A/N: Hey-oh and hiya everyone! Welcome to the final part of Ash's trials. I didn't quite get this chapter out by my birthday, but I hope you don't mind the fact that I wrote out the next three chapters instead. A little waiting isn't so bad, right?
This chapter should hopefully be enjoyable to read. That's always the goal with any chapter (besides enhancing quality and trying to improve as a writer).
Disclaimer: Pokemon is not mine to own and blah blah. I own the story and its concepts. You guys get the gist of this by this point.
Day 6
Ash and Ashton found themselves back in the Tree of Beginning, almost as if nothing happened yesterday. They both were up earlier in the dream, being unable to sleep too well from what they saw yesterday. Ashton seemed more affected than Ash was, to the point of him not wanting to come out during the vision. Ash didn't want to bother Ashton about it since he was still trying to process the unnerved feeling he had inside him.
The duo walked together in silence, foraging berries and gathering water. They've gotten a lot better at surviving without much help. Everything came naturally. However, sometimes, Ash would ask Ashton certain questions about what berry would be good to eat and which ones were poisonous. Ashton was happy to help and in doing so, the duo became even closer. Ash never thought he would have been about to finish this trial, but he felt like the end was so near. He could taste it.
Now, the boys were just roaming around the tree until Mew found them. They knew they would be facing Pikachu today, but they had to wonder what sort of lesson Mew wanted to teach them today. Ash and Ashton decided to stay in the forested area today. They both felt like it would be more appropriate to meet Pikachu in a forest, especially since Pikachu was from the Viridian Forest. After a couple of hours of walking, they spotted something yellow from a distance.
Ash and Ashton looked at each other, then looked at the yellow thing. They smirked slightly to themselves. Ashton said, "Think we can flip the script on her?"
"I wouldn't mind that. Let's give her a bit of her own medicine for a change." Ash said.
The two slowly approached the yellow figure. They tried their hardest not to make any sound. Eventually, they reached the mysterious yellow Pokémon. However, it was taller than they anticipated and its tail was more smooth. The Pokémon turned its head, tilted it to the side and looked at the two Ashes with a blank expression. Ash and Ashton both were thinking the same thing.
"(Who… are you?)" The Pokémon said in a slow and confused tone.
"A Psyduck?" Ash blinked in surprise.
"Why would a Psyduck be here?" Ashton said with suspicion.
The boys heard something right above them, on a branch. They immediately looked up, but saw nothing. Scratching their heads, they looked around at the tops of the trees for what could have made that noise. When they looked down, the Psyduck had disappeared. Ash and Ashton's guard immediately rose. Ashton's hands began to crackle with electricity while Ash looked serious. They adopted a fighting pose while looking alert.
"Thunder… bolt!" A cry was heard from above. A flash of powerful yellow light was shot toward the humans. Then, Ash and Ashton got electrocuted. They both stood there without taking too much damage. Ashton retaliated with an electrical attack of his own, but what had attacked them was too fast. Ashton sucked his teeth.
Ash knew that electrical attack anywhere. He called out, "Mew… you're Pikachu, right?"
"Liked my little fake out attempt with Psyduck? You won't ever be able to surprise me by sneaking up behind me." A yellow mouse jumped out from the shadows and made itself known. Ash and Ashton didn't seem amused in the slightest. The mouse's cheeks sparked wildly in electrical power as she said, "Welcome to your final day of the survival challenge. You should proud to be almost done with this… and as novices no less! Makes me proud as your patron. Give me your best shot, boys."
"Before you attack us again, I have to ask this. Why did you decide to show us what happened a little after the separation?" Ashton spoke up suddenly. Mew stood up on her hind legs and sparks stopped flying from her cheeks.
"I figured you deserved to know and I felt like you were ready for it." Mew responded honestly. Ashton didn't expect such a simple response from her.
"Alright. Sorry… I'm still a bit hung up after seeing Ruru like that." Ashton admitted while looking away. Ash seemed to have the same thoughts.
"I understand. If you want, we can wait until a little later until I formerly try to attack you again." Mew offered. Ashton narrowed his eyes.
"Why so nice recently?" Ashton said in a cynical way.
"Huh?" Mew was a bit surprised by his tone.
"You haven't done anything too harsh or cruel in the last couple of days. You've been a lot nicer. What's your angle?" Ashton asked in a wary tone.
"There is no angle, but I wouldn't expect you to believe me. After all, you're the more skeptical side of Ash. As such, you question your loyalties more." Mew pointed out.
"Loyalty… huh?" Ash said while drifting off. He had a thought and wondered if Mew would confirm it, "Hey Mew, is Pikachu my Aspect of Loyalty?"
Mew pondered the question before shrugging. "He might be. He might not. I rather not ruin the surprise of discovery… at least not as much as I already have."
"Ashton, you have any idea what she's talking about?" Ash asked the counterbalance.
"Mew's already told me that Lucario will be our Aspect of Emotion to help me connect to my emotions better." Ashton explained to him.
"That's pretty cool to know, but I'm glad you're not telling me about Pikachu. It'll make the growth my Pokémon and the experiences we share that much sweeter." Ash said, somewhat pumped. Mew giggled.
"Do you still want to take me up on my offer, though? The choice is yours."Mew offered.
"You've been wanting to help us get stronger and we appreciate that. However, we also want you to talk about how you've been feeling. It's clear something happened to you yesterday that you feel uncomfortable saying. I don't care how much you've been hiding your emotions, you can't hide that." Ash said in a firm voice. Ashton was surprised by his tone. Mew was caught off guard as well.
"Ash… I rather not…" Mew said while lowering her ears.
"It's clear you're bothered by it. It's good to talk about how you feel. If we're your trusted Ketchums, shouldn't you trust us enough to tell us?" Ash raised a point.
"Ash, that's not it at all. I do trust you, but you don't know enough about the current state of the world to understand. You don't know anything about the Second Great Prophecy. You only know a little about the outcome of the First Great Prophecy, but you don't know the details of it. If you knew more, I would gladly say how I'm feeling."Mew said.
"Why don't you tell me more then?" Ash said.
"Fine. I will." Mew relented. Mew's ears perked up and she suddenly said. "Wait."
"Wait? Wait for what?" Ash questioned.
"Come on, I have to meet myself soon." Mew said in an urgent tone.
"Yourself?" Both Ashes at this point were bemused.
"Yes. Myself. You know I can create multiple copies of myself. I'll tell you where to go." Mew jumped on Ash's left shoulder and rested herself there. At first, Ash felt awkward about it, but then he found that he missed the feeling of having Pikachu on his shoulder. Mew seemed to know this and smiled at the boy. Ash smiled back. Mew instructed, "Head toward the grassland area. Run as fast as you can."
"Got it." Ash abided by his transformed patron's request. Within seconds, Ash was gone and Ashton was left in the dust. Ashton rolled his eyes and shrugged. Then, he quickly caught up with his balance and patron. Eventually, the boys reached the wide-open grassland they were accustomed to seeing.
Mew jumped off Ash's shoulder and shot a powerful bolt of electrical energy to the sky as a sort of beacon. She kept shooting her electricity in the sky. Ash and Ashton looked off into the distance to see if they could see another Mew. However, they didn't know what form Mew could be. Heck, they didn't know why she was searching for herself in the first place.
Then, from a distance, they saw a powerful line of blue fire shot into the sky as some sort of acknowledgement. Then, a second line of fire was shot. Ash and Ashton tilted their heads in confusion. They were wondering if Mew had two copies of her coming. Eventually, the two lines of fire combined into one.
"Boys… can you do the same?" Mew requested as she stopped shooting electricity into the sky.
"What?" The boys asked in confusion.
"Channel the energy you have into the sky in the way you feel the most natural." Mew encouraged with a smile.
Ash wasn't sure how to do that while Ashton got it instantly. Ashton closed his eyes. His arms became charged with electricity. Cracking his knuckles, Ashton then shot all his pent-up energy into the sky. It came out in the form of a yellow lightning bolt. Mew's eyes were glittering with happiness. She jumped back on Ash's left shoulder and gestured him to try as well. Ash seemed a bit unsure of himself. He was never the side to create energy from his aura.
Ash looked back toward Mew. For a moment, he thought he had Pikachu on his shoulder encouraging him. It gave him a bit of a chill how accurate Mew was with her transformation. Ash looked down at his hands. Mew smiled to herself. Curling up his fists and closing his eyes he started to concentrate. At first, nothing was happening. Eventually, tiny sparks began to form all around Ash's body. Mew was getting shocked just sitting on his shoulder and decided to jump off.
Ash's 'z' shaped marks began to glow. With a yell, he shot all his pent-up energy into the sky. Ashton gasped and mouthed 'Wow' under his breath from the sheer power of it. The counterbalance smirked and decided to step it up himself and added more power to his electricity. The two bolts clashed and formed one massive lightning bolt. Mew was running around the two of them in glee. When the blue fire disappeared from the sky, that's when both Ashton and Ash decided to stop.
Within a few minutes, they could see something fast approaching them. Ash and Ashton noticed two people on a Charizard with a blue-flamed tail. Ash had to squint his eyes while Ashton gasped. Then, he ran straight for them. Seeing as he didn't have much choice, Ash followed him with Mew jumping on his shoulder before he took off. As she got closer, he could see why Ashton took off.
"Is that…. Aurora and Aru?" Ash questioned to himself.
The two ladies in question jumped off the Charizard and stood right in front of Ashton. Ash caught up and gasped. His eyes weren't fooling him. Aurora and Aru were both smiling proudly at the two for them. Ash had the urge to hug them tightly, but he didn't know why. However, he thought he it be a bit awkward to do that. Ashton seemed to be sharing the same thoughts.
The Charizard suddenly turned into pink light and transferred into the Pikachu. Mew smiled happily. Then, everyone just stood there. Aru decided to break the somewhat awkward silence by walking up to the boys and pressing their hats down on their heads.
"H-hey!" Ash and Ashton said, slightly annoyed. They both immediately pulled their hats back up.
"Heh. That evoked some sort of response from ya, didn't it?" Aru winked.
"Aru!" Aurora playfully punched her counterbalance in the arm.
"What? They're just standing around staring at us like we're mirages. Gotta show them we're real in some way, right?" Aru said cheekily. Aru regarded both of them, "That was an amazing show of power, you two. Ashton, the first lightning bolt was yours, right?"
"Yeah…" Ashton replied nervously.
"Hmm…" Aru frowned and stared into Ashton's eyes. Ashton's heart was pounding. Ash glanced at his counterbalance and was shocked. He didn't know Ashton was this way around Aru normally. Then, Aru grinned and patted his back. Ashton grunted by the impact. It seems his mother didn't know her own strength. She praised, "That was a fantastic improvement over the first one! If I'd gotten shocked by that one instead of the one you did in your rampage, I might have taken some serious damage. Nice work. I'm proud."
Ashton widened his eyes and blushed. Internally, he was jumping up and down in excitement. Aru saw this and chuckled, "Seems like you're still as shy as before. That's alright, though. Keep up the good work, Ashton."
"Thank you." Ashton said, rubbing his hand behind his head. Aurora focused her attention on Ash.
"We only shot out fire because Mew suggested it to us as Chari. I didn't know you knew how to emulate aura, Ash." Aurora said in surprise. She suddenly gained a bit of a playful look as she walked up to him and poked him on his nose. Ash blinked his eyes slightly and the glow on the 'z' shaped marks disappeared. Ash hadn't noticed his marks were glowing. Aurora said, "Amazing power and potential. You might need to focus on getting better control, but that will come in good time."
"I don't though. I really don't know what I'm doing." Ash admitted.
"You know more than you think you know. Mew has a knack for showing that." Aurora said.
"See? What did I tell you? They've learned a lot in the past few days." Mew chirped.
"I definitely see that. I can't wait to see what else you can do, Ash." Aurora said with a toothless grin. As she said this, Ash began to frown. Aurora tilted her head slightly in confusion, wondering what she said weird. Then, it hit her. Ash and Ashton were being tested so Mew could make anything happen.
"How do I know you're not another illusion put up by Mew, Aurora. She's woken me up while looking like you." Ash asked with narrowed eyes. Aurora smiled and shrugged.
"Really now?" Aurora said with a bit of surprise.
"Hey, it was funny." Mew shrugged. Ashton didn't seem amused either. He got a bit closer to Ash.
"Yeah, Mew can easily pose as you two. I don't know if Ash and I should trust you." Ashton narrowed his eyes in the same fashion. Aru grinned.
"Excellent. You shouldn't trust us until we've proven ourselves. Aurora, care to do the honors?" Aru glanced at her balance. Aurora nodded and looked at the two suspicious boys.
"It's wonderful that you're skeptical of us. Let's see what we can do to fix that…" Aurora dug into her pouch and took out a treat she knew Ash and Ashton would love. Ash's and Ashton's mouths began to salivate at the sight of it.
"Gimme, gimme, gimme!" Ash and Ashton tried grabbing the tart of her, but she was too tall. However, she had to tiptoe to prevent the boys from reaching since they were more aggressive in trying to take the treat from her. Aru was laughing watching this.
"Ah, ah, ah, young ones. You must nice nicely for this recently baked, fresh, warm and delicious multi-flavored Pokémon Tart. Also, you have to acknowledge that I'm the real Aurora and Aru's the real Aru." Aurora said with a mischievous smirk. She voiced out the description slowly, annunciating every word playfully.
"Ugh… Ruru we're dying…. Please… help… save… us." Ashton begged.
"You're real. You're definitely both real… please feed us some tarts… please." Ash begged in the same fashion. They shriveled, acting as though they were weak and helpless. Mew widened her eyes in astonishment while Aurora giggled.
"Just like my old boys, heh." Aurora snickered to herself. She said aloud, "Haha. I figured you should be starving after all you've went through so I asked Mew special permission to do this…."
Aurora snapped her fingers. A white tableclothed table appeared with a large buffet of foods and treats. Aurora also materialized some Pokémon food to nibble on in her hands. Mew's ears perked up. She jumped off Ash's shoulder and onto Aurora's to eat. Meanwhile, the boys' stomachs were growling loudly. Aurora and Aru giggled slightly and gestured them toward the table.
"Is this real?" Ashton wondered.
"We can actually eat this?" Ash asked like he was an innocent little boy. They were only vacillating because Mew caused them headaches the last time they conjured food.
"Go ahead, dears." Mew said as she accepted more Pokémon food from Aurora's hands. The boys sprinted toward the table and started to eat as much as they could. Aurora and Aru sweatdropped at how sloppy they were. As they ate, Mew called out, "Once you're done, I'm still going to have to kill you."
"What?" Ash and Ashton both choked on their food. Mew chucked.
"Did you forget that this is a survival challenge? You were right. I have been acting too nice. Time to get back into the swing of things." Mew chirped with a bit of excitement.
"Mew, you-" Aurora turned to the transformed Pokémon, but Mew shook her head and interrupted her.
"Look, I've been a lot more respecting than I usually am, but… the best guardians are able to best their closest partner. You what I mean with Chari. Do not intervene." Mew ordered.
"But-" Aurora tried to respond, but Mew's eyes were glowing red at this point. Aurora became unnerved by the response and sweatdropped. In fact, everyone around Mew moved back. A Pikachu with glowing red eyes was a stark contrast to how cute they normally looked. Her cheeks began to spark wildly and she was frowning.
"No. Do not intervene with this. I know what I'm doing and Ash deserves a fight with Pikachu. After all, this is Pikachu's day… not yours. My word is final." Mew growled.
"…I'll try not to. Ugh, I hate when you become adamant about anything." Aurora pouted. Mew sighed.
"I can see that, dear." Mew said as her eyes turned back into cute little brown ones. "Eat up, Ash and Ashton, for when you do, I'll give you a good fight."
The boys suddenly lost their appetite upon seeing Pikachu like that. It creeped them out. Aurora noticed their slight distress and placed two Poké Tarts on the table. She made an encouraging smile and winked at them. Ash and Ashton looked at her with a bit of appreciation. They quickly ate the granola bar in front of them. Once Aurora saw they were done eating, she snapped her fingers again. The table and all its waste disappeared.
Mew jumped off Aurora's shoulder, ran toward the boys with a competitive smirk, and formed electrical sparks from her cheeks. She seemed to be pumped. Ash and Ashton were less than thrilled to be fighting Pikachu, but based on her earlier display to Aurora, they didn't want to argue with her. They stood across from the electric mouse. Aurora and Aru stood on the sidelines and crossed their arms. Their eyes seemed different to the boys… they were more analyzing than normal.
"In order to be a great master guardian, you must have the ability to best your Aspects. Aspects are a part of you, so if you can't beat a portion, how can you deal with the whole of yourself? You will never be able to improve otherwise. So… to up the ante, I will fight you as if Pikachu is already a master partner." Mew declared.
"What? Mew, we're not ready for that! We barely know how to fight as it is." Ash argued.
"True… but I wouldn't do this if I didn't know you could do it. Besides, you have it slightly easier than most." Mew sighed.
"How?" Ashton asked.
"Both sides of you are allowed to fight. If I fought you as a master partner individually, both of you would get destroyed. I rather not push you to your breaking point again so soon…" Mew paused to look at Ash's reaction. Just like she anticipated, Ash was looking away. She knew he was afraid of losing control again so she decided to tailor the fight with that in mind. She continued, "As Pikachu is your most well bonded partner, things should prove challenging for you, even though it's two versus one. Good luck and give me your best shot, boys."
With that being said, Mew charged her body full of energy. She got on all fours and shot out a powerful wave of electricity. Ash, Ashton and Mew suddenly were encompassed by an electrical forcefield. The bubble was the size of a regular battlefield. Aurora widened her eyes with Aru narrowed them. Neither of them expected Pikachu to be able to do that.
Ash and Ashton looked around them in wonder. They both felt like they were in an even more potent version of Electric Terrain, but it was mixed in with aura. Aurora got curious and touched the field. She immediately got shocked. Aurora hissed and jerked her hand back. Meanwhile, Aru was laughing at her. Aurora frowned and snapped her fingers. Aru was caught off guard when her hand was caught in a yellow outline and she was forced to slap herself. Ash and Ashton were shocked. That display seemed a bit uncharacteristic to them. They looked toward their relatives.
"H-hey! You haven't done that since we were kids!" Aru growled.
"Don't laugh then." Aurora snickered herself and stuck her tongue out. Aru growled and looked ready to retaliate until she noticed how Mew was looking at them. Mew made Pikachu's eyes red again. The two women immediately got creeped out.
"Girls... don't turn into a distraction." Mew growled. Aurora and Aru sweatdropped at how forceful she was and nodded.
Mew turned back toward the boys and stood on all four legs. Then, she charged at them with a supersonic speed. Ashton barely had time to react when he got struck in the stomach by the Pikachu's steely tail. He got knocked toward the edge of the forcefield. Ash immediately tried to aid his counterbalance, but Mew blocked with a mighty Thunderbolt attack. Ash jumped back at the sheer intensity of it.
Ash barely had enough time to register the Thunderbolt when Mew suddenly appeared right above him and knocked her steely tail into his head. Ash screamed in pain and fell on the ground. Ashton recovered from his blow and growled at the transformed psychic type. He tried to charge up electricity in his hands, but Mew was already in front of him. She tackled him onto the ground. Ashton had barely blinked. Mew kept zipping around the field at an incredible rate to disorient the boys.
"Jeez! I've never seen Pikachu use Quick Attack like that. It's almost like she's teleporting. How are we supposed to hit such a fast target?" Ashton hissed.
Mew responded by forming electrical sparks in her cheeks. She was oddly serious and focused. Ashton got up and helped Ash up. Ash's head was hurting, but slowly dulled out as his aura responded to the injury. He looked at the electric mouse with an indescribable expression. Truth be told, he was terrified and saddened that he was going against Pikachu of all Pokémon. Still, he knew that Mew didn't give him a choice in the matter.
Mew once again charged up electricity. Ash and Ashton's guard rose. Once again, Mew seemingly disappeared once again. However, this time, she got blocked by Ashton. Ashton created a forcefield around himself and Ash, using what he saw Aru do during her rampage. Then, he pushed it back. Mew grunted when her body got knocked against the electrical field. Her fur bristled slightly when she made contact, but she easily shook it off. Aru found herself impressed with the effort, but Aurora was biting her lip in worry.
Ash and Ashton didn't know what to do. Pikachu was too small to fight fist to fist, but too fast to properly pinpoint. Ashton suddenly got an idea. He whispered it in Ash's ear. Ash seemed slightly uncertain, but nodded. Ashton cracked his knuckles and slammed his fist into the ground. Mew immediately jumped up, anticipating that Ashton would want to paralyze her movements like he did two days before.
As the Pikachu jumped, Ash brought out his hands and concentrated. Mew was suddenly trapped in a dark blue outline. Mew bared her teeth out as she struggled to be released from Ash's aura. Ash's marks began to glow as he kept her firmly in place. Then, Ashton charged up electricity and shocked the electric type Pokémon. Mew screamed as she took the hit. Ashton kept shooting electricity until an explosion came. Mew fell on the ground with a thud.
The boys thought they did it until Mew got up and shook herself off as it she was wet. Ash and Ashton were horrified. Last time Ashton did that, Pikachu had fainted. Now, Pikachu barely got scratched. Seeing this also made them oddly excited. Pikachu was going to be a real powerhouse as a master partner, even if it hindered them in this case.
"That was a nice attempt. Try my attack." Mew smirked as she charged up electricity of her own. Before the boys knew it, Mew shot out a powerful violet lightning bolt at them. Both Ashes screamed in agony and did not take the hit well at all. Ash and Ashton collapsed on the ground with small purple static entangling them. They barely looked like they could get up.
Aurora's eyes became lined with tears as she imagined the separation and how she was after being shocked. She didn't want that for her boys, even though this was a trial. Aru saw the look on her face and knew Aurora was going to do something impulsive. Without thinking, Aurora rushed in and tried to help them, but Aru anticipated this, stopped her by grabbing her hand, shook her head. The look on her face was evident: 'Stay out of it and let them handle it themselves.' Aurora was too stubborn to listen.
"Let go of me! I have to save them." Aurora roughly shook her hand away and shot a powerful line of blue fire toward the electrical forcefield. The attack easily bypassed the field and was aimed straight for Mew. Mew semi-expected Aurora's motherly instinct to kick in at some point in the fight so she stood there and blocked the attack with a small barrier surrounding herself. Aurora was surprised that Pikachu could do that, but then again, so could her partners. However, Mew looked slightly cross with the middle-aged woman. Mew surprised both herself and Aurora by not retaliating immediately. Mew turned to the raven-haired woman and glared at her.
"Aurora Alexandra Ketchum… This is the third time I've warned you and I will not warn you again. Do not interfere with Ashton's trial. Human help is never allowed during a Ketchum's trial and you know this. You are no exception. He has to earn his keep like you did." Mew said forcefully.
"…" Aurora didn't respond and merely glared at the Pikachu. She was snarling quietly and her wolf-like eyes seemed to show more of its more primal nature. However, she was staying put like Mew wanted so the transformed legendary didn't care about her death stare.
"Good. You know what happens the next time I am disobeyed. I hate to be this way with you, but know your place." Mew said in a firm tone. Mew focused herself back into the fight.
Aurora turned away and merely began to pace in place. The ground around her was beginning to heat up as her body was steaming. Aru noticed this and had to cool her off. Literally. Aru stopped her by placing a cold hand on her shoulder. Aurora gasped when she heard a hissing sound and sweatdropped slightly. Aru laughed a little but made a reassuring smile.
"Hey… Don't sweat it. I know you're worried, but Ash and Ashton are gonna be fine." Aru tried to cheer her up.
"I'm just afraid for them. They can get seriously hurt if this keeps up." Aurora said with worry. Aru rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip.
"Aurora… you've officially turned into Mother." Aru chuckled with observation.
"What?" Aurora growled. Aru decided to elaborate.
"Um… overprotective much? You're being just like her when she saw you getting hurt by Mew's training." Aru pointed out.
"I am not!" The balance immediately denied.
"You're totally in denial. Mother used to try to rush in when she felt like Father or Mew were being too hard on you. Mew often had to warn her to not butt in like she's doing with you. You can't be that dense not to see what you're doing, girl." Aru continued to explain. When she said that, Aurora gasped and started to feel an odd chill down her spine. Aru smiled that she'd gotten through to her balance.
"Oh my… you're right. I guess… Ash and Ashton aren't as small as they used to be… and I can't protect them from everything." Aurora sighed. She thought, "My babies… I guess I should trust them more. Go kick Mew's tail, boys!"
"Yep. Now stand still and watch them. We need to see what we can help them work on." Aru suggested.
"Got it." Aurora nodded and quieted down.
Mew was a bit grateful to Aru for convincing Aurora to stay put. She knew how stubborn any Ketchum could be when their mind was on something. After all, she was the exact same way. With Aurora out on the way, she could focus on bettering Ash and Ashton. The two boys slowly got up, though they had purple static entangling their bodies. They grunted in pain, but refused to back down. Mew found herself grinning.
"I'm impressed that you managed to stand up so soon. That lightning bolt would have killed a regular human." Mew said with violet sparks wilding coming from her cheeks.
"Pikachu having purple lighting is cool to see. It shows that his lighting will reach the hottest form of electricity. However…" Ashton started, but snapped his fingers and concentrated. The ground began to shake as Ashton's gaze grew sharp. A sharp rock emerged from the ground as the counterbalance directed toward the electric mouse. Mew immediately destroyed it with her tail. Ashton continued, "No matter what you do to us… as long as I have Ash by my side, there's nothing we can't do!"
"Ashton…" Ash seemed speechless by that.
Ashton turned to Ash with a grin. Ashton put his hand out for Ash to take. Ash was surprised. Ashton hated to touch anything. Ashton saw Ash's hesitation and asked, "Care to do this, partner?"
Ash looked at his counterpart's hand for several moments before responding. Ash grinned from ear to ear as he said, "Right. Let's do it!"
When Ash grabbed Ashton hand, he tightly gripped it. Ashton smiled as his body began to waver. Aurora, Aru and Mew all gasped when Ashton transferred himself back into Ash's body. Ash closed his eyes as this was happening. Eventually, he couldn't feel the tight grip of Ashton's hand, but instead he felt a warm, fuzzy and complete feeling. When he opened his eyes, his left eye was red and his right eye was brown. Ash immediately created a bone club aura and looked primed for battle.
"The aura allegiance… how unexpected." Mew mumbled to herself. Aurora's and Aru's eyes were sparkling in excitement. They all knew that the real fight began now.
Ash had a serious expression on his face. Mew immediately attacked him with a powerful Thunderbolt attack. Ash smirked as he spun the bone club around to take to blast. Mew blinked her eyes, then growled. She increased the voltage of the attack. Ash stepped back slightly at the pure intensity of the electrical attack, but stood his ground. The raven-haired male kept spinning unless he sensed an opening. He threw the electrified bone club at Mew's feet.
Mew hissed at taking in her own electricity and the bone club being so close to the ground caused a small explosion. Ash's red eye began to glow slightly. In the midst of the smoke, Ash punched the ground and shot out multiple rocks towards the electric attack. Mew's ears perked up slightly as she heard the move coming. She quickly dodged the incoming rocks and headed straight for them in a breakneck speed. However, she was stopped Ash rose his right hand. Some of the grass suddenly grew more and wrapped around her legs, forcing her to trip.
Mew tried her hardest to escape the grass, but more kept coming to wrap around her feet. Then, Ash's body became surrounded in a purple aura as he shot a wave of negative energy at the snared rodent. Mew grunted in pain as the dark type emulation knocked her at the edge of the electrical field. She once again shook of the damage from the electricity to head straight for them.
As she approached, Ash once again made grass spring up to trip her. However, Mew was more privy to his trick. She jumped high into the sky and charge up electricity. Ash tightly curled up his fist. He began to feel a burning sensation, but this feeling came his hands and it felt empowering. He shot out a steely light from hands. Mew gasped as she stood there and stood the hit. She was pushed back slightly.
Mew frowned and immediately retaliated with another electrical attack. Ash fought back by summoning yellowish fire from his right hand next. The two attacks clashed fiercely. Neither sides reused to give each other an inch. At some point, the electricity started to overcome the fire, so Ash decided to fight back harder by using his own electrical aura. From his right hand, he created electrical aura and shot it at Mew's electrical blast.
Ash's and Mew attacks kept clashing. Neither Pokémon nor person gave the other an inch and they both were fine with that. Despite Ash's best efforts, the purple lightning inched closer and closer until it bypassed the fire and electricity. However, instead of getting hit directly, the lightning hit the ground near his feet. Ash was still close enough to get effected by the attack. Ash gasped as he was pushed into the forcefield and wailed in pain from being electrocuted. He did not take this electric attack as well as he did Pikachu's direct attack earlier due to the effects of the aura allegiance. The boy fell on the ground with his body sizzling slightly.
Mew looked at the fallen Ketchum with a serious expression. Aurora looked at Mew with a smile. She knew that Mew purposefully didn't aim her attack at Ash directly. Aurora and Aru rose their eyebrows in thought upon seeing all that. Mew had the same thoughts as the ladies.
"Hmm… rock, grass, dark, steel, fire and electric. There's no mistaking it. He's using elements from his partners' typings. Ashton's devotion to Ash is unlocking abilities he would have been able to do by this point if it wasn't for the separation. The loyalty between the two is strong. Simply astounding." Mew thought with a smile.
Ash started to get back up again. His body was aching, but he didn't care. Mew's cheeks began to spark once again and she seemed eager. However, the energy used from all the electric attacks and maintaining the electrical forcefield, combined with getting hit with all of Ash's attacks finally did her in. With a smile, Mew collapsed on the ground, defeated. The electrical forcefield disappeared. Ash immediately widened his eyes. He actually did it.
The boy did something Mew didn't expect. He ran straight for her and carried her in his arms.
Mew opened her eyes to see that she was firmly in Ash's embrace. She weakly smiled and licked him on his cheek. Ash looked at the mouse with saddened eyes. Mew murmured, "You did amazingly. I can't be a prouder teacher."
"Mew… why did you do this to yourself? We need to get you healed up." Ash said in concern. He spoke with both sides of himself. Mew shook her head.
"Heh. Do not worry about me. I accomplished my goal of making you stronger throughout the six days. All that there's left for you to do is to find and connect with all your partners and train. However, I do have one question I want you to answer. Be as brutally honest as you possibly can be." Mew instructed softly.
"Of course," Ash nodded.
"Despite all that I've done to you and everything you've experienced… do you trust me?" Mew asked, looking away from Ash. Ash's eyes softened upon hearing the question.
"Mew…"
"Answer me. I need to know… for closure."
"Closure…?" Ash echoed in slightly confusion.
"If you answer me, you'll find out why I said that… and why I had disappeared yesterday." Mew said with a bit of a toneless laugh. From how she asked it, she knew it was no laughing matter. Ash looked at Mew with an indescribable expression.
"I… honestly don't know what to think of you. You seemed sadistic at first and you didn't seem to care about anyone's feelings but your own. I hated being trapped in my own dream for the first few days. Despite this… I'm grateful for all that you've done for me. You've helped to keep me safe without me realizing it and you've helped me to realize so many things during these six days. You've helped make me feel… more complete with myself and I've gotten stronger. You've gotten a lot more sympathetic to others' feelings over time, too. So, in a way this has been a trial for all of us. All the pain from this trial has shown me that you do care… at least in your odd way. Because of this, I can safely say I do trust you, but I am still slightly wary of you." Ash explained from the bottom of his heart.
Mew jumped out of his arms and nodded. She winked, "Then we're one step closer to a greater future. Thank you... for answer my question."
"Now you need to tell me what happened yesterday." Ash said. Mew nodded.
Mew explained what happened to her yesterday. Mew explained her reasoning for why she sought out Aurora and Aru and explained why they came with her today. She also talked about her encounter with Arceus and how she was unable to leave Aurora's dream until Aurora and Aru found her and helped nursed her back to health. She even told them about what happened in the First Great Prophecy, her insecurities about the Second Prophecy and how it could go either way. She also recited the Second Great Prophecy.
Two guardians bound by a memory lost
Sets the pace of balance being cost
The love of opposite sides proves robust
Love's final breath, world on brink to dust
A cardinal decision dictates one's creed
Ruin or rebirth, the stronger loyalty succeed
"…" Ash was speechless and sat down to take in everything. He could believe that Arceus would attack his own mate like that. He wondered if his and Serena's relationship could decay like Mew's and Arceus. It gave him a shiver down his spine. The prophecy seemed to imply that it wouldn't, but the relationship complicated things. It seemed they would go through a lot. After all, Serena was partly psychic and Ash was a guardian. He had so many questions swimming in his mind, but wasn't sure what to ask.
"Is there a possibility that I'm not the person the prophecy is talking about? It seems a bit open ended." Ash said after thinking about what he wanted to say.
"There's always a possibility, Ash. There could be several other psychic and guardian couples and the 'cardinal decision' might not even be decided by you. However, I'm fairly confident that the two guardians bound by a memory lost are you and Aurora. There's no other guardians that could be put into that position and Nyxcipher wouldn't really have any reason to bound other guardians together like this." Mew said.
"Why did you bound me and Aurora together knowing that the prophecy would start?" Ash asked somewhat angrily. He felt like all of this could have been avoided.
"Because… I felt like it would be unfair for you and Aurora to be kept apart. Besides, the prophecy was bound to begin at a certain point when Nyxcipher made his move targeting you two nine years ago. When you lost your memory and Aurora lost her memory of you through her coma, I had to do something to help reverse that... which was bounding you two together. I was forced to help start the sequence of events, otherwise, the Zurui leader's devotion to Nyxcipher would bring ruin to the world." Mew explained.
"Young one… how do you feel?" Aurora walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Aru followed suit.
"This… is a lot to take in, Ruru. I'm not sure how I feel about all this." Ash said.
"I felt that way when I first learned about the Great Prophecy. I'm not sure if Mew should have explained all this to you yet, but I'm glad she did. Still, try not to stress about the Great Prophecy too much. Live your life the best way you can and continue the pursue your dreams. Things do happen for a reason, after all." Aurora said with a smile. She kissed him on his forehead and tapped his nose. Ash subconsciously flinched to her touch and nodded.
"I don't know about you… but I really want to spar against you. Yeah, the Great Prophecy sucks, but all we can do is grow stronger in case we need to do something about it. How about it, young one?" Aru said with a cheeky grin. Ash laughed through Ashton's voice.
"You're on! I can't wait to show what I've got!" Ash said eagerly.
"And I can't wait to bring what I have to the table." Aru responded in kind.
"Hey… let me join in on this, too. I always love to spar." Aurora said as well. She crossed her arms and added, "However, you should be healed before we start. Mew did do a number on you."
"Right." Ash nodded.
"Have fun improving, dears."Mew chuckled. She was excited to see how this would play out even though she had a good idea who would win.
Once Aurora and Aru tended to Ash's injuries, started to spar intensely. At first, he fought them under the aura allegiance, he eventually grew too tired to maintain the allegiance and Ashton separated himself from his balance. Then, they started to fight as a team. Aurora and Aru showed them things they were exited to learn in the future such as transforming into aura or using their aura as an illusion to counterstrike.
Despite showing them these things, Ash and Ashton found that they could barely land a hit on either one of them. They were both in awe and slightly frustrated. Either Aurora or Aru dodged their attempt immediately or one of them covered for the other beautifully. Mew raised an eyebrow watching this because it meant that they would work together well when separated in the real world. She simply sat down in the sidelines as Pikachu, silently cheering everyone on.
They kept going at it until it was dusk. Ash and Ashton both fell back on the ground, exhausted. Aurora and Aru seemed raring to go still. They smiled proudly at their son for going on so long.
"So tired…" Ash yawned.
"Wow, Ruru and Aruru… how did you get to be so good?" Ashton wondered.
"Lots of practice. I couldn't land a clean hit on my dad until I was about twenty-one and that was when he provoked me to be angry. Trust me, it's hard to land a hit against a master guardian unless you're experienced yourself." Aurora explained.
"Even still, we both feel like we can improve. After all, Mew can still body us in an actual fighting match." Aru admitted.
"Seriously?" The boy looked back at Mew in surprise. Mew shrugged her shoulders.
"During our trial, Mew transformed into a Pokémon-human hybrid to fight us. However, she decimated both of us until we were able to trick her." Aurora explained.
"Do keep in mind that you both were weakened Lucario at the time. That wasn't an accurate representation of how you'd do against me. I could beat you two fairly easily because you had been weakened by the temple and its hardships… which was done on purpose to help make you think on your feet to beat me." Mew called out from the side.
"I guess, but we both still feel like we can improve." Aurora responded.
"Spoken like a real Ketchum." Mew chirped in excitement.
"Aurora…?" Ash suddenly called out.
"Yes, young one?" Aurora asked.
"Can you tell me everything that's happened in your trial if I tell you what happened in mine?" Ash asked in a quiet voice. Aurora widened her eyes trying to take in the question. Then, she nodded.
"Of course," Aurora said.
Aurora explained that both her and Aru were transformed into Charizard for the first day and Lucario for the rest of their trial. She explained that she learned to be a bit strong-willed when following her heart and to be clever if a situation demanded it. She also explained how Aru and her seemed to have gotten closer throughout these trials. She didn't tell him of how she was born, though. She still felt a bit tender about the subject.
Ash told her about all six days of his trials, how he could remember bits and pieces of his past as time when on, what Mew did as each of his partners, and how Ash and Ashton got closer as well. Ash even told her about the flashback he saw yesterday and what he found out from it. Aurora was listening with a small smile at first, but it slowly morphed into a frown. She knew what Ash was going to ask next and she was dreading it.
"Why didn't you tell me that you're my aunt?" Ash asked in a suspicious tone. Aurora took a deep breath and thought about how she was going to respond. Aru and Ashton seemed uncomfortable.
"To be perfectly honest, I didn't want you to know about your grandfather yet. It's going to be harder to show what happened in the vision…" Aurora sighed. "I'm not going to confirm anything to you yet. I could be your aunt…. I also might not be. We'll see. Believe whatever about me as you will."
"I don't like how she's not confirming if she's my aunt or not. Based on how she answered that, can she be my… mother? That can't be right because Mom is my mom. All of this feels ominous. Is Aurora really that secretive or…" Ash shook his head in thought. "I can't focus on that. I'll find out soon enough, I guess, but I wish she would just tell me!"
"Ash. You'll find out the minute we reach Viridian Forest. I promise. I'm sorry for being like this, but…" Aurora started.
"I know. I won't accept what I hear yet." Ash said, anticipating her response. Aurora made a sad smile, but nodded.
"You're a smart boy. Please be a little more patient, alright? Once we wake up, we can head directly to Kanto on Chari… once you've said your goodbyes to your friends, of course. I'll even fly to the exact spot." Aurora said in an effort to help him feel better.
Truth be told, he wasn't sure how to feel about all this. However, he was feeling excited that he was finally going to see what happened soon. He focused his mind on that because not knowing was beginning to make him feel antsy. Mew had slowly healed as all the Kechums sparred. She walked up to them and transformed back into her regular pixie-like form. However, she suddenly paled. Ash and Aurora suddenly wondered what was wrong.
Mew suddenly surrounded everyone in a large protective bubble. They got hit with a powerful beam of orange light that was shot into the shield. Ash and Ashton gasped in shock while Aurora and Aru narrowed their eyes.
"Stay right by me, everyone. He's back." Mew growled.
"Mew… leave this dream now! You are interfering in the lives of humans too much." A powerful voice bellowed.
"You are not my boss, Arceus, and you don't dare order me around like I'm some inferior." Mew said harshly. Aurora wasn't used to Mew speaking so harshly to anything. Mew continued, "Have you gotten so cowardly to attack humans as a way to make me conform to your will?"
"No… You know that I aimed that at you." Arceus responded.
"I was still close enough to my students so that they would be attacked as well. You're not as reckless as I am, either. Don't you recognize this boy? Has trying to contain me really clouded your sense of justice?" Mew hissed as she pointed to Ash. For a few moments, nothing was said and there was a tenseness in the air.
"You…"Arceus suddenly appeared before them and inspected Ash closer. Mew floated in front of him protectively and growled. She looked ready to pounce on him if he touched a hair on Ash. Ash asked Mew to move a little so Arceus could get a closer look. Mew reluctantly agreed. The white Pokémon gasped as his expression softened, "I didn't recognize you. I'm still very grateful for what you did to help save me in the past. You're one of the few humans I know is good."
"Arceus, why are you doing this to your mate? She's only trying to help." Ash questioned the god Pokémon. Arceus seemed to soften as he shook his head in slight sympathy. Mew scowled at this.
"Mew never tells the complete story. She likely victimized herself to gain your sympathy. Mew is very manipulative." Arceus sighed in sadness.
"I have no reason to manipulate my Ketchums when billions of lives are on the line. I want them to be able to trust me. Everything I've said since these trials have started has been true and the last time I've truly manipulated Ash was with his adventure in the Tree of Beginning three years ago. I told him about this, too. Besides, you're my counterbalance, Arcy. You're just as manipulative as I am, if not more." Mew retorted with a sneer.
"I'm not going to try to convince humans on a matter that should be settled by gods. You need to keep them out of the Great Prophecy." Arceus ordered.
"Kinda hard to do that when the prophecy's begun to progress. They have every right to be involved since this will decide if they will have a good future. Besides, you're the idiot the created the prophecy in the first place." Mew responded.
"We helped to create it."
"Lies! I wanted to kill Nyxcipher to prevent this from happening again!"
"You still agreed to help shape it."
"Not true. Stop lying to them."
"I have record of you agreeing with me that I can show and will show at any given moment."
"Yes… records that you've fabricated!" Mew roared at the centaur-like Pokémon. Aurora, Aru, Ash and Ashton all cowered at her thunderous voice. She was speaking with just as much authority as her mate at this point, but was yelling at him. "I told you of my opinion when you were first trying to give Nyxcipher another chance. I told you I wanted to kill him. So, what did you do? You made it seem like I agreed with you to the other legendary Pokémon to settle their unease about us deciding Nyxcipher's fate. You treasured unity over honesty. You lied to the council to keep a temporary peace that is now beginning to fall apart. All because you can't stand to see Nyxcipher die."
"He's our firstborn. You can't be so heartless as to causally talk about killing him." Arceus said, somewhat appalled.
"I don't care that he was our first son. I care about what his actions mean for the rest of life. You're being very selfish by only thinking of him and other immortals." Mew pointed out.
"And you're being inconsiderate for the beings that only truly matter. Humans come and go. Legendaries are immortal. have no idea why you're so determined to help beings that won't live to amount to much. Nyxcipher is needed to maintain the balance of the world because he represents the bad temptations and insecurities of life. If you kill him, you throw the world out of whack. You know this." Arceus said harshly.
"We can create another Pokémon to fill in his role or have multiple Pokémon represent his different roles like Uxie, Mespirit and Azelf did with free will and understanding life. I've told you this." Mew growled. Her blue eyes were twitching. The Ketchums had never seen Mew this angry before.
"It seems we've reached a bit of an impasse. I can't attack you with you being so close to these humans, but you can't attack me because you don't want to ruin any impression the humans may have of you. I know you're holding yourself back from showing why you're the more vicious one." Arceus said, noticing Mew's body shuddering. He knew his balance. If she was shuddering, she was preventing herself from doing something rash.
"…" Mew didn't bother responding because she knew it was true.
"I'm only thinking in the long term." Arceus continued.
"... For the preservation of the legendary Pokémon instead of everyone." Mew added on to his sentence while reinforcing what Arceus was thinking.
"…" Now, the white Pokémon was left without a proper way of responding.
"… Any respect for you I had is gone, Arceus. We will try to prevent the passing of the Second Great Prophecy." Ash spoke up, showing no fear to either titan. Arceus seemed intrigued by the boy.
"I understand, Ash. I do not wish for the Second Prophecy to pass, but I am preparing for the likelihood of it happening. Don't scratch any deeper than you already have." Arceus acknowledged the boy's words. Ash had never thought Arceus could be this cold toward humanity. Arceus continued toward Mew, "You'll have to show your face to the council, Mew. You disobeyed a direct order from me to stay out of human lives."
"As the creator of all life, I don't give two hoots about any order you give me. I will act independently of the council despite your constant pressure to give in to your wishes. It's quite unbecoming to see a side of myself turn out like this, but… I guess it's to be expected. You were forced to maintain order in any way possible and thus has become more rigid and cold over the years. I wish the Arceus I remembered was in front of me, but I guess life isn't fair." Mew snorted.
"Life is never fair. You of all Pokémon know that. You based life off that idea." Arceus reminded her.
"I also did it to help living things grow instead of stagnate from being equal. You should work hard for things to be fair. I think you should leave before I seriously try to kill you. No one nearly attacks my Ketchums and gets away with it." Mew threatened Arceus with several psychic orbs surrounding him. Arceus sweatdropped.
"If you kill me, you have no idea of the ramifications." Arceus said. Mew pretended to be scared of what may happen.
"I have some idea of what might happen. I will become the Beginning and the End and take up leadership of the council if necessary. I would become more stressed, but at least I can be in solace knowing that I followed my heart. Now… get out before I make you leave." Mew snarled.
"…" Arceus stepped back slightly in anxiety. Ash and Aurora couldn't believe what they were seeing. Such a tiny Pokémon like Mew could make a god-like Pokémon yield.
"It takes one snap, Arceus. It's your call." Mew was very close to just snapping her fingers and pull the trigger. Arceus knew she would do it, too.
"Fine. Do remember that all actions have consequences." Arceus finally conceded. As he was disappearing, Arceus stated, "I hope we meet again in slightly better circumstances, Ash and Aurora."
When he finally disappeared, Ash just saw down on the ground and looked up at the sky. He sat there to process everything he'd heard and seen in past day. At this point, he simply wanted to rest to digest everything. He didn't know what to think of the two Great Prophecies or Nyxcipher.
As he sat on the floor, he said innocently, "Aurora… when I get my memories back, can you tell me more about Nyxcipher?"
"Oh…, of course." Aurora nodded and blinked her eyes. She wasn't sure if she could provide much information, but she would gladly tell him what she knew when the time came.
"I think I just wanna fall asleep and wake up now." Ash decided. Ashton seemed to be feeling the same way. Mew nodded.
"Good idea." Mew figured at much. She floated around somewhat awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry this had to end on a sour note, dear. On the bright side, I have blessed you with more endurance than you had before this trial as started since you successfully completed it."
"Thank you for that. Can you tell us about this council Arceus kept mentioning?" Ash asked. Mew shook her head.
"No. Wait until you've digested all of this first and then I will say more. Getting too much information at once is never a good thing, Ash." Mew advised. Ash groaned, but nodded.
"Right. I should expect that sort of response by this point." Ash snorted to himself. Aurora seemed a little sad, but wasn't sure what else to say to him.
"I... guess we'll see you tomorrow, young ones." Aurora and Aru said simultaneously. Aurora and Aru started to disappear from the dream. As they were vanishing, Aurora said for the both of them, "I'm glad we got to spar together. I really sense a lot of potential in you and I'm so excited. I can't wait to help bring forth that potential."
The two women left the dream. Then, without saying a word, Mew left the dream herself. Ash and Ashton were left to wonder about everything that had happened in the past six days.
A/N: With Mew's and Arceus's relationship, I hope I've at least begun to highlight how circumstances can change someone and ruin a relationship. Maybe Mew and Arceus will be able to see eye to eye again, but it doesn't seem likely. We'll see.
Also, Ash and Ashton have scratched the surface of what they would be able to do as master guardians later on in the series. Mew always love to push someone's potential to new heights and it showed through her showdown with them.
One more thing: Serena will also be receiving some attention through six parts given from her perspective. You'll find out what happened to Serena, Bonnie and Clemont as Ash and Aurora were in their respective comas. Serena also begins to find out about some secrets hidden from her...
For the next three chapters, I will release them every two weeks, on either a Friday evening/night or a Saturday evening/night EST. I hope you will enjoy them.
So... what did you guys think? Although I enjoy writing, it is a bit demoralizing not seeing any reviews for the last chapter. I'm not sure how to improve if I don't get feedback. I will still try my hardest to finish this, but with classes starting, I know I won't have as much time to work on this as I would like. That might not be so evident now, but it might be more evident once midterms begin.
I hope everyone will have a lovely day and happy reading~
Next Chapter: A Psychic Guardian's Perspective Part 1
~SPG123~