A/N: Hello my lovely readers. Welcome to the latest installment of Ash's Realization! Now that Ash has went through his aura trials in his dream, I wonder how that will affect how the battle goes? Let's find out, shall we?
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, but I own this story's concept and ideas.
"Everyone has their own ways of expression. I believe we all have a lot to say, but finding ways to say it is more than half the battle." -Criss Jami
Chapter 36: Ketchum Kombat!
Aurora's hands were encased in her aura and she was chucking. Charging up some power, she created a yellow bone club of aura. Rio mimicked Aurora's actions and formed his own bone club of aura. It was blue at first, but then slowly turned yellow. The aura eluded from his paws also turned yellow as well. They were standing in unison. One could even say they were breathing in unison. Ash didn't feel this kind of pressure in their initial battle. He knew he had to battle on an entirely different plane than before.
"Bone Rush!" Aurora growled while her movements were synced with Rio's.
"Charizard, use Flamethrower! Be careful!" Ash was caught off guard by the sudden attack. He was confused that she would use a ground type move, but wasn't going to let his guard down.
Charizard's mouth opened and released a line of white fire. Rio smirked as he twirled his bone club around like a baton and took the attack. As he spun the club, it became enflamed. It became completely white from the flames. Seeing as his attack was doing nothing to the steel and fighting type, he stopped breathing fire. Rio continued to smirk as he twirled the flaming bone club. Rio seemingly disappeared afterwards. Everyone looked bewildered. Charizard was the only Pokémon on the field… at least until he got hit by the flaming bone club that randomly appeared right above him. Charizard shot a Flamethrower in the same direction, but didn't hit anything. He was getting frustrated.
Rio reappeared right in front of Aurora in a fighting stance. Aurora commended him, "Good job, Rio. Multi Aura Sphere!"
"Charizard dodge it!" He gritted his teeth. He knew Aurora forced him into the defensive and he hated that. He racked his brain to counter Rio's blistering speed. Rio kept on appearing and reappearing randomly. Each time he reappeared, an extra aura sphere surrounded Rio. He did this until he had eight aura spheres surrounding him simultaneously. Rio once again disappeared and reappeared right beside Charizard, tackling into him. Charizard had barely any time to react as all the aura spheres hit him at the same time. Charizard grunted in pain. Rio reappeared right in front of Aurora.
Aurora sighed, dissatisfied. She made her hands return to normal. Rio's paws also stopped creating aura, but kept a serious stance. She said harshly, "Fight me like you mean it! If you want to make any progress, you have to channel your power from within! It's gonna be a completely lopsided battle if you won't try!"
"I am trying!" Ash barked back. Aurora scowled at the boy and he felt the urge to back down suddenly. He'd never seen Aurora this aggressive toward him before.
"No, you're not! Every opportunity is a training one, young one. Use your gift. Otherwise, I'm making sure Charizard is going down without landing a single move." Aurora clenched her fists tightly. They were trembling slightly and everyone could see smoke coming from them. Rio looked back at his trainer and sighed. He was dreading this. Rio knew what she was trying to do, but it didn't make him any less hesitant. He would still do what his Mistress commanded, but he was afraid she would take things too far.
Ash gritted his teeth in frustration. "Charizard, we'll show them! Use Wing Attack!"
"Block it." Aurora shook her head. With glowing white wings, the mega evolved lizard charged straight towards Rio. Rio stayed at his spot and opened his arms wide. He stood there and intercepted the attack easily. He gripped on Charizard's large wings and closed them slightly, preventing any escape. Charizard grunted in pain at the sudden pressure.
"Circle Throw," Aurora crossed her arms. Rio nodded as he threw Charizard over him and hard on the ground. Charizard looked at the jackal in shock as Rio created another Bone Rush immediately after the attack and pointed it to the lizard's face. He scowled at the mega evolved fighting type. Rio's face was just as unremorseful as Aurora's.
"Ash… actually try in the battle. Use your aura!" Aurora roared.
He shook his head, "I don't know how to!"
"That's your brain talking! Listen to your instincts! Let the waves flow through you and cement your bond with Charizard!" Aurora expressed to him. Her hands started to glow yellow once again and Rio's paws did the same thing. The four black appendages from behind his head started to move freely once again. Aurora continued, "If you can't do that, you will never be able to defeat me. Come at me with your best shot. I will not accept anything less!"
Ash looked down at his hands. He didn't know how Aurora was using her aura to power up Rio. He didn't know how to use his aura to power up Charizard. He clenched his right hand into a fist and concentrated. He could feel some of his aura flowing through his hand, but not into Charizard. He didn't know what to do. Until he knew how to properly control his aura, he had to rely on strategy to win the battle. He stopped trying and looked down at Charizard. He could tell the lizard had absolute faith in his trainer. He just had to lead him. He would lead him.
Aurora expressed disappointment when his hands stopped glowing. She knew he had the potential. He'd done it when he was a small child. She promised herself she will bring it out again before the battle ended. Ash brought out his hand, "Charizard, knock Rio away!"
Using his long tail, Charizard tried to trip the Aura Pokémon, but Rio once again seemingly vanished before he got the chance to strike. He reappeared right in front of Aurora and looked at Charizard with an indescribable expression.
Ash thought about Rio's sporadic movement patterns. An idea popped up into his brain. He smiled, "Charizard, use Flamethrower!"
Aurora's eyes glowed yellow for a millisecond before returning to normal. It happened so fast that no one could see the change. Aurora smirked, "Nice try! I'm not going to get baited into getting close that easily, Ash. Rio, stay put and use your Baton Bone Rush!" Charizard released another stream of fire and shot it at Rio. Using his bone club, he started to twirl it around, negating the effects of Flamethrower. Flames danced around the jackal harmlessly as he looked directly at Ash, poker faced.
"How… did you know I was going to do that?" Ash said in shock. Aurora chuckled a bit.
"I didn't read your aura in our initial battle, being nice. It's very normal in the Hokori region for guardians and psychics to do this to each other and serves to increase the difficulty in battles. None of your thoughts will be safe from this point onward." Aurora said with a devious smirk.
Ash looked at her with irritation. He was going against an opponent that could read his moves before it even happens and had the ability to strengthen their Pokémon's attacks. He hated to admit it, but it was a horribly dangerous combination to face. He took a deep breath as he tried to assess the situation. Charizard was nowhere near feeling faint, but he could tell that Charizard was going to feel tired very soon. Rio looked like he hadn't even broken a sweat.
Ash didn't know how to block his thoughts from Aurora. He felt trapped by the elder guardian, but wasn't about to let that show. For now, he needed a way to collect his thoughts. So, he decided to take a more defensive stance. "Charizard! Swing your tail around, but use Flamethrower from it!"
Charizard understood what his trainer meant. From his tail, he released an array of flames in a circular pattern. The flames gave the appearance of being like a pseudo fire shield. Everyone but Ash and Aurora looked at the sight awed. Bonnie, Clemont and Serena never saw such a move before. Aurora looked at the lizard unimpressed, "Your counter shield trick from Sinnoh? While that it good for keeping Pokémon away, it's not good against Pokémon that is skillful in using the field. Rio! You know what to do against defensive opponents like this."
Rio nodded. He pressed his paws against each other in a meditative state and created multiple copies of himself. They all had varying expressions on their faces. They ranged from happiness, to sadness to silliness. Charizard looked confused. The multiple Mega Lucarios surrounded the shielding Mega Charizard Y. Charizard sweat dropped as he tried to figure out which Lucario was the real one. It was hard keeping track of all of them.
"It's not only good as a defense. Charizard! Expand your flames and hit all of them!" Ash called out.
Charizard expanded his wings out and blew the flames around him in a circular wave around him. As the flames hit each Lucario, less and less of them were on the battlefield until there were none at all. Rio reappeared right above of Charizard with shadow imbued claws. Ash was completely shocked. Rio raked Charizard's back with his claws. It immediately broke Charizard's concentration enough for all the flames to disperse. Rio stood on Charizard's back. He tried to knock the steel and fighting off, but he was much too fast. Once again, the jackal disappeared and reappeared right in front of Aurora.
Aurora crossed her arms and shook her head. This battle was getting nowhere. Although Rio was fighting fully powered up, she knew Ash could battle a lot better than he had been. She'd had not used any of Rio's harder hitting moves against Charizard besides Aura Sphere. Even though Charizard is resistant against it, Aura Sphere was different for each Lucario who used it. The more experienced the Lucario, the more powerful the attack was.
She knew that Ash was starting to get uncharacteristically nervous. He didn't have a set plan to face her, like most others she fought. She knew Ash wasn't like anyone else, but he was struggling to show that to her. Sighing, Aurora decided to give Ash a little push. She hated to do this, but she felt like it needed to be done.
"What's wrong, Ash? Why can't you hit us? I thought you said you were trying! It certainly doesn't seem like you are." Aurora taunted with a smile.
"I'm trying my best! Stop saying that!" Ash growled, annoyed.
"Are you really? You're being just as predictable as weaker opponents I go against. You've show me no gumption at all." Aurora continued to goad him, looking at him narrowed eyes.
"I'm doing the best I can!" He hated to repeat himself, but it seemed that Aurora was too stubborn to listen.
"If you are, then it brings me shame to even look at you in this state. You… disappoint me. I guess should make this battle end as quickly as possible." Aurora got into a battle stance and curled her fists tightly. They were emitting extremely dark yellow aura. Her eyes became completely yellow, with no signs of irises at all. Rio copied his trainer's movements, except his eyes narrowed slightly.
Ash could feel himself getting angry. He looked at the opposite trainer with a bit of loathing. Aurora matched his glare, but remained passive. He could feel Ashton stirring inside him. He pressed his fingers against his temple. Aurora looked confused initially, but then hid a sly grin. She decided to hold off on attacking to see what the younger Ketchum would do.
"How can Ruru say that to us?" Ashton said with a small voice. He loved his mother dearly, so it hurt his heart hearing her say that. He took the insult personally. Ash felt hurt too, but didn't think he was as hurt as Ashton. He figured it was because Ashton remembered her.
"She's a lot nastier when she's not holding back. I don't like it." Ash grumbled from inside his head. He could feel Ashton agreeing with him and getting angry himself.
"I don't like it either. But what can we do? Right now, I'm blocking our aura from her, so she can't hear us. How can we counter her?" Ashton expressed his thoughts to the balance. Ash smirked visibly. Everyone wondered why he was suddenly smiling.
"By proving her wrong. Let's show her what we're made of!" Ash declared. If Ashton could nod, he would.
"I'm all for it. We have to work together, though. Ready to rumble, partner? She wants us to use our aura. So… let's give her what she wants." Ashton decided.
"I don't know how to use my aura, Ashton." Ash showed hesitance. Ashton sighed.
"I don't either, but I know more than you. The reason why I was able to control electricity and the aura grip while I was attacking was because I was angry was that I wanted to prove the world wrong. That's what we have to do here. We have to prove her wrong! We both have to do it, though." Ashton urged.
"I don't want to lose my composure. What about keeping it secret?" Ash argued.
"You won't lose your composure if we work together as one. I don't think anyone will pick up on what we're doing and we trust everyone watching us if they did ask. We'll see how Ruru reacts to it to see if we can continue. Remember what Ruru told us? It's the best way to channel both of our energies. There's no real danger here. She wouldn't want to really hurt us." Ashton retorted.
"Well…" Ash was still unsure.
"Ash. Do you want to have a fighting chance? You can tell Ruru's in a league of her own. We have to at least try. And you have to agree with me completely. Let's channel our energy together to make something more productive!" Ashton continued. As much as he hated to say it, he felt Ashton had a point. He wanted to turn the battle around and as long as there was no risk in channeling their energy, he decided there was no penalty in trying.
"…" Ash contemplated on what Ashton said. He still wasn't sure if they should try.
"Come on, Ash! Where's your fighting spirit!" Ashton roared. Ash widened his eyes. He realized Aurora had taken his fighting spirit inadvertently. He was affected by her words just as much as Ashton and he didn't know why. He knew what he wanted to do. He knew what he needed to do. Ash felt a new feeling of resolve.
"You know, you're right! Let's do this!" Ash said in agreement.
Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He clenched his fists tightly to the point where they were trembling slightly. His hands started to glow deep blue. One blue seemed slightly lighter than the other. The air surrounding the backyard intensified as the aura spread around Ash's body. Bonnie and Clemont looked concerned, Meyer confused and Serena with a neutral expression. She had a feeling he was trying to do what Aurora was doing to Rio. She had complete faith in him and would show that. Soon, the aura around him increased to the point where his entire body became encased in it.
Ash breathed in deeply. Half of his body had his dark blue aura and the other half had a slightly darker color. It looked indistinguishable to the untrained eye, but Aurora could see the difference clearly. Aurora gasped in surprise, then had a small look of trepidation. She knew exactly what Ash was trying to do, but made no effort to stop him. She was afraid, yet thrilled at the same time. She waited in anticipation. Ash opened his eyes and revealed his right eye to be brown and his left eye to be red. Everyone but Aurora gasped in shock.
"Ash?" Serena asked in a shaky voice. She had no idea if their fusion of eyes meant Ash was hostile, but she could tell that he was fired up. Clemont was slightly afraid of this version of Ash, but also very curious. Bonnie didn't know what to think. Meyer was in the same boat as Bonnie. He could feel the power radiating from Ash. It made his hair stand on end.
Ash spoke with two distinct tones. He grinned to Aurora, "Ruru! I'm going to show you what I've got! I'll prove I'm not a disappointment. Prepared to get destroyed!"
"Oh my Mew! This is so awesome! I really want to battle him, too! Aurora! Let's do the allegiance as well!" Aru said excitedly.
"What about Bonnie and Clemont? You told me you didn't want to scare them. If they are a little afraid of seeing Ash like this, imagine if we did this." Aurora reminded her.
"Damn it! You're right. As much as I want to battle Ash right now, I don't want to scare them. This is so frustrating! Ash is making me wanna obliterate him with our allegiance! I can't help my fighting spirit! Gah, I wish I never attacked those kids… this is too good of an opportunity to see what he's made of!" Aru pouted from within their mind.
"You can't help what happened, Aru. What's done is done. I'm sure we'll have another opportunity like this eventually. For now, I'll continue fighting hard for the both of us." Aurora tried to placate Aru. Aru seemed satisfied with the answer, but still was disappointed.
"Show him no mercy." Aru told her with a stern voice.
"That's the plan." Aurora smirked and replied huskily.
"I love it when we think alike. Go for it, Masked Master." Aru laughed as Aurora felt her presence dim once again. Aurora nodded and smiled slightly.
"Oh man… Aru's flipping her lid right now. She wants to battle, but she's being respectful of Bonnie." Aurora sighed sadly. She knew her counterbalance would really push his potential to new heights. She'd love to give Ash and Ashton pointers. Since Bonnie, Serena, and Clemont didn't know what he was actually doing, she figured it was OK for him to be at one. She smirked and gazed at Ash intensely, "Go for it, young one. If you want to demonstrate I'm wrong, prove your worth!"
"Gladly." Ash brought his hands out and poured his energy into the Charizard. Charizard was slightly confused at first, but then started to feel an unexpected strength. He'd never felt this good in his entire life. Ash's aura felt soothing and reassuring. He would follow his trainer's will. His aura gave him one objective: defeat Aurora.
The flaming lizard would try his best. Charizard and Ash's ambition became molded into one and Charizard became in immersed in a furious blue aura. Ash yelled like a warrior and Charizard roared just as passionately. They both were producing a strong wind that everyone could feel around them. Then, the battlefield started to heat up without warning. Everyone but Aurora was struggling to take the wind and intense heat well. Sometimes, it was nice to have a Charizard because you could take these conditions while training yourself.
Bonnie started to sweat and whine, "Papa, I'm hot…"
"Me too, sweetie." Meyer agreed. He looked at Ash, then Aurora. Both of them with looking at each other with a sign of respect. He could tell that if they could spar, they would spar fiercely, just like real warriors. He thought about the increased heat and wind. The heat wasn't natural, yet felt natural. He guessed it was the illusion of aura. Meyer knew a lot about aura guardians researching them, but he'd never expect anything like this. He never expected to feel a heat wave, nor did he expect the strong winds… and this was only the back of his house!
"Papa, you think Ash has a shot in winning now that his eyes have gone all weird?" Bonnie asked her father. Meyer shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not sure, Bonnie. I think he has a much better chance at winning, but he needs to do something about the Lucario being able to disappear and reappear at will. Only then, I think he could actually take on Aurora," Meyer expressed his thoughts Serena frowned.
"I think he will win. Ash has overcome so much in our journey together, more than most people in their lifetimes. Aurora needs to watch her back," Serena defended her boyfriend. She called out to Ash, "Ash! You can do it! Channel your power to win the battle!"
"Man, I haven't felt this pumped to fight in a long time!" Aurora punched her fist against her hand with a huge grin. Ash maintained a neutral expression, but smiled at Serena's words. He decided to listen to her. His eyes became completely blue, except one was a little darker than the other. He grinned at the floating lady. She didn't seem to mind him doing this, so he would continue to perform the allegiance.
"Then the real battle begins now!" Ash brought out his hand. "Charizard, use Flare Blitz!"
"Now… let's do this for real. Rio, block with dual Bone Rush!" Aurora spoke to her Wisdom telepathically.
Ash was slightly confused that Aurora didn't say anything, but was surprised to see Rio with his bone clubs without her command. His eyes glowed slightly. Ash delved into Aurora's aura and realized that Aurora gave an order to Rio telepathically, but he caught on to it too late. Ash's hands started to create more aura to accommodate for Charizard's lack of power. Charizard's tail flame became bluish white.
With a mighty roar, Charizard's body became completely engulfed in blue flames. He flew directly towards Rio. Rio placed his bone clubs together in an 'X' shape and braced himself for the hit. Charizard made contact with Rio's aura attack. Rio grunted as he struggled to take in the combined efforts of Ash and Charizard.
Aurora felt his plight and poured more of her energy into him. Aura oozed out as Rio's bone clubs became solid yellow. Smoke formed as the two Mega Evolved Pokémon pushed each other back. Charizard puffed up blue embers in satisfaction while Rio looked exhausted from the effort. He was by no means tired, but was pleasantly surprised at Charizard's increase in power. The force was enough to make his Bone Rush attacks disappear.
"Rio! Double Team and go into cross formation!" Aurora commanded. This time, Ash was able to read her aura, but he didn't know what she meant. He didn't want to find out. He brought out his hand, "Charizard, use Flamethrower!" Rio created multiple copies of himself and surrounded Charizard in an 'X' shape. Charizard grinned as he created flames from his mouth and tail. He shot it at all the Lucarios and forced Rio to keep his distance. Rio gasped in surprise, then smiled at the opposing Pokémon.
Aurora widened her eyes, then narrowed them. She smirked slightly and spoke directly to Ash, "So… you catch on to things quickly even in battle. I like that."
She blocked her aura off from Ash and spoke only to Rio, "Rio! Be careful. Ash can read our aura in this state. Do what you would do in facing an opponent like this. I won't interject in how you battle until I see something."
Rio nodded. As he was Aurora's Aspect of Wisdom, he was not as prone as falling in disarray without Aurora's command. Rio always had a plan up his sleeve even when his trainer didn't. As a result, he was a valuable asset to Aurora's team. Very unpredictable and able to keep his opponents on edge. It was one of the many things she loved about Rio… and that's one of the many things she was going use against Ash. Aurora stopped gently levitating and landed softly on the ground. She crossed her arms and started to smirk deviously.
Ash looked slightly bewildered. He couldn't pick up on what she was planning because she actually wasn't planning anything. He could feel Ashton thinking the same as he. They needed to take advantage of the situation while Aurora wasn't used to Charizard's power increase. He brought out his hand, "Charizard spin and use Flame Burst!"
Charizard breathed in deeply and released multiple balls of fire that was aimed directly at Rio. As he spun, the balls of fire looked reminiscent of Draco Meteor. Rio stood calmly with his eyes closed and his paws together in a meditative state. Time seemingly slowed around the jackal. He stood there, focused, as multiple fire balls went his direction. A second before a Flame Burst could hit him, he disappeared. Rio kept on vanishing and resurfacing until he successfully dodged all the Flame Bursts.
Ash gritted his teeth in annoyance and made his eyes glow blue. He had to try to see if he could use his aura to watch Rio's movements. He realized he wasn't really seeing Rio at all. Rio's body was like a wave when he vanished; it flowed vividly and clearly while using his eyes were completely blue. Rio was literally aura while in motion, but it gave the illusion he was invisible to anyone unable to see into aura. Ash smiled at the revelation.
"So that's why he keeps disappearing and reappearing. It seems Aurora's not the only one who can turn into aura. He's still moving too randomly for me to take advantage of it." Ash's eyes darted to every place Rio was. He was much too fast. His head started to hurt slightly and he rubbed his eyes. Aurora took notice and chuckled.
"Young one! Although I can tell you've figured how Rio moves, you can't pick up on where he would actually go, can you? You won't be able to, at least, not without proper training. Aura vision…" Aurora's eyes turned completely yellow herself. She continued, "…takes some time to truly master. Even as aura, Rio moves exceptionally quickly. What will you do about it?"
"Serena, do you know what she's talking about?" Bonnie looked up to Serena in slightly puzzled. Serena shook her head.
"I only know just as much as you, Bonnie," Serena replied. She looked at Ash and then at Aurora. They both were looking at each other with an expression she couldn't describe. Admiration, perhaps? Competitiveness? It had to be a mix of the two. She knew that Ash loved to battle strong opponents, but something was off about the way he was acting. He was being more serious than normal. Granted, he was going against a Champion, but still.
Ash seemed excited, but simultaneously starving for more. Starving to get pushed higher. Aurora seemed to be the same way. In the battles preceding Ash and Aurora's battle in the Renaissance Conference, Aurora wasn't this serious. She was cold to her opponents, calling out effective attacks and her Pokémon dodged the opposition. Now, she was more thoughtful and there was an air to her that was elated. Her thoughts were soon interrupted.
"I may have some idea, actually." Clemont said in response to Bonnie's question. They looked surprised. Bonnie and Serena both looked at Clemont to continue. "I may not be an aura guardian, but I do know a thing or two about them. I think Aurora is talking about how Rio moves. If you've noticed, Rio is moving so fast that we can't see him. He keeps vanishing out of thin air, but that's actually him turning into aura. Aura is invisible to the naked eye and Aurora is taking advantage of that. After Ash did the weird thing with his eyes, he's realized that. However, it seems even while seeing Rio in aura form, Ash is having a hard time keeping track of him. Rio is that quick."
"That makes sense. He's made some progress in breaking through Rio's speed. I know he will go all the way." Serena told him. Clemont shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe. It'll all be dependent on how much he can adapt to using aura vision." Clemont rubbed his chin in thought.
"Clemont… how come you know so much about aura guardians?" Bonnie asked.
"I read up on aura guardians a lot in my lab this past week, trying to understand them more." Clemont replied. Bonnie nodded. They all quieted down to continue watching the battle.
"I gotta try to bring Rio close again. I'm blocking my aura from Aurora, so she won't suspect me trying a second time," Ash thought critically. Ashton thought the same thing. Ash brought out his hand. "Charizard use Flamethrower!"
Charizard once again created a stream of blue fire at Rio. Rio dodged with ease, but Charizard kept shooting fire. Rio became closer and closer to Charizard the more he used the attack. Aurora furrowed her eyebrows. She wondered why Ash would use a move that didn't work initially. Then, she started to pay attention to Charizard's movements. The flames… they weren't hitting the mark as they should. They were sloppy. When Rio ran to be right under Charizard, she realized Rio fell into Ash's trap.
Aurora called out, "Wait! Rio, no!"
"Yes! Charizard, Seismic Toss!" Ash commanded. Charizard anticipated the Lucario to be right under him and capitalized on it instantaneously. Charizard grabbed Rio within his clutches and flew upward in the air at a supersonic speed. The wind whipped at Rio's face, but he was not deterred. Aurora decided to act. "Rio, it's combination time! Use Aura Stone Edge!"
Rio smirked. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Around the two Pokémon were a multitude of rocks hidden in aura spheres, almost in a shape of an atom. Ash couldn't count how many aura spheres there were because Charizard and Rio were too high up into the air. Charizard knew he had to act fast otherwise, he'd get hit. Hard.
Charizard started to circle in the air, almost as if he was circling the globe. Rio closed his eyes and tuned everything out. He tuned out the wind. He tuned out Charizard. He even tuned out Aurora. The aura infused rocks surrounding the two started to glow slightly as Charizard began to descend. Charizard was about to throw Rio to the ground, but got pelted with aura infused rocks midway in his attack. He grunted in agony as he took the Stone Edge and Aura Sphere combination.
Charizard lost his grip and Rio landed on the ground perfectly. Charizard slowly started to go down to the ground. Rio promptly jumped back up, looking for offense. Aurora took advantage of it, "Rio, continue your assault! Midair Close Combat and blow him back with Force Palm!"
Once Rio reached Charizard, he began hitting him with a multitude of close strikes. Being in the air, Rio was relentless to the mega evolved Charizard. Charizard, despite resisting fighting type moves didn't take the hits too well. Then, Rio placed his paw against Charizard and released all of his pent up energy against the Charizard. His fall was accelerated when Rio blew him downward. Rio knocked Charizard down with his tail once he was finished with the attack. Charizard was on the ground, unable to get up. Rio waited patiently.
"Charizard!" Ash called out. Charizard responded to his voice and slowly began to get back up on his feet. He had multiple scratch marks around his body. Taking the Stone Edge directly caused him to lose some of his momentum, but he wasn't about to lose any more. Ash was happy that Charizard could continue battling, but he could feel the lizard's aura waning. He curled his fists tightly. He wasn't going to stand for that. Charizard became immersed in a blue aura. His wings grew to be even more imposing. Aurora arched her eyebrows in confusion.
She had no idea what Ash was planning, but whatever it was, she liked it. Still, she didn't want his plan to come to fruition. She commanded, "Rio! Use Close Combat once again! Be careful if Charizard tries to grab you."
Rio disappeared and reappeared seemingly again. Charizard was keeping a close eye on Rio's movements. Charizard poured his energy into his claws. He created a sphere of blue energy and held it. By the time Rio reappeared right in front of him, Charizard was ready. He shot the sphere of energy at the jackal. Rio grunted slightly as he took the hit directly. He shook it off the best he could. He didn't take it as well as he hoped. Ash looked elated with Aurora looked surprised.
"Charizard, you've learned Focus Blast! Nice!" Ash congratulated.
"Focus Blast…" Aurora spoke aloud. Ash was surprised to hear Aurora speak verbally again. "Congratulations, you two…"
"Maybe this was why Mew wanted us to get stronger and to connect with my partners. Things like this gets unlocked. I can't wait to see more." Ash thought in slight surprise. Charizard looked back at his trainer with a grin.
With one eye brown and the other eye red, Charizard didn't care what his trainer was. He didn't care if he had a different side to him or that he had powers others couldn't comprehend. He cared about Ash. He'll admit, he did act disgraceful to him after he evolved, but Ash never gave up on him. That was one of the many things he loved about his trainer and would stick by him until the end. Ash and Charizard both looked at each other with a new sense of camaraderie. Charizard went over to Ash and gave him a fist pump. He roared proudly as he went back on the battlefield. Aurora laughed a little at the sight.
"Thanks. We'll use our newfound strength to crush you!" Ash said, determined.
"Ah… pride. I love it! You have almost as much hubris as your draconian friend. We will see who will get crushed." Aurora countered. She continued telepathically, "Rio! Curl your fists in our aura, as a means of defense. Get in close with Extremespeed, then use Close Combat."
"Again, Mistress?" Rio noted that this was the third time Aurora called out the move. He was afraid of the decreased defense biting him hard if Charizard gets a good hit against him and of something else. He didn't mind taking hits, but was concerned about his trainer and her aura. Although he was concerned about Aurora, he did want to finish off Charizard very soon.
"He's not weak enough to be finished off with THAT move. I know you're itching to use your best move, but it's too premature. Ash's aura is making him last longer than he should, so we need to weaken him a little further. I understand your concern for the defense drops, but we should be able to defeat them before Charizard can hit you with a fire type move or Focus Blast again." Aurora tried to placate his unease.
"You're the boss, Mistress." Rio responded, slightly indifferent. Aurora picked up something else in his tone. Why the relenting tone?
"I told you to stop calling me that! We're equals! Trust me…" Aurora said, slightly irritated.
"I trust you completely, Aurora, but I don't trust the amount of aura you're both using. You both are in the third stage. I'm afraid of this dragging out too long, is all..." Rio expressed his thoughts to his trainer. Aurora widened her eyes and remembered the temporary effects of the Poke Bars. She then looked grimly at the jackal.
"I'm not dragging this out like I did in the first battle. Ash is putting up a great fight this time. Sorry if I worried you. I'm fine. I can tell Ash isn't that exhausted yet, either." Aurora noted. Rio sighed.
"You're running on adrenaline, Aurora. Both of you. Only at the battle's end you will be able to feel how much aura you've used. I will still do what you say, but please… tread carefully." Rio replied with a small voice.
"Fine. I'll be more careful." Aurora's eyes returned to normal. Her hands weren't making as much visible aura as before. Eventually, they stopped all together. Ash looked at the elder Ketchum, slightly confused. He wondered why she wasn't powering up Rio any more. Aurora continued, "Now… please do what I've asked. Use your aura for your paws instead."
Rio nodded at his trainer's command. His paws started to emit his aura as he dashed at a breakneck pace. Charizard didn't expect the increase in speed, but Ash did. "Charizard! Let's take them head on! Use Flare Blitz!"
Charizard's body heated up as they both charged for each other. When fist and body clashed, they created a shockwave of pure power. Both Pokémon were trying to break the other's will. They grinned at each other. Rio grabbed onto Charizard's flame-engulfed wings, and took in the heat relatively well. Charizard wondered how this was so, especially in blue flames. The jackal surprised him more by starting to push him back further towards Ash.
"I… commend… your fighting spirit, Charizard. You… are a worthy opponent." Rio praised while pushing the fire type.
"(Likewise)." Charizard grunted.
"But I will not fail my Mistress or myself!" Rio said with a surge of power coursing through him. It didn't come from Aurora. It came from a willingness to win. Charizard stood his ground and did not let that stop him.
"(And I'm going to win for both Ash and I!)" Charizard's body started to glow blue.
Ash looked at the sight, slightly touched and slightly confused. He was touched that Charizard was only to try his hardest for him, but confused by the blue glow. He wasn't giving him that power. From Charizard's claws, he created another sphere of energy and shot it close range. Rio gasped at he took the combination of Flare Blitz and Focus Blast. The defense drops from Close Combat amplified the damaged he took from the super effective moves. Rio felt the strain of the attacks. Aurora found herself surprised, but kept a serious expression. Rio glared at the Charizard, impressed and eager. Seeing Charizard panting from the Close Combat strikes let Aurora know what to do next.
"Rio! How ya holding up?" Aurora called out.
"Humph. I felt that attack hard, but I won't falter! " Rio glared at Charizard as he promptly stood back up. Aurora grinned. She could feel Rio starting to get riled up and that's exactly what she wanted. She hid a devious smirk.
"Good. Are you ready to show them your pent-up excitement?" Aurora asked. Rio looked spooked.
"Aurora, Charizard can possibly die if I do that." Rio responded simply. Ash suddenly got a chill down his back upon hearing that.
"It seems like I have more faith in Ash and Charizard than you do. Don't hold yourself back. Charizard probably won't take it well, but I know he wouldn't die. Charizard and Ash are strong." Aurora said slightly louder. The air around everyone started to feel highly uncomfortable. Everyone could tell that Rio was starting to get annoyed, but Aurora didn't seem to care. They wondered why the air started to adjust to Rio's feelings despite him not being a flying type.
"But Aurora..." Rio said with a strained voice.
"I promised not to hold back on their account and I like to stay true to my word. You never get to show your pent-up energy to anything. Come on, Rio. Let's reward their battling with a powerful treat." Aurora continued to goad him. Rio's eyes were twitching. The air became even more uncomfortable to everyone. At this point, he was building up a lot of pent up energy.
"…" Rio made a low growl. Rio knew what his trainer was trying to do, but wanted to prevent himself from having high tension. He wanted to win, but he could feel his warrior side starting to win over his rational side. Pokémon are known to hold back some of their instincts for their trainers' sake. However, Aurora was trying to bring out that instinct. It was working and before long his entire body started to emit blue aura.
Rio looked at Charizard with a sharp gaze and that wasn't the same look of respect they'd given each other moments before. No… it was a look of pure killer instinct. Charizard started to feel nervous. Ash wondered if Rio was going to go out of control, seeing how Korrina's Lucario was like with those eyes, but Rio was clearly still OK. He didn't look in the slightest like he was going to go bananas. He looked empowered.
"Well, Rio? Are you willing to perform your most powerful attack for the first time in years?" Aurora pressed further.
"If you think, things will be alright, then let's do it!" Rio roared fiercely. Aurora laughed proudly and pumped her fist chest her chest with bravado.
"Hahaha! Then let's finish this! Let's show them all our pent up excitement!" Aurora pumped her fist in the air. It radiated with power. She said with all her might, "Maximum power Aura Storm!"
"Charizard, let's match their power with our own! Use maximum power Overheat!" Ash said with just as much vigor.
Ash brought both of his hands in front of him and concentrated. Charizard once again was enveloped in Ash's aura and he could feel himself getting stronger. He could feel the attack getting stronger. With blue flames blazing, Charizard shot a powerful line of bluish white fire to Rio. It was so hot that everyone was sweating, even if they weren't near the attack. Bonnie and Serena had to take out some water to drink, it ended up warming up too much. They were forced to take in the heat. Both of them were perspiring heavily. Clemont looked the most uncomfortable, being in his full body jumpsuit.
Aurora got into a battle stance and Rio mimicked her actions. Aurora curled her fists up and started to use her own aura. She said she'd be careful, but that didn't mean she would stop using her aura altogether. Rio's paws glowed blue, then yellow, then green, indicating the perfect meld of Aurora and Rio's auras. With his long black appendages swaying in the air, he cupped his paws together and charged up an incredible amount of aura. Everyone was trembling in their feet from the sheer power just charging up had. With a loud roar, Rio shot out all the pent up energy from his paws towards Charizard. It came out as a dark green beam of pure aura.
The two attacks flew true, looking to hit the other Pokémon to end the match. When the two attacks collided, there was an epic collisions of wills. Aura and flame, the two attacks were so intense there were chills down everyone's shoulders. Ash fell on the ground, flabbergasted by the sheer power of both Pokémon. Even Aurora was struggling to stay standing. Using her arms, she blocked her face from the sheer intensity of the moves. Her hair was moving wildly from the wind of the impact.
Rio and Charizard did not let up an inch against each other, but eventually of the one of the attacks gave out. Closer and closer, the streak of green inched towards blue. Charizard's pupils narrowed as he was struck with the attack directly. Charizard roared in agony as Rio's aura consumed him. Smoke ensued after the hit.
Everyone took the opportunity to recover and got up from the ground. No one could see inside the smoke. It took a few minutes for the smoke to completely clear. At the wake of its clearing, everyone could see just how devastating the impact of the two attacks were. The field itself was destroyed and the path in which both attacks took was visible on the ground. There were scorch marks from where the attacks made contact with each other.
Serena covered her mouth, slightly scared. Bonnie looked surprised and Clemont couldn't even bare to look. Rio's eyes were glowing and he looked slightly beaten up. However, the Lucario seemed more energetic than normal. He punched his paws together with a grin, eager to continue battling.
Everyone couldn't stand to look at Charizard. He reverted back to his base form with scratches all over his body. His flame was dwindling rapidly and his breathing was shaky. The tiny flame became reflected in Ash and Ashton's eyes. He became forlorn with memory and a look of horror soon consumed him. The lizard laid on the ground, defeated badly. His eyes were replaced by swirly marks and his body was seemingly lifeless. Aurora and Rio looked grim and Ash was speechless.
"Charizard… no…" Ash thought weakly. His eyes turned back into their chestnut colors and he wasn't making any more visible aura. He made a beeline to his fallen partner. Ash held Charizard's neck, distraught. He tried to shake Charizard, but he wasn't waking up. He could feel him still alive, but barely. Ash looked despondent once the recognition came. Then, with tears flowing freely down his face, he screamed, "Charizard!"
"I'm sorry Ash, but Charizard is unable to battle. Rio is the winner. The victor of the battle is Aurora." Clemont declared sadly. Aurora didn't feel happy winning. Not at all. She hated to see him like this. So did Rio. Rio reverted back into his base form as well. Aurora's hands stopped making yellow aura as they both ran to be with Ash. Without looking away from Charizard, he created electricity from his hands. Red aura started to consume him. Aurora and Rio stepped back slightly in alarm. Serena ran to be right at his side. She was rubbing his back soothingly.
"Ash…?" Aurora asked in a gentle voice.
"Stay away from me…" Ash warned. Aurora, going against his wishes, moved closer to him. Ash made no movement, but still had the red aura surrounding him.
"Ash… I…" Aurora started. She knew how badly she'd screwed up. She honestly thought Charizard would be able to take the hit a lot better than he did. It was the only reason why she used Aura Storm in the first place. She felt incredibly bad for taking things too far and wanted to help out as much as she can.
"Stay away from me! You're only going to make things worse!" Ash roared at her. Aurora was taken aback his shouts, but felt he had a right to say what was on his mind.
"Ash, please…." Aurora tried again, but was almost shocked by Ash's electricity. She had to move her head a little to avoid getting hit. She certainly didn't expect to get attacked like that.
"No! Don't talk to me. No one talk to me! I just wanna be alone with Charizard…" Ash placed his head against Charizard sadly.
"(Ash…)" Pikachu looked up at his trainer, slightly afraid. Ash glanced back at Serena and noticed that she had the same expression as Pikachu. He sighed as he tried to calm himself down... but only for them. The red aura surrounding him vanished and he looked up with bloodshot eyes.
"Pikachu… You and Serena only stay here. Everyone else…. Get outta here!" Ash snarled. Clemont and Bonnie didn't question him. If he needed some time to cool off, then they could do that. Meyer had his hands on both of their backs, guiding them inside. The only people outside were Aurora, Serena and Ash. Ash could sense that Aurora was still outside and once again shot electricity at her. This time, Aurora expected it and created a bone club of aura to take the strike. She redirected it to the air.
"Distraught or not, I'm not going to leave you, Ash." Aurora said in a serious tone. Serena continued to rub his back, trying to calm down her boyfriend even more. Ash was breathing in deeply, not looking at anyone in particular.
"Ash… don't get down…" Serena said soothingly.
"I'm not upset about the loss, Serena…" Ash said with a coarse voice, "I'm upset about Charizard. He's really strong, but this isn't the only time he's been injured like this."
"When was the last time? It'd be good to get it off your chest." Serena inquired. Ash sighed.
"The last time was during my travels in the Orange Islands. Charizard's flame… it was just as low now as it was then. We fought against a Poliwrath, but Charizard didn't listen to me at all. I thought Charizard was strong enough. The other trainer took advantage of that and used Ice Beam to defeat Charizard. He… became frozen solid after the battle. His flame was almost completely gone. I stayed up all night trying to keep him warm. I remember my hands becoming chaste rubbing Charizard all night. I didn't care. I wanted him to feel better…" Ash became forlorn with the memories of that dreadful battle and the night after…
5 years ago…
"You'll be OK… I'll warm ya up Charizard…" Ash assured his frozen draconian friend as he continued to rub against the lizard's skin. He was trying to warm up the fallen lizard after he suffered a bitter defeat by a Poliwrath. The Moon glistened above him and the stars lit up the night. Although the night sky was beautiful, the situation itself was not. Ash spent hours upon hours trying to thaw out Charizard. His flame was incredibly weak. That flame was Ash's way of knowing how well Charizard was. It still didn't look too good, even after all the rubbing. Ash continued his effort, not giving up. He'd never give up on his Pokémon. Never. Ash had lied Charizard now near a campfire in his efforts to warm him up.
Pikachu looked up at his trainer, saddened. He hadn't seen Ash like this in a long time. He wanted to help, but didn't know how. A Pikachu can't learn fire moves naturally and the only one could learn was Hidden Power. There wasn't a guarantee that his Hidden Power would even be a fire type move. He could only watch sadly as he trainer moved his hand, hard at work.
"(Ash…)" Pikachu called out to his trainer sadly. Ash looked somewhat puzzled at his treasured friend. Then, Pikachu pointed towards his hand. Upon inspection, Ash could see that his hands were becoming red. Ash quickly scoffed it off.
"This? It doesn't bother me. Why don't you take a rest, Pikachu?"
"(No way!)" Pikachu said defiantly. Pikachu then started to mimic his trainer's actions. Ash hummed with appreciation as they both continued to rub on Charizard's skin. Charizard continued to snooze as he was getting rubbed. Eventually, he started to stir. Charizard's eyes opened, unbeknownst to Ash and Pikachu. They both were currently rubbing on Charizard's back, so they could not see the lizard's face.
Ash said as he continued to rub, "We gotta make sure Charizard is gonna be all right, Pikachu." Pikachu chimed with agreement. The two continued to rub. Charizard eyed them curiously, unsure of what they were trying to do. Eventually, he decided it didn't like what they were doing to him. Charizard started to feel restless, just lying on the ground. He started to fidget his body on the ground. He was still upset at the fact he lost the match. Now his trainer was starting to pity him? That was something he would not allow. He wasn't going to let his pride go down any further, Ash looked frantically at Charizard, trying to calm him down.
"Wah! Charizard Take it easy!" Ash called out to the lizard. Charizard ignored him and continued to fidget.
It was around this time that Misty and Tracey came in with more firewood. They witnessed Charizard moving uneasily. Misty was about to rush over to aid Ash, but Tracy stopped her. He placed an arm on her shoulder, "Hold it!"
"But Ash needs help!" Misty argued. Tracey shook his head. He understood that this was something Ash needed to deal with in order to grow. He wanted to help Ash almost as much as Misty did, but knew they would complicate things. Misty sighed. She understood where Tracy was coming from, but that didn't mean she didn't want to help Ash. She reluctantly decided to hang back and let handle the rampaging Charizard continue.
Charizard continued to move around, still at unrest. He bared his fangs at Ash and Ash looked at him pleadingly. Ash screamed, "Charizard! Ya gotta rest!" Charizard looked like he wanted to continue moving, but he grew quickly fatigued. He tried to use Flamethrower on Ash, but lacked the energy to do so. He could barely puff up smoke. Running out of energy, Charizard fell on the ground with a thud. He slipped back into unconsciousness.
Ash called out, "Charizard!"
Tracy commented, "Charizard's out cold again!" Misty merely sighed in response.
A few minutes later, Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Tracey were hard at work trying to warm up Charizard. Ash said with fervor, "You'll be OK Charizard! I know you'll be!"
Misty chimed in with agreement, "Yeah… we'll make sure you're OK, Charizard."
Meanwhile, Tracey had his hand at the base of Charizard's tail. He concentrated for a few minutes before alerting everyone, "Charizard's still freezing cold." Pikachu sighed in sadness and Togepi chirped in the same tone. Tracy stood and told everyone he was going back to get some more firewood.
Ash looked up to acknowledge him and thanked him. With a small nod, Tracey left to get more firewood. Misty stopped rubbing her hands against Charizard to get a blanket from her backpack. Ash really appreciated the effort of his friends. He didn't know what he would do without them. He continued to rub on Charizard. A few moments later, Misty returned with a red blanket in her hands. She placed the sheet over Charizard and looked at Ash worriedly. She noticed his hands getting redder and redder.
She pointed to his hands, "You gotta rub through the blanket otherwise your hands are gonna get rubbed raw." Ash looked at her a bit confused. Then, he looked down at his hands. Just like she said, his hands were turning more and more red. He didn't want to concern his orange haired friend, so he decided to comply. He started to rub his hands on the blanket. Misty followed him and so did Pikachu. Tracey eventually came back with more firewood. The fire near Charizard got bigger, but his tail flame still looked small.
They all worked tirelessly for the next several hours to try to bring Charizard's flame back to full size. Even Togepi, the baby of their Pokémon family, moved her stubby little arms to try to warm up the lizard. Tracy continuously kept on adding on firewood during parts of the night, Misty, Ash and Pikachu kept on rubbing on Charizard's scales. Slowly, but surely, Charizard's flame kept getting slightly bigger and bigger. Misty kept on nodding off and even was rubbing the Charizard subconsciously. Eventually, everyone fell asleep, except for Ash.
Ash was the only one left awake because he was filled with determination. He knew that he wasn't the best trainer in the world and that he made plenty of stupid mistakes. He was overconfident and sometimes even a bit annoying. Ash talked about the times they shared when Charizard was still a Charmander and how much he would treasure them. He shared his pleasure when Charizard first evolved and shared his sadness when he stopped listening to him. The young boy admitted how inexperienced he was and even called himself not worthy to be Charizard's trainer. He promised that he would be a much better trainer to Charizard. He poured his heart and soul out to the fire type, even saying things that surprised himself. He admitted all of his mistakes to himself and to what he presumed to be the sleeping Charizard. Unbeknownst to him, Charizard was wide awake with glistening eyes.
Over the night, Ash noticed Charizard's flame becoming even bigger that alone would strength his resolve to keep rubbing. His hands were aching from their constant use, but Ash didn't care. Meanwhile, Charizard was thinking about what Ash said to him. He didn't know exactly how to feel about Ash. He knew the boy loved him, but Charizard never thought of him as competent after he evolved. His own power was enough to hold his own in battle. Why should he listen to brat, especially a novice?
Despite feeling that way when he initially evolved, he realized that he couldn't win his battles through power alone. Prior to this day, Charizard didn't need to listen to his trainer's commands to win and only listened when he faced an opponent he deemed worthy. He regretted doing that. That Poliwrath definitely assured him that pure power wasn't always the answer. Charizard began to think about Ash again and his efforts to train him. He knew that all of what Ash said was completely genuine and he began to see his trainer in a new light. Charizard realized how arrogant and stupid he was. He did share some qualities with his trainer… more than he initially thought. Maybe… he shouldn't be so mean to Ash anymore. He kept on looking into nothingness as Ash rubbed on.
Eventually, Ash couldn't take his fatigue and fell asleep right on Charizard. His hands were red. The fire was dim. Everything seemed slow.
Despite falling asleep later than everyone, Ash woke up the earliest. He noticed that he was sleeping on sand with a cover on top of him. He got up and held his head groggily. Having somewhat blurry vision at first, Ash noticed something a few meters away from him. His Charizard looked back at him with a sharp gaze and raised his tail flame. Ash's eyes brightened when he noticed that it was back to normal. He felt so excited that he ran to his Charizard and hugged him. Much to his surprise, Charizard didn't knock him away or use Flamethrower. Ash had tears falling freely from his eyes, Charizard seemed slightly surprised, but touched.
"I'm making sure… I'm never going to let your flame get like that again, buddy." Ash continued to hug his recovered friend. Charizard crooned lovingly in response and nuzzled his head against the boy. Ash was happy that Charizard was feeling a lot better and would stick to his word.
"Charizard… I felt his pain as he took in that attack. I feel his flame rapidly dwindling. I broke my promise to him. I don't want anything to happen to my friend. I'm sorry I attacked you, Aurora. I wasn't thinking." Ash looked away from Aurora and Charizard in guilt. He didn't know what came over him. As he finished his story, Charizard's flames began to strengthen again. Ash had tears in his eyes and hugged his unconscious friend.
Aurora looked at the sight with small tears of her own. For a few moments, she saw Chari in Charizard's place and shivered slightly. Ash reminded her of herself and it frightened her. Aurora wasn't mad at Ash and apologized to Ash about going too far.
"It's … ok. Charizard isn't as bad as I thought he was." Ash responded.
"I'll try my hardest to heal your guardian partner, Ash. The next time we battle, I won't be so harsh. You know I didn't mean what I said about you being a disappointment, right? You are an amazing battler. I… was just trying to goad you into showing your true potential." Aurora looked away from the younger Ketchum in guilt.
Ash's eyes turned red suddenly. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. Aurora was confused by the gesture. "Ruru… it's alright. In a way, you did help me and Ash become more tuned together. Your words did hurt… they hurt both of us. They also forced us to try harder. We know you didn't truly mean it, otherwise you wouldn't be apologizing to us."
"Young one… it's not alright. I… well, I was too hasty. The thought of being able to battle at my best excited me, but now I realize I was being selfish. I shouldn't have been so harsh to you just to satisfy myself. It's like getting access to a drug you thought you quit. You want more and don't realize you can't stop until it's too late. Like father, like daughter, I suppose." Aurora shook her head.
"Like father?" Ash echoed. His eyes returned to normal, but his brows were furrowed.
"Yep. Dad always used to push my potential to new heights while he was training me, but he always was too harsh. He's incredibly militant and strict while in 'training mode'. Maybe even a bit mean." Aurora chuckled as she remembered some of the times she was with her father. Even though she wanted to kill him at times, she loved her dad dearly. Besides, she was used to his harsh rhetoric.
Aurora explained while in 'training mode' her father acted like the ultimate jerk, but she knew he meant well. She explained how he taught her how to fight up close and personal and even made a bone club to illustrate the point. The aura moved freely in her hand. The bone shaped twirled around easily in her hands, but then she swung it. The club was mere inches from Ash's face, but the boy didn't flinch. Aurora smirked and made it disappear. Ash wanted to meet Gordo and something told him they would meet soon. Aurora finished with a bow of respect to Ash and apologized again.
"Charizard may be injured badly, but I can tell you didn't mean to overdo it. Don't apologize. I know that you're sorry and I've accepted that." Ash said with a smile. Aurora breathed an air of relief. Then, her eyes turned sharp as she started to grow annoyed. Ash visibly flinched.
"I'm a very patient woman, but the one thing I do not allow is disrespect. If you ever feel brazen enough to even attempt to attack me again, I will properly retaliate and knock some sense into you. I'm only letting this slide because you don't know who I really am to you yet. Always respect your elders, young man. Got it?" Aurora roared. Ash nodded his head. She began to calm down again and her face turned soft. She said much more gently, "With that being said, I'll... try not to be so harsh, Ash."
Ash could feel Ashton cringing from within him when she said the first part. He could feel a little bit of his fear and knew that she was serious. Ashton said with a little bit of a whisper, "Don't test her words out, Ash. Before you lost your memory, you had a bit of a temper and she would often have to… ah, never mind. Be careful. I don't want to find out how stronger the heat would be now that we're older."
"She would actually burn us?" Ash asked with a mix of a little curiosity, fear and suspicion.
"Not burn burn us. I mean, she would heat up her hand and touch our hand back like a warning. Don't worry about it. Just… don't piss her off." Ashton dismissed as his presence diminished.
All in the while, Serena was thinking about all that was said. She was thinking about Ash's eyes in the battle. They'd been a combination of Ash and Ashton's eyes. She wondered if her hunch was right and decided to test it.
"Ash… were you and Ashton out at the same time during to battle to counter Aurora?" Serena put two and two together quickly. Ash and Aurora looked at each other, then looked at Serena. They figured they shouldn't hide it from her any longer. Ash's eyes suddenly turned to ruby-like gems to give Serena the confirmation she needed.
Ashton confirmed, "Ash would have told you earlier, but Ruru asked us to keep it secret. Ash already feels you're already part of the family, though. He loves you with all of his heart."
Aurora had a goofy smile on her face. Ashton had a point. Serena was a trustworthy girl to her. She certainly didn't mind her knowing about this. Aurora had a feeling the honey blond teen wouldn't try to take advantage of it. If Ash trusted her to know, Aurora would too.
"I'm curious… do you love me as well?" Serena asked. Ashton frowned and shook his head.
"No…. I may care about you a lot, but I'm not in love with you. However, we both will do whatever we can to protect you." Ashton said with a hollow voice. He didn't expect the look of understanding or the hug he received from Serena. He started to blush afterwards, but didn't return the hug. Serena broke the embrace and made a warm smile. She felt relieved that Ashton didn't love her, but just cared about her. She loved Ash himself. She didn't want to think about how complicated things would be if both Ash and Ashton loved her. It was weird thinking about loving part of a person, but only caring about the other part. It gave her a little bit of a headache. Aurora noticed this and chucked. She decided to change the subject to avoid any more headaches.
"Wow. I didn't know you were so close to Charizard. Puts a smile on my face." Aurora noted how passionately Ash spoke about him.
"Yep. It's weird. Two of my guardian partners didn't listen to me at some point." Ash laughed hollowly as his eyes returned to their regular brown color. Pikachu nuzzled against Ash. In retrospect, Pikachu thought it seemed silly to be a jerk to Ash, but now, they have an infallible bond. He would always love and respect Ash.
"So… Little Chu didn't listen to you when you first started out as a trainer?" Aurora figured.
"Yeah. To be honest, I thought Pikachu hated me at first. He shocked me the first time he saw me and I even had to tie a rope to make him move around with me," Pikachu looked down with regret. At the time, he didn't like humans, but now he knew that Ash wasn't like any other human. Ash's friends also helped to prove this to him, especially Misty.
"Seems like you aren't the only one." Aurora sat down in a pretzel shape and started to chuckle a little bit. One of her Poke Balls started to rumble and out came her eldest partner. She joined in on Aurora's knowing laughter. Ash and Serena looked at the elder guardian confused. She continued, "Heh. Chari used to burn that rope down to a crisp and then proceed to burn me. She hated to be in her Poke Ball, so I had to drag her around. Thankfully, by the time she became a Charizard, she didn't mind going in her ball as much. She was incredibly defiant when we first started out. It lasted quite a bit into Kanto, too."
"Chari didn't like you?" Ash furrowed his eyebrows.
"Kid, try despised her guts. I hated all humans." Chari told him. "However, that changed when Aurora saved me from being killed by a Gyarados. She gave me the strength to keep going, even when the odds were stacked against me. It was the first time I realized that I was her lifelong partner. She protected me even after all the stupid things I said and did to her. I will never forget the kindness Aurora had for me no matter how many times I attacked or bit her."
"Can you tell us more about it? It's only fair since I told you about Charizard." Ash asked. Aurora shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I see why not. A good place to start the story is when I was near Vermillion City. I wanted to go to Lavender Town first before I went for the Celadon Gym, so I decided to walk with Chari north on the harbor on Silence Bridge..." Aurora said in recollection.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the battle. I tried to make the result realistic, but also show that Ash has grown since the first one. I hope I did that.
Ash attacking Aurora without thinking is a consequence of how harsh Mew was while training him in his dreams, especially during the third day. One of the warrior-like qualities Mew instilled in Ketchums are beginning to show in Ash: aggression. I wonder how that will affect his character in later chapters?
The flashback sequence was a nearly flawless recreation of a section in the Pokemon episode "Charizard Chills". I had to watch the episode a few times to get most of the dialogue correct, but I added my own spin because this story is an alternate reality to the anime and games. I hope you all enjoyed that call back.
Next Chapter: Belligerent Beginnings?
Until then...
~SPG123~