Once more, I am back! Last time, Dragon told Ash to kill team Rocket! The young trainer was obviously shocked by the challenge issued to him. What will he choose? To save the lives of the guys who have been chasing him for as long as anyone can remember? Or will he choose to keep all of his friends? Let's find out in this new chapter of Time Crossed Heroes!
Same spot as we left off
The Trainers (rope-bound thieves included) stared in absolute horror at the counterpart of the kind, naïve trainer leader. Did he just ask Ash to…
"… Kill them?" Ash asked, his voice full of horror and disbelief. Dragon simply nodded at him, his face betraying no feeling.
"I warned you about my challenges, didn't I? Even so, you were reckless enough to take them. I actually didn't think you'd agree. So, what will you do now?" Dragon said, his voice as cold and neutral as his face. "Their lives or your friends?" He threw the question straight at the kid's face. Ash looked at the dagger in his hand…
"No…" He said silently. Dragon cocked his head.
"Beg your pardon?"
"I said NO! I will NOT kill them! They deserve a second chance!" He yelled at his Guardian Counterpart. Dragon lowered his sword at the answer, and sighed loudly.
"Are you really that naïve?" Ash flinched at the tone his other self was using. "They HAD second chances. Hell, this would probably be their thousandth chance by now." Dragon raised his sword, poised to strike down the thieves with a single swift motion. "You lose this challenge" Dragon began his downward swing, spelling doom for the ones' in its path… when a young teen, with long brown hair kept in a ponytail by a leaf-shaped clip, wearing a green long sleeved shirt and blue shorts emerged quickly from the treeline, followed by a Serperior. Both were heavily injured, and before anyone could ask, two figures emerged after her…
… Two figures with a crossed out pokeball with a crown above it…
Dragon, and all the other Guardians with more beast-like mates, released a primal growl at the sight of the symbol… the symbol of the King's Hunters. Dragon turned to the bound thieves, and simply said.
"Consider yourselves lucky this time." Despite this, Dragon was relieved he wouldn't have to kill someone who didn't deserve it. True, they kidnapped Ritias in the other timeline, but not here. Dragon then turned to the Hunters, and told his brothers and sisters. "Guardians, ATTACK!" They all launched into battle. The Hunters stood no chance before the deadly dance that was the Guardian's teamwork attacks. Flame slipped between one's legs and slashed through his knees, severing the tendons and making the man fall straight into a sheet of electrified ice spikes. The man felt no pain as he descended into the afterlife. His partner, another man carrying a heavy rifle, was thrown into the air by the Berserker, where Steel and Poison landed hundreds of strikes to tendons and ligaments, crippling the man for the final blow: Strength of the Guardian-powered punch by Dragon that fractured his skull. Normally, the Guardians would've felt remorse over taking a life… well, maybe Mind wouldn't, but that's because the Berserker makes him that way… but this time, they didn't even bat an eye. They knew what the Hunters did, and, judging by the ominous glow of their weapons, they were no different in this timeline. The Guardians then hurried over to the injured. Flame knelt down next to the girl, and her eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when she recognized her face. She'd been one of the test subjects for the Aura Virus in their timeline!
"Are you alright?" Flame asked the girl. In response she blindly threw an oddly shaped knife at the Guardian, who dodged it out of pure experience and grabbed it by the chain. A Chained Kunai. "Pretty nifty Prime Technique you got there. However, it's best if you don't kill your saviors, you know." The girl's snake-like eyes widened at the word savior, and noticed her pursuers were dead.
"Y-You saved me…" She muttered. "W-why?" Dragon his hand to the girl, who took it rather distrustfully.
"You could say we have a bone to pick with these men." Dragon said, pointing at the Hunters. He then smiled at the girl, and the Trainers noticed this was the first time they had seen Dragon smile. It made him seem less like a war-hardened warrior and more like the Ash they once knew. "Why don't you come with us? You and your… friend look like you could use some help." The girl blushed slightly at the way Dragon said the word 'friend' but none of the Trainers noticed. Knowing she did need help, and that, if left alone, those men would come after her again, she nodded. "Alright then. Let's be going then… Oh, and before I forget…" Dragon then strode to his other self and retrieved his dagger, but not before saying once more. "You lose. If you back down from the challenges now, I'll allow you to release only 6 Pokémon rather than a third."
"Y-you killed those men…" Ash said, disbelieving of the deaths he had just witnessed.
"Yes, we did." Dragon answered nonchalantly. "Those men wouldn't have shown any mercy to that girl, and thus, neither should we." Dragon turned to leave with his teammates. "Soon, you'll understand that we live in a world that, sometimes, it is to kill, or be killed."
Two hours later, Mistralton City.
The weight of the revelation crashed down on Ash. He had told Dragon he'd back away from the challenges, but only because he had no other choice. If he didn't, he'd have to release too many of his friends… What made it worse was the call to Prof. Oak, who he called using Max's Pokenav.
FLASHBACK!
Ash sat in a tree stump, tears flowing down his eyes as he waited for the professor to pick up.
"*BZZT* Hello?" Came the voice of Samuel Oak. Ash swallowed the knot in his throat and spoke.
"H-hey, Prof. Oak… How's everything back home?" Ash began casually, but Oak noticed the sadness in his voice.
"Everything is alright here…" The professor answered. "Ash, is everything alright? You sound like someone just told you to release your Pokémon." Ash sighed loudly before continuing.
"That's because… that's because someone did…" Silence followed, indicating Ash to continue. "I… I made a foolish decision. I accepted a challenge I never should've even considered, and I lost. Because of it, I have to release 6 of my Pokémon…" Ash choked near the end of the sentence.
"What!? Why? Who would make you do such a thing?" The Professor was clearly outraged, most likely wanting the head of whoever did this.
"I-I can't explain this by phone…" Ash said truth fully. Just then, Dragon passed by him and gave (read as 'threw') him a piece of paper, with the word 'Mistralton' written on it. On the back, it said 'Oak and Delia'. Getting the message, Ash continued. "C-could you and my mom come to Mistralton City in Unova? I can only explain this in person…"
FLASHBACK END
The Trainers were now waiting for the Professor and Delia to get past customs. Ash was trying to find to words to explain what had happened, but wasn't quite sure just what would work.
"I can't just go and say 'Hi mom! Hi Professor! I just met the 'me' from another timeline who leads a team of psychos!'. Yeah, that isn't going to work… WHOA!" Ash fell of his chair when a purple knife impaled itself right next to his chair.
"I do not appreciate anyone calling either me or my brothers and sisters a Psycho." Poison said venomously (Pun intended). The Guardians were explaining to Ava Fihights, the girl they had rescued, how they were from a separate timeline, but didn't really know how to tell her that her other self was… well… killed rather gruesomely.
"So, you guys are the Guardians of a pokelover safe haven?" The Guardian's nodded.
"Yeah, you could summarize it like that." Mind said. "We were also the sworn enemies of the King's Hunters, who…"
"Wait, 'were'?" Ava questioned the Guardian of the Mind.
"Yeah, were. Nearly all of them are 6 feet under… or above, depending on whether we burned the bodies or buried them." The (insanely) bloodthirsty Guardian said dismissively, grinning at the horrified look his other-self gave him. 'Man, I LOVE messing with this kid!' He then noticed, however, that the girl hadn't even flinched. In fact, she seemed deep in thought. Dragon caught on to this.
"Listen, Miss Ava. Your counterpart from our world died at the hands of the Hunters." The girl did react visibly at this, her eyes widening at the information. "However, her demise does open a door for us. If you so wish, we could take you back with us when we return to our world and join us.. You would no longer have to run away from anyone, and you would have a secured life. A job, children, a house… in a few words, a family." The words were tempting, clearly spoken from the one that was the undisputed leader of the group. The girl thought about it for a second, before nodding. "Alright then. I have no idea when we'll leave, but rest assured, when we do, your days of worrying will be over. I welcome you into the…"
"ASH!" Dragon was tackled by a clearly female person, interrupting him. "Oh, Ash! Who was it that gave you the challenge! How could someone be so cruel!"
"Uh, mom? I'm over here?" Delia looked up to see her son, and pushed herself off the one she had tackled, not bothering to look at his face, and asked for forgiveness, before tackling her son and repeating the speech.
"Hello, Ash!" Came the happy voice of Prof. Oak. "Now, explain to me, why do you have to release some of your Pokémon? Who would want you to do such a thing?"
"Well…" Ash began.
"That would be me." The man Delia had tackled answered, his facial features obscured by a hat. Delia then turned to the man, hands on her hips, and trying to glare at the man. Her glare was less intimidating than a newborn Pichu, though.
"Ok, Mister! Just what gives you the right to tell my son to release his Pokémon?" Delia asked, anger dripping into her voice.
"I'll answer your question, but first ask your son this: Who is he?" Delia and Oak turned to Ash, who had gotten the gist of what Dragon meant. With a sigh, he began.
"I am Ash Ketchum. Pokémon trainer, Champion of the Orange League and winner of the Battle Frontier of Kanto." Ash said, his voice with pride, but a bit of shame as well.
"Alright, we knew that, but what does that have to do with anything?" The Professor asked. The man answered by lifting his head, revealing an older Ash. "W-what the?"
"W-who are you?" Delia asked fearfully. The man's eyes filled with pride as he began to speak.
"I am Ash Ketchum. Former Pokémon Trainer. Guardian of Altomare, Codename: Dragon. Leader of the Sacred Guardians of Altomare, Slayer of King Roland the Dark, Bearer of the spirit of the Paladin, loving husband of Latias and proud father of Ritias and Ritios." The Professor and Delia stared in shock at the man. Delia, however, stopped listening at the 'Slayer of King Roland' part.
"You… my son… killed a man?" Delia asked, tears starting to fall from her eyes. Mind decided to answer the question his leader denied to.
"One? Oh, no, he hasn't killed one man" Delia smiled when the youngest Guardian said that. "I lost track at 1,853.5 men and women during the II War of Aura."
*PLOP*
Everyone stared at the unconscious form of Delia Ketchum. Dragon sighed in exasperation.
"You overdid it, Mind." The accused Guardian simply lifted his hands, chuckling as he did so. Just then, another voice rang out.
"Dawn!" Both Blunettes turned to the origin of the voice, and saw Dawn's mother, Johanna, heading their way.
"Mom!" Dawn said happily as she ran to her mother… However…
The reunion was cut short by loud, primal snarl. Flame's eyes had become red and slit, and long Aura arms materialized over her own. A powerful, transparent flame appeared on her back, and her lips were curled back in a bestial snarl. Dragon cursed loudly when he witnessed this, and began to bark out orders to his teammates.
"ICE! GET READY TO EXTINGUISH FIRES! MIND, GO BERSERKER, NOW! THUNDER, PARALYSIS SHURIKEN, ON THE DOUBLE! STEEL, POISON, GET READY FOR SUBMISSION!" he yelled loudly as Dawn's transformation finished. Over her hands was a pair of long, claw-like limbs made of aura, similar to those of her mate. The flame on her back had extended as well, and was emitting pure heat. "Damn it all, why did she had to come!?
"What's going on?" Ash asked his counterpart, freaking out. "W-what's happening to her!?" Dragon snarled back before answering.
"She's going Feral." He answered as he readied his weapon.
AND CUT! That's it for now my good readers! Before anyone asks: I am NOT taking OC submissions. The ones that will appear in this fic are submissions that didn't make it to GoA. Now, we saw Flame going Feral. What does this mean? What kind of power do the Guardians hold when using this power? Find out next time on Time Crossed heroes! This is BladeOfThePoet, logging out!