Conclusion of Darkest of Days! Enjoy!
"I guess this is the place." Trey declared, the group coming to a stop in front of a relatively small warehouse, with a large broadcast antennae sticking up from the roof.
"Yeah." Ash agreed.
They all stepped in through the loosely hinged entrance doors, leading them directly into a large open room with minimal lighting. Before they could go much further, a gunshot rang out from the darkness across the room, and Lily dropped to the floor in a flash of blood, clutching her right shoulder.
Trey caught her on the way down in both arms as Ash stared defiantly back into the darkness, noticing that Lily's injured shoulder is the same shoulder that Aaron had shot him in. "Aaron!"
Slowly, Aaron emerged from the dark, the pistol in his hands still pointing at Lily. "I told you - anyone other than Norman's family would be shot on sight. Now leave, before I shoot you as well."
"Pika pika!" Pikachu cried angrily, leaping down from Ash's shoulder onto all fours.
"Com-busken!" Combusken boomed, glaring across the room at Aaron.
"I'm not leaving without them!" Ash declared.
Just then, the lights in the room flashed on, illuminating the space behind Aaron. May and Norman were fully awake and still tied up against the back wall, with Will next to them. It was Will who spoke next. "What are you two doing here?"
"Will!" Trey growled, still kneeled over, holding Lily up.
"You weren't supposed to - argh!" Will grunted angrily, turning to Aaron. "Why did you shoot her? You know he's my brother!"
"It doesn't matter. We warned them that we would shoot on sight." Aaron answered, not turning to face him and instead pointing the gun at Ash next. "One more chance."
"Ash!" May cried helplessly from across the room while Norman merely watched with gritted teeth.
Nobody moved for a good ten seconds before Aaron decided to speak again.
"Fine."
He fired, just as a flash of white light erupted from Ash's belt.
A second later, Grovyle was standing between Ash and Aaron, one of his arms raised in a defensive Leaf Blade, which had blocked the bullet.
Ash blinked, staring at Grovyle in surprise. "Gr-Grovyle..."
Aaron slowly lowered the gun, shaking his head. "Fine, then, you stubborn child. Regirock, Registeel, Regice, go!"
He quickly tossed three Pokeballs from his own belt, and the next thing Ash knew, he was staring down the three legendary golems.
"Gro!" Grovyle chirped, stepping forward as its Leaf Blade fizzled out and returned to normal.
"Coooombusken!" Combusken added, stepping forward as well.
"Pika - !" Pikachu began, but Ash motioned for it to back off. "Pika?"
"Let Grovyle and Combusken handle this, buddy." Ash told him.
"Pika?" Pikachu asked in shock.
"Yeah, they'll be fine."
"Piika..." Pikachu said, not entirely convinced as it turned its head back to the battle.
"Two against three?" Aaron asked, shrugging. "It's your choice, I suppose."
"Grooo..." Grovyle growled. Given the close connection between trainer and Pokemon, Grovyle's anger at Aaron for taking May was the same as Ash's, not to mention the fact that it had a score to settle with Regirock from earlier.
"Combus..." Combusken chirped. May was Combusken's trainer, and it didn't need any further reason to hate Aaron for what he had done. And he had May's father, as well, who Combusken felt extremely close to as well, once again due to the connection between trainer and Pokemon.
"Combusken..." May mumbled sadly from across the room.
Then, Aaron called his first attacks. "Regirock, Hyper Beam! Registeel, Metal Claw! Regice, Blizzard!"
Ash was taken by surprise at how quickly Aaron clearly intended to win this battle. "Dodge it, both of you!"
Both Pokemon obliged at once, easily dodging Hyper Beam and Metal Claw. Blizzard, however, hit them both head-on, damaging them significantly right off the bat.
"You guys okay?" Ash cried. After a quick stifled nod from them both, he continued. "Grovyle, use Leaf Blade on Regirock! Combusken, spray Flamethrower on Registeel and Regice!"
"Grooo-vyle!" Grovyle roared, summoning its Leaf Blade and streaking toward Regirock.
"Cooooom-busken!" Combusken bellowed, blasting a steady stream of fire at both Registeel and Regice.
"Regirock, Iron Defense! Registeel, use Zap Cannon to stop Combusken's Flamethrower! Regice, use Focus Punch on Combusken!"
Regirock crossed its arms in an X-shape across its chest, absorbing Grovyle's Leaf Blade when it hit and actually causing Grovyle to recoil slightly. Registeel fired a giant yellow orb from between its hands at Combusken, hitting it and thus stopping Flamethrower before it managed to hit, and consequently sending Combusken flying back while Regice took a moment to charge.
"Cooom-buuus-!" Combusken grunted, slamming into the ground behind Ash, its body sparking erratically.
"Grovyle, quick, use Quick Attack to stop Regice's Focus Punch!" Ash called hastily.
"Regirock, use Hyper Beam on Grovyle!" Aaron ordered.
"Regi-roooock!" Regirock boomed, firing a streak of orange energy across the room at Grovyle, who was streaking toward Regice with a white trail behind it before Hyper Beam hit.
"Grooo!" Grovyle cried, taking the attack from the side and thus slamming into the side wall.
"Grovyle!" Ash called. The battle had barely even started, and both Grovyle and Combusken were already badly hurt.
"Now, Regice!" Aaron ordered.
"Reg-iiiiice!" Regice chimed, beginning to bring its now-glowing fist forward. But before it could strike, it was hit from behind by an invisible wave of air, knocking it forward and cancelling the Focus Punch.
"What?" Aaron roared, turning around to see Will and his Scyther standing behind Regice. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"Nice Vacuum Wave, Scyther." Will said, turning to face Aaron. "Shooting my brother's friends was never part of the deal! And neither was threatening to kill these two, either!"
Aaron gritted his teeth in frustration. "So, what, you're turning on me to protect them?"
Will shook his head angrily. "I wasn't totally sure about this whole thing from the beginning! And now you've shot an innocent girl!"
"It isn't much different than what you did, you fool!"
Will turned away, thinking back to his Seviper biting May. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But I still think this is going too far!"
Aaron was silent for a moment as Grovyle and Combusken struggled to get to their feet across the room, a thin aura slowly appearing around both of them. "Fine. I don't need you, anyway, you fool!"
In an instant, he had redrawn his pistol and fired at Will. He was hit in the right shoulder, same as Ash and Lily, and dropped to his knees with gritted teeth. "Nice...try..."
Scyther watched in shock as Will was hit in the opposite shoulder with a second bullet, sending him toppling over onto his back. "Scyyyther..."
"Will!" Trey cried out as Ash, May, and Norman watched him fall to the floor in horror.
"And I've had enough of you, as well - " Aaron began, turning to point the gun at Ash.
But before he could pull the trigger, and before he could see it coming, Scyther had streaked across the room and impaled Aaron from behind with its right arm.
"Ugh...ach..." Aaron grunted, struggling to draw breath as he glanced down in shock at the bladed arm protruding from his chest.
Ash stared for a moment, still stunned by all that happened in the last minute. The gun fell from Aaron's hand as it slowly went limp, along with the rest of his body, as he fell the ground face first shortly after Scyther withdrew the blade. Ash took this moment to run across the room to May and Norman. He was quickly stopped, however, when he saw the titanium cable holding them.
He blinked once, staring at the metal rope, then looked back at Grovyle and Combusken far across the room. "Grovyle! Combusken! Help me break this cable!"
Both Pokemon responded almost at once, streaking across the room and slashing at the restraints with Leaf Blade and Sky Uppercut.
"Ash!" May exclaimed as soon as her bonds were broken, rushing into a hasty embrace with him. Norman stood up after her, rubbing his arms tenderly.
"Thanks, Ash. I'd imagine that there's a story behind all of this, but I don't think that now is the best time for that."
Ash nodded as May moved away, standing at Ash's side.
Norman pointed over their shoulders to Grovyle and Combusken, who now had a bright green and bright orange aura around them, respectively. "It looks like your Pokemon are still ready to fight."
Ash and May both turned to examine their Pokemon, and noticed the auras at once. "Yeah, that's Blaze and Overgrow!" Ash declared happily.
Near their location, Aaron, who was still lying facedown on the floor, slowly reached out for his gun, which was also on the floor not far from him. After a few seconds of reaching, he managed to grasp it once again.
Trey, who had been helping Lily slowly get back to her feet, noticed this just as Aaron started to roll over. "Hey, guys, look out!"
Ash and May saw the movement as Aaron completed the roll onto his back. He brought the gun up in a heartbeat and pointed it at Ash's head. "Die!"
Grovyle managed to block the bullet with its Leaf Blade, similar to the last time Aaron shot at Ash, prompting Aaron to call for his Pokemon in his rage. "Regirock, Registeel, Regice, attack! Now!"
The three Regis, who had been more or less waiting around ever since Scyther's attack, all leaped forward suddenly, standing between Aaron and Grovyle. After a moment, they lunged forward.
Grovyle summoned a second Leaf Blade and managed to block Regirock and Registeel, while Combusken blocked Regice, but only just. Even with the power-up from Blaze and Overgrow, they were still no match for the trio of Legendary Pokemon.
"Grovyle!" Ash cried.
"Combusken!" May echoed, concern in her voice. Just then, though, both Grovyle and Combusken erupted in a flash of white light.
"Huh...?" Ash muttered, watching as all three Pokemon were pushed back by the glowing forms that now eclipsed the room with white light. Grovyle and Combusken's bodies continued to grow until the Regis were shoved back entirely, leaving them free to complete the metamorphosis without encumbrance.
The next thing they knew, the light was gone, and where Grovyle and Combusken had stood moments before, now stood Sceptile and Blaziken, their bodies still awash with the auras from Overgrow and Blaze.
"Scep-tile!" Sceptile cried triumphantly.
"Blaziken!" Blaziken roared.
"Whoa..." Ash breathed, while May merely stared in wide-eyed shock. "You both evolved!"
Aaron gritted his teeth, grunting angrily at this new turn of events. "Regis! Destroy them all!"
"Regi-rock-ock." Regirock chanted, leading the charge as the three Pokemon charged at the newly-evolved Sceptile and Blaziken.
"Sceptile!" Sceptile cried, raising both arms to block Regirock and Registeel for the second time.
"Blaaaziken!" Blaziken boomed, grabbing both of Regice's arms and preventing it from moving any further.
Sceptile then threw the two Regis back and bowed its head slightly as the orbs on its back began to glow with energy, the sun now beginning to shine through the warehouse's skylights.
Blaziken heaved and tossed Regice into the air, igniting the flames on its wrists soon after. It then leaped into the air after Regice, drawing back its right leg as it began to catch fire as well.
Sceptile opened its mouth a moment later and blasted out a massive beam of light at Regirock and Registeel, hitting them dead-on with its Solarbeam attack.
Blaziken thrust out its leg the next second, nailing Regice in the chest with Blaze Kick. All three Regis were slammed into the far wall by the two Pokemon's attacks.
"Awesome, Sceptile! You learned Solarbeam!" Ash praised as the Regis toppled over to the floor in a heap.
"Nice work, Blaziken! You can use Blaze Kick!" May added happily.
"...W-we're not finished..." Aaron grunted from the floor, raising the pistol again. But before he could even take aim with it, Scyther had shot off another Vacuum Wave, blasting the weapon across the room, and certainly out of reach of Aaron's limp form.
"No, I think we are finished." Norman remarked with a sense of finality. He reached back to his now-accessible belt, intending to grab Slaking's Pokeball, but Will's bloodied hand grabbed his ankle weakly as he went.
"Don't..." Will moaned weakly.
"What?" Norman demanded incredulously.
"Just...just leave." Will insisted. "It's...bad enough...the way this happened...for me...at least let me take care of him."
Norman stared at him for a moment, not sure how to respond. May caught Trey's eye, and she could tell that he agreed with his brother on this one. She grabbed Norman's arm lightly. "Dad...come on."
Norman glanced from her back to Will, and then back to Aaron, who was still weakly attempting to reach the discarded pistol. "...All right, then." He said finally, lowering his hand.
Ash and May quickly recalled Sceptile and Blaziken, and, after being reminded, Norman called the three Regis back to their respective Balls, as well, and placed them next to his own three Pokeballs for the moment.
Trey remained in place, staring at Will as well as supporting Lily with one arm, as the rest of them made to exit the warehouse. Pikachu climbed back up on Ash's shoulder, as well.
Once they were all gone, Trey slowly approached his older brother. Aaron was still squirming feebly across the room.
"That was a really stupid move, you know." Trey began roughly.
"Oh, you think so?" Will replied gruffly, chuckling softly as he lay on the floor, his shoulders still bleeding heavily. "Maybe you'd prefer to be shot, instead."
"I meant teaching Scyther Vacuum Wave in the first place." Trey corrected. "It doesn't match with Scyther's statistics at all."
The two brothers stared at each other for a long while with no words. Then, Will broke the silence by laughing. Loudly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But it worked out anyway, didn't it?"
Trey smirked at him knowingly, then looked away. "...Thank you."
Will didn't reply right away. He appeared to be almost touched by Trey's words. When he did, however, his voice hadn't changed at all. "Yeah, well, you better hurry up and get out of here with her. He might actually get back up, if you take too long."
Trey nodded, and held Will's gaze for a second before turning and trudging out of the small building, Lily leaning on his shoulder for support.
When he reached the others outside, he found them merely waiting for him outside the warehouse. "Are you ready?" Norman asked.
Trey merely nodded.
"Then let's go home."
Please R&R!