AN: I make a dramatic return!
Pixie: Yay!
Trixie: Technically, you made a dramatic return back in September last year, with the Pokemon/Worm fic.
Kirito: Yeah, that doesn't count. Dramaticentrance, maybe, since it was just showing up, but this is a return.
SV: Yeah, yeah. I know it's been a while, I'm sorry, and unfortunately I can't guarantee that updates won't be iffy and random on a good day, since life's an awful thing with lots of work, but I hope I never have to leave for that long ever again. Onwards!
Ashley hummed quietly as she walked, leading the group of travellers. Volta sat on her shoulder, alert as ever, while Zy was in her hair, settled just next to her fringe. Behind her, Misty and Brock were talking quietly. Normally, Ashley might have listened in, but for now she was too busy trying to figure out her own issues. Namely, the Aura issue.
She didn't want to keep it a secret much longer, since Ashley wanted to be able to teach more to her team and she could do that best if they weren't trying to hide it from someone. However, she hadn't really known her human teammates for that long, not even a month. Even though Mew had confirmed that they were likely safe, and that they were most definitely getting suspicious, she still couldn't find it in her to bring up her Aura abilities in a conversation. She wasn't even sure how she could. It felt like the sort of topic that needed a lot of build up, not something she could just suddenly say.
'This scenery is so boring.' Volta muttered, effectively breaking her somewhat panicked thought train. 'Seriously, how many trees can there be?' On top of her head, Ashley felt Zy light up, as if it were laughing. She grinned as well, lifting her hand to pull the little Pokemon from her hair, letting it lie flat on her hand.
"Are you laughing at Volta, eh?" She accused, smiling gently. It lit up, as if in confirmation, and she smiled wider. "Wish I could tell what he was saying."
'You are the world's worst liar.' Volta giggled. Zy lit up in laughter too, before Volta sneezed and frowned, putting his tail in the air. 'Oh joy.'
"Is something wrong, Volta?" Ashley asked, releasing Vespine from her belt as she did to translate.
Volta waited for the wasp to fully form before answering, 'Yeah. I'm sensing a thunderstorm. Coming in pretty fast, too. Not horribly fast, but it'll probably be here in about an hour. Maybe a little less, but I can't quite tell precisely. It's hard to do that, you know.'
"We should try and find some kind of shelter then, and soon." Misty said, looking up nervously at the sky. "Brock?"
"There's a Pokemon Centre nearby, but it's pretty far." He replied, looking at a map. "We might be able to make it, but I'm not sure."
"Well, I guess we should start running, huh?" Ashley asked rhetorically, putting Zy safely back in her hair.
"That could be a smart idea, if the weather's coming in as fast as Volta says it is." Brock confirmed with a nod. A deep, ominous rumble followed his words, and the group exchanged glances as Ves returned herself.
"I'll take that as a yes." Misty giggled, before starting off down the road at a much faster pace than before. Brock followed, both of them overtaking Ashley, who had to jog to catch up.
'Didn't you say that Aura could be used to make you move faster?' Volta asked, looking around.
"I've been trying to hide it for ages," Ashley replied, panting. "Do you really think I'm just going to start showing off now?"
'I guess not.' The Pikachu sighed.
"Plus, I might leave Misty and Brock behind if I did." Ashley added. "While I'm not as fast as some of the Kingdom's Lucario, I'll still be quite a bit faster than the average human if I did that." The trio crested a hill, and Ashley found herself having to freeze in place to avoid running into Brock and Misty, who'd suddenly stopped at the very top of the hill.
"Ashley, Brock, do you see that?" The red haired girl asked, pointing towards something in the distance that the Aura Adept couldn't see in her current position.
"Not where I am now, no." She responded, shifting around the two.
"I can." Brock commented, moving aside to let his friend see. "Just over there, on that rock."
"Near the tree line?" She checked, to twin nods. "Yeah, I see it too."
"What is it?" Neither Misty or Brock were looking at her, giving Ashley the perfect chance to close her eyes and look at the rock in Aura Sight.
"Aside from the rock, I think there's a Pokemon over there." Opening her eyes as the power faded, she caught both trainers giving her a suspicious glance.
"How'd you figure that one out?" Brock questioned.
"Don't worry about it, let's just get down there!" Ashley told them, seeing a flock of birds dive at the rock. "I'll explain after, I promise." She started running, Volta jumping off her arm to follow, and pushed Aura to let her move faster, disregarding the small blue glow that followed because of it.
'Spearow, six Pokemon.' Volta reported.
"Great." She groaned. "Can you draw any electricity from the air? It's not quite started to rain yet, but…?"
'There's a little static electricity already, probably build up from the storm. I can probably tap into it, but it won't mean much and it isn't going to be the most helpful thing in the world.'
"Don't bother, then. Perhaps use it to recharge after this."
'That I can do.' Ashley smiled viciously.
"Then wait for the shield, and go on ahead." Circling around the rock at high speeds, leaving a slight trail in the dirt from the decrease in speed, she spotted a Charmander curled up in a ball. Two Spearow were pecking at it harshly, while the other four circled around like Mandibuzz.
'This'll show you for intruding on our home!' One screeched, watching his partner attack the Charmander.
'Serves you right!' Another jeered.
'Stop that right now!' Volta shouted, effectively taking their attention away from Charmander and Ashley, who slipped between them to get to the little fire type.
'Oh?' The largest of the Spearow cawed. 'What can a little Pokemon like you do to stop us?' Ashley threw herself over Charmander, taking extra care not to let the tail flame touch her so she wasn't burned, and poured as much power as she could spare into a shield. Seeing the blue flash up, Volta smirked.
'This!' A crackling filled the air, giving the Spearow their only warning before an enormous explosion of electricity filled the air and each of the birds were fried. Volta collapsed, completely exhausted, and Ashley hesitantly lowered the barrier to look at the carnage.
The rock that Charmander had been behind was badly damaged, with scars from the electricity burned into the sides at random intervals. Much of the grass was burnt away, creating a ring shape around the patch of grass that had been within her shield. Around her lay the six Spearow, all injured, with a few burn marks on their bodies. However, none of the injuries would be life threatening, though Ashley resolved to try and help them a little if give the time. Volta was the main injury from his attack, being mostly exhausted, but even as she watched he sat up slowly, shaking his head.
'Never doing that again.' He growled. 'At least, not until I'm powerful enough to do it without using all my power.' Ashley chuckled lowly.
"Just try and recharge a bit." She looked over Charmander, wincing at what she saw.
The little Pokemon had multiple wounds from the Spearow attack, some of which were weeping blood. Some of them were very minor stab wounds, likely from the multitude of Peck attacks the birds had been using, but more worrying were the long, thin scratch marks along its body, a few of which looked to be quite deep. One of them was on its face, and had barely missed the Fire type's eye. Ashley frowned; the harshness of the Tiny Bird Pokemon was not something she was particularly familiar with, though she had met a Fearow at Professor Oak's lab which had been rather harsh and territorial. Gently putting a hand on his back, in one of the few places that had been untouched, Ashley started to channel what Aura she had left, which unfortunately wasn't much, and noticed something which made her scowl.
The Charmander she was treating was very thin, as if it had barely eaten. It wasn't a regular thinness either; she knew that wild Pokemon were often thin if they had lived alone for some time, but a Pokemon only ever made its home near some sort of food, even just a few berry trees, and would fight any Pokemon it needed to for the food. It was simple instinct. However, it wasn't exactly like it hadn't eaten much for a few days. What little she'd learned from Mew in the downtime before her journey, when she was stuck indoors from a snowstorm and the little Legendary had come to stay and teach her what she could while they were indoors, told her exactly what she had never wanted to encounter; the little Charmander had been starved regularly, or at least had rarely been fed properly, for a long time. As some of the slices and piercings began to heal over, Ashley ran her hand down its back, and felt a few bumps of old scarring that hadn't properly healed over. While she was no doctor, and honestly never intended to be one, she at least knew that scars like these had been around for a while, possibly longer than a year. Her scowl deepened, and she pushed more Aura into her Heal Pulse, powering it up and closing some of the open wounds much quicker. Taking a quick second to glance behind her, she saw that Volta was sparking slowly, likely drawing in some power from the surroundings, and that Misty and Brock had caught up with them and were staring at her, dumbfounded.
"Yes, I know that was confusing, but right now we've got bigger Magikarp to fry that what just happened." Slipping her bag off one arm at a time, she nodded towards it. "One of you two look in there for a medical kit, would you? It'd be a big help, since I'm running low on juice and I'd like to have enough to boost me to the Center."
"...Sure." Brock dropped down next to her and reached into the bag. A medical kit appeared at her side a few moments later. "I'll handle this from here."
"Fine." Ashley lifted her hands, letting the blue glow fade as she did, and fell back slightly. "I've healed up as many of the newer injuries that I can, but my main focus once I became aware of them were the older injuries that were lingering about."
"Older injuries?" Misty asked, giving her a hand up.
"I'll explain when I've confirmed everything so I don't say anything false." Despite the fact that I'm almost a hundred percent sure that I'm right. If only Mew were around. She sighed and turned towards Volta, who still looked somewhat faint. "I'd love to help, Volta, but I need what I have left to run to the Center."
'Don't worry. I'll be fine.' He yawned.
"Misty." Ashley looked up at the redhead, who glanced back at her, having been staring at the Charmander they'd saved. "I'm going to run ahead to the Pokemon Center when Charmander is stable. I'll probably leave you two behind again, and I'd like to ask you to keep an eye on Volta for me when I'm gone. It's more than likely that I'll be in the lobby still, but if I'm not just pick up two rooms when you can."
"Alright." She nodded, looking back at Charmander. "Is it going to be ok?"
"I don't know. I hope so, but I'm no doctor, so I can't say anything for sure." Forcing herself upright with a groan, she stepped over to Brock before wobbling, her hand shooting to her head. "Oh hell, I'm going to be feeling this for a while."
"What's wrong?" Brock asked, not looking up from his work.
"It's called overdraw. I'll explain it later, whenever I can, but I'll tell you now. Don't wake me up tomorrow. Sorry if it makes us super late or something, but I'll need the sleep."
"Ok." Brock moved back, clearing up the medical kit. "I think that's all I can do. It's not much, and I'm a little worried about what you said about older damage, but from here it's on you. Leave your bag here, I'll bring it along."
"Thank you." Gently, she picked up Charmander, holding the tail flame away from her body, she smiled. "I'll need to get there before the rain starts, since I don't have the power to make a shield. I'll see you there." Not even waiting for them to nod in confirmation, she sprinted off, pushing as much Aura into her run as possible, but sacrificing some speed for survivability. If she ran out of Aura before she got there… she didn't want to think about it.
Behind her at the rock, all three of Ashley's travelling companions watched her retreating figure speed off.
"I wonder what was going on there…" Misty said quietly.
"There's most definitely more than meets the eye with her, that's for sure." Brock nodded, putting the kit away and picking up the bag. Misty reached down to Volta, who gladly jumped to her arms. "Didn't she say yesterday that she'd explain about everything?"
"That's right!" Misty realised. "I think we both got caught up in the Team Rocket attack and saying goodbye to those two Pokemon."
"Well, I hope she keeps her promise this time."
"She has to. We just saw her doing whatever that was, and there's no way she can get around that now." Misty sighed. A rumble of thunder interrupted their conversation, and both trainers looked worriedly up at the sky. "Come on, we should follow her. I may be a Water type trainer, but I'm not hanging around in this storm if I can help it."
"I agree." Both of them started running as well, not going anywhere near the same speed as Ashley was, while Volta curled up in Misty's arms to rest.
Please be safe, Ashley.
It took nearly ten minutes for Ashley to spot the Pokemon Center. Judging the distance as best she could in her state, she judged it to be about a mile and a half. For most, that would probably take most of the hour, even running, but Ashley wasn't most people.
I think I have enough Aura left over to boost my speed a little more than this, and I think I can push myself more to get there. Looking down at the Charmander she held, specifically the tail flame, she winced at how small the flame was. Forget maybe. I have to push myself more. My Aura helped somewhat, but Charmander's still suffering, and badly too. No hopefully or maybe about it, I've got to go faster. Much faster. The faint blue glow around her solidified, and she poured even more speed into her running. By this time she was about twice as fast as a normal person, which would hopefully be enough to get her there in time. The sky started to blacken, and another peal of thunder followed. Ashley growled, looking up towards the Center.
"Just a little more." She whispered. "Charmander, please just hold on." As she watched, it's tail flame seemed to glow brighter in response, and she could feel a tiny bit of heat from the fire on her arm as she ran. "That's it. Just a bit further, and you'll be alright." It shifted in her arms, letting out an airy sigh, twitching in pain. She huffed, redoubling her efforts once again, sprinting as quickly as she could manage, blowing past everything without a second thought.
A light brown Pokemon leapt back in shock as a blue blur passed it. The beast looked out, and laughed as it recognised who it was that had flown by.
'It looks like Ashley got the boost part of Aura down after all.' Entei chuckled. 'That's funny, considering the last time we spoke she wasn't all that interested in things like that.' Thunder pealed again, causing the fire dog to look up with a groan. 'Joy. More rain. A thunderstorm, it looks like. Well, at least the others will be happy.' The legendary Pokemon snickered, turning his back on the road and running west, towards Johto. 'Perhaps I ought to drop in on Mew on the way home, if she's in. That's always a fun conversation.'
*A half hour later.*
Ashley was almost at the Center now, just a few minutes of running to go. Her Aura reserves were starting to feel frayed, there was a migraine forming at the back of her head and there was a slight wobble to her step as she started to fall apart from the greatest function of Aura and Psychic power- overdraw. It had been the bane of her existence many times, having knocked her out on a fair few during training with either Lucario or one of the Beasts. With a bit of luck, she might be able to get away with just a minor headache in the morning, but given how far she must have pushed her Aura reserves in the last three quarters of an hour alone, that was extremely unlikely.
Let's see. We've blocked an extremely powerful Thunderbolt from Volta, done a ton of healing for Charmander here, patching some of the more recent wounds, which isn't too bad, but dealing with the harsher, older injuries was more of a strain, and let's not forget all the running we've had to do. Ashley nodded to herself. Yeah, I can see why I'm running into overdraw territory. Charmander twitched in her arms again, a slight movement that had become more frequent over the past half an hour of running, along with another pained groan. Looking up, Ashley realised that she was practically at the doors, and stopped her Aura from boosting her speed. Instead she redirected it towards Charmander, healing him again as much as she could with the tiny amount of Aura she had to spare. The migraine grew worse, and she was forced to stop with a wince. Pushing open the doors in a swift movement, the Nurse Joy at the desk looked up at the girl who ran in. She gasped and dropped the pen she was holding and dashed around the counter, calling for the Chansey in the back to bring around a stretcher. Ashley opened her mouth to begin explaining, but Joy beat her to it.
"Don't bother, there's no time. Explain later." Chansey came charging around the corner with a stretcher, and the drained Aura Adept gently placed Charmander down on it. Joy and Chansey wheeled it around the back, and the light above the door to the emergency room flickered on.
"I got here in time. I'm glad. Take care, Charmander." She whispered, slumping tiredly into the nearest chair to rest her head against the wall. She didn't really want to fall asleep here, but now that Charmander was in a place that it could be taken care of it wouldn't be horrible for her to sleep here. Now to hope that the others can wake me up to go upstairs… She thought with a mental chuckle.
*Ten minutes later.*
Misty and Brock ran into the Center as the rain started pouring down outside, their arrival lit up by a crack of lightning.
"That came down a lot more suddenly than I was expecting." Brock murmured, closing the door.
"Yeah. What gives, Volta? I thought you said an hour."
'I did, but it was a guess. I'm not magical, you know.' The Pikachu in her arms sighed, rolling his eyes. He bounced out of her arms, feeling much better than he had a half hour ago, and shook himself instinctively to get rid of any water, despite the fact that he was barely damp.
"Say, where's Nurse Joy?" Brock asked, noticing the absence of the pink haired woman at the desk.
"Maybe she's still treating Charmander." Misty suggested. "I mean, at the speed Ashley was going there's no way she isn't here yet." As she said this, the emergency light went off with a small ding, and Nurse Joy walked out with a serious look on her face. Volta noticed Ashley asleep at the side in the same moment, and he ran over to her with a happy sound, jumping on her lap and startling her awake.
"Oh!" She jumped, then looked down at Volta. "Hey, you guys caught up."
"Yeah, although it was pretty difficult." Misty smiled.
"Pikapicha? Kapi chuka?" Volta asked, looking up with a slight tilt of his head.
"Huh, looks like my Aura's completely gone. Can't translate." She whispered to him, making his ears droop. "I'm fine little bud." She patted him on the head, looking up at Joy as she did so. "Anyway, I guess I should explain now."
"If you would. What happened to let the poor thing get into that condition?" Ashley sighed, shrugging.
"To be honest, I don't know for a lot of it. The four of us were walking along the road when we realised that a thunderstorm was coming in. We'd started running to try and get here before the rain came in when my friend Misty spotted something strange happening at a nearby rock involving some Spearow. Myself and Volta went down and got rid of the Spearow to find the Charmander was there. Brock and I healed him as best we could to get him stable, then I ran here with Charmander to bring him in." Ashley cut a fair bit of the story out, for example her Aura abilities, but still left enough for Joy to hopefully understand.
"I see. Well, it's a good thing you got here when you did. I don't know how it happened, but the little thing's injuries were much worse than what could have come from a Spearow attack. Obviously there are the scratches and piercings from the attack, but there's also evidence of several hundred older bite, scratch and stab wounds that weren't properly healed, which have left a network of scars, several broken bones, which again weren't always healed as best they could have been…" This list went on for at least a minute more, to the horror of the trio of trainers and the Pokemon. "...And there's the obvious possibility of trauma from whatever caused these injuries. To be completely honest with you, I'd be quite surprised if the little guy is able to do anything much for a fairly long while, even after he'd healed completely."
"He will heal alright, though?" Ashley asked, still concerned.
"I believe so, yes." Joy nodded. "I'll need to keep him in overnight, and I'd like to keep him around for a lot of tomorrow too, just so I can monitor him."
"That's completely fine." Ashley agreed. "Though I suppose I wouldn't really have much say in it anyway, since he's not my Pokemon." Joy looked startled for a moment, then blinked, heading back behind her desk.
"Well, would you like me to take a look at any of your Pokemon, since Chansey's keeping an eye on Charmander at the moment?" Ashley glanced down at Volta, who shrugged and nodded.
"Sure." Lifting the little electric type from her lap, Ashley walked to the counter and put him there, then detached each of the other four Pokeballs to put them on the tray Joy gave her. "I've got two eggs as well, if you don't mind checking them as well."
"Of course not." Ashley took both containers from her bag and placed them gently down as well, while Brock and Misty emptied out their own Pokeballs to have them checked. "I'll have them out in a few minutes." Ashley nodded, then slumped against the desk as Joy went around to the back.
"Ow, my head." She moaned. "And I can't even try healing it because it's overdraw. How fun."
"Umm, Ashley?" Misty asked. "What're you talking about?" She groaned.
"Right, first deal; I'm not explaining crazy stuff like this with a headache. That's just asking to confuse whoever you're talking to anyway, so it's a better idea to wait until tomorrow. Plus I can do a practical demonstration then, assuming I'm back up to normal, which I've found helps when explaining things that most people wouldn't believe possible." Ashley smiled weakly. "So if we can wait until we leave tomorrow, that'd be great."
"I guess I'm ok with that." Misty glared at the other girl. "But you better not do what you did this morning and skip out on it by distracting us!"
"I won't. I shouldn't have done it this morning, but…" She shrugged. "I'd say you know how it is, but you really can't." Absently, she touched the crystal around her neck, followed by the one on her bracelet. Still, I guess it'll be nice to let them know. More people to teach, too, if they want to. Mew, did you rig this for us? I hope not. You could have found a much better way than having us find a severely injured Charmander.
As she said she would, Joy came back a few minutes later with their teams and the two eggs.
"All of your Pokemon are perfectly fine. Your Pikachu is quite tired, but nothing a good rest won't fix. The eggs are also in perfect condition, though they don't look very close to hatching."
"Thank you." Ashley sorted her own stuff out with a quick, practised ease, letting Volta jump to her shoulder. "Could we get some rooms for the night? I'd like to stay until I know that Charmander's ok."
"Naturally." The nurse handed over three keys, one for each of the trainers, with a smile. "After all, with how bad the storm is, we'll likely be having a few travellers come in." Ashley chuckled nervously, shooting a glance out the window.
"Perhaps, but I think with how heavy it's coming down, we'll be in the clear in a few hours at most." And I really don't want to explain Aura to Misty and Brock when there's the possibility of someone overhearing. Ashley sighed mentally, taking her key and starting to turn for the stairway. "Thanks again. When will it be ok for me to check on Charmander?"
"Since you've already said that you'll be waiting here until Charmander's alright again, I'd say come and ask me around midday or so, by that time I think Charmander will be healed enough to leave. Unfortunately, I won't know until later tomorrow if that's true, but I'll do my best not to keep you any longer than I have too."
"Thank you Nurse Joy." Ashley smiled, then headed for the stairs. Misty and Brock followed her in silence, and the girl ignored them until she was at the room she'd been given. Unlocking it and placing one hand on the doorknob, she finally broke the awkward silence that had befallen the group, whispering, "I promised I'd tell you both tomorrow, and I will. However, I'd like to wait until we've checked on Charmander first… and I'd like to ask that you don't judge me for what I say." Not letting them have a chance to respond, she slipped inside the room and closed the door without looking back. She dropped onto the bed with a sigh, putting the bag on the floor and letting both the Pokemon off, Zy being attached to Volta's tail. Quickly getting changed while Volta sat at the window, staring at the rain with a small smile, while Zy sat on his head, apparently confused at Volta's cheerfulness, she fell down with a moan. "I swear, if this overdraw isn't gone tomorrow, I'm calling Mew. Night you two."
"Cha, Pikapicha." Volta replied, still watching the rain. Zy flashed his own goodnight, and Ashley dropped into a dreamless sleep.
Outside her room, both gym leaders were stood, almost frozen.
"What the hell?" Misty finally said, her voice nothing more than a breath.
"I don't know." Brock managed. "She sounded almost petrified at what she had to do."
"How on earth are we going to deal with this?" Misty gaped. "I don't want her to tell us now, with how worried she is…"
"But if she doesn't she's going to stay this worried for a long time." Brock finished. "We need to have her tell us, though. Even if it's just to make her relax."
"So, no matter what crazy thing she comes out with tomorrow, no matter how ridiculous or unbelievable it may be, don't judge her?"
"Absolutely." The duo split, walking to the rooms on the left and right of Ashley's, completely unaware that they had an eavesdropper…
Volta relaxed, moving away from the door with a thankful look. Zy flashed in a confused pattern.
'I was listening to Brock and Misty.' He explained. 'They were talking about what Ashley said, and I wanted to make sure everything was alright.' Zy flickered, first in confusion, then in a way that seemed to show curiosity. 'They said that they aren't going to judge her no matter what it is she says tomorrow.' Volta told it, offering his tail to help the much smaller Pokemon up on the bed to sleep. It flashed, wriggling up onto the tail with a grateful look. Volta gently leapt up, being extremely careful not to knock the Zygarde Cell over, and curled up next to his trainer, the Cell crawling off again to sit between them. 'I do really like them, and I'm glad that Ashley won't have to hide her abilities any more. Hey, maybe Ashley can teach them Aura as well, so we could talk with them.' Zy blinked, offended, and Volta laughed softly, trying not to wake Ashley. 'Yeah, I guess you can't talk to them anyway. I wish you could, though. It'd be nice.' The little Pokemon blinked cheerfully, then closed its eyes. 'Goodnight to you as well.' Resting his head on his tail, he closed his own eyes with a gentle smile as he listened to the rain outside. Misty, Brock, please hold up on your promise. I don't think Ashley can take it if you reject her now because of this.
It was almost half past eleven the next morning before Ashley woke up. She sat up with a yawn, stretching.
"That feels a ton better!" She smiled. Lifting a hand to her face, she made an experimental Aura Sphere, which spun around happily in her hand before vanishing in a blue mist.
'Good to see you're awake!' Volta greeted from the other side of the room, where he was sitting with Zy. 'Feeling better now?'
"Much, thanks. I don't think I can do much Aura today, unfortunately, but I should be able to give Misty and Brock a demonstration, as well as start Abilene off on Aura practise if she wants to."
'She does.' He confirmed. 'When I was explaining it to her the other night, when we were still at Melanie's place, I gave her a quick introduction to everything she'd need to expect; you know, the eggs, legendary friends and Aura. She seemed really interested in learning how to do it.'
"Alright. I'll go downstairs and check on Charmander first, make sure he's alright. I'd like to ask him about his trainer, find out a bit more about what happened. Then I'll either call Oak, or go do Aura with you guys."
'How do you know Charmander has a trainer?' Volta asked, while Zy turned his head slightly and flashed in confusion.
"I can tell from how it looked. It wasn't scarred or starved in the wild, since any of the starter Pokemon would look after their own. Plus, the Charmander line, like any of the Pokemon that are regional starters, are very rare in the wild, so it's more likely that he was a trainer's Pokemon."
'Was?'
"I don't know about you, but I'd like to think that any trainer worth their salt would never leave their Pokemon on their own." Ashley's face darkened. "Though, I seriously doubt that the person who trained Charmander is any good."
'I see.' Volta smiled, then went over to the door. 'I'm going downstairs. I'll meet you there.' The Pikachu levered the door open with his tail, slipping out and closing it with a slight thud. Zy flashed once, long and drawn out like a sigh, then slid under the door through the little gap into the hallway, following Volta as he walked away. Ashley laughed, then quickly got dressed, ready to head down after the two Pokemon to go and check on the little Charmander she'd brought in the night before. After that… well, it was time she finally spilled the beans about Aura to another human. Grabbing her bag from the side and picking up the small key, Ashley locked the door behind her and headed down to the lobby, preparing herself to go meet her friends.
Misty was sitting at a table near the window, tapping her foot impatiently. The lobby was empty aside from them, so the girl had taken a seat in clear view of the staircase to watch for her travelling companions. The redhead had been the first one up, so she'd handed in her key at the desk and sat down. Brock had followed ten minutes later, handing in his own key and going to sit next to her. They'd exchanged greetings, then the Rock type trainer had gone onto his computer and started doing something. Misty hadn't asked what he was doing, instead just continuing to watch the stairway for Ashley.
"Misty, calm down. Ashley will get here soon, I'm sure." Brock sighed.
"Cha, Pikapicha chu." Volta added, jumping onto the table. Behind him, Zy slid along the floor and looked up at the table. He nudged Brock's foot, getting the darker trainer to pick him up and put him on the table next to him. The little Pokemon flashed his thanks, then poked Volta on his tail.
"So, I assume I'm right about her coming soon, since you're here, Volta?" Brock asked him, scratching his head. Volta nodded. "See Misty, Ashley's coming down in a minute, and she'll explain what's going on to us before we leave."
"Yeah, I am." The girl replied, walking down the stairs to face them. "I'm going to check in on Charmander first though, to make sure he's alright."
"Fine. You better not be trying to put this off, though." Misty said light-heartedly.
"I'm not," she told them, walking over to the counter. "Do forgive me for being more concerned about the welfare of an injured Pokemon than I am about what I need to explain to you." Misty winced at the sharpness of her tone. Nurse Joy came out from around the back at that time, stopping Misty from replying. "Hello Nurse Joy. Is Charmander alright?"
"Alright isn't the word I'd use, but he's certainly better than he was last night. He's still asleep at the moment, so I can't let you see him yet."
"That's alright." She smiled. "I'll go out and do some training, but I'll come back later today and see him, if that's ok."
"Of course it is, dear. He'll probably wake up in a few hours, and I'll give him a check over before I let you see him."
"Thank you." Ashley walked back over to the table, holding out her arm for Volta to jump up and lifting Zy into her hair like a clip. "Come on guys, let's head out for a while. We'll drop back in a couple of hours."
"Sounds good to me." Brock closed his laptop and put it in his bag as the two followed the Aura Adept trainer out of the building. Ashley led the duo over to the woods, searching for a clearing to let out her entire team. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily since she wanted to put it off for as long as she could, the group stumbled across one quickly. Volta jumped down from her shoulder, scooping Zy off her head as he did so, while Ashley unclipped her Pokeballs from her belt. Torna, Abilene, Swiftstreak and Vespine flashed into existence.
'Hey Ashley.' Ves waved. 'What's up?'
"We ran into some trouble yesterday, so I need to properly explain to Brock and Misty about Aura." Ashley replied. "Volta, as designated team leader, you get the honour of explaining what happened yesterday to the group."
'Can do!' Volta nodded, looking to the team with a frown. 'We'll move out of your way for my explanation, since I know Abilene wants to hear more about Aura.'
'I can wait.' She blushed. 'There's no need to be mean.' Torna laughed, hiding behind her wing. Volta chuckled as well, shepherding the group out of the way.
"Ok Ashley, what's actually going on here?" Misty demanded, crossing her arms. "You've clearly been hiding something throughout the whole trip."
"Yes, I have." Ashley sat down with a sigh. "I'll start talking, please save your questions until the end." She waited a second to let the others sit down, then turned off her Aura, letting the conversation between the Pokemon fade into the background. "Right, you remember what I said yesterday about Aura, right?"
"You said that it was a blue power used by Riolu and Lucario." Brock said.
"It can actually be used by just about any Pokemon, in truth, but they have to be trained to access it. A Lucario can do that easily, since they can use Aura a lot more instinctively than Riolu can, while the other option is a human Aura Adept." Ashley told them. "I mentioned them yesterday as well, and so did Shaymin. An Aura Adept is just like it says; a human with the ability to control Aura. Given training, we can also teach Pokemon and other humans to unlock their Aura. Pokemon will always be better at using Aura, though never really on par with Adepts and Lucario, but they can use Aura Sphere and Force Palm, possibly Sacred Sword if pushed enough, as well as using Aura to strengthen their attacks. Lucario and Adepts can use Aura to do that as well as some really cool other things, like enhancing their senses, moving faster, and they can stick to things to climb walls."
"What about humans?" Misty asked, interested.
"Some people would have a better connection to Aura than others. On average though, I could only guess that water walking, perhaps sticking to things and translating Pokespeech so you can understand it. Those with better connections might be able to manage something like Aura Sphere, but it's unlikely."
"How do you know all of this, exactly?" Brock asked suspiciously. Ashley took a breath, holding up her hand and pushing Aura towards it. An Aura Sphere took form, the light blue orb floating gently above her palm before fading into a mist.
"I'm an Aura Adept." She replied simply. "I started my training when I was seven, working with a Lucario from Sinnoh's Lucario Kingdom. He only taught me for a month, but he gave me the basics so I could learn the rest myself. I taught myself manipulation first, just to bring Aura to the surface, and followed on from there with learning Aura Sphere and Force Palm, then Heal Pulse, then translation and telepathy. It's taken a long time; I'm still not very good at Heal Pulse, telepathy takes a lot of focus so it's not very effective, and walking along water and sticking to things can be a little wobbly, so I rarely do it, but I've gotten there over time."
"Could you teach us?" Misty questioned.
"I can try. Probably not today; I'm still a little weak from overdraw, and I don't really want to push it too much."
"Overdraw?"
"It's when someone, Aura Adept or Psychic, uses too much of their power. Normally you just get a headache, which tells you to stop using your power, then you'll be knocked out to let you recharge. If you keep pushing too much, you can die from it." The others winced, and she nodded. "It's best that I avoid doing too much Aura practise today, though I do need to teach Abilene too. My entire team is starting to learn how to use Aura, though I'm not sure what they'll pick up first."
'We've all been hoping for the translating, actually!' Ves called telepathically. 'It sounds like it'd be helpful, especially if you end up out of Aura again.'
"Good to know." Ashley chuckled. "Anyway, Aura can also be used to just boost the strength of normal Pokemon attacks too, which can be really useful."
"That's also what you used for the shield, right?" Brock asked.
"Yeah. Psychic power tends to be better at the shielding aspect of things, and is really useful for other things, but tends to have less on the fighting aspect. Adepts tend to deal with that."
"So we'll have to start learning tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, it'll have to be." Ashley nodded, as her team began to make their way back over to them.
"Say, I have a question." Misty said. "You're from Sinnoh, right?" She nodded slowly, knowing exactly where this was going. "That Shaymin yesterday said that the last Aura family in Sinnoh died out."
Ashley lowered her head, not looking at the others. "There are a few things I'm not going to answer. That's one of them. I'm also not telling you how a Lucario from the Kingdom got here. Some things I'm keeping to myself, at least for a while."
'You'll have to tell them about the Legendaries at some point.' Ves told her silently, focusing only on Ashley. 'After all, Mew will be coming to get Zy soon enough, and when the eggs hatch, they'll know something's up for sure.' Ashley didn't answer, instead turning her Aura back on and looking to the rest of the group.
"So, Volta told you what happened yesterday?" She asked.
'Yeah.' Abilene nodded. 'I think your theory is correct.'
"How can you tell?"
'Melanie used to take in a few abused Pokemon. Scarring was common on them, and they tended to avoid both Melanie and the other Pokemon as much as possible. It always took a long time to get them back to normal.' The Bulbasaur explained. 'If you're planning on trying to take him in, it'll be a long haul to get him to trust you.'
"I can handle that, don't worry." She assured her. "Anyway, like I said, I won't be able to start on Aura today. Still, the rest of you guys can keep practising if you want."
'Sure thing.' Volta nodded. 'Come on team, let's get some more practise done.' They spread out, coloured Aura starting to ripple out as they accessed their Aura. Volta had a yellow glow on his paws, Swiftstreak had a sky blue-green on his hands, Ves had green-purple on her stingers, and Torna had a grey-sky blue on the edges of her wings. Abilene took a seat next to Ashley, since she couldn't do Aura yet, and lay her head in her trainer's lap. Ashley slipped her bag off and put it next to her, digging for her Pokedex with one hand while leaving the other on her newest Pokemon.
'What's that?' Abilene asked, looking at the computer.
"It's a Pokedex. It'll give me information on the Pokemon I scan." Ashley explained, pointing it at her.
"Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. Bulbasaur can be seen napping in bright sunlight. There is a seed on its back. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed grows progressively larger. This Bulbasaur is female and has the ability Overgrow. This Pokemon knows the moves Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Poison Powder and Sleep Powder. It also has the egg moves Grass Whistle and Giga Drain, though these have not been unlocked." Ashley whistled.
"That's pretty good. I think you're actually quite close to evolving, if you want to."
'I'm not sure.' She said. 'I've never been much of a fan of Ivysaur or Venusaur, but I do know I'd be much more powerful if I did evolve.'
"Well, there's no rush. Take all the time you want to decide whether or not you want to evolve, or if you never want to." She assured her new friend. "As long as you're on the team, I'm happy enough."
'Thank you.' Abilene smiled. 'What should I do until I can learn to use Aura?'
"I'm not sure, honestly." Ashley frowned. "We could try and unlock Grass Whistle or Giga Drain, but I wouldn't know how to do that. I don't really know how to unlock any of the egg moves, but I assume I'll figure it out eventually."
'What sort of egg moves are there?'
"Volta has Volt Tackle, Torna has Pursuit and both Swift and Ves have Electroweb."
'Why not let Volta help Swift and Ves learn to feel electricity? That might help them learn Electroweb.'
"That could work, but I think for now I'll leave them to learn about Aura. Electroweb isn't the most useful move in my opinion." Ashley leaned back against the tree, putting the Pokedex away again with her off hand, instead fishing out a sketchbook and pencils to start working on a drawing of Suicune for Misty. Hopefully that would take a few hours so they could head back and see if Charmander was awake so she could talk to him.
*A few hours later.*
At about three o'clock, Ashley looked up from her almost complete drawing of Suicune. It wasn't as good as the one in the Legendary sketchbook, since Ashley was trying to pretend she hadn't seen a Suicune before.
"Hey Ashley?" Misty called. "Should we head back to the Pokemon Center now and see if Charmander is alright?"
"That sounds like a good idea." Ashley handed the book over to the Water type trainer, shaking Abilene awake and dropping the pencil back in her bag. "That's the in progress drawing of that Pokemon you were describing. Any good?"
"It's pretty accurate, actually." She nodded, closing the book.
'What's up?' Abilene yawned.
"We're heading back now, so I need to return you." She giggled.
'Ok. See you later then.' The Bulbasaur vanished in a little flash of red, letting Ashley stand.
"Alright team, come back in!" She called, causing a few explosions of Aura to go off. "We're heading back!"
'Good to know.' Torna shook her wings. 'Will we be coming out later today, then?'
"Of course, though if we do Aura again will be a bit iffy." Ashley said, to nods. Returning Torna, Swift and Ves in quick succession, Volta came running over with Zy on his head. The duo returned to their usual spots, and Misty handed her her bag, the sketchpad placed back inside. "Thanks."
"No problem." Misty smiled. The group set off quietly, before Brock spoke.
"Say, Ashley."
"Hmmm?"
"Can you teach our Pokemon Aura as well?"
"Who do you have?"
"I've got Onix, Geodude, and a Zubat." Brock said. "I got the Zubat from that swarm that was attacking me before. It seems ok with me."
"I've got Staryu, Starmie and Goldeen." Misty added.
"I can do everyone except Starmie, and I can't do Staryu if he plans to evolve at any point." Ashley told them.
"Why not?"
"Psychic Pokemon can't manifest Aura, sort of. I don't completely understand it, but Psychic Aura and Psychic energy are different, so Psychic's can't use Aura because they can use Psychic energy." Ashley shrugged. "I don't know how it works."
"I see." Misty frowned. "I could teach Starmie to be telepathic, perhaps."
"That I can help with." Ashley replied. "I know the theory of how it works, since it's the same principle as telepathy with Aura."
"Thank you." Ashley pushed open the door to the Center and headed straight for the desk, where Nurse Joy was working.
"Hello again Nurse Joy." Ashley greeted, taking Volta from her shoulder.
"Oh, hello there. Are you back to check Charmander?" Joy looked up from her work.
"If he's awake, yes."
"He is now. Would you like me to check your Pokemon while you go and see him?" She asked, taking out a Pokeball tray.
"Yes please." Ashley unclipped the balls from her belt, then slipped her backpack off and taking the egg containers out. "And check these too, if you could."
"Of course. Chansey!" Joy called, waiting for the pink Pokemon to bounce out from the back. "Can you take Ashley into Charmander's room, please?"
'Ok.' She said, coming around the desk. 'Follow me, if you don't mind.' Misty and Brock went to sit down to wait for her, while Zy nestled a little further into her hair. Chansey stopped in front of the door to one of the rooms, showing a Charmander curled up on the bed looking sad. 'Be careful with him dear. He's been timid since he woke up, and kept flinching away from Joy.'
"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Ashley replied. "Can I just go in?"
'Go ahead.' Chansey nodded. She started back down the hall towards the front desk, and Ashley pushed open the door and walked in. The Charmander on the bed looked up sharply at the slight creak of the door hinges, flinching away and nestling into the bed, curling into a ball. She slowly walked over to him, trying to avoid looking too threatening, and sat down on a chair next to him.
"Hello little one." She said quietly. "Are you ok?" He looked up at her, confused. "Can you remember what happened?"
'Not really.' He whispered, still looking wary.
"My friend noticed you being attacked by a Spearow flock a little ways away. I had my Pikachu scare them away and brought you here to be healed." She explained softly.
'Why would you do that? I'm not even your Pokemon.'
"I couldn't leave you hurt out in the rain." Ashley replied. "I won't abandon an injured Pokemon if it's in need, whether it's mine or not."
'Thank you.' Charmander muttered, looking away. 'You're really nice.'
"I try my best." She smiled gently, putting a hand on his tail, just above the flame. He flinched, twitching his tail out of her grip. "Sorry."
'It's ok. You just startled me. I haven't… Never mind.'
"Did you have a trainer before?" She asked.
'I did.' He nodded sadly. 'He… wasn't very nice.'
"Is that why you have so many scars?" Charmander didn't answer. Ashley felt Zy tap her head, getting her attention, and she lifted the little green Pokemon off her head, putting him next to Charmander. He nudged against him, flashing a few times in what seemed to be a comforting way. Charmander looked at him, confused. "He's a Zygarde Cell. I don't know much about him, but he has something to do with Zygarde in the Kalos region."
'I see.' Charmander poked him, making him 'giggle'. 'What's going to happen to me?'
"I'm not really sure," Ashley said apologetically. "If you're still in the care of your trainer, then you'll have to go back with him. If not, you could go into the wild, or enter the care of another trainer. It might be possible to just send you back to the Professor's lab, if you just want somewhere safe to stay without needing to battle."
'I think I'd still like to battle.' He replied quietly, after a few minutes of thought. 'But I don't think I want to for a while.'
"I'd suggest that you perhaps join a trainer's team, but either hang about at the Professor's lab for a while or just stick to training." Ashley recommended. "After Nurse Joy gives you the all clear, I can contact Professor Oak and send you over there to stay so you can continue healing."
'I…' Charmander started, looking conflicted. Unfortunately, he was cut off by Nurse Joy entering the room with Chansey behind her.
"Hello Ashley," Joy smiled. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to give Charmander here one last check over before I give him the all clear."
"So he'll be ok?" Ashley asked, picking up Zy and moving towards the door, out of the way.
"I think so, or at least he'll be ok to leave." Joy answered, giving him a look over. "After that I'll need to figure out what to do with him."
"I can go and call Professor Oak." She offered. "I'm sure he can find a home for him." Joy nodded, and Ashley, with Zy back in his place in her hair, left the room and headed towards the phone booths.
"Hey Ashley, how's Charmander?" Misty called as she walked past.
"Nurse Joy thinks he'll be ok to leave today, so I'm calling Professor Oak to see if he can keep Charmander at the lab." Ashley responded, turning on the phone and dialling the lab. The elderly Professor came onto the screen a few seconds later with a smile.
"Hello there Ashley! What brings you to call?" He smiled. "Has something happened with little Zy?"
"Zy's ok, Professor." She told him. The mentioned Pokemon lit up cheerfully.
"Oh, hello there Zy. What is the problem, Ashley?"
"Well…" Ashley quickly explained what had happened with Charmander. Oak winced.
"I see…" He began typing on his computer. "Unfortunately I can't tell you who his trainer was, since I've given out a lot of Charmander as starter Pokemon."
"I don't know if that would matter, honestly. I'm going to check to see if I can catch him, since one of my ideas was to send him back to the lab to stay with you. He says that he wants to continue battling, but he's not sure about doing it for a while. I was thinking you could look after him until he's ok, then perhaps give him away as a starter Pokemon to somebody."
"That could work, yes…" Oak nodded. "Go and check with him if he wants to come and stay at the lab with me, and I'll begin sorting things out."
"Alright." Ashley went to shut off the video call, but was stopped by Misty, who walked over and caught her hand.
"If you don't mind, Ashley, I'd like to talk with Professor Oak for a moment."
"Go ahead," She nodded. "I'll go and get my team back from Nurse Joy, then I'll take a moment to speak with Charmander." Misty smiled in thanks, taking Ashley's place in front of the screen as the Aura Adept went over to the counter, where Joy had just returned.
"Hold on a moment, please, and I'll get your team." The Nurse went into a back room, returning with four Pokeballs, Volta, and the two eggs. As she clipped the balls back onto her belt and placed the eggs into her bag, Joy continued, "Those two eggs don't seem to be very close to hatching. If I had to guess, I'd say they would hatch in about a month or two."
I've already had them two weeks… Ashley thought. Then again, I don't know what I expected. They're eggs of a Ho-oh and a Lugia, they're bound to take a long time. Outwardly, she nodded. "Thank you. What about Charmander?" Behind her, she vaguely heard Misty asking Brock about journey time.
"Chansey's talking with him now. I'm not sure what she's saying, but he certainly seemed a little better after you spoke with him." Joy replied. "She'll be bringing him around in a minute."
"Alright." Putting her bag back on and letting Volta climb back onto her shoulder, she touched the button for Vespine's Pokeball, letting the Beedrill out to hover next to her.
'What's up Ashley?' She asked, stretching. Ashley looked at her with a facade of politely feigned incomprehension until she got the message. Ves coughed, embarrassed. 'Sorry. What do you need?'
"There's a Charmander I need to talk to- he'll be coming out in a minute. I need you to supply translations."
'That I can do, easy peasy.' She smiled. Chansey bounced around the corner, with Charmander following timidly behind. He spotted Ashley and his eyes lit up, and he hurried over to her side.
'Hello again.' He said quietly.
"Hello little one." She replied. "I see you're ok to leave now, right?"
'Yeah, that's what Miss Chansey said.' He nodded.
"Well, we've got a couple of things sorted out for you." Ashley told him, crouching down to his level. "Professor Oak is ok looking after you at the ranch until you're ok to start battling again, where he wants to send you out as a starter to someone else."
'No!' He shouted suddenly, making them all jump. He blushed and continued, 'I don't want to go to another trainer. I want to go with you!'
"How come?"
'You're nice, nicer than he was. Can I come with you?'
"Of course. I'll tell the Professor in a moment." She stood up, looking over to Joy.
"I'd recommend keeping any training light for a month or so, to let him heal. Try and stay out of any major battles until that point. Make sure you check him in at every chance you get; I'll send a message to the rest of my siblings around the region to make sure they know what's going on." She told her.
"I'll be careful. If I'm lucky, my friend will have a Pokemon with Heal Pulse I can borrow, I'm meeting her in a few days in Vermillion."
"Be careful on how much you use Heal Pulse, since it won't help with the older scarring. It should work for a little while to get him back up to par, so you might be able to begin proper training sooner. Make sure you drop in with my cousin in Vermillion once you do, she'll be able to tell you more accurately."
"Thank you for all of your help." Ashley smiled. "Come on Charmander, let's head over and get everything sorted."
'Am I needed?' Ves asked.
"Stay for now, yes." She nodded. "I might still need to talk to him."
'And by that you mean you still need me to translate for Misty and Brock.' She rolled her eyes. 'Eh, no problem.'
"So when you reach Vermillion, drop in at the Pokemon Center." Professor Oak was saying as they approached. "They should have your Pokedex waiting for you. The transferring will be active immediately though, so if you were to catch four more Pokemon now, the last one would be sent here."
"Thank you Professor." Misty smiled gratefully. "That's a big weight off my mind."
"I'd like to know what happened, but I'll ask when we hit the road." Ashley said. "Professor, we've come to an arrangement."
"What is it, then?" Oak asked.
"Charmander wants to stay with me on my team, so I'll catch him and keep him with me." She replied. "However, I think it would be a good idea to send him back if I catch another Pokemon. Nothing against you, bud," she added, looking down at him. "But I think it would be better if you acted as a placeholder for now, since you don't want to battle, it'd be better if you stayed at the lab and rested until you're up for it again."
'Ok. I understand.' Ashley smiled, looking back up at the screen, but missed the slight look of hurt that flashed in his eyes.
"Well, you go ahead and catch him then. At some point, I'd like to figure out who this trainer was-"
'Damien.' Charmander interrupted, drawing everyone's attention. 'His name was Damien.' Ashley repeated it to the Professor, who looked to the side.
"I'll look into that name, and see if I can find anything." He decided. "I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
"Thank you Professor." Ashley said gratefully. "We're heading out now."
"Alright, I'll see you again soon, I hope?" He questioned, to a nod. "Good. I'll keep you updated on what I find, if anything, and I hope you'll do the same." A subtle motion told Ashley that he wanted her to keep him updated on the status of the eggs and about Zy whenever she could.
"I'll do my best." She promised.
"Thank you. And Misty, make sure you call me once you get your package to confirm that you've picked it up and you're registered, ok?"
"I will, Professor." The red haired girl smiled thankfully. "Thank you for the help."
"I'm just doing my job." He said, then hung up the call. Ashley looked back at Charmander, while Ves returned herself and Volta looked over at Misty curiously.
"So, Charmander, since you're on the team, I'll be giving you a nickname, if that's ok." She started.
'Ok,' he said quietly. 'Go ahead.'
Why so timid? Ashley thought. I guess he's not used to kindness, if what we saw from earlier came from this Damien kid. She was silent for a few moments, trying to think of a good nickname. "How about… Nova?"
'Nova sounds nice.' He nodded his consent. 'I'll have to get used to it, though.'
"Of course you will. It took the others a while to get used to their new names, too. When Volta first got his, I made it a point to call him that as much as possible without it getting unnecessary, until he remembered to respond to it." Ashley shrugged, careful not to dislodge the Pikachu. "I did the same for the rest of my team."
'Except Vespine and Abilene,' Volta chimed in. 'They already had names when they joined us, so they've never had to adapt to a new name.'
"That's true. Ves and Abilene were easier to work with right away, since their names were actually their names." Ashley nodded, being more specific in her reply to let Brock and Misty get an idea as to what Volta had said. "Still, Nova, I'm going to return you now to get some more rest, so we can get you back up to speed easier. I'll let you out when we stop tonight, so we can introduce you to the team. Is that ok?"
'That's fine.' He agreed. She held up a Pokeball and tapped him on the head, the device capturing her newest Pokemon without a hitch. Clipping the ball onto the last spare spot on her belt, she looked up at her travelling companions.
"Should we hit the road?" She asked.
"Sure." Misty wanted to ask Ashley a question, as she was sure the other girl did as well, but held her tongue until they were out of the building and a ways down the road. "Say, Ashley…?"
"Hm?" The girl hummed, tilting her head slightly, causing Zy to bury himself in her hair to stay steady.
"You said we'd be able to learn about Aura soon, right?" Misty asked, to a slow, curious nod. "When will soon be, anyway?"
"Whenever I'm not at risk of dropping unconscious or dead, that's when." She said simply, causing the other two to freeze in shock. "Trust me, the latter is a very real possibility when you overuse Aura. Psychic energy is the same, and Psychic Aura."
"There's a difference?" Brock asked, before he could stop himself. Ashley facepalmed.
"I forget most wouldn't know the distinction. I'll give you the full course tomorrow." Ashley looked back and smiled. "Still, I should be mostly normal tomorrow, so I can try and teach you something after I explain the differences."
"Won't we cut into your practise time, though?" Misty questioned. I don't want to hurt her skill, especially since she's the only one who can use it to its fullest potential…
"I tend to learn by doing anyway. I'd show you, but…" She shrugged casually again, shifting her left shoulder less than her right to compensate for Volta's weight being perched there. "I'm mostly out of commission, and what I'd show you is hard enough with all my focus on it, though it will get easier. Aura and Psychic powers tend to be very hands on. It's not something you can learn from a book, though if you ever find a decisive one then let me know- you really need a tutor for those skills."
"I see…" Misty said thoughtfully. "Can you at least try and teach Starmie telepathy for me? I'd love to be able to speak with my Pokemon, even if there's only one."
"You can do that with Aura too, but it can take a while to stick." Ashley nodded. "I'll do what I can. See, when learning the translation trick, it works better when the Pokemon you're talking to can do it as well; their Aura can be used to compensate for the Aura you don't have to bridge the gap. I learned from Lucario; he started off doing most the work bridging the gap, then slowly lowered the amount to the point where I was doing all the work to translate." She chuckled nostalgically. "I didn't even notice until my aunt dropped by to see me in full conversation with Lucario, and she couldn't understand a word from him." Misty and Brock chuckled as well, seeing how odd that would seem- they'd been dealing with it for the last few weeks.
"Can you try and explain anything as we walk?" Brock requested. "It'd be a good idea to try and get a head start, I assume."
"It'd be difficult, since some things are a bit complicated, but I can try." Ashley said. "I might have to pause for a while, and… I'd like to ask that we stay away from anything other than my powers, like Sinnoh or… where I got mine." She asked softly. Twin nods showed that they understood, before Misty began launching questions at high speed. Ashley answered them as best she could, a massive smile on her face the entire time.
It felt good, not having to hide a part of herself from her companions.
Perhaps she ought to search for Gary, too… After all, she'd known him much longer, and it seemed a bit of a disservice to leave him in the dark.
Fate could decide that one for her, though. At least for now.
AN: Y'know, I'd forgotten how much effort it took to edit these...
K: Well, this is a long chapter.
SV: Considering I went on holiday for a few months, then died again for a while longer, this is an apology.
P: Originally, Aura wasn't going to be explained to Misty and Brock until the SS. Anne incident.
T: However, since some other stuff is happening on the Anne, we realised it would be best to put Aura elsewhere.
P: The optimal place would have been last chapter, in the hidden sanctuary, but that was posted before the changes happened.
T: Since Shadow didn't see the point in going back to change it when people could have missed it if she did, therefore defeating the point-
K: We gave Ashley an unavoidable situation here to compensate.
SV: However, I do need to bring this up before people complain. Ashley could have gotten rid of the Spearow much easier and kept her secret intact, going at normal speed, blasting them weakly instead of the scattershot, and healing Charmander with potions to get him to the Center. Ashley wasn't thinking of that. She saw that Spearow were attacking something, it made her react harshly- there's a reason for that, and it will be explained later- and she chose to use her capabilities to heal Charmander at the risk of her powers. Plus, it was a significant drain, so she had to run for the Center and hope she didn't collapse from overdraw.
T: And Brock helped those Spearow, so she isn't being heartless either, but she wasn't thinking of them, or she would have healed them too.
P: Volta's power burst is another thing Shadow made, like the feedback loop for charging more power, then releasing it to get past electrical breakdown with Brock. It's an area attack, using the same principle; feedback loop with Lightningrod to charge, then boom. It does work without, as shown here.
SV: Overdraw is something I've used before, in New Beginnings- mainly Second Start- though I don't think I created it. I just knew they needed some sort of cap, and decided to make it life threatening. Treat it like chakra exhaustion in Naruto.
P: Now, I think we'll be on our way.
T: Wait, one more thing. What about the legendaries?
SV: Later. That's all I'm saying in the matter. Now, we'll leave the readers be with a couple of warnings.
K: First, Shadow is going to be going into the details of Aura and Psychic power next chapter. I've read ahead with the cliffnotes, and it's a doozy. They get a little complex, so we've worked to simplify them without technobabble.
SV: Second, chapters from this point on are going to be rare and sporadic. It may be a while between updates. I won't be going away again, but I've a lot of exams this next year and want to prepare. Due to this, less writing time. Sorry folks, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. I'll do my best, though. See ya'll when I see ya!