Chapter 25

*In Ash's Room*

'I… did it…'

Ash heaved a relief, 'If I can do this, it means I can…'

Without hesitation, he sat properly and held his hands in front of him. He focused hard, remembering that time he produced an aura sphere back at the Tree of Beginning.

'Though that time I used Sir Aaron's gloves to do so… But I should be able to do it on my own.'

Ash closed his eyes and concentrated once again.

'Better train while I can.'

The same overwhelming feeling came by again. This time, Ash opened his eyes. To his surprise, his body wasn't shinning blue like it did the last time. Straight away, he focused on his hands. After a few flicker, a tiny aura sphere appeared between his hands.

'I wonder if May's alright. She must be so worried about me right now.'

The aura sphere grew bigger and bigger.

'May…'

Suddenly, the aura sphere burst. Ash remained stunned on the spot, but didn't bother creating another one.

"May… Why can't I stop thinking about her?" Ash shook his head and went back training again.

'Because you like her.'

"What the- What did you say?" Ash asked, before realizing what's going on.

"Great, now I'm talking to myself…"

'Admit it; you don't feel this way around Dawn or any other girls, do you?' his inner mind sounded.

'True… I don't…But still-'

"Arghh! Forget it! Why am I even thinking about this? I've got to get out of here first!"

*Behind bars*

"Hey, Dawn?"

Dawn looked away from May and noticed that Max has already come over to them.

"I'm sorry I was so rude yesterday…" Max looked down at his feet.

Dawn smiled. "It's okay, Max. I understand. You were just being supportive towards your sister. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, but I guess I shouldn't have raise my voice towards Lyra too."

"It's okay Max," said May, "And thank you, really. It was really nice when you stood up for me."

Max grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck, "Well, it was nothing, Sis!"

At this time Brock came over to them too, "Glad that that's all over now."

Everyone smiled for once, but immediately frown when they heard a familiar shouting.

"LET ME GO! I'M TELLING YOU!"

"Ash!" Ash's friends quickly rushed towards the bar to get a clearer look.

"Huh?! May! Brock! You guys!"

"Let Ash go!" May yelled frantically, though she know it was of no use. The grunts holding on to Ash have slammed him into the chair. They quickly tied him to the chair to prevent him from escaping.

The guy who has been adjusting the machine pressed a few buttons. He took up something that looks like a handcuff and clamped it onto Ash's wrist. "Everything's ready, Sir."

"Good, begin."

Dawn knew immediately what was going to happen, "Oh no! They're going to…"

"Somehow get his aura…" Max finished her sentence. Before anyone could react, a piercing scream sounded within the room.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ash cried in pain as the handcuff started sucking in his aura.

"STOP IT!"

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

"STOP!"

"PLEASE STOP IT!"

Brock, May, Max and Dawn shouted desperately. However the grunts and henchmen ignored them.

"STOP! PLEASE!"

"Grrrr! Here goes nothing!" May threw her pokeball out through between the bars and released Blaziken. However before she could call out an attack, a net wrapped around Blaziken and it was taken away.

"Blaziken! NO!"

Hunter J stared at the kids. They were all desperately pleading for Giovanni to stop. 'Never knew that one day I would get my revenge…' Hunter J smirked evilly and looked back at Ash, still crying in pain.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! STOPPPPP!"

All of a sudden, the machine stopped working. Ash panted as he felt his head started spinning, since the pain was too much to bear.

"What's happening, Dr. Kroaf?" Giovanni demanded. Dr. Kroaf, the guy in charge of the machine, stepped away from it. An expression of guilt could be read from his face as he turned to face Giovanni.

"I…I can't do it…"

Giovanni glared hard at the doctor, "Excuse me, Dr. Kroaf, but I believe you've signed a contract to work with us until the very end of the experiment…"

"Yes, Sir. I understand and acknowledge that. But-but…I can't…I didn't think…I would hurt this young boy here so much. I-I can't do it…"

"Tsk, sorry to upset you, Dr. Kroaf, but a deal is a deal."

"I…" Dr. Kroaf stuttered, not knowing what to do. He daren't refuse Giovanni's orders, but he just didn't have the heart to hurt the boy in front of him. He couldn't let money get in his way by diminishing his morals.

"I…I can't…I'm sorry." Dr. Kroaf confirmed.

"Tsk, what a pathetic fool. You two, take him away! I shall handle this myself."

"No wait! You can't! You'll hurt the kid! You can't do that!"

Giovanni pressed a certain button. He knew roughly what to do since he'd been observing the doctor.

"AHHHHHHH! STOPPPP!" Ash screamed as he felt the same amount of pain shooting through his body once again. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he struggled to break free from the chair.

"STOPPPP! Please…" he whimpered as he felt his energy draining from him rapidly. The pain was becoming almost unbearable that Ash began to see white light, flashing in his eyes.

'I can't… I can't just let him take my aura like that. No way. No one should be controlling my aura. I've got to stop it…'

"Stop it! You're hurting him!" May wailed. She started crying with Dawn as they could only watch helplessly from the side. Max started crying as well, while Brock looked around anxiously, trying to find a way to stop them. But nothing was on their side. There's just no way to stop Giovanni.