Aura less: Black and White

by MrQuestionMark

The universal rule: Everyone has aura. But with every rule there is an exception. This is the adventures of the Aura less Ash Ketchum in the Unova region. Will follow stories of my own and twists on anime stories. First fanfiction. There will be Negaishipping but more intense in later chapters. Enjoy.

21. A Cure for Loneliness

Well, for better or for worse, the 16th season of Pokémon dub has come to a close. Now all that is left is for us to delve into the new season and a new region for Ash Ketchum. New adventures are ahead however for this, it is the same. I started with Unova and this story has started to gain an appropriate stance and pace, something that I wanted to happen for a while.

So for those that wanted me to move onto Kalos with Aura-less, please accept my apology. And for those that wanted to see more of this in Unova, thank you for supporting this project. But, there WILL be an increase in more original stories due to the fact that my OC, Liberty Knox has taken the stage. This sort of is the major stepping point for Ash and the series here.

But I do suppose that this chapter is the true Chapter 20 of the series.

At any rate, I want to thank everyone that has read the story for now and I hope that this twist on the anime story is to your satisfaction. And besides, I don't even own Pokémon in the first place.

And from me-

Enjoy.

Mr Question Mark.

---

Our blood…reflects what we don't have. It negates and distorts the world as it is and that in itself is the biggest mistake that exists. What you do now that you know what you are is something that only you can learn.

Ash heard those words over and over again in his head as he looked over the cliff that he and his friends had stopped for lunch.

The first Exorcism in Unova that Ash had seen had been yesterday and the markings of it were still clear within the group. Iris and Cilan were the most affected, probably because of the fact that they had not really dealt with the sort of violence that the incident had created before and as a result, they were extremely nervous at anything.

Whether it be the sound of a Pokémon walking through the bushes or something of the like, they jumped and Ash had to try hard in order to make them calm down. Axew was also the same however, by staying close to Iris, it meant that Axew had its parent to look after it.

Whatever consolation that Iris did to Axew, Ash tried to do to the others and for the most part it worked. However at the same time, it also meant that Ash himself acknowledged that there was something wrong with his friends.

He had seen this before, with Brock, Misty, May, Max (especially him), Tracey and Dawn. They had all gotten through it and as incidents revolved around them, they got used to them and less scared however it was always that first step that was the hardest.

"So….how long until we reach Castelia City Cilan?" asked Ash in order to bring up the mood as he stood up and felt the breeze over his face. Liberty had given him a question that he did not have the answer to. Now that he knew that he was not alone, what was he going to do now? He had always believed that his isolation was his lone source of sadness however that was no longer the case anymore.

Cilan jumped at Ash's question and then smiled, using his Aura in order to reach his map, which were in the bags on top of a rock, and brought it over towards him, having a look at it.

"Well…at our current rate, we're making good timing. 5 days? Maybe less and we'll make it there for sure." He said positively.

"Alright!" said Ash as he clenched a fist. "I can hardly wait! Come on come on come on come on come on!" Ash yelled into the sky and the others gave a look of resignation at his carefree attitude.

"Seriously." Said Iris as she gave a shook of the head. "It's only a Gym Battle. There's nothing to get so excited over it."

Ash snorted and folded his arms, Pikachu doing the same as it nodded its head with its eyes closed. "Hah! Well then, let me tell you Iris! It's Gym Battles that allow me to reach my dream as a Pokémon Master! There's no way that I'm just going to sit down and let them pass by me!" Ash started speaking a bit more and Iris seemed to regret having said anything, Ash silently glad that whatever he was doing was allowing her some time to relax.

Unknown to everyone else, it was Axew that went wide-eyed as a blue glow entered its eyes from one of the bags, or rather the space next to it. Ash's mysterious egg gained that colour as Ash spoke and Axew seemed to be drawn into the mere nature of the light that was there.

"Axew!" Whatever was going on, it felt that it had to inform its trainer, shouting out its name in order to get Iris's attention. "Axew ew ew Axew!"

"But only a little kid would get so excited over something like that!"

"I'm not a little kid!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

Cilan silently face palmed at their repetition of a pointless conversation and Axew came over to where Iris was, grabbing onto her dress and giving it a small tug, Iris looking towards Axew with a confused look and an expression that it could not determine.

While she was fighting with Ash, she had the smallest of miles on her face, smiles that one did so tiny that it was only the individual smiling that knew about them. She was happy….yet she was only keeping it to herself. Axew titled its head in confusion however realised what it had wanted to do in the first place, pointing towards where the egg was.

"Axew axew ew ew!" it said and everyone looked up, their eyes wide as they saw what the egg was doing.

"That's-" said Cilan however it was Ash that raced over to where the egg was, picking up the container and looking straight with a hint of expectation in his eyes.

"No way…" said Iris as she came over next to Ash whose eyes sparkled with anticipation at to what Pokémon would come from the egg.

"It's gonna hatch!" cried out Ash as he took the egg out of the container. "Man oh man, I can't WAIT to see what Pokémon it is!" He took out the cushion that was inside the container and placed the egg on it as he looked at it.

"Pikachu pika!" said Pikachu in excitement as well. It hopped off Ash's shoulder and looked closer at the egg, Axew coming in close as well.

"Isn't this your first egg?" asked Iris towards Ash to which he shook his head.

"I had a Phanpy once that hatched from an egg. But even so, this is still an experience that is something of a wonder to me. I mean, it's a new life right before me! How can I not be excited!?" he asked her.

Iris nodded and responded with a smile as Axew came in close and titled its head as it looked at the glowing egg. "Axew?" it asked.

"Huh." Said Iris as she patted the Pokémon on the head. "That'd be right. This is your first time seeing an egg hatch right?" she asked the Pokémon. "Just think about it. Soon, you'll be a big brother to this Pokémon of Ash's."

Axew looked straight at Iris and then off into the distance with a gleam in its eyes, almost the same gleam that was in Ash's and it let out a large grin. "Axew axew!" it said in happiness and started jumping around in enthusiasm.

"Well, what do you think it's going to be Cilan?" asked Ash towards the Pokémon Connoisseur. He hoped that Cilan would both not know and know at the same time, as with the former, his curiosity would not be satisfied while with the latter, Ash still would not know what type of Pokémon it was.

Cilan gave a small chuckle as a response. "To be honest Ash, I have no idea. I've seen many an egg hatch in the years but never one that has looked like this. I'm rather excited."

"Yeah?" said Ash and he looked at the egg. So…Cilan didn't know what this egg was either.

"Pikaaaaaa…" said Pikachu as it did the same as Ash. Suddenly the egg seemed to glow bright than before, and the others had to put a hand over their eyes in order to not be blinded by the light that was coming from the egg.

And it was Ash that frowned. That …was strange. When Phanpy's egg had hatched this had not happened. Other times when he had seen an egg hatch, this was not the case either. May's, Brock's and Dawn's eggs had not done this at all and in this moment of happiness, Ash silently put up his guard.

"It's really hatching!" cried Iris as she let out a grin.

"Axew!"

"I wonder what it's going to be?" asked Cilan.

The light from the egg seemed to be almost blinding and Ash's skin literally crawled. It was like someone had placed him inside a suddenly cold room and he shivered. He had no idea why but this new situation that he was in made him anxious. He wanted to run and hide and there was no escaping it.

What exactly was wrong with this egg that was in front of him?

Ash's questions were answered as the egg hatched. Well, not really. The word 'hatched' was not what could be used to explain what happened to the egg.

It exploded.

All three trainers and their Pokémon were thrown back as they let out cries of shock. A ray of blue light came from the egg and shot into the sky, Ash feeling warmth along his skin as he looked towards the egg. What exactly was going on?!

His mind went back towards one thing though. His mind raced as he looked to where Cilan had just been, seeing that he was gone. However there was something on the edge of the cliff, only just visible. And Ash could see that it was a hand.

Ash raced towards the edge of the cliff and grabbed the hand before Cilan fell and Cilan looked just as surprised as Ash did at what had happened.

"Cilan!" called Ash and Cilan snapped out of momentary trance and looked towards him, nodding as his whole body glowed with a blue colour and he lifted himself up from the edge of the cliff and used his Aura in order to get back onto the cliff.

Ash panted heavily and Cilan looked at him with an expression of thanks before glancing straight back towards the egg that had exploded. Iris was clutching Axew straight to her chest as she looked towards said object, the pure fear clear on her face and Ash stood up, tensing up every single muscle inside his body should whatever was coming from the egg come and attack them.

The blue glow disappeared and the shape of what looked like a Pokémon lay on the ground where the egg had just been. It was orange in colour and had what looked to be a small piece of red coming from its own head. Ash had no idea what it was however he held out a hand in front of Cilan so that he would not move.

Cilan looked at Ash however did not protest. Ash used his Aura Perception and gave the Pokémon a look over. He focused his eyes and tried looking straight at the unknown Pokémon.

And once again, something that should not have happened did. Like looking straight at the sun, Ash's eyes were temporarily blinded by the blue light that was coming from the Pokémon however that was not all. Along with that blindness came something else. Like something sharp had been inserted straight into his eye.

Ash cried out and fell to his knees, clutching his eyes in pain and he heard someone shout out his name. There was pressure on his shoulder however Ash did not even register the feeling. Whatever was surrounding the Pokémon, it was not natural. There was no way that he had ever felt something like this with his Aura Perception before and Ash trembled at the unknown.

"Pikapi!" shouted Pikachu and Ash slowly opened his eyes once more, seeing that his sight was back to normal. What exactly was happening?

"P-Pikachu…?" asked Ash softly and then he rubbed his eyes, the pain still there but his own sight fine. He felt an arm on his own and looked up to see Iris trying to lift him up and Cilan on the other side. He allowed it and stood up however still shaky from whatever was surrounding the Pokémon in front of him.

"H-Hey are you OK?" asked Iris. Ash slowly gave a nod in response and turned his gaze towards the Pokémon that had come out of the egg. It was currently facing face down onto the ground, its eyes closed as if it were asleep, breathing softly. "Just what happened? I've never seen an egg hatch like that." She said.

"C-Certainly." Said Cilan who was still a bit shaky after what had just happened to him. "Do Scraggy hatch like that? I have no idea as I have never seen such a Pokémon hatch before."

"Scraggy?" asked Ash as he brought out his Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon that had quite literally burst from the egg.

"Scraggy, the Shedding Pokémon. The tough rubbery skin that covers its lower body is said to be reflective of the aura level of each individual Scraggy and it is common for this Pokémon to respond to unknown objects with an Aura Headbutt to determine their strength."

Ash looked at the Pokédex and then at his friends who had been listening towards the entry as well. They were all thinking the same thing: the Pokédex would have documented anything that stuck out about a Pokémon, whether it be trivial or interesting towards researchers. However there had been nothing said about the hatching that had just happened.

So what did that mean? Did that mean that whatever had just happened towards Scraggy was not natural? Or simply something wrong with the Pokémon itself?

Ash's mind went straight towards one thing in the situation; all other things could be put off until later or at least until everything had settled down.

"Cilan! Where's the nearest Pokémon Centre?" he asked the boy and Cilan immediately knew what it was that Ash was trying to gather from such information. He brought out his map and scanned the area as Ash raced towards the Pokémon, Iris right behind him.

Ash grabbed the back of Scraggy's round head and cradled the Pokémon in his arms as he stood up with it. He looked down at the Pokémon, concern for the Pokémon evident on his face yet he still wondered what exactly had happened.

"Axew axew…" said Axew from Iris's hair as it looked in sadness and worry towards the recently hatched Pokémon. Iris knew that it was probably because of the fact that it had wanted another Pokémon to look over and be in charge of however with what had just happened she had no idea what to even think about that original idea.

"Hey…it's gonna be OK." Said Ash and although he was facing Scraggy, she felt that it was also directed towards her and Axew. "Everything's gonna be fine."

"Got it!" said Cilan and he gathered all of the bags using his Aura and went forward as the others followed right behind him, each step that they took towards the Centre a relief however there was still the incident of the hatching to consider.

What had happened?

Why had Ash's eye hurt when he tried to use his Aura Perception? There were only questions and as Ash tried to think as hard as he could, he knew that having no answers to those questions would make thinking about the questions pointless.

At the very least, there was one thing that he had to do in this situation and that was making sure that Scraggy was safe.

---

"Nurse Joy!"

Ash Ketchum burst through the Centre doors followed by his friends. They were in a Centre that was near the Pinwheel Forest, something that Cilan said that they would have to pass through anyway and he was glad that he was not far from his original goal. However that was not his main concern.

Nurse Joy at the counter and Audino turned in order to look at the new trainers, probably ones that had returned from the Pinwheel Forest however their expressions changed as they looked at the concern upon the trainers and their Pokémon that had just entered.

Ash put Scraggy as gently as he could upon the bench, sweating and breathless from the running that he had to do. While Iris and Cilan had moved forward with their Aura, the fact that Ash had to try and manage without and keep up as well meant that he thought his body would pass out at any moment.

But he didn't care.

"M…My Scraggy. It…it…." Ash panted heavily and Nurse Joy turned towards the others that were with him in order to try and get an explanation from them.

"I-I'm not even sure what happened." Said Iris nervously. "It was just in its egg moments ago and then it hatched. However it was a hatching unlike anything I've ever seen. I….It kind of…..how do I explain this?" she turned towards Cilan for the words that would not come out of her mouth.

"Axe…" Axew looked at the Connoisseur as well and he put a finger underneath his chin for a moment before thinking of something that could describe the situation.

"It was like an Aura Burst. The egg hatched and generated something like an Aura Burst." Informed Cilan towards Nurse Joy. "We don't know what happened but Scraggy has been unconscious ever since."

"An Aura Burst hatching?" asked Nurse Joy as she looked towards the Scraggy, taking it out of Ash's hands as gently as she could, before giving the Pokémon to Audino. "I've never heard of anything like it before but I'll see what I can do to restore Scraggy's conscious. You said that it was recently hatched? Then Audino, we'll go with the Restoration of Aura procedure."

"Au audino~!" said the Pokémon as it led the way towards the operating room where the Restoration would occur, Ash watching them go.

"Please, Nurse Joy Make sure that Scraggy is OK." He said between pants and Nurse Joy turned around, her face completely serious however she gave a small smile towards the group.

"Don't worry." She said. "I'll do what I can."

Ash gave a smile of his own in response and as Nurse Joy disappeared into a room that was to their right Ash watched the surgery light above the room turn on.

"Pika Pikachu….." said Pikachu as it looked towards the lit up sign. He had heard from Ash that this situation was almost exactly what it had been through when it had attacked the Spearow and had been put in the Pokémon Centre in Viridian City.

The silence between the three trainers was broken by Cilan who was looking where everyone else was: at the surgery room. "An Aura Burst hatching…..? If Nurse Joy hasn't seen it before or at least heard about it, I'm not even sure what to think." He said in a concerned voice.

Iris shuddered and clutched her shoulders. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all. I've got this really bad feeling. It's just like the one back at the Hale….." she trailed off as it was clear that he did not even have to recalled the memory and she gave another shudder.

Axew and Cilan also shuddered at the memory if what had occurred there however it was Ash and Pikachu that trailed off at the memory of what had happened there. What had happened at the Hale Mansion…..it seemed almost surreal. If he had not received an explanation of what had actually occurred, he doubted he would have believed it and even though the explanation was there, it still seemed to be awfully complicated. However the solution to that problem had been provided.

Ash instinctively felt towards his belt towards where his Pokéballs were and touched the Pokéball that he knew to be empty. He still had five Pokémon on his team. He had planned that whatever had hatched from the egg to be his sixth. That had not changed. But with what had just happened…

If he received a 'solution' to the problem that was in front of him, would he accept Scraggy? When then hatching had occurred, that Aura Burst had not been natural. No Pokémon could have such a powerful Aura at such a young age. Everyone started out from having a low level Aura and then it grew. There was no shortcut of 'having an extremely high level aura' from the start. Did that mean that Scraggy was its own kind of freak?

And if that were true…..what would Ash do about it?

Pikachu saw the action that Ash had taken and looked at its trainer. "Pikapi….." it said and Ash gritted his teeth.

So what if Scraggy was different? He was different. Oh so different. And all he had wanted was for someone to be there from the start for him. He had that now but would he reject Scraggy that? Reject Scraggy what he had wanted from the very beginning?

There was no way.

But he still needed a 'solution'.

Ash ran towards the phones that were along the right wall, near the surgery room, and Iris and Cilan followed him, Ash taking his bag from where it hung in the air due to Cilan's Aura Hand.

"Ash? What are you-" asked Iris however Ash was not concentrating.

"Where is it? Where is it?" asked Ash out loud as he looked through his bag. That important item, where had he put it? He looked through his bag and he began to sweat as he couldn't remember where he had put it in the first place. He hadn't dropped it had he? That one point of-

"Pikapi! PIKAPI!" said Pikachu from his side and he saw that the Electric Mouse was pointing towards his right pocket. Ash reached inside it and felt the feeling of rough paper against his skin. His hand practically jumped out of his pocket as he pulled out what looked to be a small business card, something that gathered Iris and Cilan's interest.

"Thanks Pikachu." Said Ash as he zipped his bag and held the card in front of him, dialling the number that was on the card while the others were left in the dark. The screen that was in front of him said 'Voice Only' and the ringing went on for a few seconds before a beep signified that the phone had been answered.

"H-"

"Liberty!" yelled Ash into the phone. "I need….I need your help." He said and Iris and Cilan looked at each other mouthing the word 'Liberty'.

"This voice…..Ash? …Don't tell me there's been some kind of problem? The Hale Mansion thing was only yesterday." Came the reply.

Hale Mansion thing? Iris and Cilan looked at each other as they tried to think of someone that came to mind with the name Liberty however they came up with nothing. However that was not what they were looking for.

"L-Liberty?!" said Iris in exclamation. "That's what your name was? Are you the kid in the suit?" she asked through the phone.

"Hmm? Is that Iris? I suppose Cilan is with you as well? Well it's good to see that everyone is doing OK is what I'd like to say but you seem rather distressed Ash. What seems to be the matter?" he asked. Through the phone, the voice sounded curious and Ash started his explanation.

"It….It's my egg. My Pokémon egg. It hatched just a few minutes ago however what happened was something that I can't explain. Nurse Joy hasn't heard anything about it either. When then egg hatched it was like….like it did an Aura Burst or something. I don't know really but that's the only thing that I can use to describe it." Said Ash frantically however tried to make sure that his words were clear.

"An Aura Burst? Are you guys OK then?" asked Liberty.

"We're fine but Scraggy, that's the Pokémon that came out of the egg, isn't. Ever since it hatched it's been unconscious. I don't know what to do. It's just that you knew what was happening at the Hale Mansion so I thought that-" Ash was halted mid-sentence not only by Liberty's words but by the comforting hand of both Iris and Cilan on his shoulders. He gave a small smile in response.

"Calm down. Calm down. OK, is that all? Anything else that jumps out at you? When did you get the egg?" Liberty asked his questions and Ash answered.

"Well….when I looked at the egg with my Aura Perception, it was like someone had hit me really hard in the eyes. They started hurting really badly. As for when I got the egg, it would be….." Ash looked towards Iris and Cilan for help however Liberty spoke up.

"WHAT?!" Liberty's voice suddenly burst out of the phone that it surprised everyone, including the Pokémon. "Are you serious?!"

"W-What? Is my eyes hurting something that serious?!" asked Ash.

"Where are you right now?! Tell me now!"

Ash looked towards Iris and Cilan, noting the frantic tone that Liberty had in his voice and their surprised expressions on their face. What exactly had appeared inside his head?

"T-the Pokémon Centre that's near the Pinwheel Forest!"

"I haven't seen you pass through so that means…..Got it! I'm heading over there right now!"

"Wait! Tell me! Scraggy! What's going on with Scraggy!?" asked Ash, his voice growing louder that it started to attract attention however he didn't particularly care.

"The fact that you hesitate to remember when you got the egg means that it was before yesterday some time! That means it was there during the incident at the Hale Mansion!" yelled Liberty through the phone. "Little-Where's the exit!? That stupid path!"

"What do you mean?! What's wrong with that?" asked Iris.

"Axew axew!" said Axew in response. Whatever this guy was saying, he was concerned and he was making Ash concerned as well as them about Scraggy. If this was a joke….

"The thing about eggs is that even inside their eggs, they can see their environment and register things about them! Area where they are born, their mothers, stuff like that!" explained Liberty. Ash nodded silently. He knew what Liberty was talking about. Once when he had looked into Larvitar's mind in Johto, he had seen how Larvitar had managed to gain information about what had happened to it and its mother despite being inside its egg. But how did that apply here?

"So?" asked Cilan as he voiced Ash's thought. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Where's that path!? THINK ABOUT IT! How do Pokémon know how to use their Aura so well even though they have just been born? They 'sense' its use through their egg! And who says that aura can't be 'sensed' as well?! Who says that Aura can't be taken in as well!?" yelled Liberty.

"Get to the point!" said Ash. "What w-" He stopped and trailed off. And then he paled. He dropped the phone and looked straight towards the operating room, at the lit sign that was above the room itself, an unnatural sweat coming off every pore in his body. If Liberty was serious…..!

"Ash?" asked Iris. "What's wrong?"

"Oh my-" he started however Liberty through the phone finished what he was thinking.

"Aura can be taken in! So who says that the dimensional Aura from the body of Elton Hale couldn't be taken in either?! At a young age, aura that concentrated could have passed through easily and become part of Scraggy!" Liberty's voice was fast paced however each word seemed to stab into the heroes there.

"Did Nurse Joy suggest a Restoration of Aura or something like that?! You can't do that! Your Aura Perception hurt because of Scraggy was trying to expel the unnatural Aura in a concentrated Burst! What it needed was rest and time to recover! By implanting Aura through forced means would mean that the dimensional Aura could react again through if any lingered! Which would mean-"

He didn't even need to finish. After all, the memory of what had happened at the Hale Mansion was still horribly clear. And if that were to occur again….

"NURSE JOY!" said Ash as he tore himself from the phone and ran towards the operating room, Pikachu ahead of him, any words that Liberty was saying were completely lost.

And once again, Ash and the others were horrified to discover one thing.

Liberty Knox had been right.

The Aura burst that had the epicentre of the operating room proved that fact.

---

Ash's ears rung. There was a constant sound of something in the air and he opened his eyes, only to see dirt and smoke within his vision. Pain ravaged his body from the side and he instinctively moved a hand towards that area as he felt for the spot where the pain was coming from.

He moved his head up from the floor where it was and he looked around the area where he was. His eyes stung as smoke and dust entered them and he closed them before giving them a rub and opening his eyes a tiny bit as he looked around once more.

It was unclear where he was. He looked around and only saw smoke, nothing else. Was he outside? Inside? What had happened? The last thing that he remembered was that Liberty had said that-

Liberty had said! The Aura Burst! Ash tried to move forward however found that his leg was caught underneath a piece of rubble, moving his leg hurt as a result. He tried to move it however found that he could not and turned towards someone to help him out.

And that was when a question hit him hard.

Where was everyone else? He had not been the only one in the Pokémon Centre. There had been those that had come with him, Nurse Joy, those that were staying inside the Centre temporarily. Where were they right now?

"P-Pikachu?" asked Ash weakly. There was no response.

Ash felt his heart rate quicken.

"Iris?! Cilan?! Axew?! Somebody answer! Nurse Joy?!" he called out those names of those he knew however there was no immediate answer. Ash's palms grew sweaty in what seemed to be a second and he tried to move however the piece of rubble that was on his leg prevented him from doing so.

He gave it a kick and it budged a tiny bit, Ash using another kick to completely knock it off his leg and he tried to stand up, feeling pain in his leg and decided to do so slowly. When he was upright, he looked around at where he was at. He did not recognise where he was however he got his bearings and it was only when he saw the phone that he had called Liberty on.

It was on the other side of the room.

It had not moved. The phone was still where it was and it beeped as Liberty had most likely broken his connection with the phone. So that meant that the only thing that had was-

Ash spun his head around as he tried to look around him. He had been blown back towards the other side of the room, so that at least applied towards the others as well. But where were they? Had they been knocked unconscious or something?

There was a giant crack above him and part of the second floor caved in, what looked like a bed falling through the roof and slamming onto the ground with a banging sound, more dust being kicked up into the air. Ash coughed and waved a hand in front of his face and called out to his friends.

"Pikachu?! Iris?! Cilan! Axew! Where are you guys?"

"Pikapi?" came a response. It was faint however Ash heard it and his gaze went straight over to where it had come from.

"Pikachu?!" he called. There were groans from people that were below him and Ash slowly tried to help them, still making sure that he could see where the spot where the voice had come from. He lifted a small piece of rubble off someone and they used their Aura to create an Aura Platform that drifted towards the exit.

"PIKAPI!" called the voice from before and Ash turned his head just in time to see a ball of yellow fur head right towards him. Ash spread out his arms and Pikachu leaped into his chest, Ash clutching his best friend towards his chest and pressing his face against Pikachu's warm fur.

"Pikachu! You're OK! Man am I glad to see you!"

"Pikapi, Pikachu! Chaaaaaaaaaaa." Said Pikachu with the same relief in its cry as it was hugged by Ash. However Ash let go and set Pikachu down on the ground.

"But, where are the others? Where did you come from buddy?" He asked. Pikachu had not come from the side of the room that Ash had been on, rather it had come from the side of the room that he had originally been at. Pikachu had not been blown back. So what did that mean for the others?

"Ash?!" came a clear voice through the dust. Ash immediately looked up and heard his name called out again, except for the fact that it was a boy talking this time. Both of the voices he knew and he went straight over towards them in a rush, stumbling a tiny bit due to his sore leg, reaching the phone that he had called Liberty on. And he saw them. Two figures that were not next to the phone but a small distance away.

"Iris! Cilan!" he called and the figures turned their heads, one with purple hair and the other with green hair.

"Ash!" they both called out and came towards him, Ash surprised as he got a good look at them. It was not because of the fact that they were severely hurt, in fact it was the opposite. There was not a mark on them that suggested that they had been near the epicentre of an Aura Burst.

"Are you guys hurt in any way?" he asked though. While the exterior might be fine, any internal damage was just as bad towards the wellbeing of his friends.

Iris shook her head. "We put up Aura Shields in front of ourselves as soon as you ran off." Said Iris as she explained their lack of injury. "We tried to help people around here b- Wait! Are you OK?" Iris's face showed immediate concern and Ash frowned before looking at the state of himself without the buzz and the shock of what happened in the forefront of his mind.

His clothes were ripped in a number of places and his gloves had cuts on them, something that went straight back down to his skin, small patches of red that was not part of the cloth apparent. His face stung as did his back, particularly his Scar, Ash hoping to some higher power that it had not reopened due to the shock of what had happened.

Taking everything in made his legs hurt as he toppled as he gave into the pain that one of them had due to the rubble that had fallen on it, only to be caught swiftly by Cilan who had made an Aura Hand that grabbed Ash by the front. Ash stabilised himself with a closed fist as to not get any of his blood on Cilan's aura to which he gave small pants.

"I'll be fine. Thanks Cilan." He said and Cilan gave him a look of obvious concern before slowly nodding. "But don't worry about me right now. What we need is-"

Ash looked at the phone that was disconnected and the others followed his gaze and they got the same idea, turning towards the operating room or rather what had once been there. Instead, a large hole resided there, almost like it was the entrance of one of those exaggerated bank vaults that the movies seemed to create in order to hold large bales of money.

Three lives had entered there. Nurse Joy. Audino. And….

Ash tried to move forward however found it difficult now that he was completely aware of the damage that his body had taken, however Cilan still held onto him until he got straight up again.

"Sorry Cilan." Ash said with pain in his voice. He hated being a burden and in this crisis, being one was something that did no-one any good.

Cilan looked surprised however showed a small smile. "Don't you worry about it Ash. What we need to do it look for Scraggy where it might be."

"What about everyone else?" asked Ash as he looked at the ruins of what had once been a Pokémon Centre. He could see no-one and he hoped that it was because they had all managed to get out rather than the alternative; that they were underneath all of the rubble.

Axew looked from where it was in Iris's hair and Iris followed its gaze as it looked towards all of the places where the people could possibly be. She felt concern for them as well and simply ignoring the problem because they 'maybe' weren't under the rubble did not eliminate the hance that they were.

"Cilan, you take Ash to the operating room. I'll stay here and check everything out with Axew!"

"Hang on." Without hesitation, Cilan reached for his belt using another Aura Hand, extracting two Pokéballs from there. He threw them both into the air, lights coming from them as two Pokémon appeared from them.

"Pan Pansage!"

"Dwebble Dwebble!"

"Pansage, Dwebble. I want you to help out Iris and look for the people that are underneath the rubble. We can't know where everyone is, so make sure to check everywhere thoroughly as well as the second floor." Commanded Cilan. Authority was in his voice and it was obviously clear how he had managed to become one of the Striaton City Gym Leaders.

His Pokémon nodded obediently and moved ahead of Iris as they moved each piece of rubble. Iris nodded in thanks and Axew hopped out of her hair and moved as well towards doing what the other Pokémon were doing.

"Thank settle it right?" asked Cilan and he moved forward, while Ash looked at both him and Iris that were working so hard. Both of them were willing to help and both of them were moving forward at their own pace to help others. He felt a small smile rise to his lips.

He was definitely proud to have these two as his friends.

He followed Cilan towards the operating room with Pikachu in tow in order to do what he wanted to do in the first place.

Make sure the one Pokémon that was Scraggy was alright.

---

Liberty Knox opened his eyes. He was on his back; that much was obvious. He blinked a few times and wandered to himself; why was he on his back? He wasn't when he had started running. Why had he been running in the first place?

He sat up, a dull pain in the back of his head. He turned and saw that the dirt path of the Pinwheel Forest was stained with a tiny amount of blood and he didn't need to know whose it was. Dirt covered the front of his face as well and he wiped it off his face and slowly stood up, the injuries that he had recently received as well as the ones that were not healed from the Hale Mansion hurting him.

But that didn't matter.

His phone was open in his hand however he had ended the call. Had he done so in the process of being blown back? Why in the world was he blown backwards in the first place?

The night sky was like his short term memory in that instance, he felt. Empty. Black. Small fragments of light that served to regain the memory. He closed his eyes and thought extremely hard about what he was trying to remember when a crack entered his ears.

He turned his head and saw the tree at the entrance of the Pinwheel Forest start to fall in his direction. He panicked and started to stand up and run however he knew from the size of the tree that he wouldn't get far enough. That meant only one option.

He dove to the right, and the tree smashed into the ground, dust being thrown up right into his face, something that made Liberty cough violently as he looked at the fallen tree. Annoyed at his luck, he gave the tree a kick, something that made it budge a tiny bit, Liberty frowning as he saw the underside.

He put his head close to the ground and looked straight at that part of the tree. It was…..destroyed. There was hardly anything there that could be called a 'tree of the Pinwheel Forest in Unova'. It was like someone had gotten a large blade and skinned that part of the tree numerous times that had then created the wound in front of him.

Whatever had caused this…..wasn't natural.

Natural? What was natural? Aura. Here it was at least. Yes it was. Was it? It was. Why did that make the small fragments of light in his head seem to burst? Aura? ….Burst? Aura. Aura aura aura aura.

Aura!

"Scraggy!" Liberty stood up and looked in the direction that he had been running in the first place however he could not see the Pokémon Centre. At the very least he had past it, so he had a rough idea of where it was in terms of location. And the distance from there to here was…..

Liberty looked at the destroyed underside of the tree and remembered how he had been thrown back violently from the shockwave. If it was that powerful at that distance…..

"….I haven't even been in Unova for 2 weeks!" He complained as he broke into his run again, heading straight for the literal Centre of disaster that had caused what he knew to be something that he would surely remember for a long time.

---

"What….is this?" those were the words that came out of Cilan's mouth as soon as he looked in front of him towards what could only be called a disaster. Unlike the entrance of the Pokémon Centre, there was not a wasteland here of rubble and dust. It was nothing of the sort.

Blue light surrounded everywhere and there was no sign of destruction. In fact it was like the room was empty, ready to be filled with whatever items one wanted. Sometimes, the blue sparkled and then the sparkle disappeared however it was sure to come back. Cilan could feel what it was.

And Ash could see it, even without those eyes of his.

"Is this….aura?" Cilan asked. He asked that question although he knew that answer. This wasn't aura that he knew. This wasn't the life force of every being here. This wasn't what powered Pokémon further and enhanced their ability. This wasn't what he held inside his body right now.

Because if this was aura…

Then what the hell was that sick energy that came from that Pokémon that was on the operating table in the middle of the room? There was not equipment around the table. Only Nurse Joy and Audino were to the side collapsed however they had no wounds that were evident. There was no way that they had known about the oncoming Aura Burst and thus no way that they could have put up Aura Shields in time.

The 'aura' that came from Scraggy gave Cilan a chill and he knew exactly why.

Agent Harrington's clothes were ripped and from where Cilan could see, his arm was grotesquely disfigured. If it could even be called such. The remains of the skin hung weakly and in the middle of the arm, poking out through the clothes.

Was white.

And Cilan did not even need to guess what the white object sticking out of that monster's arm was.

Cilan shuddered however pulled himself together as soon as he saw something head straight past him. That cap he knew anywhere. He focused on it and soon other things took shape. A head that was wearing the cap. A body connected to the head. A person that owned the body. The Pokémon that that person owned.

"A-Ash?" asked Cilan in his lowest voice possible. He did not know why he lowered his voice. It was similar to a small boy cowering behind his mother when he saw something that frightened him.

The person, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, ignored him as he moved further into that blue space. Pikachu hung right next to him on all fours and it was clear that it was ready to take on any threat that was going to harm its trainer and Cilan hoped that it applied to him as well.

"Scraggy?" asked Ash, his voice extremely loud in comparison to Cilan's. "Scraggy? Can you hear me?"

Dimensional aura. To Ash it was only a term. A term vitally important towards the incident that had occurred in the Hale Mansion. He had seen other things such as this in his travels however how many were related towards this one term? He did not know but he knew one thing.

Dimensional aura, the term that he did not understand, was at the heart of this incident. Scraggy had it, having absorbed it in the Hale Mansion and the previous attempt to expel it had succeeded however now that Scraggy had aura again, it could utilise what trace amounts remained.

But it was just a term. Scraggy was Scraggy and Ash wanted to make sure that the Pokémon was OK.

Scraggy opened its eyes so fast that everyone that was conscious thought that it might have its eyelids ripped off in the process. And slowly, Scraggy turned its head on the table so that it looked straight at Ash.

It eyes were blue. A pure blue that seemed to hold no malice or hate. And that was so chilling about them. They had no hate so they could fully identify what it was. They had no malice so they knew someone with it if they looked upon them.

And as a result….they could absolutely pass judgment upon any person that held such things.

Both Ash and Cilan flinched as soon as Scraggy looked at them, Pikachu growing tense and began to bare its teeth towards the newly hatched Pokémon. It was like Scraggy was sizing them up, determining whether or not the people in front of it were worth its time.

Yet those blue eyes disappeared. One moment there was a chill in the air and the next that blue died down, Scraggy's eyes looked normal; black iris and white pupil. Still no-one moved from where they were, cautious to the extreme in the face of the unknown.

"Scraggy?" asked Ash again. "Are…you OK?"

"Scra….ggy?" came the weak reply. Scraggy moved one of its hands and raised to towards Ash, Ash slowly moving his own hand and stepping forward so that his hand would meet Scraggy's.

"Pikapi pikachu….." said Pikachu as Ash moved forward, still baring its teeth towards Scraggy although the blue eyes that it had had died down.

"Don't worry Pikachu. I'll be fine. Just make sure that….whatever this is around us doesn't affect you." He didn't want to call it aura. Because this was not aura. If this was aura….then Ash wasn't really sure whether or not being an Aura Zero was a curse or a blessing.

Pikachu nodded and Ash took another step forward. "Hey there. Are you alright? You've been through a lot. But everything is alright now. I'm here Scraggy. You aren't alone anymore. So come on. Take my hand."

There was a short silence as Scraggy looked between Ash's smiling face and his hand before slowly moving its own into the air so that it would meet Ash's. However it stopped mid-way before-

"SCRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" It let out a scream, moving its hands towards it eyes and convulsing in pain. The scream wasn't simply one of pain and suffering. It was filled with confusion, despair and fear. Ash knew exactly what type of scream that was; he had screamed like that numerous times, time and time again both before and after he had acquired that Scar of his.

But he had people that knew his pain. Knew his pain and would help him with it. But who did Scraggy have? How was it screaming for? What did it lack so it screamed to have?

"Scraggy!" yelled Ash as he took that final step towards the table that Scraggy was on before reaching over with his hands in order to try and assist Scraggy in any way that he could. "What do I do? Tell me Scraggy! I want to h-"

He never finished and never reached the Pokémon. Scraggy lowered its hands, those blue eyes back again. Ash stopped as soon as he looked at them and all Scraggy did was simply look at him. Ash felt something ram into his chest, throwing him back and winding him as he was blown back, colliding with Cilan, the two of them slamming onto the floor, covered with the sparkling blue light.

"SCRAGGY!" screamed Ash towards the Pokémon as he tried to stand up however stumbled and fell towards the floor as a result. He clenched his fist as he looked at the Pokémon that was looking straight at him with those blue eyes. And just as suddenly, those eyes stopped looking.

They returned to normal and Scraggy let out another scream, squirming in pain as it wrestled with trying to get at whatever was invading its eyes. Above it, the blue light seemed to squirm with it, twisting and bending in shape as if it actually had physical form rather than it being light itself.

Ash tried to move forward however was held back by both Cilan and Pikachu who prevented him from getting any closer.

"ASH!" yelled Cilan.

"PIKAPI!" said Pikachu as it used its Aura towards moving Ash towards it. It didn't care that it was disobeying its trainer. It just wanted to make sure that he never put himself in a situation that he would never return from.

"NO! I have to-I have to protect Scr-" Ash never finished as he watched the distorting light above Scraggy finally change shape. All blue was lost and a purple colour replaced it, a small hole in the air hovering above the Pokémon. And it never stopped screaming. With each passing second the screams changed from being the cries of a Pokémon in pain to becoming poison seeping through the ears.

There was nothing that the trainers could do, nothing that they could ever hope to achieve in the face of the adversity that they had in front of them. And those screams only reminded them of such.

"Guys!" A voice from behind the group entered their ears over the screams but it was hardly registered. "What is that s-" Iris came behind the group and looked at everything that was in front of her. Axew looked on in her hair while Dwebble and Pansage looked on in shock as they listened to the screams in front of them.

"W….What is that?" Iris's voice was barely audible and not only because of the constant screaming that was in the air.

"AXEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!" In an attempt to try and drone put the screams of the Pokémon, Axew screamed itself, only adding towards the sick symphony of terror and fear. The other Pokémon merely looked on in awe and at the purple hole that hovered in the air.

It pulsed once, as if it held a life on its own and a chill went down everyone's back as a result. It pulsed again and then Scraggy's screams stopped and only Axew's remained but they drained away soon after. The purple hole pulsed once more, doing so in a constant rhythm as everyone could only watch. With each pulse, the air vibrated, Ash feeling a soft wind upon his own skin as a result, something that would then blow back towards the hole.

What was it doing? It was like it was trying to breath. But…whatever it was that was in front of them couldn't be alive….could it?

And then the pulsing stopped. Ash frowned as soon as it happened, a small interval of nothingness that seemed to only let the echoes of wonder fill everyone's heads. But those echoes did not last long.

*BANG*.

With an explosive noise, a large amount of air burst out of the purple hole in the air, blasting everyone back with so much force that they left the part of the Pokémon Centre that was surrounded by the sparkling blue energy, tumbling over each other as they smashed on the rubble, trying to grab something that would manage to stop them from getting further blown back.

Ash managed to grab onto the phone that he had used before, grabbing his hat with one hand as he looked at the clear path of sight that he had of the hole itself. He panicked. What exactly was going on? What in the world was this hole in front of him? Iris and Cilan had managed to create Aura Platforms and Shields at some point with the Pokémon and were trying to advance towards him so he knew that they were fine. He spotted the limp forms of Nurse Joy and Audino fly right past him and outside the Pokémon Centre however he did not know what happened to them as they sailed right over Cilan and Iris.

So there was only one thing left to do that Ash could do to save at least someone.

He reached for his belt and threw every single Pokéball that he had inside his belt. They all burst open with light out of the reach of the blast of air and the Pokémon safely appeared from such.

"Dove Pidove!"

"Osha Oshawott!"

"Tepig Pig!"

"Snivy!"

There were on commands to give to the Pokémon however their eyes analysed the situation and the peril that their trainer was in, ready towards helping him however his command that followed contradicted what they were thinking.

"Go on everyone! I have no idea what this is but you need to get away safely! Go into the Forest, outside I don't care, just save yourselves!"

Ash's shout towards them made them hesitate only momentarily as they saw that Iris and Cilan had managed to reach Ash where he was hanging on the phone box. But then everything changed.

With the sound of rushing air, the pulsing action repeated itself. With a burst of air, there was only one thing that had to follow.

All of the air that had been expelled was forcibly pulled back towards the purple hole above Scraggy who lay motionless. And with no prior warning, those that were unaware could only be victims towards the change in the situation.

Iris let out a scream as she was pulled forward without any warning, Cilan panicking and trying to scramble away, only resulting in him being pulled in further first.

"CILAN!" called Iris to the boy as she reached towards him with an Aura Hand. Cilan caught it with his own and Iris reached out to Ash with one of her Hands and Ash tried to reach it, only looking in shock at the state of his own.

While it was not large, there was still blood attached to it in minute places. And even if there was a tiny bit, any effect that it would have upon Iris's Aura would be…..

Time seemed to slow as Ash pondered his choices. Live….or die or at least whatever would happen when they were pulled into the purple hole. Would he simply let others take the full force for him when he could do nothing?

A flash of yellow entered his peripheral vision and Ash did not need to know what it was. And in that one moment, his choice was clear.

Ash let go of the phone booth, took Pikachu who was sailing next to him with one hand and grabbed Iris's with the other, Iris looking in complete shock and horror at what Ash had just done.

"NO!" she shouted as Ash took her hand in his own. Was she crying out because they had lost their chance for survival?

Or was it because Ash chose to let go when he could have easily let her go past? That he could have been safe?

"Vy!" a voice came from the side and Ash turned his head only to see something grab his leg, Snivy's Vine Whip that wrapped around both his ankles from the side. Pidove, Oshawott, Tepig and Snivy all pulled with their might as they tried to pull Ash and the others towards them however the weight of the group and the force of the air that was pulling them closer meant that there was only one option.

The Pokémon were lifted off their feet and headed towards the purple hole together, flying right past Ash and heading towards Cilan, towards the purple hole.

"EVERYONE!" cried Ash as he looked on helpless at the situation in front of them. Confusion, shock, horror and awe filled his mind, emotions running out of control however there was one that was full force, going all out inside his head.

Fear.

He did not know what would happen.

He had done something like this before in Sinnoh with the spirit world with Angie. But even then he had a chance. Even then there was a tiny fragment of hope that was available towards him.

But not now.

He knew the result. He did not know what would happen. And he felt something build up within his chest, a feeling that made every signal and response in his body freeze.

This was it.

This was the e-

"NOT ON MY WATCH!" came a voice, one that Ash had trouble recognising. Whose voice was that? Why did it sound familiar? Where had he heard it fr-

Something gripped his leg with a large amount of force that he cried out in pain and he turned, seeing someone having grabbed the phone that was still dangling in the air from the machine that he had used before. The person's clothing flapped in the wind and despite what was happening, he had a great relieving grin on his face.

And that was when one name came to Ash's mind.

"L-LIBERTY!"

---

Liberty Knox grinned as soon as Ash laid eyes on him and then his expression gained a more serious tone as he looked at the purple hole that was above the Scraggy that was on top of what looked like an operating table.

He had to hurry. The phone that he was currently hanging on would not last forever and the weight of four people and 8 Pokémon would not help anyone anytime soon. So he had to hurry. Thinking hurriedly, he reached into his blazer and thought about what would make the situation resolved in the fastest way possible.

He thought of the only thing that he had at the moment and fitted the situation was….

He brought out a small test tube from his clothes, filled with a red liquid; his own blood. He let it go and it sailed over everyone's head and into the purple hole where it was sucked inside. Ash's eyes went wide and he tensed up every single muscle inside his body for the oncomi-

The explosion of air that came from the purple hole was so powerful that it put the last blow of air to shame.

The Pokémon and Cilan who were in the front received most of the blow, slamming into the people that were behind them, no-one having time to scream as they were blasted back towards what had once been the wall of the Pokémon Centre, smashing through what remained and tumbling onto the ground, limbs flying everywhere before they came to a sudden stop.

There were groans from everyone in the party and Ash was the one to speak up first.

"Liberty….what you threw. Wasn't that-?"

"I told you before Ash." Replied Liberty as he began to stand up and look at the Pokémon Centre interior and what lay within. "Most likely it was Elton Hale's aura, but Scraggy has absorbed it through its egg. And right now, that aura is trying to overthrow the natural aura that Scraggy should own within this dimension which has led to these results. But the point here is aura. It," Liberty reached into his blazer once again and tossed something towards Ash, Ash catching it and seeing the small test tube with blood inside. "Can be negated."

Ash looked at the test tube, thinking about what Liberty had managed to do while he had nothing. Was the person that was suited towards helping Scraggy Liberty? While Ash had thought that he could do something, had he truly been waiting for Liberty to show up and try and solve everything?

"So what do we do now?" asked Ash as he looked up from the test tube and gripped it hard in his hand.

"Right now? I think I'll deal ….with those." Liberty pointed right to the space that was in front of the Pokémon Centre, the others looking and their eyes went wide as they observed the scene in front of them.

The ground in front of the Pokémon Centre glowed in a blue colour in a number of locations, something that immediately changed to purple. And then suddenly those glows gained shape, height, faces and weight. They stood in front of the Centre with their arms drooped down like willow tree branches and they had their faces down.

They all looked the same. And all of them had the same disfigured appearance. Their head was female, distinctly that of Nurse Joy, one could tell immediately by the hair and the face. However that was not what made those figures so disfigured.

The body was that of an Audino. It was similar to having a cut out figure of both Nurse Joy and Audino and sticking the parts together in some grotesque form. The figure's right arm was human, most likely that of Nurse Joy's while its left was Audino's. One of the legs was human while the other was that of Audino, the strange shape that they had making everyone pause.

"What…..are they?" asked Cilan as he looked at them and slowly stood.

"That purple hole? Scraggy opened up something between the Unown dimension and ours. A portal. Normally when such a thing happens, the Unown are prepared for it and if they aren't, they can compensate. But something was different this time. And that is that Scraggy was born with the Unown's dimensional aura. It tried to expel it once before right?" said Liberty as he looked at the others.

"Y-You mean that Aura Burst like thing that happened when Scraggy hatched?" asked Iris.

Liberty nodded. "But now….the Restoration of Aura procedure sparked what was left. And I don't think I need to tell you guys what happens when then aura of different dimensions mixes together. I'd say that Nurse Joy's and Audino's aura must have been caught up in the initial Burst."

There was an audible gulp. From what Ash remembered Liberty saying, the possibilities were practically endless. And the figures in front of them were only a fragment of what was possible.

"B-But hang on Liberty! If those get out into the Pinwheel Forest then-" started Ash, ready to command his Pokémon to attack the figures. Whatever they were, they did not belong here. Judging by their expressions on their faces, he wasn't even sure that they were alive or just statues.

"I know. That's why we have to antagonise them." The Pokémon frowned at the word, thinking that he wanted them to fight however he did something different. He reached into the back of his pants and pulled out a metal object, black in colour. Ash saw it in his vision and his eyes went wide when he saw it.

It was a gun. Small and deadly, it was clear just how serious Liberty was taking this incident. But he couldn't use Aura right? So how exactly would an Aura Pistol be useful in thi-

The gun fired and Ash did not see any glow of Aura being loaded into the gun. However one of the Nurse Joy/Audino figures recoiled and fell back before they glowed purple and disappeared into the air. At the same time, all of those figures both seen and unseen directed their attention towards the one that had struck them.

It was not an Aura Pistol. That meant that there was only one thing that it could be.

"You have-!?" started Iris however Liberty interrupted her.

"Yes I do. But that's not the main issue here. Ash? How far are you willing to go to save Scraggy?"

The questions resounded in Ash's head. Despite the fact that there was a lot going on here that Ash did not understand, in the centre of it all was that one Pokémon. That one Pokémon that was withering in pain, unable to reach out and take the hand that was trying to grab it. And in the face of everything that was going on, Ash was sure of one thing.

"What do you want me to do?" Ash's voice and eyes were filled with determination and Liberty grinned. He took another shot without even looking that hit another figure and it disappeared in a puff of purple.

"That's what I want to hear."

---

"There's one thing that can stop everything here and that one thing is to stop Scraggy. Right now, that Pokémon is surrounded by the dimensional aura of the Unown and I'm sure that you know one way that can be used in order to negate Scraggy's aura that surrounds it right now…..right?" asked Liberty but Ash already knew the answer.

He looked down at the test tube within his hands as well as the blood that was smearing the glass, his own as he was bleeding ever so slightly from his hands. Was that all it took? Was all he needed to do was take Scraggy's hand that was reaching out towards him?

"Is….that it? Can everything be stopped just like that?" he asked.

"Well…..there are these guys to deal with here. And there sure are a lot of them. I don't think that it would enough to ask that I had some assistance with that. What do you think you two?" Iris and Cilan jumped slightly as Liberty spoke towards them, those figures slowly approaching them, a human wave that was sure to envelop them.

Luckily, Iris had moved all those injured further back so the only thing that was standing between them and the human wave of Nurse Joy/Audino figures was…..

"Don't think I'm going to sit back and let these guys hurt others for a minute Liberty." Said Iris, determination filling her eyes as she stood up and held forward both hands, a blue light filling them, her Aura ready to be used as she saw fit.

"Indeed. The ingredients in this recipe are sour and unfit to taste. So we need to change that. Ash? Are you ready to save Scraggy?" asked Cilan as he did the same as Iris while looking at Ash.

Ash didn't hesitate to nod.

"Pikapi!" cried a voice next to Ash and he looked at the small Pokémon that was next to him with its cheeks pouting as if it was unhappy that it had been left out. Ash looked at the Pokémon and felt a small smile that was creeping up on his lips.

Since when had Ash been alone? Since when had he fought alone during his time as a Pokémon Trainer? He could not think of a time and that in itself signified something to Ash. He was no longer the small boy that had taken Gary Oak's attack when he was six. The small boy looking for a friend no longer existed. What he had to do now….

Was make sure that Scraggy knew exactly the same thing.

"Right." Said Ash. He looked at the other Pokémon that were with him. "Guys. I know that it's too much to ask. Butt. Can you please help me save Scraggy?"

"Dove!"

"Oshawott!"

"Tepig!"

"Snivy Vy!"

The replies of his Pokémon made Ash smile and Iris turned towards her own small Pokémon that was riding in her hair.

"What do you think Axew? Do you want to help the Pokémon that's going to be your little brother?"

Despite the fact that it had little power itself Axew nodded so fast that everyone thought that it was going to lose its head. "Axew Axew!" it cried with enthusiasm and dropped down from Iris's hair and assumed a battle pose in front of the figures that were approaching.

Cilan turned towards Pansage and Dwebble. "Well? What do you guys say towards adding your own flavour towards this battle?" he asked.

The answer was obvious.

"Pan Pansage!"

"Dwebble!"

Both Pokémon cried out and Ash turned towards Liberty.

"We're ready." He said with a tone of finality.

Liberty responded with a groan. "Honestly what did you even need me for in the first place? I think you would have done just fine. But whatever. Let's show these things that don't belong here what liberty truly means."

He gave a smile and pulled the trigger on his gun once more, one more of the figures recoiling and disappearing in a puff of purple.

---

Ash knew exactly what he had to do. Whether it be with his own bleeding hands or with the test tube that he gripped in one hand, all Ash had to do in his vision was to reach that Pokémon that was at the end of the long path before him.

He had Liberty, Iris, Cilan and all of his Pokémon with him. There was nothing that was stopping them right now and Ash felt that with that team with him, there was nothing that could stop him.

Liberty stepped forward first as he walked towards those figures of Nurse Joy and Audino combined. He fired his gun, the figures bursting as soon as the bullet impacted upon them, reaching with one hand into his blazer where he grabbed a test tube on the inside, throwing it towards the figures.

He pulled the trigger at exactly the right moment, the test tube burst open and the blood splattered upon a number of the figures and an explosion of air occurred. Those figures that were close were thrown back with so much force that they disappeared while others were slammed into each other.

Iris moved forward as soon as Liberty had done so. She leaped forward with Cilan using her Aura to allow her to lessen the gap within them and formed an Aura Sword at her hand and sent down an aimless swing. There was no target but with the human wave in front of her, those figures weren't that hard to hit.

3 of them disappeared and one of them tried to reach for her, Iris moving back. She had seen what would happen to Pokémon if that 'dimensional aura' got to them so she wasn't sure that direct contact without an appropriate medium such as a Pokémon attack was the best thing right now. Liberty Knox had said nothing and she was not sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Cilan moved from next to her and sent down his own Aura Sword, slicing the human arm of the Nurse Joy/Audino figure however the instability of the figure itself resulted in it disappearing into mid-air. Cilan pressed up onto Iris's back and realising that they were unstable, sent a blow along the knee level of the figures, sending many of them into a puff of smoke.

Axew jumped from Iris's hair and, realising that the figures in front of them were fundamentally aura, built up something within its chest. While its failure in the move was a bad thing, this time it was not the case. Axew's Dragon Rage built up in its small chest, a powerful energy gathering there.

"Axeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…..EW!" it shouted as it unleashed all of the energy as it came close towards the mass of figures.

The Dragon Rage collided with some of the figures, instantly resulting in an explosion of air that made Axew fly into the air as it was negated, those figures disappearing themselves. The others covered their faces with their hands however still advanced as they moved forward towards clearing a path not only for themselves but for Ash as well.

Pansage and Dwebble acted in a tag team, Pansage using Bullet Seed in order to do the maximum damage against the Aura figures while Dwebble with its Shell Smash meant that its speed had greatly increased, moving among the figures like a pinball machine as it used Slash. Each attack meant that it was pushed between the figures due to the explosion of air, something that continued as long as Pansage provided cover.

Cries of "Pan Pan Pan Pan" filled the air with others as Pansage fired those Seeds and Dwebble cries consisted of "Dweb Dweb" as it loosed each blow upon the enemy.

The Unova Starters stood at the back and advanced slowly, using long distance attacks in order to attack any figure that was potentially in the way of the trainers and the people that were trying to reach Scraggy.

"Tepig Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig!" Tepig unleashed Ember towards the figures, spreading its flames that even though its small size had devastating effects. Any lingering flames that hung the air had the same effect as the full force of the Ember itself, causing the mass of figures exploding with an explosion of air that ultimately followed.

"Woooooooooooooooooooooooott!" Oshawott's Water Gun fired from its mouth and did nothing to even limit the power of Tepig's Ember, Oshawott moving at its own pace as it moved down the front row of figures that kept of charging towards Ash and the others.

"Vyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Snivy's Leaf Storm struck those figures that were by the sides with as much force as the others were doing and had the exact same effect. The application of the non-aura attacks to the physical aura beings resulted in the negation of them, blowing those figures towards the centre where they were subjected towards more punishment by the other Pokémon.

"Doooooooooooove!" Pidove caught the sailing Axew in the sky and stopped in mid-air as it started its own attack with its Air Cutter that struck the figures at the back, blowing some backwards into the remains of the Centre while others were pushed forward that were thus attacked straight forward by the rest of the Pokémon.

"Pika Pika PIKA PIKA!" Pikachu ran through the figures without so much as a care. Dodging between the figures, it used its body that was glowing from Volt Tackle to bounce around the figures like Dwebble was, dodging and attacking at the same time, so fast that only a yellow blur was visible to the normal eye that had no training looking at such fast movement.

Ash Ketchum moved forward among the battle without so much as hesitation, right behind the Pokémon and people that were clearing the path. He was glad that Liberty had the foresight to give him the test tube only, as it meant that no-one would question his lack of involvement as they thought that he was protecting the tube.

"There's too many!" cried Ash as he almost reached the entrance of the Pokémon Centre. "At this rate, what would happen to Scraggy!?" asked Ash towards Liberty that was practically next to him.

Liberty grit his teeth. "You're right. At the current rate, Scraggy's body could break down at an aura level. It's entirely possible that within the next few minutes, it could reach its Limit."

"It's Limit?!" cried Ash. "But that means-"

"I know what it means!" countered Liberty before nodding for some reason. "Right whatever. We're getting nowhere and I need the material from the source itself."

Ash was about to ask what he was going to do however all Liberty did was point his gun towards his own left hand and fired. The bullet passed through easily and Liberty's hand bled through the new hole that was not supposed to be there. The bullet hit one of the figures in front of Liberty and he tensed his body to prevent it from not moving, something that Ash did as well in order to do the same.

Ash looked at Liberty with an expression of shock however he didn't care. He threw himself forward with his bleeding left hand and gun wielding right, motioning for Ash to follow.

"EVERYONE!" he shouted. "Focus on the entrance!" Everyone did and without seconds, a clear path had been made as the figures disappeared but only more seemed to come. The group made it through and started to clear through the small corridor as they made their way to the operating room, the space and explosions of air that were being made crushing against everyone within the small space.

"There's Scraggy!" came Iris's voice from within the carnage and Ash wasted no time. Ash moved through the figures, Liberty doing so right behind him, firing and swinging his bleeding hand around. Whenever either a bullet or blood touched a figure, they disappeared in a puff of purple or explosion of air.

Within a few seconds, Ash had made it, reaching over his hand however he stopped as soon as he saw something right in front of him that made him pale.

The purple hole…the portal between the dimensions opened up in front of him. Ash found himself panicking and his mind went towards the only thing that he could do in the situation that he knew worked for sure.

He heard Liberty shout the exact same thing that he was thinking and Ash did exactly as he was both told and thinking.

He threw the test tube filled with Liberty's blood into the portal and as soon as it made contact, it exploded once again with an explosion of air. It was not something that one could merely tense up in order to try and avoid being blown back, there was no escape.

Liberty and Ash were blown off their feet, Cilan and Iris forming Aura Shields that meant that the Pokémon, figures and boys slammed against it, the figures sometimes disappearing from the force that they were thrown against the Shield.

Yet as soon as it came, it disappeared and Ash saw his chance.

"GO!" shouted everyone as they kept an eye from behind and held the fort from the figures that were approaching from the back.

Ash stepped forward within the space of blue, only centimetres from Scraggy with his own outstretched palm that was ready to touch Scraggy and end it all. This was his goal. This was the source of the fight within him and Ash Ketchum was sure that he was going to achieve this small obstacle that he had set himself.

Aura Zero? Pokémon Master? Ash knew what those terms meant to him but he was sure of one thing in absolution. He would never get that far without his Pokémon. And so that was the source of the feeling within that boy from Pallet Town. And it was the source of the scream that came from his throat.

"SCRAGGYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Ash threw out his palm and it touched the Pokémon. It soon as it did, an explosion of air immediately erupted and threw Ash backwards, where he collided with Liberty and sent the both of them sprawling along the floor.

And in that same instance, the space that was known as the 'operating room of the Pokémon Centre' smashed. The blue light that surrounded it broke and the Sound that came from it filled the air, something that resulted in all of the figures disappearing from view.

Silence filled the air and Ash felt his legs collapse from beneath him, falling to the ground, the others doing the same, the Pokémon panting with exhaustion. Only Liberty remained standing, gun in hand and blood dripping from his left. He put the gun in the back of his pants once again and gave a small nod as he looked at the operating table.

The others did the same and saw the Pokémon, the baby Pokémon that had only hatched that day, look over towards them. In that ruined room that was hardly a Pokémon Centre operating room any longer, that Pokémon opened its mouth.

"Scra…..ggy?" It asked. Its voice was not screaming. It was the sound of a Pokémon that had just woken up from a nightmare that it shouldn't have had. And Ash felt a sense of accomplishment fill him, something wet forming at his eyes.

"You know Ash…..you can only cry when it's all over. And you did an excellent job. So I think that it's OK."

Liberty's comment hit the nail on the head and Ash let out a smile, leaning back and letting out a laugh as those wet tears of joy ran down his face.

---

"I have to say…..I hope that the cameras were out of commission. We did a bang up job of destroying a Pokémon Centre."

The morning sunset filled the horizon as Liberty made that comment and Cilan gave a small sweatdrop.

"I must say, being a Gym Leader meant that there was often the occasion of a destroyed Gym battlefield…..but nothing like this. I'm not really sure what to say." Cilan remarked.

After the incident and everyone had rested up, the others had restored power to the Centre and made sure that the Pokémon that were staying there were alright. There had been some close calls however using Aura and Liberty's knowledge on the machines at the Centre meant that every Pokémon inside the Centre would definitely recover if they had continued their treatment as normal.

The Pokémon Centre on the other hand…..

"What happened to the second floor?" asked Iris in curiosity, the Pokémon in her hair tilting tis head and saying "Ew?" as if trying to recall a distant memory.

"There was a second floor?" asked Liberty. Although there were signs of such, it wasn't much of a floor and rather a 'destroyed roof'.

"Well everything's fine now." Said Ash. Pikachu was sitting on his shoulder and he gave it a small pat as it let out a "Chaaaaaaaaaaaa" and Ash turned, as well as the others as they turned towards the baby Pokémon that had come out of its egg.

First impressions were the kicker and after Scraggy had expressed its 'thanks' in the form of head butting everyone there Iris had somehow remarked that the Pokémon would definitely fit a kid such as Ash.

Liberty had said that everything would be fine and Ash was sure that it would be the case. But in the end, what Ash had tried to accomplish had not finished yet. He approached the Pokémon and went down on one knee, holding down an empty Pokéball in front of the Pokémon.

"Scraggy. I have only one thing to ask you…..Do you want to come with me on my journey? I'll try and make sure that you can be the best Pokémon that you can and I will make sure that something like this won't happen again."

Scraggy looked at the trainer. The first thing that it remembered after the incident was the trainer embracing it in front of the others. It remembered the destruction, the pain and the cries of the trainer that had wanted to liberate it from the pain that it was suffering. And it knew exactly its answer.

Scraggy titled its head before giving a nod, touching the centre of the Pokéball before being sucked in. It quivered in Ash's hands once, twice and then three times before finally giving a click of finality that made Ash smile.

The others gave a grin and Ash could hardly contain his excitement.

"ALRIGHT! I got a Scraggy!"

"Pi-pikachu!" cried Pikachu from Ash's shoulder.

"Well you finally did what you wanted Ash." Said Liberty with a nod and smile. "Good for you. Buuuuuuuuuuuut there is one small thing."

"Huh?" asked Ash. "I-Is it something to do with Scraggy?"

"Kind of." He said and as soon as he saw the panicked faces of those around him he waved his hands in front of him. "Nononono! Nothing like that. Just…"

The sound of police sirens filled the air and the others tuned their heads in order to look in the direction that they had come from before sighing. The people that had managed to be pulled out of everything were finally beginning to wake up and Ash gave a small chuckle.

"Oh well. Everything worked out. So what e-"

He turned to his friends however noticed that one of them was gone.

"H-Huh!? Where's Liberty go?"

"Pikaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!"

Cilan and Iris turned towards that spot and went pale.

"H-How in the world did he do that?!" asked Cilan, pale.

"Forget that! He ditched us to answer to Officer Jenny!" replied Iris as soon as a police car came up to the side of the Pokémon Centre and Officer Jenny stepped out. She took one look at the Pokémon Centre, the collapsed people and then at the trainers that looked as though they had been through a lot and put her hands on her hips with an unamused expression.

"Heh heh heh? We can explain?" asked Ash.

But it didn't matter if they would believe them or not. They knew what they saw. And that was all that they needed.

And as Ash looked at the Pokéball within his hand that held his new Pokémon, he was sure of one thing.

This wasn't just his Pokémon. It wasn't just him that had helped to catch it. His friendships, hardships and pain all came from this one incident and they had all been resolved. He wasn't alone.

So he would make sure that Scraggy wasn't either.

---

…..I'm not really sure what happened in the end. I was trying to come up with a solution and then thought of this result. True to the words I have to say "That escalated quickly."

I sort of guess that this chapter deals much with 'loneliness'. Namely the pain that Ash faced in this world with aura considering that one point and more important, the group struggle towards overcoming it. I thought that having that as an issue is partially how Ash has managed to overcome his own loneliness. Hence the chapter name.

And also, having Liberty Knox as an OC means that this type of story is probably going to continue a lot. I hope that it is agreeable to you guys. Apart from that, there's not much to say. I mean Pokémon Y has been great, finished the main campaign and filled up more than half the Pokédex. Feels good man. Feels good.

Well that's just me. I think that you guys want a break after reading this but I will tell you something, the next chapter will be an original by me, all about flashbacks. Particularly that small moment that is described in Chapter 15 with Leaf.

But you'll just have to wait.

And as always,
Review if you please

And I'll see you when I see you and I won't if I don't.

I had no idea what to call those Nurse Joy/Audino things. I was gonna go all Kingdom Hearts (which I do NOT own in any way) and call them Heartless or Auraless or whatever but nothing came to me. But you can call them what you like.