Revival Chapter Ten: Confessions

Pewter City loomed ahead, the dark stone buildings the hues of the setting sun. It had taken an entire day to make it to the city, exhaustion taking its toll on the group. The addition of Max's injury had slowed them down too. They arrived at the pokecenter, which, like the other buildings, was constructed out of stone. The city was known for its rich quarries, selling slabs of granite, marble, and other valuable rock. Recently, a miner had discovered a vein of a precious stone, and the city was on the verge of becoming the richest city in Kanto.

Brock had left to visit his parents for the night, telling them of their quest. Max was lightly dozing on the couch his foot propped up, surrounded by a bag of ice, preventing swelling. May was next to him, a magazine laying in her lap. She had fallen asleep too while keeping a vigil on her brother. The others went to their respective room, resting for the next day, save one.

Ash tossed and turned in his bed, the images of the battle playing over and over like a broken tape player which refused to stop. He didn't want to see what he had done, but his mind kept showing it over and over again. He sat upright, careful not to disturb Pikachu, who was curled in ball, resting soundly. Again, Ash wondered if the pokemon felt any sort of guilt from the previous event. Once again, he was confronted with the same answer. "I wish I could feel the same way he did," he thought. He softly padded out of the room, careful not to wake the other occupant, Drew. Blaidd had his own residence, as did Misty. Maybe some fresh air could help him, somehow.

Despite being in the middle of an industrial city, the pokecenter was a miniature haven for guests, with hardy flowers surrounding the grounds, and a small man-made pond lying under a grove of trees. Ash propped himself up against a tree, watching as a small breeze created ripples on the pond. His eyes roved down to his hands, their trademark gloves off for the night. He could still imagine the mightyena's blood on them, dripping from his fingertips, the imaginary scent of blood overwhelming his senses, even though there was no blood at all.

How could he have done this, this crime? It had all happened in an instant, so how could he have stopped himself from committing the unspeakable? The very memory made his stomach churn and he wished for a psychic pokemon to come along and excise the memory once and for all. Unfortunately, none of his friends possessed a psychic type, except for Misty's psyduck, whom he didn't want to be anywhere his mind. Who knew what that pokemon would do to his brain? That idea was promptly scrapped. He turned over his hands, wondering what he would do now.

He heard something shift and he perked up, trying to find the source. By some sheer cosmic coincidence, Misty had come out to the very same place he was. Ash then pondered for a minute if he was wearing some sort of tracking device, like LoJack. Her hair was down and mussed, like she had just woken up from her sleep.

"Guess you can't sleep either?" Ash asked.

She shook her head. " I was asleep, until Pikachu woke me up. He found that you had left and was worried about you. Guess Pikachu has the most sense of this group."

"Yeah," Ash went back to studying the pond.

Misty sat next to him, forcing the trainer to turn his attention back to her. "Ash, what's wrong? You've been acting funny the past couple of days, ever since the attack."

"Nothing Mist, I'm fine," he lied; after all, how could he tell her the truth?

"That is a lie and you know it," Misty scolded softly. "Something's bugging you and if you don't tell someone, it will keep growing and growing until you can't hide it anymore. Let it out now and you'll feel a lot better about it."

"How would you know?"

"Because I was once in your shoes."

Ash nodded and turned away once more, his brown eyes filled with mourning. "You wouldn't understand," he finally said, his voice a ragged whisper.

"Try me."

"You wanna know the truth?"

"Ash, I'm your best friend, of course I want to know."

Ash took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. "Alright, that night, when the mightyena and houndoom attacked..."

"Yes Ash, what about it?"

"One of them, one of the mightyena came at me. It was really, really angry at me. It..it jumped and I I had was that knife, you know, the one Blaidd gave to me?"

"I remember," Misty answered quietly.

"Well, the mightyena lunged at me and all I had was the knife. I held the knife up, but I'm not really sure why, but...the mightyena impaled itself on it. I,...I killed a pokemon." The last few words were barely audible.

Misty let out a faint gasp, that night's events running through her mind. That would have explained why Ash was covered in blood that night. It wasn't his after all, but the mightyena's. "Ash, it's okay. You had no choice."

Ash tried, but failed, to keep a sob in. "But Misty, I'm a trainer. I'm supposed to train pokemon, not kill them in cold blood."

"I know Ash, but you had to. It was survival. I hate to harm pokemon too, but there comes a point where survival of both you and your friends take precedence. After all, if you didn't use the knife, where would you be at the moment? Who would take care of Pikachu? Your friends? Your actions saved both Max's and my lives. Mourn the death yes, but don't dwell on it forever."

"But Misty-"

"What?"

"There was something else."

"What?"

"During the fight, I think I used an Aura sphere attack."

"Like a lucario?"

"Yeah, it was weird. I wasn't very good with it though and it really made me tired afterward, but I think it was a 'Aura Sphere' attack."

"That's really unusual. I think Blaidd did it too, when we were ambushed." Misty recalled. Ash nodded in response.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, I do remember him doing that. Guess I'll have to ask him about it later."

Misty smiled, glad and relieved that Ash was on the road to recovery. "Felling better?"

"Yeah, a little bit."

Misty got up from under the tree, stretching her legs out. She turned away for a moment and she felt something grab her hand. It was Ash.

"Thanks Misty."

"You're welcome. We better get to bed. We got a long day ahead of us."

"Alright, I'll see you in." Misty left the grove and once again Ash was alone. He glimpsed down at his hand, the one that grabbed Misty's, and he wondered what possessed him to do such a thing. And why it made him feel as if there were a flock of butterfrees in his abdomen.

XXXXXXXXXX

The high winds buffeted at Stella and Fearow endeavored to make it to the island castle that she called home. It was always difficult to get to, due to the constant shifting of currents, both wind and sea. The island stood at the crossroads of many currents, currents that clashed and collided, creating a sea of unpredictability. It was difficult to navigate as well, and only the most perceptive of riders and seafarers could navigate the region. The fearow finally landed on one of the landing platforms that jutted out from the massive structure. Stella grabbed the shoulder bag that held both her and Eldrin's pokemon and scrambled inside, the winds tugging and pulling at her cloak. At first she was bitter about Eldrin sending her away, just so his pokemon could be healed, but she realized that the pokemon were needed; these were the only two to have survived the pursuit. Her houndoom and Mightyena were killed during the clash, one with its neck snapped in two, the other with ice shards protruding from its chest.

A small insignificant part of her mourned the deaths, but in reality she didn't care much for those two species as a whole, preferring her poison and dragon types, so she saw the deaths as a minor roadblock, a delay in the overall task, nothing more, nothing less.

"What are you doing here Stella Natalios?" A voice growled as she passed one of the many chamber. She froze in mild shock, while her heart began to race. He wasn't supposed to be here:

Captain Archer, second in command only to the Master. Captain Archer was supposed to be campaigning in Hoenn, recruiting the last remnants of Teams Aqua and Magma for their force. Captain Archer was a man to not be trifled with, both ruthless and cunning and methodical in his torture and punishments. He was tall, about six feet, with wide shoulders and pectorals, evidence of his many years working with a blade. From his waist down he was slender and wiry, giving him the appearance of being almost top-heavy. Dirty blond bangs framed his face while the rest of his hair was tied back in a short club. He had proud features, with a crooked nose, broken many times, and high cheekbones which framed his icy blue eyes. His eyes, the shade of a crisp winter sky, reminded Stella of an abyss, cold and unforgiving, luring her in and repulsing her at the same time. He was clad in a black t-shirt and brown pants. His furret, a lithe beast measuring almost as tall as he, rested at his side, its black eyes watching like onyx marbles.

"I said, what are you doing here?" he demanded once again. "I had thought the Master sent you out to capture the boy."

"I would be, if Eldrin hadn't sent me here to play Nurse Joy to his pokemon." The gears in Stella's mind were whirling as the seeds of an idea took root in her thoughts. Stella never did like Eldrin all that much. True, he had his moments, such as being her lover for a span of time, but since then she saw him as an incompetent fool. Maybe if she could manipulate the situation, perhaps she could find a way to garner Captain Archer's favor and possibly exert herself as the leader of the small expedition.

Captain Archer tiled his head to the side as he shifted his weight, studying her, his eyes alight with curiosity. After a few beats, he spoke. "He managed to get his pokemon injured?" He shook his head. "He was always an incompetent idiot and useless to boot."

Stella praised the powers that be silently. Maybe this could actually work. "Yeah, he allowed Alan to get killed as well. Killed by an Aura Sphere, he was."

Archer raised an eyebrow, intrigued. The boy wasn't supposed to be able to use Aura to this extent, not yet at least. This added a new layer to the teen, something he could exploit, somehow. "Alan, the tracker, correct?"

"Yes."

"I pity him and his soul. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do. And you better get along to play 'Nurse Joy'." The last part he sneered as his eyes raked over her. He shut the door and Stella watched as her plans fell by the wayside. It seemed that Captain Archer wasn't going to fall for her plan after all. Or he was too stupid to realize what she had meant. Deep down though, Stella knew it was the former. She sighed and trudged down the the infirmary, Eldrin's pokeballs in hand.

XXXXXXXXXX

The room was sheathed in silence as Captain Reynard Archer sat back down in his chair, unfurling a sheet of paper. Furret trotted over and flopped his head down on Archer's feet, as the Captain gave the ferret pokemon an affectionate scratch, his fingers sinking into the long coarse fur. He went back to his work picking up a pen in his left hand, and began to write.

Stella was right; Elrdin was an inept idiot and a mediocre soldier. The Master was wrong for the man to be promoted to expedition leader. Eldrin had been promoted to quickly in Archer's eyes. Actually, the Master's plan was a poor idea in the first place, full of holes and weakness for the teen and his friends to utilize. The teen was stubborn and defiant. Captain Archer had a more thought out plan, one that would force the teen to do his bidding. Captain Archer went back to the sheet of paper and pulled out a second one, a topographical map of Rota and the inner workings of Cameran Palace. Rota would be an excellent place to start his conquest, after he had the key to Sir Aaron's tomb of course. The tomb had a treasure that would guarantee Archer's conquest of the region.

Archer gave a faint smile as he wrote, the thought of having ultimate power exciting him. There were a few obstacles in his way unfortunately, one that included the Master himself, the man Captain Archer was supposed to obey. He let out a snort of amusement, causing Furret to look up, confused. The Master was old and useless, relying on the boy's naivety to get him what he wanted. He didn't realize that the 'boy' had just wiped out nearly all of the tracking pokemon, and a good soldier in the process. Archer could blame Eldrin, after all, he was the leader and therefore, all responsibility went to him. But instead, Archer condemned the Master, for making the choice in the first place.

His cold blue eyes fell on a letter opener that was lying nearby and Captain Archer had an idea. Like how a gardener would prune the dead branches of a plant, Captain Reynard Archer would have to do the same thing to the organization, so to speak. It was for the betterment for their organization in the end.

And he would be one step closer to his goal.

And yes, Furrets are freaking huge, nearly 6 feet tall. It's a ferret on steroids! Run away!