A/N: I managed to finish a chapter Thursday. I would have updated yesterday, but I wanted to look through this chapter first. There should be less grammatical mistakes than the last chapter, but I am only human. If I miss some, let me know. I'll edit all the chapters eventually (though I swear a new mistake pops up every time I try). The genetic lab classes were really fun. I hope I can use what I've learned to find a mentor and work on a new science project. Wish me good luck with that! Welcome to the newest update to the story. We follow Ash and his crew as he leaves the League. I hope you enjoy~
Certain things to note:
"..."- This denotes regular speech.
"..." This denotes thoughts, flashback or telepathy when stated directly.
"..." This denotes a Pokemon's speech.
"..." This denotes a Pokemon's thoughts or telepathy or Pokemon speech in flashbacks when stated directly.
"(...)" (This denotes a Pokemon speaking, but only select characters like Ash or Aurora can understand it.)
Disclaimer: Pokemon and all of its subordinates are owned by Nintendo and Game Freak. Zah plot is mine, so yeah.
Edited as of June 19th, 2018. Happy reading!
"The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley
Chapter 6: Goodbyes and Farewells! Spiritual Dispute?
The next morning…
Ash and his friends were awake and fully rested. They put on their clothes and ate some breakfast. Even though Ash normally had terrible table manners normally, he ate a bit more respectfully around Serena. His technique was still sloppy, but he ate his food much more neatly than normal. His girlfriend and friends looked legitimately surprised. After breakfast, they were ready to leave. They stood at the front of Pokémon League, ready to see off Sawyer, Shauna, Trevor and Tierno.
"Well, this is where our paths separate…" Clemont said somberly.
"Yeah…" Trevor agreed.
"But hey, it's been a blast meeting you at Professor Syncamore's Summer Camp." Ash said, trying to put a positive spin onto it. "I know that if we put our minds to it, we'll make all our dreams come true."
"Yeah! I'll be the best dancer the world has ever seen!" Tierno said excitedly.
"I'll see all the Pokemon in the world and complete the Pokédex!" Trevor said his dream with more passion than he normally would.
"I'm going to be an awesome Pokémon Performer!" Shauna said, looking at Serena.
"And I will make my dream as the greatest Pokémon Trainer a reality." Sawyer pointed a finger in challenge at Ash.
"Nothing can stop us!" All four of them said at the same time.
"Yeah! That's the spirit! When I go back to Lumiose City, I'll finally be able to be a Pokémon Trainer!" Bonnie said happily.
Serena simply smiled. She decided to cast a glance at Ash. She can tell in his demeanor that he was excited, even though his friends were leaving. She loved that determined glint in his eye. Ash seemed to be feeling a lot better than he did yesterday and she was grateful for it.
"Then let's all work hard to achieve our dreams!" Ash said, putting his hand forth.
"With our determination, nothing will stop us." Serena said, placing her hand on top of Ash's. A small blush appeared on both of their faces.
"We will prevail!" Clemont placed his hand on top of Serena's.
Trevor nodded as he put his hand on top of Clemont's.
Shauna smiled as she put her hand on top of Trevor's.
Tierno had a large grin as he put his hand on top of Shauna's.
Finally, Sawyer had a bashful grin as he placed his hand on Tierno's.
"One…" Ash started.
"Two…" Serena continued.
"Three!" Everyone finished simultaneously. Everybody raised their hands in the air in commemoration of their friendship.
A large wave of sadness washed over everyone. "Well, I guess this is goodbye…"Clemont said sadly.
Everyone else nodded their heads sadly. They didn't want to separate from each other, but knew that it was inevitable. Bonnie had a small tear in her eyes. She ran over to hug Shauna. She sobbed. "I'll never forget you guys!"
"I won't forget you too, Bonnie. Serena…" Shauna started.
"Yes?" Serena answered.
"It's been a blast competing against you. You are an amazing rival! I know we'll see each other really soon."
"You can count of on that!"
Tierno gave Ash a large hug. Ash struggled to breathe. "I… I'll miss you… too. Help…"
Tierno realized he was crushing Ash. He immediately put him down in remorse. "Sorry, Ash."
Ash took a moment to catch his breath again. "It's… alright, Tierno. I know you're going to make your dancing dream come true!"
Tierno took out his hand. Ash grabbed it tightly and they looked at each other, determined. That silent agreement was heard by all their friends. The agreement to try their best. Sawyer looked at their interaction with a slight smile.
Sawyer merely shrugged, but still had a happy face. Sawyer and the Summer Camp Trio started to walk one direction and Ash and his friends the other. They started to wave each other off. Ash's group headed towards the forest while Sawyer and trio headed towards the mountain. They may have been separating, but their friendship was eternal.
After about twenty minutes of walking, Ash and his friends stumbled upon a large mass of different berries trees. There was a wide range from Oran to Chesto to Aspear. They also noticed something large and orange picking at an Oran Berry tree. As they got closer, they noticed it was a large Charizard. The group was surprised that it hadn't burned down anything or scared any of the wild Pokémon. It looked like it was holding something. They were too far away to see it.
"Woah, a wild Charizard!" Bonnie noticed. It had red eyes and a bluish-white tail flame. The Charizard heard Bonnie's voice and turned. It noticed the young people standing there, observing it. The Charizard looked like it didn't care and got back picking berries.
"I don't think it is wild. Look at its eyes and its tail." Ash noted. He had an idea of who this Charizard was. He slowly started to approach the large reptile. The rest of his friends looked worried, especially Serena. She questioned her boyfriend's actions.
Serena, Bonnie and Clemont decided to stay put. Serena whispered loudly, "Ash, are you sure you should be doing that?"
"I'm sure. I have a feeling I know this Charizard. Besides, I still have my Charizard in my team, but if anything goes wrong, I'll resort to using him." Ash answered as softly as he could.
Ash finally reached the Charizard. He was standing right behind it as it continued to pick Oran Berries. The Charizard seemingly sighed as it immediately picked up on Ash's close proximity and swung its tail at his stomach. He groaned as he got knocked back into a tree trunk. Ash's friends revealed themselves from their spot and ran towards him to aid him. Ash rubbed his stomach in slight pain. "Ow… that hurts…"
"Ash! Are you alright?" Serena said, tending to him. Ash wasn't visibly hurt and she was glad for that.
"I'm fine, Serena." Ash smiled a little to show that he didn't get hurt. He was just mostly surprised.
"Good. Next time, don't be so reckless!" Serena scolded him. Ash winced at the somewhat harsh tone. Serena was so concerned for his safety that she didn't realize that the Charizard turned around, looking at them warily. It narrowed its eyes. It still had berries in its arms, but looked hesitant on doing anything.
Ash decided to try what he wanted to try earlier. "Are you Aurora's Charizard?"
The Charizard looked at him quizzically. Charizard picked up one the Oran Berries a released a weak ember. Once it became a golden brown, the Charizard ate it. It seemed to enjoy the taste. Its face then turned to one of annoyance. "(I am not anyone's Charizard, boy. Pokémon are owned by no one. I am merely here because I want to be here.)"
"I only picked up on a little bit of what you said. Why do you want to be in a forest?" Ash inquired.
The Charizard sighed. "(This will get us nowhere if you can't understand me completely. Hey, Auru! Ash and some other people are here!)
One of the trees in the surrounding area started to ruffle. A few Pecha Berries fell on the ground. The person being popped her head from the leaves and looked at the gang upside down. Her braid was swaying naturally. It looked like a black rope. It seemed she was used to looking at people upside down from trees.
"Aurora?!" Everyone gasped in shock.
"Oh? Hi Ash and Serena." Aurora said waving her hand upside down. She went back into the tree and sat regularly on the branch. Then, she jumped off the tree and landed perfectly on her feet. The group looked at her in awe. She had been at least twenty feet above the ground. Aurora returned Chari back into her Poké Ball before continuing. "I see you have a couple of more people with you this time. Nice to meet you two!"
"Did you tell your blond friends that you both are aura guardians yet? Just shake your heads 'no' if you didn't or nod your heads 'yes' if you did." Aurora asked Ash and Serena telepathically. Ash and Serena perked their heads towards Aurora in astonishment. They could see in her face that she was serious. They both shook their heads 'no'. Aurora gave a slight smile to signify she got their message.
Clemont was the first to break away from his shock. "H-h-how? H-how did you not break your legs just now?"
Aurora shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "'You just have to believe you won't hurt yourself and you won't."
Clemont still looked incredulous to what he'd witnessed, but decided not to say anything else. He knew she was hiding something, but it wasn't that important to him.
"Woah, you're that super strong Champion Ash fought yesterday!" Bonnie remarked.
"Uh… sure? I don't feel strong, to be honest. I guess strength is all in perspective. " Aurora told her. She never liked talking about how strong she was casually. She only did that when she needed to intimidate an enemy, like a Zurui grunt. She always felt like she could improve. It's one of the reasons why she liked to travel.
"Not that strong?! You're too modest! You destroyed Ash and everyone else you were facing! I bet you weren't even trying!" Bonnie continued. Ash frowned at the blunt statement describing Aurora's battle with him.
"Bonnie…" Clemont warned her through his tone. He could see that Aurora didn't want to continue on the conversation and he was afraid she would say something offensive.
"What?! It's true." Bonnie folded her arms.
"She's right. I wasn't trying… least not at first. Ash rekindled my fighting spirit in our match and I really was trying against him towards the end. At least… without aura augmentation. Still, it feels a bit strange for someone to say it outright," Aurora reflected on what Bonnie's statement. She didn't have a proper response to what Bonnie said. So she answered, "Uh…"
"Don't mind her, Aurora. I'm Clemont and this is my little sister Bonnie." Clemont said, gesturing to Bonnie.
"Hiya! Nice to meet you." Bonnie said happily.
"Since we're saying names, allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Aurora, though you seem to know my name already." Aurora said politely. She gestured her hand for Clemont to shake it. Clemont returned to handshake, but noted she had an amazingly strong grip. Aurora smiled, "It's nice to finally meet the Lumiose Gym Leader in person. I remember I had to face your robot to qualify here."
"Oh, you must mean Clembot. Sorry about that. I was traveling with Ash at the time." Clemont rubbed his hand behind his head.
"No worries, Clemont." Aurora nodded in understanding. She continued, "So... What are you guys planning on doing from this point?"
"We were planning on heading back to Lumiose City and then Ash can go back home to Kanto." Bonnie answered.
"Kanto? Say... can I go with you? I was planning on heading there next after I restocked on supplies. I want to go a special place." Aurora said in a pleading tone.
"Sure, the more the merrier, I guess. What's the place?" Ash easily answered.
"It's a sacred place to aura guardians, young one. I can't really say what it is, but you can see for yourself once we get to Kanto." Aurora answered him telepathically. Ash looked slightly confused at the echoed voice in his head and though he was hallucinating at first. He looked at Aurora and noticed she didn't say anything aloud. He could tell in her expression that it wasn't a hallucination. He was tempted to answer back, but decided against it.
He turned to Serena, "Would you like to go with me to Kanto as well, Serena?"
"Of course! I'd have to call my mom, but I'm sure she'd be fine with it. It would be awesome to visit your home region. Maybe I can found out more about performances from there." Serena said excitedly. Aurora smiled at Serena, but frowned when she said 'home region'. It was too small for anyone to notice.
"It's settled then. Here we- AHHHHHH! My head!" Aurora fell to the floor on her knees. She struggled to keep her eyes open and felt an intense pain. She was clutching her head, withering in pain. She wondered where it came from.
"Aurora? What's wrong with you?" Bonnie asked, concerned. Bonnie tried to touch Aurora, but when she did, she burned her hand. The girl winced in pain. Everyone could see steam coming from Aurora's body.
"GAAAAAHHH! My head hurts too!" Ash fell down on his knees, also clutching his head.
"Ash! What's wrong?" Serena also looked concerned. Serena tried to help him, but found that she was shocked immediately on contact. Everyone could see electricity coming from him. Serena, Clemont and Bonnie was at a loss at what to do. They didn't want them to be in pain.
Aurora's eyes glowed blue as she began to levitate above the ground. Ash did the same. They both screamed loudly as an image started to appear before them. It was an extremely hazy image of a woman in a red shirt and white shorts being lifted into the air. She had her arms and legs out as if she was an 'X' shape. She had a lot scratches all over her body and looked like she's been injured. Her clothes were torn, but she was bitterly glaring at something.
The woman had elbow-length black hair and a flower on her head. Before Ash and his friends could comprehend what was happening, Aurora's eyes stopped glowing blue. Horrified, she created an aura sphere and shot it at the image. The image faded instantly. Aurora and Ash's faces were beaded with sweat. Aurora was more visibly disturbed than Ash.
"What… what just happened?" Ash asked.
"…" Aurora was completely silent. She was trying to process what they had just seen herself. She pressed her fingers against her temple and rubbed it. She started to shake slightly in fear, "I… I… I'm not sure. I never thought I'd have to see that again…"
"Again? Wait… you're the woman in the image?" Clemont asked. Aurora nodded somberly.
"Who did that you?" Ash asked seriously.
"I... rather not talk about it." Aurora shook her head and looked off to the side. Ash wondered if it had anything to do with what she told him yesterday.
"We won't push you. Still, what was that about? Why did we see an image of the past?" Serena chimed in.
Aurora tried to think of why she would see the exact vision she saw four years ago. Then, it hit her. "If what I suspect is true, then I need to take Ash to the place where this happened immediately. This is affecting us both spiritually. Hmm… A piece of the past that is not at rest... I was hoping when I cleansed myself four years ago, that was the end of it."
Aurora wasn't sure how Ash would handle it as he learned more about the vision. She said reluctantly, "…I may know why, but we have to go to the Viridian Forest. Ash, you have to come with me."
"Why?" Ash wondered.
"This is affecting us both spiritually, so we need to go to the source of the problem. It seems our spirits are in conflict with ourselves, so we have to settle what's happened in the past completely. That image you saw took place in Viridian Forest. Since this has happened to me before, I must warn you about something." Aurora explained.
Aurora turned to regard the entire group, "Ash and I may lash out due to being spiritually unbalanced, so I do apologize in advance. We won't act like ourselves and something from inside will influence us to do things we normally wouldn't."
Aurora never wanted to go through Viridian Forest again. Lots of bad things happened to her there. It secretly terrified her to go back to that forest, but she knew it was the only solution.
"Why would you two lash out?" Serena asked, concerned.
"AHHH!" The whites in Aurora's eyes suddenly turned completely yellow. They were even more unnerving to look at than her regular yellow eyes. Her body tensed up and she was visibly shaking. She turned away from Serena and held her head. She looked like her head was forced to turn back to the honey-blond teen. She said in a harsh tone, "Maybe I don't want to answer why!"
"Don't yell at her that!" Ash defended his girlfriend. He knew Aurora just warned that they would lash out, but he still didn't want Serena to get yelled at.
"Ashton Ketchum, you do not tell me what to do!" Aurora snarled, pointing at Ash. She suddenly held onto her head again. She looked like she was in considerable pain. "GRAHH! Can't… help… it…! Can't... resist... I feel like I'm fighting myself! Please! Get away from me!"
Before any of them could react, Aurora unwittingly formed a shock wave and knocked everyone on the ground. Ash, Clemont, Serena and Bonnie fell on the ground, surprised. Aurora had a large aura sphere aimed at the gang. She had her eyes closed, clutching her head with her other hand. Aurora growled, "I thought I told you to leave us alone…"
"Us? Who are you talking about?" Clemont asked, scared out of his wits. He never saw anything like this and he didn't know what to make of it. Aurora was showing supernatural powers he'd never anticipate anyone having.
"Charles! I will kill you before you kill me!" Aurora opened her eyes again, but they looked crazed and loathing. Before she could shoot her aura sphere at Ash and his friends, her head stopped hurting. Everything stopped being hazy. Aurora saw she petrified three teenagers and a little girl. She made the aura sphere disappear immediately as she recovered her senses. Her eyes returned to normal and they became replaced with remorseful yellow ones.
"I…I…" Aurora started, but decided not to continue. She looked at her hands slowly, trying to assess what just happened. She backed away further from Ash and his friends. "I… never imagined I'd come this close to... I'm... I'm... sorry. I don't want to do any more damage. I don't want you to be in danger..."
Aurora suddenly ran towards further in the forest covering her tear-ridden eyes with her hand.
Ash was clutching his head, but his eyes were completely blue. However, he had no idea what the image meant, but he knew that he was terrified. He wasn't scared of Aurora. But he was frightened of what he was seeing in his vision. He was so scared that he began to cry. Ash curled up into a ball and wailed, "Help me! Please… Help me…"
"(Ash!)" Pikachu called out to his trainer in concern.
"Ash!" Serena asked in concern. She held his hand in support. "Are you all right? Why are your eyes like Aurora's?"
Ash looked at her confused. He immediately stopped crying. Once he saw that the area was safe, he took his hand away from her in a polite way and sat up, cross-legged. Serena was shocked at the gesture. She wouldn't expect him to just swat her hand away. He asked in a childish voice, "Who are you, kind lady? Where are we? I don't think this is the same forest..."
"…Ash? What are you talking about?" Serena asked in confusion. "Why is he acting weird?"
"Ash? I'm sorry, pretty lady, but my name is Ashton." Serena flushed when he called her 'pretty lady' and even thought it was a bit adorable how he said it. Ash put a finger on his chin and thought for a moment. He smiled and commented, "I like my name, but 'Ash' does sound pretty nice. Like a cooler superhero nickname! Haha!"
He started to look around, confused. He said to Serena, "What happened to the bad people, pretty lady? Where's Ruru?"
"Bad… people…? Ruru…? Ash, you're scaring me… what happened to you? What's wrong?" Serena asked. Ash suddenly became despondent. He turned away from his friends and put his head on his knees.
"Ash? What's wrong?" Serena tried again. She tried to touch him, but Ash flinched. He once again swatted her hand away. He got up from the ground and squinted his eyes. Serena, Clemont and Bonnie didn't know what he was seeing, but only wanted to help him. He looked at them all of them wearily.
"Bad people want to hurt my Ruru... are you some more of those bad people?" Ash still asked in that child-like voice. The voice was beginning to creep everyone out.
"Ash... we would never hurt you. We aren't those bad people." Bonnie said. Ash started to back up and look scared. He was shaking slightly. His eyes made no reflection of the Ash they knew. They grew hostile.
"You're lying! You are the bad people!" Ash shook his head immaturely. It was clear he no longer was friendly as he continued to back away from Serena, Clemont and Bonnie. He backed away until he reached a tree. All three of his companions circled around him, trying to calm him down. They were all shocked when he raised his hand and tiny sparks started to form. They backed away slightly in alarm, but still was close enough to make Ash uncomfortable. They didn't know what to do. Ash hissed, "I'm gonna have to hurt you guys if you don't back off. I'm gonna use what Ruru just taught me to teach you a lesson!"
"Ash, we would never want to hurt you. We love you. Please, calm down!" Clemont tried to placate the young teen.
Ash didn't listen. He shot the small sparks he made towards the ground. Everyone jumped back to dodge, but wondered why he didn't aim higher. He was close enough to where he could have easily hit them. Ash looked incredibly frightened, but was trying to look brave. "Please... just leave me alone. I need to find Ruru."
Pikachu twitched his ears in annoyance. This conversation was clearly getting nowhere. Ash himself looked scared stiff and his companions were at a loss at what to do. He decided to take matters into his own paws. Pikachu gathered electrical energy in his cheeks. He cried, "(Thhhuuunnderbolt!)"
Electricity emanating from his cheeks, he shot a blast of electrical energy at his trainer. Ash screamed as he was electrocuted by Pikachu. His eyes started to turn back into brown. He puffed up some smoke before he fell over. Being used to Pikachu's Thunderbolt, he immediately recovered. Ash looked angry at his partner. "What the hell was that for, Pikachu?"
"(Ash!)" Pikachu said happily. He jumped on his partner ecstatically. He knew he was back. The force was enough to knock him on the ground a second time. Ash looked puzzled as to why his partner would jump onto his lap, but he wasn't going to complain. Ash rubbed Pikachu's head affectionately.
"Ash… do you know who I am?" Serena questioned the auburn-eyed boy nervously. She didn't know what to expect from him.
"Of course I do! You are the apple of my eye and the person I adore the most. Most importantly, you're the person who I love, Serena." Ash smiled. Serena's face brightened up completely as she hugged her love of her life. Ash looked stunned at the sudden gesture, but accepted it nonetheless. "H-hey! What did I deserve to this, Serena?"
"You had us worry sick! Do you know what happened to you?" Serena demanded.
"I… I don't know. What are you talking about?" Ash looked hopelessly confused. Everyone was surrounding him looked as if they saw a ghost.
"You really don't know what happened, do you?" Bonnie said in a serious voice. Ash never seen Bonnie this way, but he knew something must have been up. Ash shook his head. "The last thing I remember is Aurora saying that I need to go to the Viridian Forest and then yelling at Serena. After that, everything went blank."
Clemont, Bonnie and Serena eyed each other nervously, and then looked at Ash as if they felt sorry for him. "Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
"Because you and Aurora were acting all crazy! Aurora looked like she wanted to kill us and you were acting like a little kid! You looked like you wanted to kill us, too, but you seemed scared of something. You even called yourself Ashton." Bonnie blurted out.
"Wait.. what? She tried to kill us? I tried to kill you? I don't remember any of that!" Ash felt himself getting angry. "Why would Aurora go from really nice to being willing to kill me and my friends? And why did I try to do the same thing? I would never want to hurt them."
"That's what we want to find out." Bonnie said impatiently.
Clemont decided to step in. "Aurora seemed crazed, as if she was in a trace. I don't think she realized what she was doing until her eyes returned to normal. You both seemed to be that way once we saw that weird image. You seemed scared of us and attacked us only to keep us away. I think we need to go to Aurora for some explanation. Before you spaced out and while Aurora was hostile, she said something about a man named 'Charles'. Do you think that had something to do with it?"
"Charles…" Ash murmured. He remembered where he heard the name. "Yesterday when I felt sad about my loss, Aurora was telling me a story about how this 'Charles' guy completely broke her. It got to the point she didn't want to be a trainer anymore and she seemed really uncomfortable telling me anything."
"Do you know anything else?" Clemont asked.
"No. She wasn't willing to go beyond what she needed to help me feel better." Ash responded.
"Even though she's the person in the vision, what does this have to do with Ash? I'm also wondering why he was acting like a little kid named Ashton. You seemed to be looking for someone in your vision as well. Ruru… you called the person. You think you were looking for Aurora?" Serena asked.
"I don't remember meeting her until two days ago. How I could be trying to look for her?" Ash answered back with a question.
"Perhaps I can be rid of your confusion." An echoed voice called.
Everyone turned around and saw a yellow cat on all fours. It had multiple spots on its body, spiky fur and a bolt-shaped tail. It was a Chelectsic. At first Ash and the gang looked around to see if a human said that, but they didn't see anyone. Could it be…? Ash was the first to speak. "Are you Aurora's Chelectsic?"
"Though Aurora is my partner, I am not hers. I wish the rest of you humans understood that Pokémon cannot be owned." The Chelectsic hissed in annoyance. She shook her head. "But that is a trivial matter. I want to get Ashton to Aurora quickly as quickly as I can."
The way she sounded was different than how she talked earlier. She had more of an echo to her tone, since she was speaking telepathically. She was also speaking with an air of seriousness that she didn't have in the battle.
"You too? This is Ash Ketchum, not Ashton Ketchum. Why do you-" Serena started.
"Silence! I don't have time to be questioned like this! Ashton needs to come with me, right now." Chi-Chi said impatiently.
"(I'm not going to let you take my friend! You have no right!)" Pikachu said with sparks in his cheeks. He already didn't like Chi-Chi. He didn't need another reason to add onto it.
"And you have no right to butt into my trainer's affairs. Shut it, furball!" Chi-Chi growled. She was tempted to try to eat him at the spot, but her trainer was more important than a quick meal. Chi-Chi stood up on her hind legs and slowly started to walk towards Ash. Everyone took a step back for each step Chi-Chi took. They didn't know what she was planning on doing.
"What are you doing?" Serena said getting nervous. Chi-Chi didn't look amused nor did she didn't look friendly. The cat's patience was at zero at this point. She saw Ash's friends as an impedance to what she wanted to do.
"Taking him to my friend." Chi-Chi unsheathed her claws and brought them out wide. Before any human could react and Pikachu could retaliate, Chi-Chi turned into lightning to move past them with ease and right in front of Ash. Her claws started to glow a pinkish-purple as she touched Ash's nose with her claw. Within a blink of an eye, both of them vanished. Clemont, Bonnie and Serena looked stunned.
"(Ash…)" Pikachu said, disappointed that he wasn't fast enough to stop Chi-Chi.
"Ash?" Clemont called out. He was nowhere to be seen.
"ASH!" Serena screamed out. He got ripped away from her and she wasn't going to stand for it. "We have to find him. Chi-Chi must have teleported him this way. Come on!"
Serena pointed to the direction where Aurora ran. Serena started to head to where Aurora went. Pikachu jumped onto her arms. Clemont and Bonnie nodded as they also ran towards Aurora.
Aurora was breathing deeply while lying down on a branch at the top of a tall tree. She was looking up at the sky sadly. "I gave Ash and his buddies a huge scare and then I deserted them after I came back to my senses. I have no right calling myself his protector. Ugh... What is wrong with me…"
She sighed and thought, "Moping about it isn't going to help, but I'm afraid of what will happen if I'm near Ash or his friends. This is a memory we both have unsettled, so it will affect both of us. I want to stop it, but that vision seemed so real… too real. I actually felt like I was seeing Charles again. I felt I could literally touch him. Choke him, even. Since I remember what happened, I might get more violent than Ash would. I… I don't want to be a monster. I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't want to hurt him…"
Meanwhile, her partners were looking up at Aurora saddened. They wanted to help her, but they didn't know how. Tired of standing around, Chari tried to fly up to talk to her, but she was greeted by Aurora forming a bone club out of aura and pointing it at her. When Chari got closer, Aurora swung, barely missing her oldest partner. Aurora was breathing heavily with her head down. Her bang was covering her eyes. She couldn't meet her partner's gaze. Chari was shocked.
She said in a low, but pleading voice, "Just leave me alone… please…"
When she moved her bang away from her eyes, Aurora's normally striking yellow eyes looked like they were distraught. That was definitely a way to let Chari know she didn't want to be bothered.
The Charizard flew down back onto the floor, defeated. She hadn't seen Aurora like since she was cleansing her spirit four years ago. Chari started to pace the forest floor impatiently. When Chari herself got tense, the others knew something was deeply bothering Aurora. Chari growled, "What's taking her so long? She should have come back by now."
"Told you Ash and his friends wouldn't let him come freely." Suzie said.
"Say something useful, Captain Obvious." Chari said sarcastically.
"Hey, it beats pacing around uselessly like some Pokémon." Suzie said in a snarky tone. Whenever Aurora feels negative, Suzie also starts to act negative because she is her Aspect of Negativity. It's within their bond. In this state, she was the most pessimistic of all the partners, despite being bashful normally.
"Watch it, Suzie. I'm already not in the mood to deal with mocking tones." Chari said in warning.
"Oh? And what will you do about it? Aurora is already pissed off at herself. Ashton or 'Ash' or whatever his name is caused it. What use is there to wait for something to happen?" Suzie said, increasingly getting annoyed. Chari didn't have a proper response so she decided not to answer. Suzie smirked in satisfaction.
Happy frowned at the negative emotions. She was the most sensitive to emotions and the depressing atmosphere in the air made her shiver. She wanted to help them, but she had to wait for Chi-Chi to return. She sighed at two of her friends bickering. Happy said, "Fighting is getting us nowhere."
Suzie was about to open her mouth again, but Happy put one of her feelers against the fox's mouth to silence her. "And before you make a witty remark, think of Auru. Your negativity rising isn't going to help her at all, so I suggest you be quiet and stop picking fights."
Suzie immediately closed her mouth and looked down in remorse. In the momentary silence between Aurora and her partners, Chi-Chi suddenly warped in front of them with her claw on Ash's nose. Chi-Chi sat down on all fours as Ash started to get his bearings. Ash immediately clutched his nose and noticed that there was a tiny cut. He looked at Chi-Chi angrily.
The electric-type looked sympathetic. "Sorry, Ashton, but your friends didn't give me too much time to react. I didn't mean to nick your nose, but Auru needs you."
"Auru? You mean Aurora? What's wrong with her?" Ash asked concerned.
"The same thing that's wrong with you: your spirit." Rio spoke up for the first time. He had his eyes closes, arms crossed, leaning against a tree.
"My… spirit?"
"I'm sure the Mistress mentioned this to you before she ran off here." Rio continued.
"Yeah…"
"You and her struggles between seeing the memory that conflicts you both and seeing the world before you. As such, Aurora feels guilty for lashing out at you and your friends. Her highest priority is to protect you, so when she almost attacked you, she was devastated. I can imagine she's feels awful about having the capacity of harming you. Aurora imagined herself in the same situation with Charles nine years ago and created an aura sphere trying to hit him. You and your friends sadly got into the mix." Rio explained, opening his eyes. They were inspecting, watching Ash's every move.
Ash looked down. He didn't know what to think of this news. "That explains it. Charles… who is he and why does Aurora care about me so much? Why am I that special to her and what does he mean my problem is my spirit? I'm very spirited!"
"That is not what he means, Ashton. Not your spirited personality, but your actual spirit." Kairyu said patiently. "The one you sense. That feeling a guardian can't feel, but feels anyway. That energy that you can touch and not touch, that's spirit. Aura guardians use this spirit as a medium for their attacks which makes them very versatile."
"Huh? What does that even mean? How can you read my thoughts?" Ash looked at the dragon type in shock.
"We all can. Aurora, my partners and I are connected spiritually. If one of us feels one way, we know it. Sometimes, we may even act like what the other is feeling, good or bad. Since your aura is similar to Aurora's, we can sense subtle changes in your thoughts, like she can. With any other person, this isn't normally the case." Kairyu explained.
"Our auras are similar?" Ash asked.
"Yep! But yours…" Happy sniffed Ash a little. He felt a bit weird about the interaction. Happy noted, "Yours is different from any guardian I've seen. It's has a much more raw scent. More… powerful. And oddly more ancient. I almost feel like I need to bow to you because your aura commands respect. It's odd to say that, but that's how your aura is. It's weird describing it."
Ash looked dumbfounded. Commanding respect? That was a bit of news to take in. He had no idea his aura was that strong. He looked down at his hands. He certainly didn't feel powerful or ancient. Still, he wondered what was wrong with him spiritually. "Why are Aurora and I struggling spiritually?"
"We have some idea, but we really don't know what's wrong with you two. It's a memory you both have that's starting to come up. The problem is she remembers it and you don't. Since you don't remember it, you're at war with yourself. There's a part of you that been repressed and is now starting come out now that someone from your past has reunited with you." Chi-Chi said.
"I'm at war with myself?" Ash said in confusion.
"One part of you is trying to rekindle your past and the other is trying to suppress it." Chi-Chi continued. "Have you had a moment where you felt at conflict with yourself and you would just angrily push someone away, without any good reason?"
Ash thought about it for a moment. He broadened his eyes. "Yeah… I remember yelling at Serena when she was just trying to help me. I had a splitting headache that came from nowhere and the next thing I knew I saw Serena looking at me as if she was terrified at me."
Chari suddenly stepped forward and examined the younger guardian. She could notice his distraught look as he thought about hurting Serena. She could see he is scared of doing just that. Chari spoke up, "You really love this girl, don't you?"
Ash was confused by the question. He said with fervor, "Of course! I would do anything to protect her."
"That's how Auru… feels about you." Suzie spoke up for the first time in a while. She calmed down enough to return to her former self. She pointed up to where Aurora is. "She… uh despondent because she almost hurt you. Now, she's sitting up in this tree, just thinking over some things. Problem is, she won't come down from the tree, even when Chari flew up there. Um... can you get her down?"
"Why me?" Ash asked.
"Because she's more likely to listen to you than anyone of us. In order for your spirits to be purified, you both have to be willing to do it. Right now, Aurora isn't willing to. We need her willing, young master." Chari said. She lowered her back. "Climb on my back so we can talk to her, but be warned. She may swipe us away… at least until she sees you."
Ash nodded. He still didn't understand his importance in all of this, but would do what he can to help Aurora out. He climbed on Chari's back. The Charizard slowly ascended to where Aurora was. When they reached eye level, Chari was once again met with an aura bone club a few inches away from her face. Aurora couldn't stand to look at Chari. Aurora said in a tired voice, "I thought I told you to leave me alone. I… I don't want to hurt you."
"I know you won't hurt me, Auru. You would never harm me willingly." Chari said with conviction that shocked her trainer. Aurora wondered why she was so trusting of her.
Aurora peered behind Chari's neck. She could see Ash holding on. "As-Ashton?"
Aurora immediately made the bone club disappear as she stood back up and wiped her eyes. She wanted to make sure wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, Ash was riding on Chari to speak with her. "How did he get here? Where are his friends? No doubt my partners had something to do with it…"
Ash didn't know how to start the conversation so he decided to say, "Hi, Aurora."
Aurora chuckled slightly at how goofy he made it sound. She gave a small smile. "Hello, Ashton… or should I say Ash? How would you like me to say your name?"
"I told you my name's Ash. I don't like to be called Ashton!" Ash said, slightly flustered. He was tired of Aurora and her Pokémon calling him that.
"Why don't you like to be called 'Ashton', Ash? I think it's a fine name." Aurora asked. She was meaning to ask him this earlier. Aurora walked a bit forward.
"Aurora, don't-" Ash warned, but stopped when Aurora was levitating to keep eye contact with the younger guardian. She surrounded herself with her yellow aura. Ash said in awe, "H-how?"
"Bonds with Pokémon are really important to the strength of a guardian. Chari is one of my partners and I get to feel a benefit to that. Besides, you didn't answer my question." Aurora started to move closer to Ash and floated directly beside him. She sat on Chari's back right beside him.
"I don't know… I just don't. I always feel a sense of hate whenever I hear the name. I don't know why." Ash admitted.
"I see." Aurora narrowed her eyes. She looked grim. She moved to float directly in front of Chari. "I understand you guys brought Ash to help me feel better, but I just want to be left alone. I… I don't want to go back to the forest. That's where I'm more likely to be more violent and I don't want to hurt Ash."
"If you run away from your problems, it'll never get fixed! You will continue to get worse the longer you wait. You both have to be willing to go to Viridian Forest! Ash, aren't you willing to go?" Chari said. Ash nodded.
"If Ash is willing to go, why aren't you?" Chari asked in an accusatory voice.
"He's only willing to go because he thinks this problem is simple to fix. He doesn't remember the pain... the shocks... that feeling of peril..." Aurora closed her eyes in thought. She made sure to block the thought. She started to fidget in the air and her body was steaming again. She wasn't angry, but soon her head was hurting. She clenched her teeth as she felt an intense pain.
Aurora suddenly closed her eyes and clutched her hair as if she was in considerable agony again. Chari started to fly back down, but Ash stopped her by keeping her neck up. He narrowed his eyes as he stood his ground. "Ash, what are you doing? Aurora isn't herself when she's in this state. I don't want you to get hurt, either."
"If what you said about Aurora is true, I have a feeling she wouldn't hurt me, even while in a vision." Ash said earnestly.
Chari sighed and stopped trying to fly down. They waited for Aurora to her open her eyes again. Aurora screamed as she created a shockwave knocked Chari back. She held her head and had her head down. When she made eye contact with Chari, her eyes were yellow, but they were crazed. Aurora's eyes were twitching as she tried to make out what she was seeing. Ash looked her directly in the eyes. He wasn't sure what she was seeing, but he knew he wanted to help. She formed a small aura sphere in her hand in warning and looked at Ash and Chari warily.
"You…" Aurora growled in a small voice. "Who are you? Where is Ashton? Why do you look so much like him?"
Ash was surprised she wasn't outright attacking. His gut had been right. He said carefully, "That's because I am Ash… err… Ashton."
"My little Ashton is only seven years old. How could you be him? You can't be him! Why aren't we in Viridian Forest…?" Aurora observed. She looked around the area and a look of recognition went across her face. She looked terribly confused, "This looks like the pathway between Victory Road and Santalune City, not Kanto. Why are we here of all places? Did you teleport me here?"
"I was... seven? I don't remember meeting Aurora in person until two days ago." Ash thought in wonder. He knew she wasn't lying, but it still made him confused. He decided to hide his confusion for now. "You're right. We are in Kalos right now. You are in a vision of the past. Aurora, snap out of it!" Ash yelled.
Aurora's eyes twitched again. She looked like she was ready to attack both of them, but decided against it. She looked at the Charizard Ash was currently riding on. The Pokemon looked awfully familiar, but the lizard was definitely older than the Charizard she trained. It spooked her to see the Pokemon have red eyes like her partner. This Charizard was looking at her with the same look Chari had when she was concerned. She snapped her gaze away from the Charizard and looked at Ash. Ash himself confused her. This boy was clearly a teen and yet he had a striking resemblance to the Ashton she knew.
Aurora touched Chari on the head to make sure what she was seeing was real. Chari eased her head into Aurora's hand and enjoyed her touch. Aurora looked surprised at the response. Aurora thought the Charizard would snap at her hand. She was sure they meant her no harm. The Charizard and the boy was hovering in the air, awaiting for her response. Aurora was prepared to retaliate, but now she found that she couldn't. The aura sphere in her hand disappeared. For now, she decided to see what else they would do.
She said with mistrust, "Tell me, Ashton. How come you know so much about visions? Are you an aura guardian or are you one of the psychics trying to kill me and my Ashton?"
"Aurora, I'm an aura guardian. I wouldn't try to hurt you. Wait… psychics were trying to kill you?" Ash noted Aurora slipping a little more information of the past. Before he could ask further on what she was going through, Aurora clutched her head again, panting deeply. Her hands returned to normal. Her eyes turned back to their regular yellow and her concentration was broken. She stopped levitating. Aurora started to fall towards the forest floor. Chari was quick to react and caught her trainer in her arms. She brought both guardians down and allowed Ash to climb off of her.
"Aurora!" All of her Pokémon except Chari called.
They all looked glad when Aurora opened her eyes and promptly left Chari's grip. Aurora thanked, "Thank you for saving me, friend."
Chari puffed up a few embers in happiness. Aurora held her head and shook it slightly. Aurora suddenly looked stricken with fear. She turned to look at Ash. She said in a shaky voice, "I… I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Ash shook his head. "It looked like you were holding back. You didn't attack me at all."
"I'm glad. It seems we've both went through the first of three stages of our spirits being conflicted." Aurora visibly relaxed. She sighed in relief.
"What are the stages?" Ash asked.
"The first stage is the manifestation of the memory lost in you. We both have had this happen to us already, which means we are on stage two. The second stage is our berserker stage. We start to rampage, hurting people our counterbalance doesn't love. It has to be a strong love, too, otherwise they still would attack. The final stage is aura drainage. Over time, we will release our aura subconsciously. Eventually, when enough of our aura is gone and we overexert ourselves, we start to burn up from the inside and… well… we die." Aurora explained nervously.
"Wait… what?! I'm going to die if nothing is done?! You will die, too?! Why are we linked? And what are counterbalances?" Ash scrambled in shock, asking many questions.
Aurora put up two fingers and said, "Two guardians bound by a memory lost. This event has always been set in stone. To answer your other question, we have another side to us that you probably weren't aware of. A balance and a counterbalance. Yin and yang. We are the balance: the dominant side. Our real personality. Counterbalances will be opposite to you in some way, but since we are the same person, they are very similar. For example, my counterbalance, Aru, is very similar to me except she's a lot more sardonic to those around her. She's also less serious and more rash."
"So… wait… I have a side of me that I've been having all my life without realizing it? Why do we even have counterbalances, anyway?" Ash asked bewildered. None of this made sense to him. How could there be another side to him? Why are they bound together by one memory? Why did it have to be him?
"Yes. I don't really know why we have counterbalances, but it's just the way we were made. In times of extreme crisis, they can aid or hinder us. Right now, because our spirits are conflicted, they are hindering us. It's not only because of the lost memory, though." Aurora continued and watched Ash carefully. She could tell that he was very confused about everything that's happened to him over the last two days. She wished this could be easier on him, but she knew he had to deal with it.
"Why then?" Ash said in a low voice.
"That you will realize when you see what happened, Ash. You wouldn't believe me." Aurora replied.
"Tell me. If you don't, then we both will die!" Ash raised his voice.
Aurora looked at him without any change in expression. She shook her head and sighed, "You have no memory of me or that days before that, so a part of you is repressed. You would suppress your lost memory even more if I outright told you because you would be in denial. Trust me, Ash. Seeing is believing. As much as I want to tell you myself, I know the best option is to go to the source of the problem: Viridian Forest."
Aurora looked up in the sky. "I don't want to go back, but it seems I have no choice. I don't want to hurt Ash, but he needs to learn the truth."
"Learn the truth about what?" Ash eyed the elder guardian suspiciously. Aurora widened her eyes and gasped in shock. Then, she smiled, "I didn't expect you to pick up on that trick so fast. You're still a fast learner."
"You didn't answer my question. When you were in your vision, you mentioned that I was seven and that psychics were trying to kill us. What happened to you? To us, it seems. Did you know me before?" Ash asked, begging for answers. He wasn't going to fall for Aurora changing the subject. With his emotions this charged, he felt it was easier to peer into her thoughts.
"I…" Aurora's gaze moved to the side. She was dreading this. She couldn't stand to see the lost look in Ash's brown eyes. She sighed. "Yes, I did know you before, but it's not in my place to tell you. You wouldn't believe me. It is in my place to show you what happened. Just thinking about…" She continued in her thoughts, "How I wasn't able to protect you still haunts me to this day."
"Protect me from what? What wouldn't I believe you? Why are you being so evasive?" Ash asked annoyed. He was getting tired of her not answering him directly.
"Because… when I show you, the life that you know will effectively come to an end. There is no turning back once you remember the past." Aurora said darkly.
A/N: So... the real plot starts. Counterbalances... I can't wait for you guys to meet Ash's and Aurora's counterbalances. I can't help but feel excited, but nervous at the same time. In later chapters, I'll go more in depth about them, but I'll say this: It's gonna be fun writing a more sarcastic version of Ash.
I think it's pretty obvious that Aurora is Ruru, considering her other nickname is Auru. The question is... what is its importance? How will their counterbalances be like when they come out in person? You'll find out relatively soon, actually. Well, see you later~
Next chapter: The Journey Continues! Connections, Connections…
See you later~
~SPG123~