Chapter 17

A/N: Enjoy. Extended and mended.

Ash and Dawn woke up and found themselves standing in a completely white coloured room. They looked around and found no one there at all. The air was sterile and reminded them of hospitals. Ash opened his mouth to speak but no voice came out at all. Dawn tried too with similar results.

'Dammit,' swore Ash in his brain.

'Ash, don't spit vulgarities in your brain,' thought Dawn. Ash rolled his eyes.

'So, now we can communicate through thoughts and not voices? Great. Now I have you in my head,'

'Hey! I didn't ask for it!' Just as Ash was about to retort back, A deep gruff voice boomed around the blank room.

"Auraers!" said the voice.

'How come he could talk but we can't?' thought Ash. Dawn simply shrugged. She tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"There is no need for speech. I shall only speak once. In this mountain is a cave within another cave. In the cave is a shrine. In the shrine is a council. And in that council is a man. He shall select and challenge one of you. Win and obtain the shard. If not, another may not try. Fail and the world goes with you,"

Ash and Dawn turned to look at each other. They both frowned.

'Well, this certainly clear up the whole encounter,' thought Ash sarcastically. Dawn simply sighed. Before long, they both went black again.

-

Commander Salium strapped on his black plastic tight suit and pulled up the zipper. Around him, the hangar was a hive of activity. Technicians rushed around checking if the frigates are up and ready to go while healers handed back the pokemon of soldiers. Ellen sighed again. The mission required the best of the best soldiers. Nothing must go wrong. However, some of the best people were sent to Cyrus's group. He had to make do with someone of lesser experience in his team.

"Sir! The frigates are ready!" shouted a technician. Time to leave, thought Ellen, as he walked to brief his troops.

-

As Brock went back, he found Ash and Dawn awake and well. In fact, they seemed extremely refreshed. He quickly turned off the pencil light. The both of them turned their heads towards him as they heard the crunching sound of rubber on ice. Pikachu was snuggling on Ash's lap. Both of them were chatting over something before he came. Brock addressed them. Toxicroak croaked loudly in greeting.

"So, are you two up to exploring a cave within a cave?" asked Brock. Their brows furrowed.

"A cave within a cave?" asked Dawn. Brock nodded.

"I found a secret tunnel blocked by a huge rock wall while exploring this cave," explained Brock. Ash quickly jumped up. Pikachu scrambled in alarm. Dawn eyes bulged in response.

"A cave in a cave in a mountain…" muttered Dawn. She nodded to Ash. The voice had told them about it.

"Lead the way, Brock," said Ash.

As they walked, Brock asked the Auraers about their sudden unconsciousness before.

"We kind of went to a room where a voice told us to fight a man in a shrine in a cave within a cave," answered Ash. Brock simply nodded.

Brock brought them to the place where he found the stone wall. However, this time, the wall was completely open. Five men and women dressed in brown robes greeted them. Their heads were shaved of hair. They bowed their heads and put their hands together. Ash, Dawn and Brock looked surprised.

"Greetings to the two Auraers and the Mentor," chorused the five.

"M-mentor?" stuttered Ash. They nodded towards Brock. He arched his eyebrows.

"The Abbot requests your audience," said the tallest of the group, a man of about 6 feet with dark skin. His voice was deep and calming.

"The Abbot?" asked Dawn. The man nodded.

"Well, the voice did tell us about it," said Ash.

"Please follow us," said the woman beside the tall monk. The trio shrugged. Might as well follow them or get frozen in the mountain.

-

Commander Salium's stealth frigate reached the Himalayans after ten minutes. The computer registered a large airship heading his way. Galaxian had been right about Cyrus's plans. And by the looks of it, he is very determined to get the three of them.

Even thought it's virtually impossible to sense and seek out the stealth frigate, which can fool radar, infrared and most importantly, light, Ellen's heart was still beating wildly. He looked around the control room. Everyone seemed a little calmer than he is. Ellen silently breathed in. Time to try out something, thought Ellen. He had suspicions after he found out that he could seemingly communicate telepathically with others.

He closed his eyes and relaxed his mind. He tried to feel out with his mind, only to get nothing in return. His forehead got strained with sweat as he tried and tried with similar results. Ellen almost gave up when he felt the slightest of the slightest 'touch' of his surroundings. He got excited and patiently allowed it to spread throughout his consciousness. Finally, he managed to sense the every occupant, every single object in control room. He opened his eyes and panted heavily. The session had taken most of his mental energy. However, Ellen never felt any exhausted at all. His suspicions were confirmed. He was an Auraer!

A/N: It's shorter...Sorry. Review please. :)