field instantly, which was what her Aura did. Still, there was a fairly sizeable bush with quite a lot of blooms on it, so she had extras if she ever needed them. Honestly, she hadn't expected to ever need to make the mix again, since the blight was so rare, but now she was so glad that Mew had taught her to make it. Glancing around, she picked up the Gracidea again, carefully brushing some of the pollen into a bowl, then moving away to crush together the rest of the ingredients.
'Can I help at all?' Volta asked, popping up from the bag again.
"Not really bud." She replied, adding a bit of water to the mix to make it more of a liquid. "It's not exactly complex, making this, but it needs to be done perfectly. The exact amount of each ingredients mixed with just enough water, then adding a tiny bit of the Gracidea pollen to it to give it the properties it needs. It took two months for me to learn to make it, and considering we did two or three of them every day until I got it right, that's a lot of wasted stuff."
'How did you keep doing it? Wouldn't you run out? And how did you know if you'd done it right?'
"Aura." She replied. "And Mya has a sort of sensor ability, a Psychic one, that let her know if I'd made it right." And that can't help me now. She thought sourly, as she added the pollen that she needed and gave it a stir. The only way I'm knowing if this worked is by giving it to a Pokemon and praying that it works in the next few days. Just by looking at it, it seemed to be perfect. The colour was right, a nice lilac colour that had just a few hints of green from the Revival Herb, and the little glimmers of pollen that poked through didn't seem out of place, but Ashley was, by this time, a master. Mixing the same potion until it was perfect, then repeating it until it was perfect nine times out of ten made it very easy to spot inconsistencies. Since nothing seemed to be out of place, she moved the first bowl to one side and set to work on a second one, sighing silently. Thank Mew. Now to do it another fifty or so times, and hope it works out.
"Ashley!" Misty called, running over. "Brock and Melanie are getting some of the Pokemon together, and I was wondering if I could get the stuff we need."
"Bowl's over there, get a spoon. One spoonful should be enough, since it's pretty powerful from the stuff that's in there. I'm just going to keep working, so come back when you run out." Ashley gestured with a nod to the bowl, while Volta popped up with a spoon from her bag.
"Alright." Misty hesitated for a moment, as if she wanted to say more, but just nodded, picked up the bowl and spoon, and ran back the way she came.
"Hey Volta, can you check in my bag and see if there's any more of the Flutterbush in there? I want to see if I can make more of the prevention potion while we're here."
'Sure. What's it look like?'
"Green, pink-white petals with purple spots, look kinda like Butterfree wings, bright yellow center." She replied, mixing a second batch of potion together with the pollen.
'Hold on a minute.' He dove back down, and a few seconds of scrabbling followed before he popped back up, a plant on his head. 'This it?' She spared a glance over, moving the finished bowl as she did so, and nodded.
"Yep. I should have a few more in there, so if you can get them for me that'd be great."
'Alright.' He put the other one on the table and ducked back into the bag again, looking for the plants, while Ashley began mixing a third cure, getting some things ready for the other brew.
"I really hope this works out…"
Far off in the sky, hundreds of miles up and a thousand miles away from Kanto, two little shapes flew together. One was a pink, cat-like creature, with a long tail and bright blue eyes that matched the sky perfectly. The other was reindeer-like, mostly white, with a green crest and legs, and two white horns on its head, next to bright green eyes. A flower adorned its neck, like a cape or a scarf. The two flew side by side, perfectly at ease. The cat was stretched out, as if it was lying down on grass, while the other ran alongside it. Suddenly, a cloud of glitter-like substance crossed their path, interrupting their peaceful flight.
'That's odd.' Mew said, touching some of the dust. 'Where's this from?'
'It's Gracidea pollen.' Her companion replied, sniffing it.
'I knew that.' She laughed. 'But where's it come from?'
'Kanto, I think.' She sniffed a few times. 'Yeah, Kanto. But none of the gardens should be in bloom yet… The one we made in Rota blooms near that festival of yours, while the Bulbasaur garden is a few months out yet. There's a few patches that might be, but none of them should make this much pollen.'
'Should we take a look?' Her friend nodded.
'I'd say so. We'll be racing against the clock, though. Or you're going to be stuck carrying me the rest of the way.'
'Then we should hurry.' Mew surged ahead, oddly serious. 'I'll take your form when we get closer. We'll look like a family then.'
'Sure. Let's just hope there's no trap.'
'I'll teleport us away of there is.' She promised. Both Pokemon put on another burst of speed, and a Tailwind from Mew helped them along even more.
They had about half a day to cover a thousand miles, after all.
*Several hours later.*
"Finally." Ashley sighed, flopping over to lie down on the grass. "Thank Mew that's done."
"I agree." Misty sat down next to her. "Who'd have thought today would be so eventful?"
"I'm glad it was all the same." Melanie said gratefully, taking her own seat, followed by Brock. "Thank you so much Ashley."
"It wasn't a problem." She assured her. "Still, don't thank me yet. We might still have a problem here. I can't get rid of a blight from an area, no human can. The best I could do is make a ridiculous amount of the cures and preventions, then hope for the best."
"So that's it?" The empath looked crestfallen. "There's no way to fix this place?"
"No way a human can." Ashley corrected. She was about to elaborate, but Volta cut her off from his place in the bag.
'Ashley, should we go and check the Gracidea garden?' Three humans blinked, even if one's lack of understanding was faked, but the fourth was confused.
"Gracidea garden?" They started.
"You understand Pokemon?" Misty asked.
"Yeah. I've always been able to, but I couldn't figure out why. Ashley reckons that I'm empathic, though. She tested me a bit earlier."
"And you're right, Volta, that is a good idea." The Adept replied, standing with a sigh. "I need new flowers anyway, since I've practically used all of that one." She grabbed her bag as the others stood, and called over her shoulder. "I planted it really quickly, since the Gracidea pollen reacts really well with a few things, so I used one to spread a garden around."
"But you only used one flower." Brock stated. "Why did you need a garden?"
"Because the cure wasn't the true purpose for it. If we get lucky, in a few days it should attract some very important visitors, which means that they can cure the blight." As the group stepped into the clearing, Ashley activated Aura Sight. She knew the Pokemon she was looking for would blend in with the garden almost perfectly, but she was hoping she could spot some sort of inconsistency that would give them away. Normal, normal, the pinkish cloud of the empath, Volta's yellow, poking slightly out of the bag with Zy's nothing on top, a Grass/Poison type, which was to be expected in a forest, and… there. Two green-sky blue, one with a hint of pink that meant… dammit, why now? Where's she even been?
'Is this it Meema?' A young voice came from the edge, a question that clearly was faked.
'It is. I'll admit, I don't remember there being a garden here…' The second, older voice trailed off, just as Ashley opened her eyes and motioned for the rest of the group to stop where they were.
"There wasn't one." She said quietly, stepping over and crouching slightly to get closer to the voices. One of the deer-like Pokemon jumped in front of the other, clearly the Meema of the two, in a defensive stance, trying to threaten her. The other, however, was strangely relaxed, looking up at Ashley happily. The fact that it was the one with the fake Aura just added to it. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you."
'Prove it.' While she wasn't expecting the telepathy from the non-Psychic type, she didn't let her surprise show.
'Shay, wait…' The younger one said. 'She's telling the truth.'
'How do you know?' The Shaymin Sky forme didn't believe her 'child', but there was enough to her voice that meant she was curious.
'It's Ashley.' The Mew-turned-Shaymin replied.
"I'm Ashley." She introduced herself, as if she didn't understand the conversation. "These are my friends, Misty, Brock and Melanie. Melanie's an empath, so she understands even though we don't."
'I see…' The tension, now held up completely by the Legendary's acting skills, fell away, and she stood normally. 'What do you mean, there wasn't a garden here?'
"I planted it. I needed to draw a Shaymin here somehow, and I knew you used Gracidea to transform, so I planted one and made the garden here."
'Why try and draw us here, if you don't intend to be a threat?'
"There's a blight here, an Aura one. I cured the Pokemon, but only you can get rid of it."
'How would you know that?'
"I got affected by one before, when I was younger. A Shaymin helped me then, so I knew one could now."
'Very well. Lead us to the place, and I will purify it.' The telepathy altered slightly. 'Hold on to Mew. She wanted to talk to you.' The Adept inclined her head, picking up the Mew in disguise while the true Shaymin flew upwards again.
"It's this way." Leading the way with Shaymin at her side, she lowered her voice to Mew. "I need your help with a few things."
'What?' She said, before shaking her head slightly. 'Actually, let me see.' Ashley let her mental wall fall down, giving her best friend access to her memories. Blinking as she glanced through the memories, she nodded. 'Right, I understand. So, you want me to check over Misty and Brock for you?'
'Melanie trusts them, and I'm inclined to trust her, since she's empathic, but I don't know. And I really don't want to explain about you and the others to them.'
'I can check them over when we stop to let Shay purify the blight here. That's fine, no problem. About the Zygarde Cell-'
'Zygarde Cell?'
'The actual name of the thing you called Zy.' Mew explained. 'I'll come along as a human when you reach Vermillion, if you don't mind holding onto it for a few days.'
'That's fine. I like it, and I might be able to try and understand it more.'
'You might, though don't get your hopes up.'
"We're here." Ashley said instead, choosing not to reply to her friend.
'I see. Yes, I can sense the blight here.' Shaymin nodded, looking around. 'Step back. Seed Flare tends to be a little explosive.'
'Wait, isn't Seed Flare the one that opens portals?' Ashley asked worriedly, backing up a few steps with the rest of the group.
'Only when you're in the Distortion World. It's fine to use here.' Mew assured her, smiling. 'Now, I'm going to check over Misty and Brock for you.' Over the next few minutes, everyone was silent. Mew had closed her eyes, a sign she was using Psychic powers when she was in a non Psychic form, while the Shaymin before them had landed. Little wisps of black floated around the scarf-like flower, and slowly, a greenish-yellow light built up around the deer-like Pokemon, and the area around her glowed with that same sickly green. It was slow going, but the whole clearing, and some beyond it, was glowing after a few minutes.
'Seed…' Shaymin shouted, breaking the silence with a swing of her head. 'Flare!' An explosion of blue light followed, and Ashley had to fight the instinct to put up a shield with her Aura, even knowing it was harmless. Watching a massive wave of power flow directly towards you made you react like that. Instead, she watched the wave carry across the grass, purifying the air and land as it did so. It was a pretty thing to watch, even for the second time, and not being extremely sick this time was an added benefit. At the same time, the sun started to set, and a second golden glow enveloped the purifying Shaymin.
'Mew.' Ashley warned, interrupting her work. The other Legendary opened her eyes, confused, then winced as she realised what she was missing. Her own glow was more white than gold, showing that she was transforming instead of changing formes, but everyone was too busy to notice. Mew settled back into her arms as a Shaymin Land Forme, then quickly went back to reading the minds of Ashley's two friends. The actual Shaymin also settled back into her Land Forme, and the Seed Flare began settling down into a fine blue dust that seemed to absorb itself into the ground. The hedgehog Pokemon sighed, then looked back at the group.
'I've done what I can. I'm pretty sure I got everything. But, now that the sun's set, we can't go heading home until tomorrow.'
"You can stay here." Melanie offered immediately. "It's the least I could do after you helped save the village. You four can stay here as well. I'm sure I can make room in my house for you."
"I'll camp out." Ashley returned. "It was something I needed to do, and you don't need to pay me back."
"Ashley, didn't you promise to tell us what was going on?" Misty asked. Ashley winced slightly.
I was hoping they'd forgotten that… She smiled, a little forced. "I will, but I'll do it in the morning." Even if I'd rather not… Mew-Shaymin wriggled in her arms, and she smiled again, the time genuinely, and put her down. She went over to Shaymin, who nudged her and started speaking quietly. Out of courtesy, she didn't listen in, instead opening her bag to get a tent out of it. Volta hopped out, Zy on his head, while she pulled a tent out of the depths of the pocket dimension.
"I still don't understand how you do that." Misty whispered.
"And Brock pulling tables and cooking equipment out of his bag makes more sense?" She retorted rhetorically.
"I guess not." She admitted. Shaymin wondered over, looking oddly at Zy.
'What might you be?' She asked, frowning. Zy blinked a few times, which only served to confuse her further.
'It's a Zygarde Cell.' Mew told her, joining the three of them. 'You remember Zygarde, right?'
'Of course I do. We only saw him recently.'
'What's a Zygarde Cell?' Volta asked her.
'It's a piece of Zygarde. Zygarde's a Legendary from Kalos, and he can split himself into pieces and reform in different shapes.' Mew replied. Switching to telepathy to stop the empath from hearing, she continued. 'I'll come by in a human form when you reach Vermillion City and pick it up, then take it back to Kalos.'
'Right.' He nodded, happy with the answer.
'Umm… excuse me?' A female voice came from the side, causing the four of them to turn. Ashley twitched, wanting to follow the movement, but decided to finish putting the tent up for herself. A small Bulbasaur walked shyly over to them. 'Lady Shaymin?'
'Yes, young Bulbasaur?' The Legendary's oddly formal voice came through, and Ashley grinned. Practically all of the Legendary's had a formal voice, though the only one she'd really heard was Ho-oh on that first day of travelling. 'What is it you need?'
'I… I wanted to thank you.' She said. 'You helped save my village.'
'It's the duty of Legendary Pokemon to help others.' Shaymin replied. 'While I may not be like Lady Mew, the Guardian of the Earth, purification is one of my talents. Even if it was luck that she knew what to do, Ashley over there was the one who did most of the work. She cured everyone here, from what I've heard, and she knew how to call us to get rid of the blight.'
'Then…' She hesitated. 'Could you translate something for me, Lady Shaymin?'
'Of course.' The young Bulbasaur looked hopefully at Ashley.
'Would you catch me? I want to come with you.' Shaymin telepathically relayed the statement, and Ashley waited until the end before blinking.
"How come?"
'You cured everyone here, and called the Lady Shaymin here to save everything.' She replied, while Shaymin duly translated to the rest. 'I'd like to have you as a trainer, if you'd take me.'
"Of course I would!" Ashley smiled, holding out a hand. "I'm sure the rest of the team would be happy to have you."
'Idea seconded!' Volta added cheerfully. 'Welcome to the group!' He grinned, then lowered his voice. 'Hope you didn't like having a startle reflex.' The other three started drifting away, and Ashley gave it another few moments before relaxing, still not looking at Mew even as she walked up next to her.
"So, how're things?"
'I'd say they're safe.' She replied, sitting down and watching the girl sort out the tent. 'Misty and Brock both genuinely like you, and I don't think they'd say anything if you asked them not to. But, well, I'm not Celebi, so I can't tell you exactly how it'd play out, and she wouldn't say anything anyway. I'll warn you though, they are getting a little suspicious, so I'd recommend saying something soon, just so it comes out on your terms rather than theirs.'
"Right, thank you." Ashley smiled down at her, swinging her bag into the tent. "I assume you'll be leaving at sunrise?"
'Yeah.' Mew nodded. 'Shay will use the flowers to transform, and I'll just copy her, then we'll head back to Sinnoh. I'll drop her at the island, then head back to Rota and wait for your message to say that you're in Vermillion.'
"Don't cut your trip short on my behalf!" Ashley protested. "Knowing our luck, it'll be a week before we end up in Vermillion anyway, and the both of you can get back to Sinnoh in less than twelve hours, so you have plenty of time. Plus, you can teleport."
'True.' Mew laughed. 'So, how's practise been?'
"Slow." She admitted begrudgingly. "We don't get to do much, because I'm always around with Misty and Brock, so we can't just slip off at random intervals to practise."
'But?'
"Other than that, not much is different. It's a little hard to get the time, but the bits we've done are ok."
'Good.' Mew said, with finality. 'So long as you keep working, I'm sure it'll go fine. Now, catch the Bulbasaur, go to sleep, and figure out how to explain what you need to say without saying anything you'll regret.' The little hedgehog bounced off, while the real Shaymin followed with a laugh. Volta came running over, with Zy on his head and Bulbasaur a little behind. Ashley shook her head, taking out a Pokeball.
"So, if you're joining us, I suppose you'd better be ready for some weirdness." She began. "Because of this, I'll give you a quick version of what to expect. I'm an Aura Adept, not an official Guardian yet, am friends with four Legendaries and have two more trusting me with their eggs. I'm also the temporary guardian of Zy, who's a piece of the Legendary Pokemon Zygarde. And what Volta said was right, you won't have much of a startle reflex after spending time on our team." She loosed a breath, then held out the Pokeball with a smile. "So, want to reconsider?" The Grass type returned the grin, then tapped the button without responding. Upon being released again after the capture was complete, she chuckled.
'Nope! Not a chance!' The shy Pokemon then blushed. 'I mean, I look forward to travelling with you.'
"Calm down." She patted her newest Pokemon on the head. "Now, unless you have any opposition, I give my team nicknames."
'You didn't for Vespine.' Volta argued. 'Unless you count Ves.'
"That was already her name."
'My name's Abilene.' Bulbasaur put in. 'My Meema's liked it.'
"Well Abilene, welcome to the group. You can meet the rest now if you want, or when we leave tomorrow."
'Now, if you wouldn't mind.' She nodded, releasing the other three.
'Hey Ashley.' Ves waved. 'Everything sorted?'
"It is now." She replied, politely ignoring Abilene's shock.
'Great! Gonna tell us what it was all about?'
"You can wait til tomorrow. I'm explaining to everyone then." She waited a moment to let everyone's sighs of disappointment pass, then continued. "We do have a new teammate though, and some arrangements for our friend over there," She pointed at Zy. "But I'm delegating that job to Volta, because I need sleep. See ya!" She dove into the tent, giggling furiously at Volta's complaints.
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The next morning, the entire group was gathered outside the little building, with their team around them.
"So, what's first?"
"What was that?" Misty asked. "Ves said something about a pressure, then you were in full panic mode."
"It's a blight. I've never found the actual name for it, or if there even is one, but it affects Pokemon through Aura. People with special abilities, like Psychics and empaths and the few people who can wield Aura properly, can also get affected. I didn't know how strong it was, so I wanted to get our Pokemon out of harm's way as soon as we could."
"What's Aura?" Brock followed, squinting even more than usual. "I've never heard of it."
"You should have, if you've ever heard of Riolu and Lucario. It's a blue power, mostly a dead art to humans. It's a hereditary gift, and even then it tends to be quite rare. I've never met any, aside from my friends Lucario, but it's quite cool." It was technically true; she didn't count as someone she'd met.
'There's practically no human Aura Users left, or if there are, they're not trained.' Shaymin put in, standing around in her Sky Forme. 'The last known ones in Sinnoh died about six years ago, or close enough.' Ashley buried a wince at that.
"How did you recognise the blight, then?" Melanie inquired, clearly feeling Ashley's discomfort.
"I got affected by it once, ages ago. I was with a friend on a trip, in Alola, when we ran into one. Both of us got affected, but it was worse for me. My friend had a cure, then a Shaymin showed up and cleared it completely. That's how I knew Shaymin could get rid of it, though the Gracidea thing was a complete guess."
"Why were you affected, though?" Misty, in her obliviousness, continued. Ashley winced, looking for a way out, when it arrived, in the shape of a Meowth balloon with a motto streaming out of it.
"Oh, you're kidding me."
'How far are we sending them today?' Volta asked her, sparking.
'Who might these be?' Shaymin asked, taking a defensive stance over Mew, who was also in Sky Forme and once again pretending to be Shaymin's daughter.
"Team Rocket." Ashley answered, glad for the distraction despite how annoyingly useless they were. "They steal Pokemon from trainers, though this particular group are extremely incompetent."
"Hey!" Jessie yelled from the balloon, somehow loud enough for them to hear. "We heard that!"
"That was the point!" Ashley called back, rolling her eyes. "Torna, Volta, sky high." Their eyes lit up, and Volta jumped onto the Pidgeotto's back, who took off in a flare of feathers and wind. They rose, passing the balloon, much to everyone's confusion, before Torna flipped, staying upside down for a few seconds before circling. A little yellow blob fell straight down, a small silver sheen barely visible at the bottom, and crashed into the balloon, flaring with a mass of electricity. The balloon exploded as Torna dove, catching the starter in her claws and heading back down to the ground as a tiny sparkle appeared in the air.
'Oww…' He groaned, as he was placed on the floor and Torna landed next to him. 'Next time, I use less lightning.'
"Well, that was the first time we've used it." Ashley reminded him, kneeling down. "It was impressive, though."
'Thanks.' He sighed.
"What was that?" Melanie asked.
"Iron Tail at a high velocity and a Thunderbolt." She answered. "It's mostly made to look cool, not really be useful, but it certainly does both."
"I'll say," Misty muttered. "What were we talking about?" Mentally, Ashley cheered.
"How I knew about the blight cure." All three blinked, but accepted the 'reminder'. The fact that Mew's eyes were glowing subtly was probably helping that, too… "And I knew it because of that first event. My friend wanted to make sure I knew it."
'As brilliant as this is, I'm afraid we must leave.' Shaymin said. 'I'd like to get home at a more leisurely pace than we came.'
"Goodbye to you, then." Ashley replied. "And safe travels take you home." Shaymin bowed to her, then leapt for the air, running towards the north. Mew followed, a little slower, as if she wasn't as used to flight, but caught up quickly. The group watched as they flew away, before Ves spoke.
'Shouldn't we be getting going too? I'm sure we need to head for Vermillion.'
"Right." Ashley nodded. "Thank you for letting us stay here overnight."
"You helped save the village, and you're helping Bulbasaur move on." She replied. "It's the least I could do."
"Well, thanks all the same." Holding up Pokeballs, she returned her team, then placed Zy in her hair and picked up Volta as her friends did the same. Can I really call them my friends, given how much I'm hiding from them? She thought sadly. Probably not. I'd like to, all the same. Even as she said her goodbyes and the group left the village, these thoughts plagued her for the rest of the walk. For some reason, even though she'd hidden her Aura abilities from her friends back in Pallet Town, this hurt far more.
AN: This chapter's a long one, and though it probably doesn't look like it, I had to make a few important decisions when writing.
K: One was the Legendaries, one was Aura-
P: Another was Melanie's empathy-
T: And the last was how much Ashley knew.
SV: Thanks, you three. Now, in order; the Legendaries was partly an excuse to show where Mew was, and the fact that she does actually have a job, aside from monitoring the Tree. The other part was to have a way to cure the blight without resorting to making Ashley very overpowered in Aura. The options were Shaymin, very OP Ashley, or temporarily killing Ashley.
K: I'm… actually pretty curious about how that last one'd go down.
SV: Maybe I'll make a sort of omake fic about it, with the things I might have done if it went that way. It'd probably be multi-chapter, so I didn't use it. Aura, I wanted to keep for later. Even though they've been checked by an empath and her best friend, Misty and Brock are still fairly new friends to her. This is a bit of a dilemma for her, and we touched on it last time.
T: She said she didn't want to demand answers when she didn't want to give them herself, but admitted she did it to Misty before.
SV: In a way, she's right that it was a good decision. If she hadn't demanded an answer, they'd have had the problem they had in the anime, so it went over better here. But that's the problem she's got.
P: She also doesn't really trust them, in a way. She's friends with them, but it's only been about a month for Misty, and less than a week for Brock. She knows them, but doesn't trust them. Even the run in with Suicune was a massive coincidence, so it doesn't show much.
SV: Melanie's empathy is something I wish I'd done in New Beginnings, since it would have been a better way to introduce the main thing, rather than just 'hey, this is a thing now!' I'm not going to change it now, but I am rewriting some of the chapters, because they suck.
K: And finally, Ashley knowing so much. She doesn't actually know that much, but she does know how to deal with the blight, and a lot of Aura related stuff. Sciency stuff is iffy, like the Togedemaru that defied the laws of physics.
SV: Ki over there's become my science checker for the fics at this point, because I don't need physics. Anyway, she know's a lot because she's been tutored in a lot, so she uses it in a lot. It's probably going to be a theme for a while.
P: I think we're done now, right?
SV: Yep! So, hope everyone's enjoyed the longer chapter, and tell me if you want to see the little omake that I mentioned earlier on. Do keep in mind it might slow down my work schedule a bit, since I'd need to work on that instead.
K: I'm interested, even if no one else is.
P&T: Have a happy easter weekend, and see you next time!