Chapter 21 – The New Dragon Master
"What do you mean you are the Dragon Master?" asked Lorelei confusedly
Ash said nothing, looking down he preferred to not face anybody
"Ash answer me" repeated Lorelei "How can you be the Dragon Master?"
"One day before I left The Temple of Dragons, Lance came to me and offered me officially to take his title as the Dragon Master" said Ash
"But when we asked, Lance said you weren't the Dragon Master" said May
"That Lance…" said Lorelei smiling "He lied"
"Why?" asked Serena
"If we had this information we could risk Ash' life" said Lorelei
"But how?" asked Dawn
"If any of us had been captured by Team Tenebris, The Lady could take this information out of our minds" said Professor Oak
"But how come The Lady didn't take this information when she took over Ash's mind?" asked Serena
"Because I trained for that" said Ash for the first time since the subject had been mentioned "Even though The Lady did capture me, If I hadn't trained as Lance told me…. I would probably have given such important information about me, Lance and the Temple"
"But… If you are the Dragon Master… then Lance cannot enter the Temple. Right?" asked May
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid he will be able to enter the Temple" Ash said
"But how?" asked Lorelei
"The Temple of Dragons was created to house all human recognized as worthy to receive the title of Dragon Master. There were times that many humans had this title and they could all enter the Temple at the same time" Ash said "But as the years went by, less and less humans have proved worthy to receive the title… so Dragon Masters got scarce. For the first time in ages… there are two Dragon Masters, and only because I didn't allow Lance to decline his title when he made me Dragon Master"
"Decline?" asked Professor Oak
"Lance no longer wants to be a Dragon Master… He thinks his job is done within the Temple, that's why he chose me to replace him. But I somehow felt that I wasn't ready yet, but I accepted to become a new Dragon Master only if he remained as well. At least until I feel fully prepared" said Ash
Everybody remained in silent as they heard Ash's story, but when they all saw he had finished… they started to feel bad for him. Lance somehow… used Ash for his own reason. They all felt that Ash was forced to take on the title of Dragon Master so Lance could leave
Selfishness was the word all of them, including Lorelei were thinking to describe Lance at that moment
"I think…" started Lorelei "We should get back to the plan"
Everybody agreed with her
"If we leave now and take the shortcut Lance gave to Dawn, we will not only get there first but we'll also have time to enter the Temple and prepare a battle strategy" said Ash
"We'll stay here as you ordered Ash" said Lorelei "What if you four fail and The Lady is successful?"
Ash looked at her and smiled "Get ready for battle" Ash said
Lorelei didn't like his answer but agreed
"There's a car waiting for you outside" said Bruno "It will take you until the gates of Mount Silver. You have already permission to enter"
"Thank you Bruno. And please, let all gym leaders of all regions aware of the situation" said Ash "If Team Tenebris start to attack, they must protect their own city and any nearby city which has no Gym"
"As you wish" said Lorelei "Good Luck Ash"
Ash smiled and turned around to face the three girls he was going to "Hire" for this mission
"Ready?" Ash asked
They all smiled to him and nodded a yes with their heads
"So let's go" said Ash leading the way with his three friends after him
Ash and the girls were taken until the gates to Mount Silver by the Elite's car. Since Indigo Plateau was close to the gates, they arrived after just 45 minutes. It was interesting how the view clearly changed as they left Indigo Plateau, Victory Road and getting to the gates. At Indigo Plateau there were many trees, flying Pokémon and people walking around. It was like a regular city. As they reached Victory road, there were few Pokémon at sight and the trees were all dead. At the gates of Mount Silver, the gate's guards were the only living thing around. It was a place that made you feel shivers down your spine. An immense mountain known as the home of wild and dangerous Pokémon, where only the most powerful trainers were allowed to enter, and still, there were many histories about trainers who entered and never came back. And that's where they were heading to, the most dangerous place on earth to fight the most powerful organization in the world as well
They stopped in front of a huge silver gate, and as soon as they got out of the car, two guards came to them to ask for identification
"Excuse me sir" said one of the guards "This is a restricted area, only authorized people can enter"
"I am Ash Ketchum of Elite Four" said Ash seriously "I and my friends have permission to enter"
"I am sorry Mr. Ketchum, we didn't know it was you" said the guard "You may pass"
Ash, Serena, Dawn and May passed through the gates and looked forward and up, it was a huge view, a dense forest with tall trees and rocks covering an almost impossible path to see, and it was also impossible to look at the top of Mt. Silver from where they stood. Without Lance's shortcut they probably would take days to reach the top. Behind them the guards didn't even wish good luck, they fast closed the gates. Now they were on their own… until the end
"So…" asked Serena "How exactly are we reaching the top again?"
"If we follow this path… soon we would find the first cave. By this cave we would start climbing to the top…" said Ash looking at Lance's map
"But…?" asked Serena
"But instead of entering the cave… we just go around it. It is a little difficult because there are many, many… many rocks and high stones to climb… but once we passed through we may find another small cave" said Ash
"Small?" asked May
"That's right" Ash answered "Inside this cave we will find a waterfall which goes almost to the top"
"Almost?" asked Dawn
"Yes" Ash answered "Let's say that Mt. Silver has three levels divided by three main caves that goes up one after the other. This waterfall goes directly to the third cave, we just need to climb it and we are at the top"
"It doesn't look that difficult…" said May
"If you are a dude" said Dawn winking at Serena
"What did you just say Dawn?" asked May angrily
"Me? Nothing" Dawn answered
"I heard you saying something" May said still angry
"No! I think you heard wrongly" said Dawn
"She's right May" said Serena giving Dawn support "She said nothing"
May just look away from her friends, she knew they were only teasing with her… but still… she didn't want Ash to think she doesn't look feminine
"Don't pay attention on them Ash" said May
"Don't worry… I wasn't" said Ash still looking at the map and "Let's get going then?"
"Sure thing" said May going ahead of Ash
"Wow! She is really in the mood for a rock climbing" said Ash "That's kind of cute"
As Serena and Dawn heard Ash's sentence, both of them passed running through him to catch up with May who was already climbing the first rock
Ash just looked at his friends without understand what was happening but decided not to ask and followed them.
Although Lance had given them a shortcut to the top, it wasn't easy to get there. Our heroes had no problem to climb the first rocks, but as the day started to turns into night, they realized it wasn't going to be as easy as they thought
"Man, these rocks never end?" asked Dawn "I'm exhausted"
"Maybe if you were a dude it would be easier" said May smiling
"Okay, I deserved it" answered Dawn falling into the ground "Ash, since we are arriving at the top first… can't we stop to rest a little?"
"Actually it is a good idea" Ash answered "Since it's getting dark I think we should stop. We would never see the cave's entrance at night any way"
"So where are we camping?" asked Serena
"Let's just try to finish climbing these rocks, once we it's done there will be forest again. It's safer there" Ash answered
They walked and climbed more rocks until it finally come to an end, soon the grey and brown colors turned into green, they were back at the forest
"Let's camp here guys" said Ash putting his backpack down "I have enough food and water for us to pass four days"
"Only four?" asked May
"Don't worry" said Ash "I am sure we will get to the top tomorrow before noon"
They suddenly heard a loud noise coming from far; it seemed to be an explosion
"What was that?" asked Serena
"Team Tenebris" Ash said "They are entering the first cave"
"But what was that noise?" asked Dawn
"They are probably fighting some wild Pokémon" Ash said
"Maybe we should keep going up" said Serena "What if they get at the top first?"
"Don't worry Serena" said Ash calming her down "Even if they walk all night, they would never reach the top before we do by conventional ways"
"But Ash…" said May "If Lance gave us the map… don't you think they might use the shortcut as well?"
"No!" said Ash "Lance drew the map because without it, it would be impossible to find the right direction through the rocks. And also they need the map to find the small cave's entrance"
Ash and the girls set the camp up and started to eat and rest. They were obviously going to a very tough battle and no one not even Ash knew what was going to happen. But to only stay there, sit around the fire, eating and talking, made them remember the time they travelled together. Each of the girls had their moment with Ash, May in Hoenn and Kanto, Dawn in Sinnoh and Serena in Kalos and they all had good memories from that time they shared with Ash. Maybe Ash still didn't know since he has always been slow, but he had conquered each one of those girl's hearts by just being himself, the loving and caring boy he always had been. Just being with him made them feel safe, like they had nothing to worry about, It was sad to think that at the end of all that probably just one of them would keep going with him
"I am going to go get some more water" Ash said "I never thought we were using it all so fast"
"Where are you going to get it?" asked Serena
"We passed through a small lake a while ago" said Ash "I'm going there"
"Do you mind if I go with you?" asked Serena "Please?"
Ash looked at Serena and smiled
"Of course not Serena" said Ash "Thank you for keep me company"
Serena looked at May and Dawn who just stayed there angrily watching her leave with Ash. She was going to finally have her solo moment with Ash
Ash and Serena walked to lake where Ash started to fill his bottle; none of them said a word since they left the camp
"Ash" said Serena "Are you okay?"
Ash looked at her confusedly
"Why do you ask?" he asked her
"I don't know… since we rescued you from Team Tenebris… you seem so okay with all this situation" she answered concerned
"I'm not quite following you Serena" he said
"You don't seem worried about Lance, Team Tenebris, May, Dawn or… ME" she said starting looking down
Ash walked until her and raised her face up with his hand on her chin
"I'm sorry if I seem a little vague lately" he said "It's just that… I learned not to worry so much about things"
Ash walked around Serena being back to back with her
"There is no need to worry about the future. We can never predict it and once it started we cannot change it either" Ash said "So… the best way is to keep living and doing things as they were meant to be. We are going to rescue Lance and stop Team Tenebris… and we'll be successful or not either I'm worried or not"
Serena turned around to face Ash's back; he has never been so deep like that… that boy so energetic and happy she once knew was gone… but she kind of liked him this way
"You see Ash" she started blushing "You are no longer a boy…. You are a man now"
Ash just looked at her and smiled
"We all have to grow up Serena" he answered "I have learned so much during the past three years. I just feel livelier"
"Can I ask you something?" Serena said
"Of course" he answered
"If Lance hadn't invited you to train with him… what would you have done after Kalos?"
"I don't know… look for another region to go probably" Ash answered "What about you?"
"Probably the same" she answered "If I could keep traveling with you it would have been better"
"Yeah it would've been" he said "Sometimes I feel bad for Dawn and May"
"Why?" Serena asked
"After May and I split up she started to travel with her rivals… it just not nice" he said
"What do you mean" Serena asked
"Imagine how was going to be like if you had to travel with Miette" Ash said smiling
"That would… sucks" Serena answered also smiling
"See… and Dawn started traveling alone after we split up in Sinnoh" Ash said "I feel that they were not happy with their journeys"
"You do worry a lot about them, don't you?" Serena asked
"Not only about them" he answered "I worry about you too Serena and all my friends"
"But you never ask them to stay" she said
"No! They are more than welcome to keep traveling with me… but I would never do this" he answered
"Why would they not want to travel with you?" she asked "You are amazing?"
"What?" asked Ash
Serena started to blush when she realized what she had said
"I… mean… that… you… are… very… nice" she said blushing as much as a red pepper
Ash also turned around, noticed her blushing and smiled at her
"Thank you Serena" he said smiling
"Anytime you need" she said smiling as well
As Ash and Serena finished their talking they heard a loud scream coming from their camping
"What was that?" asked Serena "Do you think it's Team Tenebris?"
"Impossible" said Ash running back to the camping, being followed by Serena
As they reached the camping they saw May's Glaceon and Dawn's Togekiss fighting four Ursarings. As May and Dawn saw Ash and Serena they started to shout;
"Help us please" asked May "They started attacking with no reason"
"Please Ash" said Dawn "My Mamoswine and May's Blaziken have already been knocked out"
Serena picked up one of her Poké balls to help May and Dawn, but got stopped by Ash's arm that prevented her to throw it
"Ash?" Serena asked
"I'll take care of them" he said "May, Dawn! Return your Pokémon"
May and Dawn did as Ash ordered and returned their Pokémon and then went back to Ash for protection
"Why did they attack you?" asked Serena
"We don't know" answered Dawn "They just appeared out of nowhere"
"We probably invaded their territory" Ash said "Although they are just protecting themselves… they are pretty angry now, so I must fight back"
Ash took his hand to his belt and grabbed one Poké ball
"Ash… can you beat them with just one Pokémon?" asked May
"Let's see! Go! Charizard" he answered throwing his Poké ball and revealing his Pokémon
Charizard stood in front of the Ursarings, none of them moved at first, Charizard was waiting for Ash's commands but Ash was waiting the Ursarings to attack first, which they did. Using the rage move, the four Ursarings started running at Charizard's direction
"Charizard, use SmokeScreen" said Ash
Charizard did as Ash ordered and soon a dark smoke was all over the place, making the Ursarings to stop running and start to cough
"Charizard fly" said Ash
Suddenly from the SmokeScreen, Charizard appeared, flying high to the sky
"Now, dive and use Fire Hurricane" said Ash
"To use what?" asked May "What move is this?"
Charizard dove and started spinning around itself while blasting a powerful flamethrower which became soon a Fire Hurricane that covered all the Ursarings at the same time
As Charizard landed back on the floor and the Smoke Screen started to fade away, they all saw that the four Ursarings had fainted. Charizard was the winner
"Well done Charizard" said Ash to his Pokémon who returned with a smile "You surely are the best"
May, Serena and Dawn were surprised, not only because of Charizard's power, but also because of Ash's way of battle and this move nobody had heard about before
"Now rest a little. You still going to help me a lot on this mission" Ash said returning Charizard to his Poké Ball
"Ash" said Dawn "That was… amazing"
"What?" he asked
"The way you battled those Ursarings… you made it seems so easy" May said
"And what about that move Charizard used?" Serena asked
"Fire Hurricane?" Ash asked as he saw the girls nod a yes "It's a move I invented"
"You invented?" Dawn asked
"Well… there are moves similar to this one, but I improved with the spinning and flamethrower all together. It's almost impossible to flee from it" he answered
"You are amazing Ash" said May with an admiring eye making Dawn and Serena a little angry
"Thank you May" said Ash "I'm sorry to have left you two on your own"
"Don't worry" said Dawn "I felt like a damsel in distress"
"With a prince charming to save us" said May
"Enough now" said Serena "Why don't we let "prince charming" rest a little?"
"We better find another place to sleep, away from those Ursarings. They may wake up any moment" said Ash pointing to the fainted Ursarings
Ash, May, Dawn and Serena walked a little more until they found another open area near the supposed entrance of the small cave they were looking for
"Let's stay here" Ash said "When the sun rises we'll be able to find the cave entrance"
The girls started to set their sleeping bags but noticed that Ash didn't, they stayed there looking around like he was looking for something
"Ash" said Dawn "Aren't you going to sleep?"
"No! I'll stay awake and watch in case any other wild Pokémon appears" Ash said
"The whole night?" asked Serena "We can take shifts if you prefer"
"No need. I can stay up with no problem" said Ash turning to them and smiling "I can't let any other Pokémon to try to harm you three"
"You... would do this for… us?" asked May "You will protect us?"
"Of course I will protect all of you" said Ash "Always"
The girls all blushed and happily went to sleep. They weren't worried about nothing, because they knew Ash would protect them with his life if necessary. And nothing else happened during all night