Revival Chapter 7: Crystalline Dreams

So, I just wanted to give a shout out to those who reviewed this story so far XD. Thanks for the awesome reviews guys! I'd name you all, but that would be a very long list...And those that put me on Story Alert or Favorites, I catch you without leaving a review lolz.

And I really shouldtell the ages of the gang and their Pokemon huh? :

Ash, 18: Pikachu, Staraptor, Glalie, Torterra, Quilava, and Buizel

Misty 18 ½: Starmie, Azurill (in a pokeball), Gyarados, Psyduck, Politoed, Corsola

Brock: 21: Croagunk-Toxicroak, Sudowoodo, Happiny (even though it evolves in DP), Steelix, Crobat, Marshtomp

May 17: Glaceon, Blaziken, Venasaur, Beautifly, Skitty, and Wartorle

Drew: Roserade, Butterfree, Masquerein, Flygon, and Absol

Max: Treeko, Poochyena, and Ralts

The world exploded into red, garish colors that splashed everywhere, on her clothes, the stone floor, everything. The world seemed to slow down, like everything was drowning in molasses. Ash staggered back a few steps, hands to his chest, some sort of bolt sticking out from it. He sank to his knees, wheezing and coughing blood in a fine mist. Blaidd stood off to one side, fending off a troop of men, whose weapons glistened with the same shade of red. She knelt there, fingers brushing against a shard of crystal erupting from the earth. Her hands were raw and bleeding from the contact. Thin rivulets of red trickled through her fingers, but she couldn't let go. She wouldn't let go. She was surrounded by it, could feel the red soaking into everything, the coppery tang in the air...

Blood.

Blaidd suffered from numerous wounds, hands flaring bright with blue flames, but it wasn't enough to win...

...Her world went down in a world of red and blue...

"Ash!"

But the red and blue went away...to be washed away by...

...Rain?

Misty jolted upright from her sleeping bag, chest heaving. The dream seemed so real, but thankfully it wasn't. Something wet landed on her nose, then another on her hand. It had started to drizzle again and she groaned. She loved the rain yes, but only when she was inside, watching it trickle down the windows, not being soaked by it. Kanto summers equated to two things: Hot and wet. She moved her sleeping bag under a nearby tree, in hopes of becoming less soaked then she already was becoming. Her foot brushed up against something hard and cold and she glanced down, praying it wasn't a chrysalis to a bug pokemon.

Instead, it looked like a hunk of crystal sticking out of the ground, with smaller ones protruding from the main one, reminding her of a flower. Even though it was pitch black this night, it glowed with an inner light, like it were nature's night light. She knelt next to it, in awe of the scintillating colors, hundreds of shades, contained in one delicate item.

"What do you got there Misty?" May whispered, creeping up next to her. Like Misty, the rain had woken her up and she decided to move her sleeping bag as well.

"I don't know May, but it's really gorgeous."

May studied the crystal for a moment, trying to place where exactly she had come across it. "Wait a sec, that's a 'time flower'!" she whispered in surprise.

"A 'time' what?"

"A time flower. It can record events and play them back to you if you touch it."

"That's pretty cool. Where did you hear that one?"

"The last time Ash went to Rota and Cameran Palace."

"Oh right." Misty then remembered her dream, how she was holding on to something that looked remarkably like the 'time flower' that was in front of her. The two were so similar, yet vastly different in size. Her mind started to make connections, but they were elusive and they slipped through the cracks of her sleepy mind.

"Soo," May hunkered down in her sleeping bag, which was now next to Misty's. She had a sly look in her bright blue eyes, which spelled 'doom' in Misty's mind.

Or at the very least, extreme embarrassment. Neither of which she was in the mood for at the moment. The images of Ash dying were very fresh in her head.

"What is it May?" she asked resignedly.

"What exactly happened that day, when you and Ash went 'walking' in the woods?"

She saw this one coming from a mile away. "Nothing happened. He and I were just talking."

"Uh-huh, suuurree," May snuggled in deep in her sleeping bag, turning the polyester bag into a human chrysalis. "You know, you two really go together, it's kind of cute actually."

Misty turned away from May, praying that the coordinator wouldn't see her blush, and crawled in her bag as well, trying to stay as dry as she possibly could in the outdoors. "Good night May."

May simply rolled her eyes and went to sleep as well.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Morning came in, as the clouds lightened up slightly. It was still drizzling though, which put a damper on the trip. They managed to make through the woods, after being pursued by a small hive of angry beedrill. Not exactly the best way to start the morning.

The streets of Virdian City were all but deserted, as many people had elected to stay indoors on this gloomy day. The group restocked of their food supplies, while Blaidd noticed a store carrying knives. He dragged Ash in.

Blaidd looked thoughtfully at the blades, Ash looking a combination of confusion and boredom. "Why exactly are we here?" he inquired.

"Because simply," Blaidd replied, studying a thick knife. "You need one. A knife is an important tool in one's arsenal. It can provide you food, help you create shelters, protection from wild pokemon, the possibilities are endless. To not have one, especially where we're going, would be a very stupid idea. You're going to be literally, in the middle of nowhere, and there isn't a Pokecenter every half mile." Blaidd set the knife down, much to the shopkeeper's displeasure; Blaidd had been handling a large portion of his wares, without making any purchase. "Ash, you are eighteen right?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Good. Come over here and pick one out for yourself, because I am not buying it for."

XXXXXXXXXXX

But in the end, Blaidd did help Ash pick out a knife, and paid for a percentage of it, but he made Ash pay for the rest of it. The knife was a work of practicality and beauty, even more so thanks to the price. It was a little less than two feet long, with a six inch grip. The metal was of carbon steel, a reliable and sturdy metal, Blaidd had claimed. The knife was about two inches wide, curving into a wicked curve towards the last few inches. Both sides were edged, allowing for both stabbing and cutting. It hooked onto to Ash's belt with it's leather sheath, placed on his left side side he was right handed. Ash absentmindedly thumbed the hilt of the blade as they walked to Pewter City a few days away.

"Jeez, Ash," Misty said after seeing the bladed monstrosity. "Any bigger and you'd be carrying a sword!"

"It wasn't my fault, Misty," Ash flustered in his defense. "Blaidd picked it out."

Blaidd rolled his eyes. "Oh sure, blame the guest." But there was a jovial glint in his red eyes as he said so, so there was no meaning behind the words.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Eldrin cursed under his breath. He hadn't properly gauged the distance between Pallet Town and Viridian City, coupled with the group's mad dash out of the woods, courtesy to a flock of angry beedrill. Now they were within the city limits, making it impossible to hunt them down. They were unable to enter the city either with their armor and weaponry. They would have stuck out like a sore thumb and get noticed. He wasn't too concerned with the boy, but the other one, the one with a powerful Aura, would have taken note and blown their cover, recognizing the troop for what they were.

"Brilliant," Stella snorted derisively, finger fiddling with the trigger of her hand crossbow. "You let them get away. Again."

" Yes Stella, let's hunt them down in the city and watch as the media goes after it like a pack of rabid houndoom. I would much rather not have my face plastered on every local news channel."

"You're weak."

"No, practical. You've definitely spent too much time with the Master's Mightyena."

Stella snarled and ripped her sword out from its scabbard. "Say that again and I'll cut your throat out, after I promptly castrate you."

Mia interceded. "Now's not the time or the place. Take your aggression out on the boy's friends, not each other. Eldrin's right. It would have been too much of a risk to go after them in the city. It's best to do it in the wilds. We didn't expect them to traverse through the Woods that quickly. We'll have plenty of time to get them. Alright?"

Stella lowered her weapon. "Fine."

Mia nodded. "Good. They should be out of Viridian city by tomorrow night. We'll get them then."