Disclaimer: Not Mine.

A/N: This will be up later when I have time to write down something meaningful and profound. For now you'll have to make due with my thank you to all those who have read and favorited it. Thank you.

Homecoming Warrior

- Redemption is the greatest achievement in life, my boy

- Riley

Destiny's a bitch, I thought, dodging a column of flames from the gigantic motherfucker swaying before me. I didn't, however, quite manage to avoid getting blasted off the back of Charizard as a tremendous surge of energy escaped the otherworldly beak of my adversary.

"ASH!" May screamed into my earpiece, shattering what was left of it, anyway. My ears were still ringing from the blast a couple of minutes and forever ago, and I didn't really remember how I gained my feet afterwards and returned fuckin' fire upon the Legend in front of me.

"GET AWAY! RUN! YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY DEFEAT IT!"

No can do, honey - I am soldier in heat! "HA!"

"If someone can control it, May, then I can bring it down!" I snarled, sprouts of everlasting blue flames belching from my palms like machine gun fire. "I. Will. Not. Fucking. BOW!"

The ground of the island we fought shook like it was coming apart. My once great dragon was blasted down by another surge of energy from the Bird of Fire. Moltres chittered with unbridled fanaticism, enjoying the fight, laughing its head off in a fit of ecstasy. Charizard rose with great difficulty from the ground and planted itself firmly beside me, roaring its challenge and defiance with a sprout of fire into the air.

I smiled, a little laughter still playing round the edges of my eyes and brains. Fucked-up shit, I know, Drew, but we are who we are.

"Ready to fight, huh?" My smile bloomed into a genuine laughter, staring down the being with fire in its blood and hearts of heart. Moltres returned my gaze almost merrily. Like I was here for sports. "Well, I'm right there with you, fucker!"

"Ash, it's too strong," Oak begged his case, sounding desperate. "Let it go and get back."

"There's no running from this," I said, almost benevolently, like I was merely having an afternoon conversation over a beer with an old friend. "It's faster than us."

"Get into the water," Oak said. "It can't follow you down there!"

I smiled a smile of secrecy. "And leave Charizard behind, eh? Not gonna happen."

"Then you'll die with it."

"Clement, sent my Pokémon!" I said.

"Ah, most of them are in the air, Red – Ash… sir," Clement answered, failing to keep his voice steady. "Should be there in half an hour, sir."

I leaned forward, and my expression darkened into something fierce and dangerous, though it went unseen beneath my helmet. Forever unseen. I stabbed my hand forward, Aura surging with the power of my intent, ethereal energy coiled its way around my forearm like a snake, and I entered a combat position. "Half an hour, eh?" My grin was of madness unbound. "Should be fun."

"I guess you think yourself untouchable."

What the fuck! I thought, losing all hold of my awesome power.

I blinked in sheer disbelief, staring completely stunned at the Moltres. I knew it was supposed to be this special Pokémon of Old, but I'd never believed something like this. "What?" I whispered, more to myself than the Pokémon. "What did it say?"

"Well, as you can see, nobody is untouchable… Ash Ketchum, the Last Guardian of Aura – Red."

How about that for a teaser, Drew?

Twenty-four hours earlier…

I awoke from a restless sleep, forced upon me by yours truly, of course. I wanted my beauty sleep, dammit. It had been a long fortnight since I'd rescued Clement and his family, and things had settled into an uneasy pattern, if you could call it that. The day after my rescue mission/bout of playing executioner, I'd been scolded so fiercely by May, Serena and Samuel Oak that I thought it a wonder they hadn't succumbed to spanking me, or something.

Well, take Oak out and that could be kinda hot. Hell, throw him in and we can call it a party!

Anyway. All three of them had been full of anger. Righteous anger, of course, and had said, I suppose, some pretty terrible, and pretty true, things about the actions I'd committed. They had yet to understand, however, just how terribly right I really was, as had I, I guess; how terrible wrong everything would slowly become.

True Darkness consumes everything – even the mightiest rays of light.

But my decision, as you'll see, Drew, was a right one. I'd been forced to do what I did, forced to drop Furton so that Berg was too scared to even consider lying to me. And I'd saved Clement, hadn't I? Hadn't I? Saved him from the clutches of some very, very bad men, it seemed.

I was a hero doing what was necessary! Yeah, I know. Every bad man tries to somehow justify his immoral actions.

But that was another matter entirely. Cyrus, no known surname or alias, was an enigma still to my otherwise limitless resources. He was like a wrath, going, quite unlike Giovanni, unseen by the public eye. He hadn't drawn attention to himself. No yet. The only reason I knew, without even a shadow of a doubt, that I would eventually go up against Giovanni and his fucking Team Rocket was because of the man's abounding arrogance. Something Cyrus seemingly lacked any shred of, which was not a good thing for my chances of finding him. And it foretold great quarrels when he finally decided to reveal himself onto the eyes of man.

Cyrus was dangerous, of that there was no doubt. Just the mere fact that he had been after Clement at the same time I was spoke of some importance. It was too big a coincident not to be considered perilous. Clement didn't know what exactly Cyrus wanted him for; in the brief moment they'd met, he'd only told Clement the gist of his ideas. When Clement had refused to cooperate, Cyrus had politely accepted his refusal and left the perimeter, not a shadow of anger or disappointment on his face. Just fucking polite acceptance.

The next day Clement had been kidnapped.

He had been kept alive, of course, along with his family, until he would crack and agree to his plan. Cyrus hadn't tortured them – probably not his style, and that spoke of a man with patience. I didn't doubt, however, that given time he would have broken with his own methods and forced an agreement out of Clement. Torturing his parents seemed like the most efficient thing. That was what I would have done, Drew. And it was also undoubtedly for that reason they'd been kept alive.

The way into the hearts of men is through their loved ones, you know.

The news had been full of stories and news reports of me, of a suit-cladded man calling himself Red. So far Sabrina hadn't told the press of my identity, which I admit brought me some trouble. What was her agenda? To blackmail me? No, it seemed too tedious for her. With Sabrina things were seldom that simple. Nowadays, nothing seemed simple.

But as I said, I awoke to a fine morning. Indeed, one of many in Pallet Town. A splendid morning, you could call it. It was Oak who had shook me awake, it seemed, and was now standing over me with a raised eyebrow, waiting expectantly for me to come to. I was infuriately wide-awake at once. You know, I really miss the drowsiness of waking up, the moments between dreams and reality where you can just escape into the soft pillows of your mind, forget the treacherous path of memory and just lock yourself away in a distinctive moment of infinity.

Sorry, it's just nothing and everything. Only way to explain it, man. Nothing and everything.

"What?" I said, faking a yawn, stretching languidly. "I was having such a nice dream."

"No, you weren't." Oak shook his head, running a finger along his stiff brow, like people often do with a mustache, I guess. "You were frowning."

"Nothing gets passed you, huh?" I swung my legs out of bed, dropped to the floor, and started doing my morning push-ups. "Why did you wake me, then?"

"Clement," Oak said simply, standing over me. "He's found something. Apparently he used some of the tissue from your suit to help him."

"He did?" I asked, switching arm and doing push-ups with my left. "Figured out how to store my Poké Balls onto my suit without it swallowing them like Hardware?"

"No." Oak removed the covers from my window, spilling dazzling rays of sunlight into my room. I blinked my eyes to get used to the light, though I quickly realized it was unneeded. My eyesight changed immediately. Sometimes being beyond something human had its perks. "He says he needs to rewrite the Poké Ball structure before the suit will just let them be – it will take time."

"Aye, not much of it left, I think, but alright."

That was one of the first things Clement had demanded if he was to work with me. Full access to the suit. So far he hadn't been able to pinpoint what exactly it was, and, as he grudgingly had to realize, the suit or the ring simply wouldn't leave my body. Yet he'd made some tests anyway, found out that I gave off a signature a lot similar to what the person controlling the Pokémon gave off, found out that Pokémon already captured was immune to the signal – the only reason the Fearow still responded to it was because it had been ensnared by the web of deceit before I'd caught it – and now he'd found out a way to track it.

I had a feeling he was finished with the device. Yup, a splendid morning indeed.

"By the way," Oak said, frowning down at me. "Something has been… troubling me: what did you mean with my 'flawed morality?'"

"Sorry?" I furrowed my brow, quite confused. How quite random. "What are we talking about again?"

Oak sighed. "You know what I mean, Ash."

"Ah, no. I really don't."

"You said, when you were… interrogating Mr. Furton that you didn't need my flawed morality, and that if I couldn't take it, I could simply look the other way."

"Oh," I said, stopping my push-ups and looking up at him. "I just meant what I said."

"You think my morality, in I didn't want you to do what you did, was flawed?"

"As flawed as it gets, yeah." I nodded. "Your morality – hell, society's morality is nothing but flawed, filled with loopholes and ways to be explored by criminal and corrupt bureaucrats. Laws are not made to make it easier to fight injustice, it's part of what makes injustice thrive as freely as it does every day."

"Our morals and laws are there so we don't run around killing each other because we think ourselves above such notions!"

"Oh…" I blinked, smiling broadly. "So that's what this is about, huh? Again, really? An appeal to my supposedly dwindling humanity? A cry for redemption and remorse, hmm? I can calm you worries by saying, and meaning from within my heart, that it wasn't with the intentions to kill that I brought Mr. Furton and Mr. Berg upon that rooftop."

"Oh? So just accidently killing them, then?" Oak sneered, a truly nasty expression etched onto his gaunt and old face. "That makes it so much better, Ash. Thank you for calming my worries."

"See! This! By the Masters Above as my witness, man! This is what I meant," I said, gaining my feet and towering over the old man. I was naked and fairly pissed off. "These men had just kidnapped an innocent family, leaving them to a fate you probably don't want to know. All because the son, who's just turned sixteen, might prove useful to their boss. And yet it is I – who gave Furton every opportunity to redeem himself by giving up the location, I might add – that gets prosecuted by the law and condemned by my friends for my actions. Since when has it become morally right and proper to let the burglar sue the man which house he broke into because the owner decided to defend himself?"

My breath had become labored in my resentment. Oak looked speechless, cowering under my shadow, yet he mustered up the courage to stand before me. A great man he was, he is, he always will be. Oak is perhaps the greatest gift to mankind.

But in this, we were enemies and friends amongst each other.

"You can't see it, can you?" he asked at last, saddened. "You don't think yourself wrong, do you?"

"Of course I find what I did wrong! Of course I find murder – and what I did was murder –wrong!" I cried, running a restless hand through my hand. "And of course I can see that's not something to be taken lightly, and just because I haven't shown any sign of remorse or care doesn't mean I like it…"

"But that's the problem, Ash," Oak interrupted me; tears welled in the edges of his eyes. "You do like it. You haven't shown a single sign of remorse because you don't feel guilty. You like the power coursing through your veins. You like the adrenaline of the fight, the thrill of the hunt; you like to feel them quiver in fear beneath your tremendous strength. You revel in it. Rough men doing rough deeds might be necessary, sometimes, but… Ash…" A single tear trickled down his cheek. "They don't have to enjoy it."

His words were true, of course. I was the sociopathic elephant in the room, driven mad by my thirst for vengeance on the world, on bad men with bad plans, and by the painful path of malicious memory. But still…

"You're right," I said at last, quietly answering his plea for redemption, "you right, of course. I did a terrible thing. But I did it for all the right reasons, Professor. We had no idea in what state Clement was. I didn't have time to squeeze it out of them without making an example of one them. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. I had to do what I did. I had to! Clement, as he has shown us since, is important. With his help, I can make all the pain and fighting and death… matter for something – we can still save this world before it succumbs to the whims of a madman…"

We were both silent for a moment, staring into each other's eyes. To Oak's credit, he didn't back down. Did I say he was a great man. Perhaps the greatest man to have ever lived.

"But, Ash, can it save you? Can it save you from the poison that's clouding your soul?" Oak finally said, his voice soft and tired. Then he exhaled a breath. "Please… just… do not be frivolous with this power you've been given."

I entered Oak's lab, which Clement had sort of claimed as his own these last two weeks, with Oak right behind me. The girls were already there, staring awestruck at whatever Clement was showing.

"This will see that which tries to remain hidden," he was whispering, holding a small card-shaped device, almost like the Pokédex. "It bounces off a signal which is then transmitted into a receiver. The receiver – or should I say receivers – will then process the data and sent it back to us. Where we then, of course, will have to search for any… regulations in the feed."

"The regulations being where the output of whoever is controlling the Pokémon is the strongest," I said, joining the conversation. May jumped in her seat, frighten by my sudden appearance, and sent me a glare. "And that is where we'll most likely find our False Shepard, correct?"

"Indeed," Clement said, swiftly turning nervous at my presence, scratching his blonde hair. "It is done, Ash Ketchum."

"Most excellent," I said with a mocking bow. Clement shifted uneasily, eyeing my hands warily. Two weeks could change a man, Drew. "I assume the receivers will have to be strategically placed around the Region?"

"Yes." He nodded, glad for something to do and say. "Whatever he was after in Saffron, we can assume he didn't get it because of your… quarrel with the Pokémon."

"Don't assume anything!" I snapped.

Clement gulped, going pale. "No, well, so…"

I smiled, a little laugh playing round the edges of my eyes. "But you're, of course, correct so please continue."

May rolled her eyes at me. "You can be such an ass, Ash."

"You've been holding that joke in for some time now, haven't you?"

She smiled sweetly, not sure if it was false or genuine. "Just keeping you on your toes, honey."

"So…" Serena interrupted. "Clement, you were saying?"

"Right. I need you to place these." –he held up the small, card-shaped device- "on these locations." He turned in his seat, pushing a button on his purple glowing keypad. A screen flashed to life, in a place I didn't know we had a screen, showing a map of Kanto. Here and there red dots blinked, indicating the positions assigned.

"These positions are ideally places for the range of the signal," he said, pushing another button. The ten red dots seemed to suddenly become alive, blinking and then bursting with a blue signal like a radar. The ten blue signals connected to each other, creating a massive cover, which expanded out over all of Kanto. "Ten should do it, I think."

"Brilliant…" Serena whispered, mesmerized.

I nodded, silently agreeing.

They continued talking about the plan for some time, but I didn't listen.

May sat on a small dais, beside the high table on which Clement was working his wonders. She kept her hands in her lap. Her white skirt had bunched up to her mid-thigh, showing her legs. I'd caught Clement's eyes stray more than once to the revealed flesh. May hadn't seemed to notice. She kicked her bare legs, absentmindedly gazing at the map; her tongue stuck between her teethes in thought. Several impure thoughts raced through my mind. Some more foolish than others. Dreams that would never be are often best left forgotten.

Easier said than done.

May's eyes found mine, dangerous intent within the deep blue. "Ash, can I talk with you for a sec," she said. "Alone?"

I blinked, caught off guard by the sudden intense look in her eyes, yet I quickly regained my composure. "Ah, sure…" I whispered, feeling Pikachu jump onto my shoulder. "Come on, then." I led her out of the room.

"Thanks," she muttered, following me.

We found ourselves in the kitchen some seconds later. May crossed her arms under her breasts and leaned back against the counter. "I've – I'm sorry, Ash," she said at last, when I sat down at the kitchen table, "for all the grief I've caused you these last couple of weeks."

She's sorry? I thought incredulous. "You've nothing to be sorry for, May," I found myself saying before I could stop, before I could stop to think of ways to use her apparent guilt. The power of guilt could be used for great things. I could be a manipulative bastard, I suppose, yet using May, albeit for all the right reasons, just didn't seem as easy as it ought to be. "What could you possible be sorry for?"

"It's just… I don't know."

"Ain't much of a talk if you don't speak up your mind, sweetheart."

She chuckled at that, and that kind of lifted my spirits, too. "When I saw you back at the party, I still remembered the little boy I first met. Clothes dirt-ridden and eyes full of determination and hope… I feel in love with that single look, you know." She laughed, unconsciously brushing a tuft of dark-brown hair behind her ear. "Even then, your hope was that of a gambler, though I fear you're now bargaining for more than you can afford."

"You think me in over my head?"

"No." She sighed. "I think your presence and might will bring about something that's in over my head, your friends head, the whole fucking humanity's head." She paused. "I do think you reckless. And hopeless."

"Hope is for fairytales and men with dreams."

"Hopeless men are like wild animals, Ash," May said quietly. "They fight, for they don't know what else to do. They kill with little thought to the damage the deed will do upon their souls. They throw themselves into the fight like it's their last… for they know it will most likely become reality." She flattened her white floral blouse, pushing herself off the counter and walking towards me. "You didn't know the fall wasn't going to kill you – back in Saffron, I mean – you didn't know that, did you?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think it that far."

She laughed and sat down on the table, brushing her feet against my leg. "You must know that's crazy, right? It was from – what, eighty-seven floor?"

"Something like that."

"You see the craziness, right?" May asked. "You didn't think a drop, which would kill any man, far or intimidating. You took a chance. On the contrary to what you seem to think, that is indeed cause for concern. It's a wild thing to do."

"It was necessary."

"It was fearlessness!" May cried. "Or a sign of someone who just doesn't care anymore – which I know you still do. You actions speak for themselves."

"I'm not fearless," I said softly, reaching out and stroking her bent knee. A small, almost concealed giggle escaped her.

"Stop that, Ash!" She slapped my hand away gently, still giggling. "I'm trying to be serous here. For once. If you're not fearless, then you simple don't care about your own wellbeing. Or what?"

"There are more important things going on." I smiled, refusing to let go of her simple touch. "And that's not where you're most ticklish, is it, May?" I laughed, running my hand slowly up her thigh.

She caught my hand, caressing the back. "I know what you're doing," she said softly. "You're trying to make me forget and I won't stand for it, Ash Ketchum!"

"Not even for tonight?"

"Never. Not with you."

I sighed. "Fearlessness, May, is a terrible thing." I withdrew my hand, scratching my brow. "A thing that only comes through great trials of darkness. I sought out those trials willingly. Braving that which nobody else dared to endure. It cannot be for nothing, sweetheart!"

May nodded, understanding immediately. She was always so damn empathetic of other people's trouble – sometimes so much that it brought her in danger. I had a feeling this time would be no different.

"I'm not saying you should stop your quarrel with whoever's behind this. Quite the opposite, in fact." Before I could stop her, she had planted herself firmly in my lap, her hands intertwining behind my neck and legs coiled on either side of me. I think I became a little red-faced; my pulse certainly rose. "Though I only ask if you know what you're doing. With your death, everything would indeed be for nothing."

My hands found her waist, slowly itching under her floral blouse, itching closer to sun-kissed skin and curvaceous pleasures. Once upon a time, I'd found myself lost in those pleasures. Pleasures taken back when we were young and in desire, back when I was without responsibility for the greater scheme of things, back when humanity wasn't at the edge of the abyss and my biggest worry was if I was going to make it in a tournament that really only served as a reminder that man was the species in control of the world.

May sighed. "You're glaring, Ash – but not at me."

"Sorry," I said, shaking my head. "Lost onto a bad train of thought."

She suddenly smiled. "Really I should feel insulted," she said. "Here I am, sitting in your lab, my skirt bunching up along my thigh – if you strain your neck you could probably look down my blouse – yet you seem so distant." Her voice, low and profound, turned husky. "What troubles rest within the head of Ash Ketchum? You're not telling us everything, I think."

I hadn't told her everything, hadn't told anyone everything. And how could I? Hey, May, this suit I'm wearing, it's really a suit created by a Deity of another realm, worn by the old Guardian of Aura, Sir Aaron, who was driven insane by its power. And I'm afraid the same thing is happening to me, for thoughts not my own and ideas of Old is coursing through my head in a state of abounding madness! I think it might try to take me over, and the sad thing is I sometimes crave for it to do so. Crave for loss of control and give myself up for sweet forget of unrelenting memories, memories that I'm tired of confronting over and over and fucking over. I've barely begun the fight and already I'm too chickenshit to continue.

It probably sounded even worse in my head.

"Trust me, May," I said softly, trying to display my fake sincerity. "If there was something going on, you'd be the first to know."

Sometimes, Drew, I could be a heartless bastard.

"Very well," May said, sighing, clearly not believing me, though ready to give me space. "You know, there is something I've wanted to do."

"What's that?"

She leaned down, pouting her lips, and kissed me – and I returned it, my hands running along the skin of her back. Like I'd meant for this crime against the Master Above to happen. Like I wanted to commit my soul to Sin.

Sometimes it's easier to fall into temptation than fighting it, I guess.

Sometime later we came apart, breathing more shallowly. "You know… that felt nice."

May giggled. "It's supposed to."

I smiled. "May I kiss you again?"

She raised an eyebrow. "And how long have you been holding that joke back, hmm?"

"Oh, forever and ever, sweetheart."

Madness can be a safe-way, Drew. It can be a way to avoid to trap of thinking you've something to gain. Because let's face it, people like us, man, people who think themselves righteous, really only kid themselves to excuse their tendency for excessive violence or being a fucking know-it-all. Yeah, I'm talking about you, you ignorant fuck!

My excuse has gone under a lot of different names: vengeance, forsaken duty, righteousness, and the most destructive one of them all: love.

You see, love is the immeasurable power which grants us reason and purpose for continuing onto whatever path we're heading ever onwards on. May and Serena was, more often than not, my excuse for all the treacherous acts of bloodshed I've committed.

But love goes deeper than that. Because love isn't fucking real! Love is the immeasurable impulse of the human spirit that really only serves as mankind's excuse for existing. Love is the sacred reason of all that is just and pure, and therefore our duty to swear and uphold by. A method of explaining why we should reproduce the spawn that will only continue to follow the same treacherous route we're already following. Love is the excuse for everything, when in reality love is something much more animalistic that every living Pokémon, without the need for a self, has and act by.

We reproduce because Nature designed those impulses within our genes back in the day of the first man and woman. We just evolved beyond its reach, beyond that which our destiny told us. We became enlighten, we became strong, and we became the poison that's now slowly turning Earth into a battlefield of Desolation.

And I'm no better, Drew, because even as I sat thinking about these exact things, I still couldn't help craving the bare flesh of May Hutton, even still I wanted nothing more than to throw her onto the table, strip off her clothes, and spent another hour within the blessedly cries of pleasure.

I wanted to fuck her just as any other guy would, because that's how Nature coded me to act.

But I have my escape route: madness. Every time I fear losing myself within the beauty of May or Serena, or every time I found myself lost onto a happy train of thought, I always try – and succeed – to remember that I'm just barely crazy enough to see the truth, to see that something like love is really only a concept created by man when he got too scared of being left alone.

Madness is my escape route.

Madness is my enlightening.

Madness is my salvation.

Madness is my escape route…

Madness, though a terrible thing, is the only thing in which you can place your hopes for a better future, Drew, for I am the only ray of light left, the only ray of Hope amongst the wretchedness of sanity.

And I am quite insane.

Do not be frivolous with this power you've been given, I thought, steering Charizard over puffy clouds and below the scorching sun. Where does he get all these sayings?

"This is the last one, Ash, then you can return to Pallet," Oak told me over the comm. "It has been a short twenty hours run, hasn't it?"

"Ha. Ha." I snorted dispassionately. The kiss May had given me had fueled my efforts the first twenty minutes, after that this mission had seemed dull and tedious at best. "Cinnabar Island better be full of exotic Fire-Pokémon – I missed my beauty sleep!"

"Well, you're beauty sleep ain't working any wonders on you, I'm afraid," Oak said.

"HEY!" I cried, feigning indignation. "That was uncalled for."

"You don't care about your looks, Ash," Oak said. "Never have."

"Even still I've been awake for almost twenty-four hours now, show a little sympathy, man."

Oak snorted. "You don't care for sympathy, either."

I furrowed my brow. "What do I care for?"

"Sometimes, Ash, I think you care a lot more than you want to let on." Oak paused. "Speaking of which, two of the things you care about seem… hostile towards each other."

I blinked. "May and Serena…"

"Yeah." Oak sounded like he was saying it with a nod. "Serena has been shooting daggers out of her eyes at May since you left."

"Oh. Anything troubling?"

"Not so far," Oak replied. "May just woke up now. Hey… when will they be leaving?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when will they leave my house again?"

"Oh. Right. Ah… dunno." I laughed. "You're throwing them out?"

"Very convincing answer, Ash." Oak sighed. "Perhaps I should start taking salary for my services."

"What services do you speak of?" I asked, playing with a luminous globe of pure Aura in my palm, riding the back of my great dragon of old. "Wait, no! I don't want to know – I shudder to think, man."

"What?" Oak asked, clearly confused.

I sighed. "Nothing, old man…"

"But seriously, Ash, you cannot keep stringing them on with false promises and sweet lies," Oak continued, steering the conversation back on track. "We both know they can never partake in the path you've chosen to walk."

"They're both tough girls, professor…"

"They may be tough girls, but they cannot understand the gravity of our burden. They are still young girls, who have lived a quiet life away from all the hardships you've endured. They are, in some ways, still young and too blind by their affection to see that the boy they loved is no more."

"Don't you think you're generalizing just a tad too much here, Oak?" I said, holding tightly around Charizard's neck as we went spiraling downwards towards a set of lonely islands upon the face of the never-ending sea. "I think their wisdom of life might surprise you. They know of the dangers of the world."

"Yes, but…"

I never got to hear anymore, for in that second an otherworldly cry split the reality right open, tore my eardrums asunder, and sent Charizard and me spiraling out of control and down, down, down towards the ground.

I groaned, falling beside Charizard, and, only through a stroke of some genius not my own, remembered my words of defiance.

"The Aura is with me."

The suit barely managed to materialize upon my skin, coiling more rapidly than ever, trying to protect its master, no doubt, before I hit the ground. The collision with the unforgiving earth, which would undoubtedly have killed me, barely tickled my senses as the suit endured the hit for me.

I struggled to my feet a second after I'd stopped rolling and tucking along the ground, though the air was knocked right out of me by the burst of pressure from whatever had dared attacking us. My rage fueled my muscles with determination anew.

And then I caught sight of the monstrosity that had dared to attack us, and it didn't really look like a dare to it – more of a sport of fun.

It was a being of Old; it was a being of Legends. A being of Fire.

"Moltres," Oak breathed, terrible, frightened awe in his voice. "The Master of Flames… Oh, son, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"Hey!" I cried, narrowing my eyes. "That thing attacked me."

"Oh, Ash…"

Then there was a shriek on Oak's end. "WHAT IS THAT THING?"

May…

May's outburst stirred attention on the other end, it seemed, and before long both Clement and Serena had joined her and Oak.

"Moltres," I heard Clement whisper at last. He sounded like a kid who had just gotten his biggest wish fulfilled. "How awesome is that! There have never been any official sightings of it before! Do you have any idea how lucky we are?"

"Lucky!" May and Serena cried at the same time.

I chuckled, looking at my dragon as it rose from its crater. "Well, I wanted exotic Fire-Pokémon. Maybe Arceus heard my prayers. Huh? Did you hear my fucking prayers? DID YOU, YOU SONOVABITCH!"

"Ash, please…"

Teaser, huh? Tell me what you think? Please… o masters above… tell me what I am…

"Well, as you can see, nobody is untouchable… Ash Ketchum, the Last Guardian of Aura – Red."

He fucking knows. I stared with real fear for the first time in I didn't know how long. That was forever and ever the first thought that sprung to mind. I'd been made. Though really it was the second thought that counted for all the goodness and goodwill of man, for it brought a sudden and certain kind of enlightenment upon my mind.

The voice didn't belong to the Moltres.

It was a man's voice, heavily cloaked in a veil of misery and secrecy.

"Who are you?" I shouted above the blazing lunacy. "Who are you to dare, well, this!"

"Who am I to dare this?" he said. "Let me tell you something, Ash Ketchum, Last Guardian of Aura: the world is a wicked place, and your quarrels won't amount to anything as long as you don't dare to strike down at what really matters! You think you protected the innocence of man in Saffron, you think you mattered standing atop the flames of man whilst others turned and ran? All you did was proving your ultimate weakness!"

"My ultimate weakness, fucker?"

"Yes. You lack the drive to muster the courage to not only face the truth, but to realize it so deep within your bones that you cannot continue living, until you have served true justice upon the wicked and the Sinful, until you have cleansed the world of monsters like Giovanni and Cowards like Lance! You must know this better than most, Ash Ketchum, Last Guardian of Aura. You do know this better than most, Ash Ketchum, Last Guardian of Aura."

"Come down here and face me like a man!" I yelled, for I was suddenly smote with fear of my purpose, of my actions, and of my own abounding cowardice. "Come down and face me as you are!"

"You are about to fight a small part of my power, for this beast – and the flames that resides within its heart – belongs to ME!"

"CHARIZARD! EVADE!" Charizard rose upon the wind within its wings, dodging the beast coming down upon us. Moltres swayed gently in the wind, then it swooped down upon me, everlasting fire building within its beak like a fucking second sun. I was smote down by another lance of cold, dreadful fear. I was, however, fucking Ash Ketchum. Honed in more fire than some oversized chicken could produce. My indomitable will forge by Arceus itself.

I mustered the courage to stand against the Bird of Flames.

And just in time, it seemed, for it opened its beak, fire sprouting like a fountain from it, and for the briefest of moments, the whole world seemed to catch fire. Waves upon waves came down upon me from above. Like it was the judgement of the Masters. I was, however, prepared, and released a globe of translucent light round me, protecting me from harm.

Fire smote me, consuming everything to my eyes. But I continued to stand, and stand, and stand, never giving up, though the fire seemed eternal and my will seemed breakable for once.

And I laughed. Laughed so goddamn hard it hurt! The weirdest and scariest thing, though, was that so did the man. One helluva cold laugh that could send a chill down the spine of a man and make little kids run away screaming at the top of their lungs.

It was identical to mine.

We were laughing madness like we were brothers in arms.

The flames stopped and the world was once again revealed onto my eyes, though it was a small mercy for what was revealed turned out to be nothing but abounding shit coming apart. Charizard, by some miracle, was still standing a little way off to the side. The ground round my feet was black and charred, dead.

Oh, and a monstrous being was cutting a quick path through the air right for me.

I didn't have time to act, man! But then again, I wasn't alone. Charizard had seen it coming. It swept its tail out, catching my side and pushing me out of the way. I was sent aside like a rag doll, hurting all over, tucking and rolling upon the remnants left behind by Moltres. But I was still kicking, man!

I laughed. "HAVE I MENTIONED I'M ONLY HUMAN, FELLAS! HA! HAVE A CARE HOW YOU HIT! OH FUCK!"

Moltres turned like the momentum of his flight mattered shit, and drove its sharp beak into my gut. The suit was screaming out medical reports and red lights upon my visor too quick and too fucking smart for me to make any kind of sense of it.

"What the Hell!" I snarled.

"Vessel still proficient. Analyzing core functions. Please wait…"

The funny thing is, Drew, I think it meant it seriously, for it quite immobilized me whilst it did whatever scanning it did.

"You have got to be shitting me!" I snarled as the Moltres drove further into me, almost dragging me along the ground. Blood seeped out of my gut and onto my shiny suit. That kinda made me angry. Angrier, I suppose. And where was the goddamn pain I ought to be feeling right now?

"Core functions stabilized. Suit still operational."

"Thank you!" I snarled, raising my hand anew, bathing it in blue Aura, and brought it down atop its head, striking the beak right out of my gut. I snarled again, laughing or crying, and felt human for the pain came to me in a raw flash. Moltres shrieked, for the first time in its own voice. It sounded pained.

"You think you can save them all, Ash Ketchum, Last Guardian of Aura. You think you can stop Giovanni and bring about a transformation of Lance's courage? Sometimes, kid, you oughta just bring down the mad dog whilst still possible."

"I am gonna stop you, bitch!" I yelled back.

"You cannot stop me, for I am justice itself!"

My Pokémon weren't going to make it in time, I feared. Or I knew. Moltres was, I realized, hopelessly, ridiculously stronger and faster and all-round better than Charizard and me. It was a most truly desperate time.

Desperate times, right? You ought to know by now that I am man with a plan for those, too.

"CHARIZARD! TOO ME!"

Charizard rose, ready to obey my command at once. Only problem was the giant bird between and betwixt us. It didn't seem to give Charizard any double thoughts, which is, I suppose, the ultimate prove of its loyalty to me.

Cupping my hands down my right side, a sizzling sphere of malicious intent grew within my palms. Stronger and stronger and forever growing it did, fueled by my hate. And then, when it was ready, and it almost felt like it was burning through the skin of my indestructible suit, I fired it at the monster that was blocking my dragon's way.

I struck it fucking down! YEAH, MAN! The Bird of Fire was blasted off its whatever, tumbling out of the way, and Charizard seized the opportunity I'd given it. I grabbed ahold of its neck when it swooped by, flying along. Behind us, the earth shook with fissures as Moltres gave a shrilly cry and released flames of rage upon everything.

And then it took flight after us.

"OVER THE WATER, CHARIZARD!" I yelled above the wind. Again, it was a testament to its loyalty that it just obeyed me.

Behind us, fire boiled water and winds broke tree like there were twigs. Moltres was after the damned man foolish enough to question its might.

"Please, Ash, do not let me do this!"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO I AM. IT IS THE GLORIOUS PURPOSE IN WHICH I PLEGDE MY SOUL THAT GIVE MEANING TO MY LIFE! MEANING TO ALL LIFE! ASH KETCHUM, IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY, GOODWILL, AND FAIRNESS, YOU MUST STAND DOWN FROM YOU ENDEAVORS AND LET ME CLEANSE THE WORLD OF MEN LIKE GIOVANNI!"

"TELL ME YOUR NAME!"

"WHAT FOR?"

"BECAUSE AFTER I'VE DEFEATED YOUR CHICKENSHIT, I'LL COME FOR YOU! AND I'LL END YOU!"

The voice laughed, cold and cruel, and spoke with a seasoned conviction. Like he knew of my capabilities and had found them lacking. "This quarrel, Ash Ketchum, Last Guardian of Aura, will be your end if you do not cease it in time."

"I won't be defeated." I pulled Charizard's neck. "Down, now!"

It obeyed and we surged down towards the face of the waters.

"Follow, he is bluffing! He cares too much about his dragon to let it drown in the waters!"

I laughed. "I've sacrificed more."

Moltres swooped ever closer, opening its beak to reveal pure flames.

Charizard panted, tired and hurt, its crimson skin full of great gashes with blood leaking. There was this look about its eyes, like it knew it was about to die. I smiled, waiting for the waters, waiting for the right moment…

"SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND TURN AGAINST IT!" I yelled and Charizard did as commanded, spreading its wings and stopping its momentum. Then we turned to face Moltres. A second sun hell-bent on my destruction met our eyes. We were doomed.

"FIRE WON'T HELP YOU, BOY!"

I smiled – all part of the mask, boss – and then I let go of its neck and folded my arms, building momentum again and leaving Charizard to Moltres. Charizard howled in fear and in sheer rage, of me or Moltres I wasn't too sure. I, however, smiled, though it went unseen, and turned on the wind to face the monsters behind me…

"I simple cannot make it work, sir," Clement said, running a hand through his hair. "It seems like something is… like something is blocking it."

"It's probably impossible, then," I said, smiling and clapping his shoulder. "No worries, my friend. I'll make due without."

Moltres reared its mighty head back, Charizard remained locked in line of the fire, slowly falling a little closer to its death, and I reached for my belt, counting the moments between moments…

Later that day, I found myself alone in my room, thinking of May, of Serena, and of my serenity. In my hand was a Poké Ball, the cause of my problems.

"A little twitch there and here and whatever…" I mumbled. I was, by the way, also sitting in my suit. My visor output was giving me feedbacks as I changed something. Clement had all but give it up trying to fix the problem. The Problem. However, I had an evolutional advantage that he could never gain.

I knew how the suit worked. intimately.

"Suit's core functions decoded," the suit said in its monstrous, robotic voice. "Proceed to upgrading…"

A brilliant light grew upon my belt, flashing from within my clenched, waiting hand.

"Upgrade completed," it said, and then it absorbed the Ball in my hand.

Out of the brilliant light, Charizard's Poké Ball coalesced into my waiting hand. And I didn't waste a second, pointing it at Charizard and recalling it just as my back hit the surface of the great blue ocean.

Charizard disappeared, leaving a clear path for my adversary. Moltres' eyes widened in goddamn fear. It tried to break its momentum, but in its rage it had become single-minded, too focused on my death to see the dangers. It threw its wings out. It belched fire upon the water like it was trying to evaporate it. Nothing worked and it slammed into the water, crying out for its own life.

Guided by my intent alone, my suit absorbed the Poké Ball. Then I grab ahold of Moltres burning neck and forced it to stay in place, struggling and suffocating it. It was powerful, monstrously so, and struggled and twitched like a bitch in heat. Yet I'd come too far to admit defeat now, and I kept on pushing on, again and again and again, until my muscles felt like they were falling apart and my brains felt like they had gone down the sewer.

The man controlling the beast kept screaming and screaming, though his words went unheard beneath the water. Steam rose round us; water boiled over upon contact with Moltres everlasting flames.

But then, Drew, the most amazing and frightening thing in my life occurred. It was so goddamn beautiful and perilous I found myself quite spellbound.

Moltres skin went cold, like really fucking icy cold, like the fire within just died out. Like I'd clenched the life right out of it. It stopped struggling and went limp.

I'd won.

At first this deep feeling of accomplishment came over me. I'd beaten the motherfucking God of Fire, or something! But then I caught sight of the beast, and then I felt like I'd just committed the biggest sin of my life. Something so beautiful wasn't meant to be caged to death, man. Its feathers were too bright, its might too impressive.

And then it happened.

A single pulse ran through its feathers, like a streak of sunlight upon a night sky. And then another, and another, and once more into the fray.

Once more into the fray.

BOOM!

Fire exploded out of its body, burning me, blinding me, drowning me in eternal flames. A shrilly cry reached my ears, so pure that for the briefest of moments, I felt fucking human again. And then the fire retreated and I saw God of Fire.

Rising in flames and a beautiful chorus of angels' voices singing their redemption down upon me, Moltres glided untouched and alive amongst the water. I found myself ready for death, Drew. I was a dying man. Moltres had risen from the ashes of its death to lay down one helluva beating upon me. And I deserved that beating for ever laying a finger upon this pure creature, for ever thinking of it.

There was, deep into the reaches of the ocean, said to be redemption found for even the most wicked of men.

I'd found mine now.