Disclaimer:Been here before, done it all before. I do not own Pokémon.
A/N:Chapter 7 is now up, sorry for the delay. This is my longest chapter to date, reaching almost 14000 words. A couple of new characters will be introduced in this chapter, some familiar faces. This will also be the last "introduction chapter". After this the real plot of the story will begin, hopefully with suitable epic and mass-destructing battles. Ash's journey has only just begun.
Fill My Heart With Lovin'
He didn't seem human, he was the monster in the closet.
Yet he's the most real human being I've ever met.
-Drew Anderson
The game had changed.
Fighting and surviving, I could manage. Defying and spitting in the face of the Devil was easy enough once you got over that goddamn limit every man has. That specific limit of the sordid, broken soul of a man with the power of the past on his finger.
The Ring of Aura, I now knew it was called.
It told me. It whispered its name in my sleep.
I could fight, I could burn and burn, I could defy and fall in love with women, note the plural, but I couldn't fucking dance.
"We don't have to dance, right? Because I've never danced, you know." I felt like a teenager before his first date. I never tried it myself, obviously. Coming from a poor family where you were the unwanted only child meant that you weren't particularly popular amongst all the other cool kids in the yard. I never went to any prom because nobody wanted to go with me.
Yeah, can I have a sad melody for the sad prick in this corner, please?
"You'll be fine," Oak said, watching me walk around nervously from his chair in front of the fire, a glass of scotch in his hand. Fucking bastard. It was getting late, and I had a party to prepare for tomorrow morning.
But I couldn't sleep. "You don't know her like I do." I ran a hand through my unruly hair, my mind in turmoil of excitement and fear; I realized that I probably didn't know her all that well anymore, either. How long had it been since I last saw her? Three years? Five? Oh, man…
"I never thought I'd see the day when you were afraid."
"I'm not, but, professor, the game has changed! The nature has changed…"
"The nature?" Oak asked, frowning.
"The nature of everything, the nature of me, of the war, of Time and Space – we can't be sure of anything anymore," I replied, trying to avoid the shadows cast by the fire stove. You never knew what could hide in those flickering shadows, man.
To you, I might seem paranoid, but trust me, you'd not be better off if you had this fucking thing messing with your brains.
Oak sighed and leaned back in his seat, rubbing his careworn face tiredly. "You're scaring me, Ash. Ever since you came back, or put on that suit, you've been acting different."
He'd only seen me for a few hours before the suit had changed me in ways no man should be, only seen a mere glimpse of Ash Ketchum when he wasn't invaded by the power that be, and the powers of Old. You don't understand a mind fuck until it screams at you from across the border – you don't see the change until you look in the mirror and see a complete stranger.
I wasn't really afraid of May Hutton, though, I was afraid of what she could make me. I was afraid of her allure and charm, of her curves and beauty – the swell of her breasts could send my heart pumping faster than the racing insanity of a Dragonite turned mad, Drew. She could make me a better man; turn me into the good guy that didn't want any part of the fight to come.
She had done so before.
She could dull the edge of the only hope for our continuing survival. And that was the whole point, I had become that. The hope. The edge. I was our salvation. The Ring chose me! I wasn't just some punk that had a flair for Pokémon and battles. I couldn't allow myself to lose sight of what had become my life.
But it was hard, man. I don't want to sound too much like a pussy, but she could make me soar to new heights of ecstasy and break me completely at the same time. Ring of Aura and Suit of Aura be damned, she could tame me. And that scared me to death.
"When will the chopper be here?" I asked, as I stopped my restless walking and looked at Oak, still mindful of the fucking flicking shadow. I felt as if it was reaching for me. I remembered the shadows and flickering lights that ran after each other over my suit's weave, the shadow reminded me of that.
Aaron's suit, the suit, the Suit of Aura – not mine, you son of a bitch…
Ah, okay. Still a little paranoid, I'm afraid. Can't help it, though, the Suit, the Ring, it takes you beyond this world and into the next. A link between worlds…
Don't mind the ramblings, Drew. Just ramblings of a man lost in his own gratification. And in love. Still not sure which is the most dangerous, and wasn't that a sad thought.
"08:30 in the morning," Oak said, his narrowed gaze studying me. He's face was unreadable, and yet so helplessly open. He wanted to save me from myself – I'm well and truly beyond saving, though. I've damned myself to a path I see no way out of. Please, show me a sign! I fear I'm breaking.
I was breaking, yet I would never break, something inside me wouldn't allow that. In the past, I could always count on my fighting spirit to see me through to the end – no matter what end that may be. But I didn't have that spirit anymore; it was a limitation in the line of duty and war, and therefore a liability that was slowly being erased from my systems. Because a fighter is human, Drew, I was more than that now – I'd to be more than that…
There was something inside me and I knew it meant good, but understanding between human and machine wasn't the best. Two different things seeking two different paths. There wasn't room for both Ash and the Suit and Aaron inside this brain of mine. At one point one of us would have to give… pray to Arceus that whatever's left behind is still good, Drew.
"And Lance won't be here to personally pick you – pick me – up, will he?" I asked.
Oak smiled wryly and shook his head. "I imagine Lance will be occupied with the protection detail for the party," he said. "Lots of famous people brought together can be a chance certain groups of people won't pass up."
"You think Team Rocket will try something?" I asked, truly surprised by the thought. "Giovanni won't be that reckless. Isn't he invited, anyway?"
"Yes, he is, but we both know that wouldn't stop him if he thought there was something to be gained from it…"
I frowned, something clicked in the back of my mind. "The Master Ball," I mumbled. "You think he'll try to steal it?"
Thinking on it, it seemed only logical that Giovanni would try something. A Ball that could make any Pokémon yours for the taking sounded like just his thing. It sounded like any power-hungry man's kind of thing.
Giovanni and his merry band of thieves and mercenaries could become a problem for even the toughest G-men; Lance was going to have his hands full with problems unless… unless someone else was there to help him. That slimy, calculating fucker!
"Oh." I blinked and focused on Oak's expression that had gone more and more guilt ridden as the true purpose behind my sudden invitation was revealed. "So that's why you want me to go instead of you? You want me to fight him!"
"Well, it sounded like a good idea, but when you put it like that…" Oak trailed off hesitantly.
"I like it," I said, and I liked the idea, but the way he had tried to manipulate me wasn't really something I appreciated. "That was very sneaky of you, though, using May to sell it and all."
"Sorry, I just have a feeling he'll try something."
"S'okay. Just tell me the truth next time," I said, seeing no reason to make a fuss about it. He didn't make me do something I didn't want to, anyway. Nobody could do that.
"I still think May will be good for you, though. The only time I ever saw you truly happy was when you were with her."
Have you ever seen one of those chick flicks, Drew? I haven't, but I'd imagine that it would go kinda like the first time I met May. Take your typical sad loner, a traveler and battler with a flair for getting into trouble. The class clown that everybody wanted to laugh with, but only dared to laugh at because he came from a poor and unpopular family that would make you look bad if you were caught with. The run-away boy with limited social skills and zero friends.
Then you take the beautiful girl that turned heads wherever she walked, the girl with the haughty exterior that really only worked as a cover for the kind and loyal girl beneath the skin. The girl that grew up in a wealthy family with a popular and famous dad. The girl with anything and everything, and on course straight for the stars.
I remember our first meeting as if it was yesterday. The suit's power upgrade of my mind helped in that regard, but really, what helped the most was that – as Oak said – it was the happiest time of my life. I'd been captivated at first sight, and no it wasn't love at first sight. I was seventeen-nearly-eighteen years old when I first met her; you know how a teenage boy's mind works, right?
It was desire at first sight.
I came into the Pokémon Center of the Hoenn League, tired and in a need of a bath so fucking badly after journeying through the Victory Road of Hoenn. And there she was, standing at the counter with her family. Her father, Norman, a rising star among the Gym Leaders, was there to oversee the Tournament, as it was expected of all the Gym Leaders.
I still have no idea what she saw in me, but the closer I walked to her the more immobilized I felt. She wore a summer dress that showcased a perfect amount of her gorgeous body, leaving only the best part to the imagination. The dress had ended a little above her knees, and every tantalizing skin had made my teenage-self more and more nervous. She had smiled at me. I don't think I'd managed to return it.
She was like a wet dream after all the hell I'd been through.
And she had looked me up and down, her deep blue eyes taking in every particle of dirt and blood and swollen skin on my form. It was like the beauty and the beast turned real.
One week later and she were sneaking into my hotel room every night.
I didn't fall in love with her during that time, or I didn't recognize the signs, at least. I only realized it after I left her in my quest for the past.
I don't think she fell in love with me, either, at least not initially. As I said, she grew up in the nice way – if such a thing exists in this world – and had norms and customs pushed on her from the moment she was born. I was her chance of acting out, being a rebel. I think she slept with me to escape and defy her father and her life, rather than any actual feelings for me.
At some point during our tryst that changed. Her feelings, as well as mine, became more genuine. I won the League trophy as the youngest to ever do so, and thought I could walk on water. I mean, I had everything, the girl, the fame, the money – nothing could stop me.
Then I stumbled upon Team Rocket's lab, and I had to stick my big head into things I couldn't possibly understand, of course.
And then Giovanni's wraith struck upon me, and my world and my self-awareness crumbled around me. Love could never measure up to that kind of hatred, the kind of hatred that's so deep that if you don't do something it will tear you to pieces…
"I'm going to sleep," I said, half a dozen memories spinning through my mind. Some good, most bad. I remembered dark-brown hair, flowing in long, gentle ringlets down a glisten, bare, sun-kissed back. I remembered plump lips, so fucking kissable lips, and I remembered deep, cold blue eyes that held a hidden treasure, an innocence hidden behind a haughty exterior.
I was in love.
Fuck that shit; it's only gonna break you!
"Goodnight, son," Oak said, his dark eyes searching me over his damned glass of scorch. I wanted a drink so feckin' badly. No can do, shrink. As a former alcoholic, relapse wasn't further away than the nearest bottle of something stronger than a light beer.
And that shit tasted like… well, shit even to begin with.
I went to bed.
The know-how and madness came easily once I put on the suit. I had a plan to make. Lists of mercenaries and thugs came scrolling down the side of my visor as I sifted through the files gathered by Lance's resources. Interesting names and groups of people were filed away for later use in the back of my mind, still had to get used to that. In the past, I would have had to write down the names if I wanted to remember them when I woke up.
I was sitting on my bed in the room graciously granted to me by Oak – I really needed to find my own place – and felt both awesome and terrified in my suit. It was funny, I felt like I weighted nothing more than the air I breathed, but when I looked down on my mattress I could see it curve under my ass as if I weighted a ton.
Pure steely muscles, of course, Drew, nothing but the best of the world going through this temple of mine.
Heh…
The clock on my bedside table read 05:28, almost three hours to deploy, and I wasn't feeling the least bit tired or bored with this… task of mine. I had literally pulled an all-nighter, going through lists of people Lance had under suspicion of operating with Team Rocket.
Operating… why not just say working and call it a day, man. Why did I suddenly have this whole new vocabulary at my disposal?
It didn't even sound cool – operating… no, I don't get it.
Where was I? Oh, yeah. I had pulled an all-nighter, going through lists of people with a suspicious nature. It was incredible how much detail and intel Lance had been able to squeeze out of his researchers. I mean, how the fuck did they found out that Archer was a vegetarian because he once had a bad experience with a feisty Ursaring for instance? Or that one Michael Jacobs was a strong believer in the legends of Giratina, the Demon Pokémon, but didn't believe in Arceus or any of the other fabled Gods of Pokémon?
It was an impressive or thoroughly well-done job.
Tommy Jordan, I thought, reading the name and committing it to memory. I would never – and by that I mean fucking never – forget that name again. It was carved in stone upon my mind like all the other bloody nonsense and whispers of the past that flickered through the maelstrom of my bleeding and chaotic mind.
"Tony Phillips," I sighed – oh, how I sighed, man.
I had gotten in under the suit's skin by now – bad pun intended, of course – and had gained some measure of understanding of its powers and limitations. We were connected. What I'd first assumed was highly advanced machinery, was slowly proven to be something far more sophisticated and – well, of another world.
What looked to be cords of futuristic tech was actually real living tissue that somehow attached to my body and Aura every time I said that damned codeword, every time I chose to bond with the thing.
There is a word for that kind of thing, Drew. It's called a symbiosis, ever heard of that? I thought – quite like you – that it was something taken straight out of some half-assed Sci-fi thriller. But it's not; it's something far more real and active.
It happens almost every day; Pokémon lent their skills and services out to each other for survival if the deal's beneficial for both species. The very nature does it, too, sometimes you see plants grow upon plants – protecting and helping each other.
But that had nothing on what was going on inside me, of course. I wasn't in my own category; I was on an entire different planet. The suit was feasting on my Aura to operate properly, using my awesome and sometimes undomesticated powers as a battery for its… works of magic. It tamed my Aura, though, made it into a very, very potent weapon of mass-destruction that could leave cities waste in my wake, man.
You already know that, of course, you've seen me do it before. I am something akin to a wild and insane Pokémon in that regard, aren't I?
Aura… I had journeyed to the past, trained with possible the most well-read man I'd ever met. I'd learned everything I could, fought through every obstacle put in front of me – however inhuman that obstacle may be – and I didn't feel one step closer to understand, to grasp, just what Aura actually was.
Aura is life, I told you that before. Aura is something a selected few people can tap into at will and use as a weapon – a force for good some people called it in the future's past, I told you that before, too. It transcended Space and Time, it transcended the realms of Dialga and Palkia – and yes, I've come to believe in some of the old legends, because sometimes you just can't ignore what's right in front of you.
But still… it told you nothing about Aura. What was it, where did it come from? Why me? All questions I had no answer to, all question I so fucking badly needed answers to, because I was sinking in this web I weaved.
My watch said 06:06 now and I glanced out of my window, seeing the early morning sun bathing the skyline in a scorched orange glow. I couldn't sleep, didn't need to, really. I liked sleeping, however, and even though it came in handy on this night when I had to work, I had a feeling it would be a pain in the ass when I actually wanted to sleep – for no other reason than wanting to forget the troubles that kept piling up in my life.
I zoomed back my scrolling through the files with nothing but a half thought, Giovanni's ugly hide showing up on the screen.
Identity: André Giovanni
Gym Leader of the Viridian City Gym
Start of Gym Leader period January 1. 2000
End of Gym Leader period is still unknown
Not much is known about Giovanni's early life. What is known is that he became the youngest – now second youngest – winner of a League Tournament in 1996 and disappeared soon afterwards. He returned almost four years later and applied for the recently opened position as Gym Leader in Viridian. He passed the tests with flying colors and got a commendation for the job. He tries, and with a fair amount of success, to keep his private goings a secret, but I know that he has at least a high position in Team Rocket, most likely the leader of the entire organization…
The text kept on sprouting chickenshit nonsense, most likely the leader of the entire organization? Who was Lance trying to fool? It could only be himself; he was the only one with complete access to this file – or he used to be.
I felt pretty good beating Giovanni as the youngest winner of a League, though. It was petty, it was entirely unimportant in the grander scheme of things, but it was a victory over the blasted man, and I would take every small one I could get.
At some point they would grow to something bigger, they had to.
I rose from my bed, heading for the bathroom attached to my room. I had never lived so stylishly before, not even at the Hoenn League. As I walked towards the brown door, my mind commanded the suit off me and just like that the thing retreaded its motion, gliding back over my skin until it was nothing more than a pulsating ring – Ring – again on my right index finger, and leaving me nude safe for my boxers.
I needed to get ready for the party; I had people to avoid, surveillance to conduct, fights to conquer, and a girl to impress.
I needed to look my fucking best for the last part.
I walked out of the store, adjusting my newly acquired dark suit and white shirt, and breathed in the live around me.
Saffron City was a tangle of senses pulsating beneath the concrete ground I was walking on, of aromas hanging heavily in the air from all the shops and peoples and restaurants on the street, and of noises blaring around me; it always has been. People stepped around me, mumbling curse words and threats to the bloody tourist with his head in the clouds.
My head was definitely in the clouds today.
I stared up at the big impossibilities of our nation, looking like a fucking tourist, and admired the view of the skyscrapers. And they most certainly were skyscrapers. Reaching for the very stars, the big constructions of steel and glass decorated the skyline all around me, how we had ever made these things with the threats of a Pokémon invasion I'd never understand – but we had, humanity had conquered.
For now…
I began to move, drawing my eyes back on the road ahead of me, and danced and ducked through the hordes and hordes of mingling people, all going about in their own world, purposeful yet looking without any clear intent beyond simple being a mere part of the crowd.
I wasn't part of the crowd, however, never had been, but always and always for different reasons. I was different than the ordinary John walking on the street, not something tangible or really obvious, but a hidden promise of danger lurked at the edge of my handsome façade. I cut a striking figure, if I do say so myself – and I do – but it wasn't my impressive physique, nor was it my obvious scar running down the side of my neck that made me stand out. It was something far more primitive and dangerous.
I had an Aura of tremendous power about me.
I'm not trying to sound boastful or anything here, Drew; people were avoiding me, making a path for me to walk undisputed in.
So I walked, whistling a merry little tone to myself, and took in the beautiful city around me – it was all just so alive and prosperous compared to what I came from. Pallet Town had become more like Ghost Town, and the forests and mountains surrounding Milando Village had been my personal Hell on Earth.
This was a fresh breath of air, figuratively speaking of course; I felt something akin to peace here among the millions of other peoples, and maybe just a faint touch of destiny in the air between this moment and the one that was to come in a matter of minutes.
The inevitable battle between me and Giovanni was about to begin, the broken pieces of me and May's relationship was – hopefully – about to me repaired. May wasn't really important in the greater picture, but I wanted her around. It was selfish, it was dangerous, and it made me feel so fucking sinful and good inside.
The most awesomely scary thing was that I was unsure what I considered most important, May or Giovanni? The Ring or Suit or Machine or whatever the fuck it is definitely had its priorities straight; I felt like it was scolding me for every thought I had about May – or Serena, and my thoughts about her had been scant and few so far.
She had just not entered the picture yet, but she would, Drew, and she would love and hate me for it, as all people who get to know me these days do.
The sun was retreating now, casting the city in long shadows and – flashing neon signs that showcased different products and new movies just coming out. The trip in the chopper had been long and tedious, far too eventless for so much hubbub – yeah, Drew, I use the word hubbub frequently because it is just that fecking' awesome – and they had ended up dropping me off on top of the Domain Tower (the tallest building in Saffron and second tallest in the world).
The announcement and after-party was gonna be held in that building, on one of the highest floors, yet I'd taken the elevator all the way down to street levels and braved the streets in a desperate search for some suitable clothes for the occasion.
It turned out that I didn't have to go that far, in a city as big as Saffron, the nearest store that sold quickly tailored and expansive suits were not that far away. I got myself measured for an all black suit with matching tie, and while it was being fitted I walked to nearest Kanto Bank, wearing my shiny new black shoes, and reopened my account to acquire the money needed for the rest of my suit.
Easy and fast – live and learn, man, I was relearning old tricks of the trade and all that…
I'd reach Domain Tower in a couple of blocks; I could see the skyscraper upon the slowly darkening sky in front of me, the building towering up over all of its surrounding constructions. The tower itself was tipped with a small landing platform – the place where I landed with my escort of G-men this fine morning – and a white, almost transparent, globe that could split open to reveal heavy loaded cannons.
Those cannons, along with others strategically placed all over the city, was part of a security network that consisted of scanning frequencies and radio protocols meant to track down and eliminate threats to the city. If something dangerous or big enough to gain attention were heading too close or into the city they'd be gunned down before they even made it halfway unless they had an invitation into the city – or a radio to communicate with the Watch-Tower of Saffron.
They called it a search, lock, load, and fire procedure – quick and efficient work that was left to a machine. They installed those defense measures a couple of years before I became a Pokémon trainer, and ever since then, Saffron has been spared of any devastating attacks.
The city had flourished after that, and, as a result of the grown it had gone through, other big and wealthy cities started to copy the defense structure.
But why am I telling you this you might wonder. You probably already know all of it. Well, it's gonna matter to my story at some point in the not-so-distant future, you'll see, Drew. Patience is a virtue.
But one thing's for sure, it worked.
And that was the reason I took care not to fly over any mayor cities with Charizard on my way back from the Tree, it was also the reason why I hadn't flown myself in town today – couldn't risk getting burned to crisp, could I?
I could see the entrance to the Domain Tower now, and barely make out the lobby tucked behind security guards, wearing sunglasses and their best outfit for the day and guarding the festivities, and made sure that the mob could not penetrate the party.
And what a mob of people and uninvited journalist it was, swarming the building, kicking and screaming and flashing the blitz on their cameras. It was a big thing whenever Silph Co. decided to announce a new brand in their collection of Poké Balls, and, even though it was only rumors by now, a Master Ball was considered such a groundbreaking piece of technology that reporters, League officials, and common people were coming from all over the world to witness the historic event.
Saffron was on the brink of bursting, the streets filled to the brim with people; there was a special buzz in the air, a hidden promise of mystery and secrets about to be revealed. You felt it with your bones and joints rather than seeing anything tangible – it probably wasn't even real, just a fragment of my imagination running high.
Such was my mind's eye now, evolved yet torn fucking asunder by the Past.
I frowned darkly, not feeling like myself at all and with a certain sense that I was missing something vital, and pushed my way through the screaming and pushing crowd around me. Was I crazy for wanting to blast my way through with Spheres of Aura? Was I childish for wanting to hide from the party – and the girl I dreamed about every time the Ring was silent?
No, I wasn't crazy or childish, Drew, but I was human for it, and that was both a comforting and horrible thought.
The lights turned green and I followed the crowd over the street, trying to break off and go in through the arching cemetery that worked as an entrance path. Made in well worked and shiny white marble, the structure looked both impressive an as out of place as I felt among all the big and simple steel buildings.
But even though I felt completely out of my depth, I must admit I felt kinda cool and awesome walking on the red carpet like all the other fakes celebrities and old, worn war heroes that Kanto glorified more than most of them deserved.
And those that did deserve the recognition never got enough – it is a cruel and indecent world we live in, man.
But it's the only one we got, Drew. Who knows, maybe one day we'll actually start helping each other again.
I stopped when one of the security guards stepped up to me, sunglasses and deep frown firmly in place, holding his hand out to me. "Passport, please, sir," he said, almost bored – I suppose I would feel similarly if I had to spent an entire evening, guarding and protecting a bunch of snobs. I'd probably kill one of them by the end of the evening. Just kidding, Drew.
And I'm sure they enjoyed the money afterwards.
I handed him my papers. "And hello to you," I said. "Hey, why the sunglasses?"
He ignored me, sifting through my papers with a keen and practiced eye, before handing it back to me with a grunt of grudgingly approval.
I was inside.
May and Giovanni was waiting – still not sure what scared me the most.
Yes, I know I'm stalling the conversation in half truths and useless facts, dull and meaningless, just a conversation between two unimportant strangers. But we're not just strangers anymore, are we, Drew? We're not just faceless persons in the crowd, going about our carefully planned and completely dreary day. I use these seemingly unimportant and dry sequences to build up the next course of action, an explanation, of sorts, of what is going to happen next. What is a good story without background info, right?
I'm not just a faceless and unimportant person in the crowd, though, I'm more than that, and I've said that before, does it make me sound like a narcissist? I dearly hope it doesn't. I was a beacon of terrible darkness in the crowd, people stayed clear of my path, shop keepers kept a wary eye on me when I came to buy my clothes.
Nobody knew what it was, they just knew that I was strange, different… they didn't know what it was, yet they knew all the same, if that makes any sense. No, it probably doesn't. Most things about my life don't…
But I was beginning to wonder about the strangeness of my life at that point, beginning to weave a web, a map, of the past thrust upon the present. I'd touched something better left forgotten – why they hadn't just destroyed it I'll never understand.
Yet I think I know why. They, like people today, were afraid of the future. Be it Gods, humans, Pokémon or something else, was afraid of the future as any other powerful sentient being is. I've memories of past wars now, and not just the vastly glossed over details of the gruesomeness of the Dark Wars you find in the history books these days. No, real experiences, real live, and every gritty little ol' act of senseless violence is bleeding through the space and cords of the suit and my brain like a beat of electricity on repeat.
Memories that could define mankind a millennium ago is now defining me, memories that belonged to something so twisted and grotesque, so wild and untamed, I find it hard to describe it with mere words is now defining me at my core being.
Have you ever heard the saying: There's a God inside all of us? It originates from Sinnoh, of course, and is used as a holy mantra for people during the time they pray. It's derived from the old legends of Arceus and its creations. Lies, legends, and the make-believe, nothing more nothing less.
The saying was stuffed down my throat wherever I walked when I visited Sinnoh during my search for Aura, but I never believed or took any greater notice of it, always and forever brushing of what is fucking right in front of me.
Live and learn, Drew… live and learn.
And hope that whatever you're up against is slower on the uptake than you are – because if it isn't, you might as well just be a fucked up mess of nothingness when it is done with you.
But the saying, man, the saying holds, like all words of prophetic implications, a hidden promise of hard truths and sweet, but oh so cold lies. I felt like I had gotten it thrust upon me by the Gods of Old, with all the power and memory that entails. My shell was still human; my identity was still an imitation of my ol' self. But beneath this cold, grey layer of awesomeness is not just a bleeding human heart, but also the sheer, raw, and fucked up knowledge of a God who knows that humanity is as fickle a thing as a snowflake.
Prick me with a needle and watch it bend, bitch!
But not everything was bad. I noticed the looks of barely undisguised fear, I noticed the confused weariness of the people around me, but I blocked it all out, pretending that it wasn't me something was wrong with.
For a time I just enjoyed myself, all alone in the city. That might sound a little lonely to you, but to me it was like being reborn. I was surrounded by living and breathing people – not always two things that stick together, Drew – and was, in a way, just a part of the crowd mingling about in a city where the lights never turned off.
I didn't have my Pikachu with me because Pokémon weren't allowed at the party, another useless fact that will help build up for the part to come, and yet I felt both less lonely and more purposeful than I had in goddamn years.
And apprehension and fear wasn't the only looks I was attracting. I was, like all the knights in shiny armor, a handsome guy when the circumstances allowed me to be. I'd always found it difficult reading a woman, what she meant or what she wanted – May and Serena both called me dense once upon a time – but even I could understand the looks women gave me as I walked on the street.
As I said, I'm by no means an expert, but women like a mystery, Drew. Some women like power, too, but those are the ones you should stay clear off, I think. I cut a powerful figure, and with a touch of mystery and a sense of danger.
I was hot and on fire, man.
But I wasn't interested in those girls, or I mean, I was, I'm a red-blooded male, after all, but it would be meaningless fun. Those girls wouldn't compare to the real deal, and on that day the real deal was May, and only May – and maybe Serena.
May and Serena…
Sorry, I'm dreaming aloud again, aren't I? It's just great curves, creamy skin, and a face of the angel, May. And it's lithe form, yet perfect curves where it matters, a little darker skin, and a face of another angel, really, Serena. But it's also weakness, my weakness, and it's liability in the line of duty because while they can be fierce and strong in their own right, they're no fighters.
May even has a pretty strong phobia for Pokémon, which is kind of a bad thing, considering those are fucking everywhere these days.
It's funny that I can't seem to stop talking about them, huh. Does it make me sound like an angsty girlyman in too deep love to be considered a badass?
It's just difficult not talking about May; I was just about to meet her…
"Isn't that…?" A female journalist said, looking like she'd just seen the Ghost of Hoenn. I'm back from the dead, baby.
"Look, right there. Isn't that the guy that won the Hoenn League a few years back? Ash… something, right?" Hey, wasn't that Norman's son, Max… Hutton it must be, then, May's younger brother – he always was a judgmental douchebag. Not yet a motherfucker, at least that's something, I suppose.
"That's fucking Ash Ketchum, dude! The youngest trainer to ever win a Pokémon League, and the only one to go through an entire tournament without killing any of his opponent's Pokémon." And that was just a crazed fan, apparently working himself up in frenzied state of overdosed awesomeness.
Yeah… do the Gods that are hear my fucking prayers? Arceus and the Holy Spirit of Aura – please, save me from this Hell on Earth!
God, I hated these things, I had known it was going to happen like this. The proverbial son had returned to the masses, an object of envy and admiration in the otherwise dull and monotonous day. Expect, I didn't really hate this, not as much as I thought I would, the sideway glances and whispered words of awe of my presence were oddly welcoming.
I felt detached to it all – I was detached.
And again, I felt like there was something I'd missed – something really fucking important.
I got a hit.
I got a fucking hit.
But how the hell was I suppose to get a fucking hit when I wasn't even – when the powers that be and the powers of Old were resting, quiescent.
Ah, quiescent. Good ol' fashioned word that one.
Have I told you about my expanding vocabulary, Drew? Yes, yes, I did. Oh. Fuck.
Never mind, I got a hit, the suit beeped inside my brains, memories and information bleeding into my conscious like a raw mind rape.
"Tommy Jordan… Remember him, Aura Guardian?" A silky smooth and decidedly unfriendly voice whispered through my mind. My head peaked up, almost cracked my neck in my shock, and I scanned the masses with my eyes and Aura, darting between men and women like sonar. I only found non-threatening personal in my immediate surroundings.
"What the hell," I said out loud, my whispered words making the woman beside me look at me with confusion.
"Did you say something, dear?"
Dear? I must have gone crazy – dear? – nobody had called me something as sweet and honest as dear in my whole life. I was too hardened for that kind of crab, my survival instincts too fine-tuned to take any of that silly and superficial nonsense seriously.
"No, sorry – just confused ramblings, ma'am." I shook my head, clearing it of creepy, imagined voices.
The elegant old lady shook her head, a thin curtain of silver hair hiding the enigmatic smile on her lips. "You're far too young and virile for that, my dear," she said, her nature entirely benign. I studied her a little closer, of course, always and forever a suspicious bastard. "What's your name?"
I relaxed my eyes a little, all part of the mask, man, and looked for an easy smile and found it, looking around the crowd the old woman and I had gathered. "Nobody in the crowd told you?"
"Merely being polite, something most people seems to have forgotten these days." She sighed, casting a wary eye around the people that tried to listen in on our conversation. "Oh well, what brings you to this… find establishment, Ash Ketchum?"
"An old friend, actually," I said. "A friend we have in common, I believe… Agatha."
Agatha, member of the Elite Four, smiled ruefully. "Ah, professor Oak, then. Brilliant old man. He's not here? I would have thought he'd want to see this, if the rumors of an infallible Poké Ball holds true, of course."
"He couldn't be here." I shrugged. "So he sent me in his stead."
The fragile lady flattened her dark robes. "Well, you send him my best, dear. Far too few good and honest men like Samuel Oak in this world." She turned her small body far more effective and graceful than I thought possible for such an old woman, and quickly disappeared in the crowd of people.
This time I definitely missed something.
Agatha was a perfect example of the age old saying, looks can be deceiving. She may look like your typical old, benign grandmother, but in reality she was anything but. Underneath that fragile shell was a power of darkness – not unlike me – that could literally turn your dreams into nerve-wracking and blood-freezing nightmares.
She had, however – completely unlike me – seen her best days. Her powers were dwindling, a shadow of their former glory. She was a woman who should have quitted this game while she was ahead, should have known when to quit the roll of the dice. But like all great and powerful humans, she had difficulty letting go of the past.
She was still part of the Elite Four in Kanto, but she was without a doubt the weakest link in that bunch of pathetic cowards, yet she'll always have my sympathies – she was the only one that took my side back when I accused Giovanni of murder. She was only one with real balls, man.
I moved on from my spot, braving the dangers of blood-hungry journalist and suicidal fans. Questions were flung at me from all sides, and I wondered what the fuck I was doing here.
Oh yeah, that's right, I was here to protect these imbeciles from Giovanni and his merry band of mercenaries and hired grunts and guns. Well, if there didn't happen something soon there wouldn't be anything left to protect.
But there he was again, Tommy Jordan. My Ring and Aura was sensing him as he followed me through the hordes of chatting people, shadowing me. The profile of the man the database had provided me with bled through my mind, both useful and useless facts about him, and I realized that Giovanni must have, somehow, gotten news of my presence.
That was kinda fuckin' bad.
How the actual fuck had he found out so quickly?
I looked around, seeing not-so-subtle glances thrown my way, hearing barely-disguised-whispers of the great and powerful Ash Ketchum.
Okay, it was pretty clear how he found out, after all.
It would only be a matter of seconds before May got to me, and that sent hot tingles down my spine and all kinds of good and nervous feels into my systems.
Dinner should begin in a matter of minutes, men and women carried their chatters into the dinning lounge of the eighty-seventh floor. I followed the stream of people, and entered the Restaurant room. Round tables, covered by simple and elegant white tablecloths, were placed all around the room; I could see nameplates on the plates. One of the walls was made only of windows, and a balcony, with a view out over the city, was visible from where I stood.
I walked over the beautiful wooden floor, finding my name easily – guess how, Drew – and spent a moment admiring the platform that had been placed there for the occasion. I didn't doubt for a moment that it was there the announcement was to be held.
I reached my table, it was empty, and sat down. My eyes darted to and fro, looking for persons of interest. I found most of them – and can you talk about enemies and friends seizing you up on all sides, man.
Not two tables in front of me sat the Devil himself, wearing a perfect tailored black suit and red tie, with people already kissing his ass it seemed. Giovanni was as sleek and cool as he always had been, mesmerizing people with his charismatic personality and winning attitude. He blended in perfectly with the setting, the cold, sociopathic murder nowhere to be seen.
It was a façade – a façade he pulled off far better than I ever could.
I was slouching in my seat, looking and feeling so utterly bored people would have thought I had been forced to be here. I suppose I had been in a way.
I removed my focus from Giovanni, seeing known and unknown members of his Team Rocket all around him, including Archer, the fucker, keeping watch of their leader. But as I said, there were friends in the crowd, too, or friends and would-be-friends, at least.
Lance sat at the front of the room, together with all the other Gym Leaders and Elite Four members, and talked quietly with Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader. Brock leaned in close to Lance, whispering something that seemed to stab him in the chest, because suddenly his head snapped around and he looked directly at me, eyes filled with obvious shock and jaw dropped.
I put on my most shit-eating grin and waved to the bastard, feeling insanely awesome and important all of a sudden. He didn't respond to my waving, he turned in his seat, giving me the cold shoulder.
Ah, he definitely hadn't forgotten about me, then. That was a nice sentiment, one I could be a little proud of.
"Ah, there's my seat," a voice said beside me, making me jump a little. I turned my eyes on the new arrival; he was an elderly man, white complexion and balding grey hair and green eyes, wearing an outrageous suit in a dull grey color with black dots on his jacket. He had a friendly face, which seemed as fake as my own. "Hello, my good fellow. The name's Jacob, Jacob Smith." The man, Jacob, extended his hand towards me.
I took it, still a little dazed and confused that I hadn't felt the man coming, and said, "Hello, Mr. Smith. My name's Ash Ketchum." And I'm a former alcoholic and Pokémon trainer, and now mad and insane voices of Old and memories not my own is screaming through my fucked up mind. Isn't that how this generation works these days? Where we share personal information with complete strangers, whether it is over the internet or in person, to make our lives more exciting, hmm?
I heard about a boy who wrote he was going on vacation with his family on the World-Wide-Web, Drew. Do you know what happened while they were gone? They got robbed, man, of course they did.
We are a bunch of attention-seeking idiots…
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, and please, call me Jacob," he said jovially. "Mr. Smith is my father."
I tried to hide my frown; Mr. Smith – Jacob – was the talkative sort, which was not the kind of person I wanted to sit with right now, not ever, actually. "Jacob. So… why are you here?" The name seemed familiar now that I thought about it. Even though the Ring didn't establish connection to my brain, as it had proven capable of when it scanned Tommy Jordan, I still felt my mind sifting through old and long forgotten memories.
There weren't that old anymore, though, and they certainly weren't forgotten.
And, of course, I remembered him. Jacob Smith was a hotshot in the news business, the editor for Expedition – and May's boss. Of all the men to sit at my table it had to be May's boss…
Did that mean May would sit at my table, too? I looked up, seeking that gorgeous body and allure that I had been without for so long…
Of course she wasn't to sit at my table. That would have been far too convenient, man, taking straight out of some half-assed romantic comedy that all women, for some strange and unfathomable reason, lap in them like it was real life.
She wasn't gonna sit at my table, but that didn't matter for now – because there she was, striding into the restaurant. God, she could fuel my inner teenager's wet dreams for months to come, man. Let me take it from the bottom and all the way to the top, Drew. Paint you the Picture Perfect.
She had grown. That was the first thing that went through my mind, the first thing I noticed. I mean, May've always had great curves and beauty, at least while I've known her. But she had become a woman while I was gone. The lithe teenage girl replaced by the voluptuous forms of a woman in her early twenties.
She wore a red dress, almost as red as blood, that hugged her curvaceous form flawlessly. The dress reached halfway down her thigh, bare legs that seemed to never end was revealed for my gaze. I took my time studying her, sure that she wouldn't catch me ogling her, and drew my eyes slowly back up to the swell of her ample cleavage. Her skin was creamy pale – not as pale as I remembered, though – and seemed to light up the very room around her, only dulled a little by the brown hair falling in perfect ringlets around her shoulders.
Her beautiful, almost unnatural, deep blue eyes were staring right at me, though, probably catching me feasting on her form like a drowning man seeking fresh air.
I blinked, and tried to control a rising blush on my cheeks – ah, fuck! I had been caught with the hand in the cookie jar. A jumble of emotions flashed over her face, surprise, happiness, that then very slowly turned to righteous anger, before coming to some sort of sad acceptance – maybe even a little delight mixed in. You could see she was trying to hide her emotions, trying to look strong and unaffected by my presence.
Oak told me she'd confessed that she thought I had died while I'd been gone – shock wouldn't be an adequate description for what must have gone through her mind.
She spent maybe thirty seconds, just standing there, staring at me from across the room. I stared back at her, man enough to not back down, and fought hard to keep my eyes locked with her eyes, not letting them fall back to the hidden promises of untold pleasures.
Pleasures I'd experience before – pleasures I so desperately wanted to experience again.
"huh…?" Jacob uttered quietly beside me, looking between me and May. "I sense a story here."
"Only the end of the world," I whispered lowly, feeling like I was missing something important here. Again.
"Excuse me?"
"Only the end of an unlikely relationship," I said, shaking my head and taking my eyes of May, as she walked over to her table, sitting together with a dozen of other journalists at a table of to the side. "Why aren't you sitting with the other journalists, Jacob?"
"And miss the scoop of the year? The resurrection of Ash Ketchum! Not bloody likely, pal." He gestured with his hand over to May's table. "I changed seats with the charming Jennifer over there – the girl in blue."
I followed his hand and saw the woman he was indicating to. It'd been a long time since she was considered a girl, Drew, let me tell you that. Dressed, as Jacob said, in a modest blue dress, the middle-aged, slightly chubby woman was talking animatedly with May, who only seemed to pay her half-attention.
I didn't hide my frown this time. "I'm not doing an interview with you," I said, trying to put as much firm malice into my voice – without actually coming off as a deranged killer, of course.
Not sure I succeed the last part, though, because he leaned away from me as if I'd hit him across the face.
He didn't talk to me for the rest of the night – and barely an hour into the dinner he disappeared to places unknown, never to be seen again.
The next morning, there'd be a story about the rude, arrogant Ash Ketchum – but not on front page, though, that spot was taken by some dude named Red…
Prove it.
PROVE IT, YOU SONOFABITCH!
I'd never, and take my words very, very serious, never been the forgiving type.
You can't prove it, and that's why you fuckers still have no clue about the shitstorm you're blindly feeling your way through, that's why none of you is going to make a goddamn difference in this mess of ours, and that's why we're all drowning in the decayed, contaminated wreckage of our damnation.
We made our own mess, Drew, and you know what?
I'm getting tired of having to pick up the pieces after some sociopathic asshole went berserk with powers he couldn't possibly control.
I'm just so fucking tired, man. And the sad part is, I'm barely even holding on to the fight. Monsters and Legends beset me on all sides, pushing me to the brink of insanity… and I'm afraid. I'm afraid because I'm not afraid anymore – their awesome powers have become nothing but an afterthought to me.
I'm afraid because I should be so goddamn terrified, but I'm not, haven't been since I put on that fucking abomination of a suit.
Pay attention and you'll understand. We're almost there, every coarse action of necessary evil is on the burning horizon – I've lain waste to mortality, man, entered the realms of Gods and taking a dump on their territory.
I've used ancient forces in my war against damned species, gained mythical powers in my quest for the key to our salvation. Aura, Drew, I found Aura.
Who the fuck named it Aura, anyway? It sounds so fucking stupid! But sadly, here I am, using the word of the power that has changed the world, will change the world, does change the world, and I'm gonna see it through.
Aura.
Aura…
Aura!
I don't laugh at a misery, just what the hell makes me so special?
Aura is not something I can just tap into a will; it's not a vortex of power hidden within the deepest parts of my being and soul. I'm not running on a battery that is slowly drained every time I use my power, and then recharges when I sleep or something. You can't compare it to a muscle, because it's not that simple. And it's not that complex, either.
Ah, man, Aura is… life. And death. Live and Death. There isn't Aura in anything, nobody has Aura – it doesn't exist! Yet it's all that matters, it's in the air you exhale when the final gasp leaves you before your mortal soul is send to its Eternal Suffering, it's the defining factor in the moment between a couple in the throes of passion as they make hot, crazy love.
Aura is not a force for good – I was never meant to be a force for good. Aura consumes every good intention you've ever had. Power turns a good and honest man into the sociopaths he spent his entire life fighting. We are shadows of our former selves, Sir Aaron and me, dark, terrible shadows of once good and honest intentions gone horrible wrong.
Aura is not real, and therefore it is the only thing that matters.
Do you understand, Drew?
Do any of you dickheads behind the mirror understand?
No? No… don't be sorry about it, I don't get it, either.
Aura is my weapon, I wield it like magic and sword in the fight against enemies turned mad, but, after the war is over, with all said and done and me as the victor, what is gonna save me, then?
That is what I want you to prove, Drew.
Prove it.
Prove that humanity can unite as massive force against a man who has, so far, played an entire Region as if it were just a game to him.
I don't believe it until I see it. Seeing is believing. But you do, you believe, and that gives me courage for the times and wars to come.
I still can't stand the sight of you, though. Don't think I'll warm up to you – and that freakish, green hair of yours.
Is it dyed?
No way…
"It's not nearly as glamorous as it sounds," I said, a pleasant and false smile marring my face. "Most of the time, you're camping in the most terrible conditions imaginable – never enough food, never a quiet moment of rest."
"So why did you do it, then?"
The scent of delicious food wafted strongly upon the air in the room, the steak – my fourth of the night – tasty and useless to me. Nothing but a guilty pleasure of mine, really. The young woman, Patricia, beside me was a few years older than me, and was very easy on the eye in her elegant white dress, showing off her mocha colored skin, a hint of her petite cleavage peeking out and legs wrapped in sheer white stockings beneath our table.
She'd recognized me as Ash Ketchum, of course, and had joined my table when the dinner was over. I was the only one still eating, actually. I know that's terrible manners, Drew, but I couldn't help myself. I hadn't eaten in days!
"Are you kidding? And miss all the thrill and adventure?" The restaurant was filled with low and friendly chatter, an ambiance of excitement slowly building among the guest. It wouldn't be long before the announcement was to begin, and then I'd see if I really had any reason to be worried.
A Master Ball would be a great cause for concern.
"Was that the only reason?" Patricia asked, leaning into my space, as I pierced my fork through a piece of my steak and brought it to my lips. "Becoming a Pokémon trainer is a big decision – I certainly didn't have the courage to do it back when I graduated."
It hadn't been that grand, tough decision for me, as everybody kept saying it was – for me it had been either that or willowing away in hate and self-pity. The choice between making something of myself or live a life with broken dreams and regrets.
The choice was made for me, really.
I swallowed my food and reached for my glass of Coca-Cola. "Guess I just wanted the money enough."
Patricia giggled at my joke, clear and feminine. I hadn't heard that sound in years – it sounded like those goddamn choirs of angels again. Just as fucking fake as the imaginary creatures of Heaven. "Oh, Ash, it looked like a lot more than money-hunger when I saw you in the arena. You had a passion for the game. But the money didn't hurt, I'm sure."
No, the money hadn't hurt. The money was the reason I could sit here tonight, looking like the suave bastard chatting up the nearest blond – eh, brunette – in my expensive suit and shiny shoes. Except, I wasn't really trying, my head wasn't in it, and my eyes kept flicking back to where I knew the real conquest of night was – if I was to conquer any tonight, of course.
Maybe conquest wasn't really the best way to describe May Hutton… she wouldn't take it well, and she deserved more than that.
My eyes flicked to May's seat again, nothing more than a subtle glance in her general direction, but she wasn't in her seat. She was up and walking towards me, and suddenly my palms felt oddly clammy. Her eyes were locked on mine with an unreadable yet determined expression.
Fuck, she's hot, I couldn't help thinking. And angry…
She hid it well, but I knew her good enough to see through the icy mask she wore, after all. I could see the slightly narrowed eyes, the cute little line between her eyes when she frowned – something hadn't changed, at least.
I turned my eyes back to my dinner, only to find Patricia half in my lap, and talking vigorously about my performance in the Hoenn League.
That could become a problem.
Pushing gently at her, I pierced another chunk of my meat and drew it up to my mouth, trying to look as cool and unaffected by the stress as possible. I could sense May dance through the tables, getting closer and closer to me. She had a plate with her; I wasn't the only one still eating, after all.
That was another thing I liked about May, she didn't starve herself to look good and healthy. If she wanted to eat something, she would – with relish.
Patricia kept talking, not sensing my growing dread at all. "And your Pikachu was the cutest-"
May dumped herself down at our table, her hair trailing behind her in that way I'd never understand how she could pull off. "Hello Ash. Back from the dead, hmm?" she placed her plate in front of her, crossing those wonderful, pale legs of hers, giving me a second to glimpse at her shapely thighs before they disappeared under the table. "Guess you forgot to tell me, huh?"
It didn't escape my notice that she acted as if we didn't have another person at the table – she hadn't so much as glimpsed at Olivia… Patricia! She hadn't even spared Patricia a second. Eidetic memory, my ass, man. "Eh… Hey May." That's nice, Ketchum. Real smooth, man. "I've only been back for a couple of days. Been a rough couple of days, too," I said, playing the sympathy card. And it was even the truth – I'd been invaded by a being over a millennium old, and my body had been swallowed in some kind of muscles suit that kept whispering sweet words of Doomsday into my brain.
A couple of really fucking rough days.
"Yeah, well, it's been a rough couple of years for me." May crossed her arms under her breasts, I fought with all of my willpower to avoid looking down on the things it did to her curves. I could become lost in those curves, had been lost in them once upon a time… "And why are you still here?" she snapped at Patricia, making the poor girl jump in her seat.
Patricia blinked, looking between me and May for a moment. Then she sought my eyes, and I knew that she waited for me to back her up. I sighed and shook my head, making a small effort to hold her eyes.
She huffed and left, not saying a word to either of us. Maybe she sensed something going on. Were we that obvious?
Heh… that's a trick question, Drew.
I waited for her to leave before rounding on May. "You didn't have to take it out on her, you know. Fair enough if you're pissed with me, but you don't have snap at her for talking with me," I said.
May's temper looked ready to explode – she'd almost as big a temper as me. "Talking? Is that what you call it? She was five seconds away from sticking her tongue down your throat."
I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I haven't gotten around talking to you, but I didn't even know you were here in Kanto until yesterday. What are you doing here anyway?" I already knew she worked for the Expedition, of course, but the seemingly honest question would hopefully make her think I really hadn't known she'd be here.
She blinked. "I work for the Expedition," she said, her eyes softening when she arrived to the only conclusion she could. I could be a manipulative bastard sometimes. "I live here in Saffron now."
"Oh," I mumbled, keeping a surprised façade. Maybe I really had gotten good at this lying thing while being away. I certainly couldn't have pulled this off before I left. "Well, congrats – you always talked about becoming a journalist."
"Yeah, it's great, though the politics can be a pain in the ass." May relaxed in her seat, sipping at her glass of champagne. God, what I wouldn't give for a glass of… "Every news article has to go via the Pokémon League for approval before it can be published these days. Some of my older colleagues keep saying it was all a lot easy before Lance became Champion."
I didn't want to talk about Lance. "I think I saw your brother when I arrived."
May nodded, as I took another bite of my food. "Him and dad should be here somewhere – my mom couldn't be here, though, you know how she feels about sailing and flying and-"
"-And driving and any other form of transportation that doesn't involve a bike, I remember." I nodded with a half smile. I didn't even need my new and improved super-memory to recall that.
I felt a little proud of that.
May smiled, too, eyes holding a glimmer of reminiscence – and sadness. "You were gone a long time. Where did you go? What did you do?"
There were all good questions. I'd prepared some answers and stories for just this occasion last night, but my perfect memory seemed to have run its course because I was drawing up blank. What should I tell her? Everything? Maybe, but tonight was not the right time or place for that kind of confessions.
I went for a half true. "I went to Hoenn and Sinnoh," That was true. "I… I didn't really do anything, just traveled aimlessly across the Regions – sometimes, whenever I saw the signs, I looked for him and his… gang. But most of the time, I passed with just getting by." That was only half-true. I had done that and so much more.
The look May gave me said, as clearly as the sun, that she didn't believe me. "I thought you were dead, Ash. All these years, I've spent praying that you'd be safe, that you'd return some day. An explanation, you owe me that, at least."
How was it that she could always see right through me like an open book, no matter what I said or tried to cover up? But she was right; however, I owed her the truth and so much more. We had been young and in love, and I ran away to extract revenge. She deserved the truth – more than anyone else. "You're right," I said. "You're right, but not here. I'll tell you everything you want to know, just not today."
The party around me was all but forgotten, as May and I locked eyes. I thought I saw some of that old purpose behind the beauty I'd come to love her for. "You promise?" she said, her voice becoming low and husky, as she leaned in closer to me. I could smell her perfume, not quite place the scent, but it made me feel dizzy all the same.
I gulped, feeling both shamefully aroused and more-than-a-little excited. She was playing now, playing me with her beauty. Had it really only been few moments ago I thought I'd have to fight with her. "I promise."
May jumped in her seat, her eyes wide and looking over my left shoulder. A moment later I felt someone brush by me and sit down at our table to my left. I blinked, wondering if my senses were taking a break today since I didn't notice this person approach me either.
Then I noticed who the woman was. Sitting almost as close to me as May did on my right side, was Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron City Gym, wearing a purple dress that left little to the imagination. How she could even pull it off without looking like a hooker was beyond me, but my arousal suddenly took another peak, as I got an eyeful of her pale cleavage.
I gulped again, definitely feeling sweaty now, and met Sabrina's purple-blue eyes.
"Hello Ash Ketchum. Agatha said you were here. You weren't supposed to be here," she said, breaking all kinds of personal space and making me confused if this was a dream or a nightmare come true. "You've grown since we last met. You're an adult now!"
"Ah, yeah." I leaned back in my seat, trying to get a couple of inches between me and the two ladies. "Hello Sabrina. I wasn't supposed to be here? Sorry to disappoint, then."
Sabrina shook her gorgeous head. "On the contrary, it's very good, very good indeed." She tilted her head to the side, looking at me as if she was about to penetrate my skull. It wouldn't surprise me if she could. "Why can't I read your mind, Ash Ketchum?"
Heh. That would be the million dollar question, baby. "I dunno. Maybe you've drunk too much," I suggested.
"No, I can read the girls mind, she wants me to leave – thinks I look like a slut."
May, bless her, blushed in embarrassment – and anger. "Get out of my head," she said, almost snarled, with a fierce frown. That cute, little line appeared between her eyes again.
I laughed, Sabrina had always been like that from what I could understand, and really with powers such as hers it was a wonder that she wasn't stranger.
Sabrina ignored May, focusing her attention entirely at me. "I really only came to say that we'll begin the broadcast in a couple of minutes," she said, an enigmatic smile on her plump, blood-red lips. "And ask if you'd want to have sex with me afterwards, seeing as you're now legally of age," she added, looking as if she hadn't asked anything out of the ordinary.
I felt something wet splash into the side of my cheek and only realized a couple of seconds later that it was May who had sputtered the champagne she'd been drinking into my face.
Only Sabrina…
May looked aghast, at her own actions or what she'd just heard, I didn't know. "Sorry, Ash," she mumbled, eyes wide and jaw dropped. "What… what did you say?"
Sabrina stood up, not before leaning in over me to give me a final teasing glimpse down her cleavage, and looked completely unfazed by the situation. "I'll see to you after the show, then. And goodnight to you," she added to May.
She left for the stage, leaving me confused – and a little hot and bothered – and May gobsmacked.
Still not sure if I'm in Hell or Heaven, I thought, dazed and barely aware of anything. I turned to May. "Well…" I trailed off, not sure what to say to that.
"Well, that was interesting." She shook her head, flicking a single tuft of curly, brown hair behind her ear. She giggled, clear and delighted, but with a tinge of the unconscious insecurity that she'd always had. "She's crazy, though."
I laughed, choosing to keep quiet as the lights on the platform turned on.
"C'mon," May urged me, standing up from her seat. "Let's get up there before all the good spots are taken by the – what's wrong?"
I, frowning quiet heavily, looked around the room. There it was again – that nagging feeling that I was missing something important, expect this time it was right under my nose, obvious like a smelly piece of cheese.
Fuck.
My head turned off its own accord, a raw and untamed source of energy lighting up the room, almost blinding my thin-skinned senses. What I saw scared me so much even the Ring and its powers of Old couldn't dull it. I saw the power of darkness never-ending and the sheer belief to back it up.
To my right, by the balcony, stood a behemoth, a creature not supposed to be here, with eyes laughing sheer, uncontrollable insanity. I was the only one that had seen the Pokémon, only one with the higher awareness to make the connection.
And the only one that had been exposed to all this before, I was the only one who knew what was coming. Yet I'm just as fucked as the rest of you, just as lost in the fight for my own soul. Don't you see it, man? Can't you see the beauty in the madness and chaos of Pokémon unleashed upon a godforsaken world?
May had seen it now, gasping in obvious despair as she took a step behind me. "No…" she whispered, voice almost broken. Phobia, remember? "A Slaking…"
Yeah, a Slaking, the Slaking, man, and it looked far too calculating to be a monster of barely any mentionable intelligence. I'd definitely seen this before. It was an upgraded Slaking, and downgraded, too, really. It wasn't in control of its own actions anymore, just along for the ride like I'd been when I broke into the League and set the warehouse on fire.
Maybe, somewhere inside that pathetic mind, it knew that something was controlling it, but – like me – couldn't break free from its clutches.
I dearly hope not – for its sake, because it was about to fight me.
Its eyes were locked on me, though, and I had a feeling it was seizing me up.
And then it moved, just as all the other guests and Gym Leaders were becoming aware of its presence, running directly towards me and May. I thought for a second that the whole goddamn floor was gonna burst under it, everything just shook and rattled with its every step.
May screamed and stumbled behind me. Security people and League officials were running towards Lance and his colleagues, trying to save them from the other Pokémon that had started pouring in from the balcony – all monkey Pokémon that could make the climb up the side of the skyscraper.
I sighed, my mind taking in all the other persons that was left to fend for themselves – all the lesser people not worth saving. That's another fun fact, Drew. Whenever in moment of crisis, it's always the rich and powerful that get's saved first. And only when they're brought to safety do we start to think about saving the common John and Jane in the community.
Sad but true fact, that.
Oh well, I was about to be run down by a motherfucker of a Pokémon – it was just so fucking big, as big as my Charizard and that's a fucking dragon. But I wasn't the only one about to be run down. May was right behind me, screaming and shaking with paralyzing fear, her eyes staring in despair at the creature bellowing towards us.
Guess she'd find out what I'd been up to a little sooner than planned.
"The Aura is with me…" I whispered, and watched as the awesomeness literally unfolded on me, hugging me in dark-grey weave, expanding my muscles and power to inhuman magnitudes. May's screams behind me stopped, and I could feel her eyes on me now, as I evolved in a flash of brilliant blue light and shadow tracing after each other.
I was the Guardian again.
And just in time. Because just as I felt mind and suit becoming One, the behemoth leaped of the ground, shattering one of the round tables as it jumped right through it like it was nothing but dust on the wind, and flew straight into me.
Its hands were put together, forming a club, and it drew it over its head and readied it to beat the ever living daylight out of me.
I stopped it. We stopped it.
As if it was little more than a human, the Slaking was stopped in its tracks as I caught it with my own two hands. The only sign that I'd actually done something spectacular was the cracks and groans that emanated from the floor below my feet, as the physical strain almost became too much for it to bear.
May gasped behind me in suitable disbelief – that made me feel more cool and awesome than the actual sequence had – and I drew my leg up and kicked it the fuck off of me.
Squatting off in powerful stance, my will and Aura sent a solid, almost transparent, pulse of energy through the air against the monstrous being that had dared to attack me and frighten May. It was powerful, yes, but it was insignificant to my Power. I obliterated its controlled mind from its body, killing it in a blue flash that tore savagely through skin, meat, blood, and bones like super-hot, tiny needles.
It crumpled heavily before me, eyes wide and unseeing against the cold, unforgiving void I'd just pitted it to – the poor bastard.
"Sorry…" I whispered, for some reason the guilt wasn't present. I had a feeling the suit was just drowning it for now; there was fights to be fought on the horizon. I could see Pokémon on the ground hundreds of meters below me, my power acting as sonar through the floors. I could hear car alarms going off and screams of people fleeing away from the madness.
I felt it all – as I said, knowing will always be my curse and gift.
I turned to May, who had found some semblance of control over her fears, and looked her up and down, making sure she had sustained no harm. "Think you can keep a secret, honey?"
May ignored my blasé attitude – or maybe she was too fucking scared out of her mind to even hear my words. "Ash…? Is that you?"
"In the flesh…" I blinked. "Or something." Poor choice of words, man, I thought. "It's me, yeah."
"What is that?"
"Dunno, talk for later. Listen, May." I was feeling suggestions and plans of how to proceed from here slip into my brain like I was making the shit up on the spot. Right now, I didn't really care how the suit worked as long as it worked for me. And it did. "The League officials are escorting Lance out of the building by the stairs. They're – hold on – okay, they're not far beyond that door." I pointed to my left at the emergency exit. "Take that way and follow them, they'll protect you."
"What about you?" People were being hunted left, right, and fucking center now, journalists and guest, everybody scared out of their minds. I had to act soon or this would turn into a slaughter. "I'll be fine, just go! Run before it's too late."
"But…" May wanted to protest – ah, why the hell does people want to get involved with things they couldn't possible understand, Drew? Why? Is it part of the human spirit? The power of love, perhaps? Whatever it was it was really starting to test my patience – and I'd never had much of that to begin with.
"Just run!"
She ran, bless the masters above, she ran to safety.
And I turned back, into the first real fight of my renewed life, back to the best fight I'd ever have.
The game had changed – and I changed with it.
And that's that. Thanks for reading, guys! Please, leave a review to let me know what you think.
The next update might take a little while. But expect a big and epic battle across Saffron City that will be the first real test of Ash's power and his strange suit.
Again, thanks for reading. This wouldn't be half as found without you.