HELLOOOOOO MY GREAT READERS! I am back once again! Last time, Flame exhibited a strange new Power: Feral Mode. Just what could this power be, and what does it do? More importantly, why did it release itself so suddenly upon the appearance of Johanna? We'll find out right abooooooout… NOW!
Same spot as last time, people!
The Guardians stood in formation around Flame as the changes finished. The heat she was exuding was near unbearable, and just about everything flammable around her was ignited.
"Great… Just. Fucking. Great." Mind growled as he formed the Berserker Armor around himself, not noticing that a picture in his pocket fell off, and, as fate (A/N And I) would have it, it landed right in front of Max and May's feet, the latter picking it up and showing it to her brother, their eyes widening upon seeing its contents. With his Armor finished, Mind turned to the recent arrivals of Delia and Oak, the former having passed out again at the sight of the Berserker. "Whose bright idea was it to invite this hunter here?" He spat the word Hunter like it was a vile poison.
"D-Delia invited her… what do you mean by 'Hunter'?" Dragon growled at the Professor's answer. Of course it had been his mother, who else would've invited her? Still growling, Dragon spoke.
"MIND! We can deal with the murderer later! First off, we've got to stop Flame!" The Berserker nodded grudgingly, not taking his eyes of Johanna, which was a slightly big mistake. Before anyone could react, Flame was upon Johanna, her whole body set ablaze.
"FLARE BLITZ!" She cried, in Poke-language, as she tackled Johanna with her flaming body. The recoil hit her, but Flame just shrugged it off before phasing out of view once more. All the Guardians began to look around, some with their eyes closed to catch sounds better.
"Damn it, where's Ground when you need her…" Thunder muttered as she tried to discern where her teammate was. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate her before she unleashed her next attack on Johanna. She reappeared right on top of the former coordinator, her mouth dripping fire.
"FIRE BLAST!" A five pronged, flaming star shot from her mouth, and would've incinerated Johanna, had Ice not set up a thick wall of… well, ice around the woman. Flame hesitated for a split second, and that was more than enough for the Guardians to intervene. Three golden Shuriken impaled themselves on her, one on her arm, one on her leg, and the last one on her stomach, sending waves of paralyzing energy. And right before she could recover, Mind ran in and hit her in the head, knocking her out.
"Sorry, Flame, but it's the only way." Mind said apologetically as he lifted her unconscious form and laid it down on a bench.
"MOM!" Dawn yelled as she ran towards her mother, who was nursing the wound caused by the Flare Blitz impact, but her path was intercepted by an Ice Beam. Everyone turned to see the Guardians glaring at Johanna. "W-why are you looking at my mother like that?"
"How many?" Dragon asked out of nowhere, completely disregarding the younger coordinator.
"I-I have no idea what you're talking ab…"
"DON'T YOU DARE PLAY DUMB WITH ME!" Dragon all but roared, his Sword already cackling with the energy of the Sacred Technique. "How many have you killed, Hunter?" Dragon marked his question by pressing his blade against the Coordinator's throat, drawing a small amount of blood. By this point, Johanna was crying out of fear.
"PLEASE! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Without moving his sword an inch, Dragon turned to Mind, prompting him to use his recently acquired telepathic powers.
"Hmm… well, I hate to admit this, but she's telling the truth…" Mind ruefully said. Upon hearing this, Dragon removed his sword from its target, dissolved it, and sighed.
"Forgive me… the you from our world and us don't exactly see eye to eye… on anything." Still paralyzed by fear, Johanna could barely nod.
"A shame we couldn't kill this one…" Mind said out loud, nearly causing the newly awakened Delia to pass out again. "Now, whose going to ask what happened to Flame back there?" Several people rose their hands, slightly surprised Mind had practically read their minds. "Hehe, so predictable."
"Enough, Mind, now's not the time." Dragon scolded the Guardian of the Mind. "Now, you must all be wondering what just transpired." All the Trainers nodded, still too shocked to even speak. "You see, whereas I have the Paladin, who specializes in Defensive capabilities, and Mind has the Berserker, who relies on Offensive capabilities, Flame began to develop something we've been calling 'Feral Spirit'. Our research has revealed that this power has come to be from overexposure to the Aura of the Berserker when it was still out of control, and from the mix of her Aura with that of her mate's. The Feral Spirit is optimized for speed and agility, making it a formidable foe. However, whenever the Feral Spirit comes up, Flame loses all semblance of control, and will lash out nearly instantly."
"But why did it come up just now?" Ash managed to ask, and Dragon said a single word in response, pointing at the woman in question.
"Johanna." Confusion spread through the area, and Johanna's eyes widened more than ever before. "In our timeline, when Johanna discovered Flame's relationship with Typhlosion, she ratted her own daughter out to the King's Hunters. She even joined the Hunt to try and kill her." Horror, a feeling Ash had felt constantly ever since the Guardian arrived, began to spread among the Trainer group and their parents. "We found her when she arrived nearly dead to Altomare, parts of her body, and her mate's, riddled with Dark Crystal bullets. If Nurse Joy hadn't been as good as she is, Flame would be dead now. And all because Johanna was unable to accept change" Silence draped the scene for a few seconds as everyone swallowed the information they just got.
"W-where's the other me now?" Johanna asked tentatively. Dragon faced away from her, not wanting to be the one to break the news…
"Meh, her incinerated corpse must be floating somewhere around the Ozone layer right now… Poor Ozone…" Mind said as bluntly as ever, which earned him the usual: a Gibbs slap from Dragon. "OW! Ok, I should've seen that one coming…"
Secret Garden of the Lati, Guardian Timeline
"So, basically you're saying that, until they reach a certain point of synchrony between the Timelines, you can't bring them back!?" Shikyo, the Guardian of Grass, codenamed Death, yelled at Celebi, who simply nodded in return.
"When I sent them over, both Guardians and Trainers had a sense of Pride: Dragon had been teaching Ritias to use her Aura, and she was making amazing progress, and the Trainer Ash had just won another badge." The time traveler explained. "I had originally planned to send them over for a few days, and then bring them back, but there was one thing I failed to foresee…" Kir… I mean, Gardevoir, caught on instantly.
"They hate each other, don't they?" Celebi nodded.
"Dragon feels that Trainer Ash is too immature and naïve, which, may I add, he is, and Trainer Ash feels that Dragon is too cold and logical. Sadly, he has never seen the way Dragon behaves when he's here…" The little sprite sighed, partly in exasperation and annoyance, and partly out of slight shame. "There is one way to temporarily connect both timelines, however." Everyone perked up at that.
"So, what are you waiting for?" Adrian Rachni, Guardian of Web, codenamed Web, said. "Out with it already!"
"There are things in the timelines that are exactly the opposite from here." Celebi began. "For example, in this timeline May, Norman and Caroline betrayed Max, and the latter two eventually came to terms with Mind. In the other timeline, May is still completely human, and Norman and Caroline haven't done anything against Max." He stopped for a second to let them absorb the info. "Now, if they were to meet the opposites, and release the feelings they have towards the other selves of the ones they met, I can establish a connection between the worlds."
"What do you mean by 'Release the feelings'?" Shadow inquired. Celebi chuckled slightly before answering.
"They… have to sing them…" Silence ensued…
"Glad we're not there…" Tien Keres, Guardian of Ghost, codenamed Angel stated.
Back to the Trainer Timeline
The Guardians were sitting around a round table, each with their own cup of tea, drinking it while the Trainers talked inside the restaurant. They had all agreed not to tell Flame she had gone Feral again, preferring to wait until they can figure out how to control it better. While they were all relaxing, though, Ash approached Dragon.
"H-hey, other me…"
"Dragon."
"Huh?"
"Refer to me as Dragon, please." Dragon told the Trainer Ash, who sighed, knowing he'd need the guy in a good mood.'
"Ok. Dragon, I was wondering… Could you… maybe, I don't know… uh..." The trainer was obviously nervous about what he was going to ask for.
"Out with it. I don't have all day." Dragon practically ordered. With a gulp.
"I want you to give me one more challenge. If I win, I won't have to release any Pokémon, and if I lose, I'll release them all at once. Those that sound fair to you?" Dragon smirked. The kid was getting smarter.
"Alright then, how about this: you'll have to sleep with one of your female companions." He said smugly before taking a sip of his tea. Everyone, except for Ash, stared wide eyed at the Guardian, knowing why he chose that as a challenge: There wasn't the slightest chance Ash would take that challenge…
"Alright then, I'll do it." … Ok, maybe there was. The Trainers were answered by Dragon spitting out the mouthful of tea he had in his mouth, having been expecting a big fat 'NO'. After coughing a bit, he turned to Ash.
"You DO know what I meant by 'sleeping' with one of them, right?" He asked, just to be sure.
"Yeah, sure. Go in bed and fall asleep with one of them next to me, right?" Ash asked innocently. Dragon sweatdropped at the comment.
"Uh, no, not what I meant. Not 'just' sleeping..." Ash tilted his head in confusion. "You know, you gotta... uh... 'Do the job' with one of them..."
"What job?" And with that, Mind stood up, and practically roared.
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF ARCEUS, HE'S TELLING YOU TO FUCK ONE OF THEM!" And then, silence reigned in the area. "Sweet legends, you are one dense motherfuc…" Any other comments were shut off by Steel placing his hand on Mind's mouth. With a heavy sigh, Dragon turned to Delia.
"You haven't given him the Pidgeot and the Beedrill talk yet, have you?" With a slight blush, Delia shook her head, and Dragon sighed again. "Come on, he's 15 already! Does he even know how babies are made?" Ash shook his head, and Dragon literally smashed his head against the table, cracking it, and had a single thought in his head.
'Why me?'
And that's a wrap. This chapter is a bit shorter than the last, I know, but we've learned some interesting facts. Celebi can establish a connection between the worlds, and Ash is even denser than we originally thought. But will he take the challenge once he knows what Dragon is talking about? We'll see! This is BladeOfThePoet, logging out!