Aura`s Yami Chapter 4: The Man in the Cliff
Ash stopped talking, and was now trying to fight his tears. He had expected this, because he had never told anyone what he had felt all these years. The tension had made everyone silent for awhile. No one knew what to say at a moment like this. Even Pikachu, Ash's closest friend, did not know what to do to comfort his friend.
"Ash, how can you even think that?"
Dawn broke the silence. She didn't know what to say, but she had to
confront her friend's troubled mind.
"Dawn, you know it's true. If it wasn't for me, my dad would still be
alive. Face it; I bring trouble to everyone..."
"That's not true Ash! You're one of the nicest people I have ever
known, and you're a retard for thinking that way!"
"Brock..."
"Listen to your friends Ash. They speak not only the truth, but also
their feelings. Isn't that enough proof that you are not who you think
you are?"
Ash kept quiet, not knowing how to answer.
"Pikapi" (Ash)
"Huh?"
"Pikachu chu Pikapi pi Pika pikapikachu!" (You must not be such a bad
person, because if you were I wouldn't be able to like you as much!)
Ash had no idea what the little mouse Pokémon just said, but it
comforted him. "My friends..." Tears started to come out, but he
didn't care, because his friends had done for him the nicest thing
anyone could have done in five years: relieve his conscience. Feeling
tired from all the events that had happened to him today, he calmly
fell asleep. Selia laid him down on the floor, while Dawn and Brock
gave him a pillow and blanket. Pikachu left his side, and then
proceeded to curl up in a ball next to his friend. The sky had already
darkened, and night began to take place. Even though the yacht was small,
it was big enough to hold a command room, a bathroom, and a closet
that held various cleaning objects, a retractable table, and other
sleeping bags. Brock and Dawn took out their sleeping bags, deciding
that they would sleep next to Ash.
"Poor Ash, Brock do you think he'll be alright?"
"It's hard to tell Dawn. Knowing Ash, he can get over something really
quickly, but we are talking about his father here..."
"Now now, I think the both of you should go to sleep already! Ash has
a tough day tomorrow, and you two should be ready to help him at any
time. He's going to need it..." Soon, Brock and Dawn fell asleep to
the rocking of the waves on the boat. They were too tired to think
about how the boat was moving so fast, so far away from their old
journey and headed into a new one...
Meanwhile, as Selia's boat continued to head forward, more and more
rocks were appearing, and soon enough Selia was about to leave the sea
surrounding Sinnoh. Despite the fact that she could see the rocks in
front of her in the dark, she couldn't exactly see the man, woman,
or their Pokémon on one of the rocks, nor a deflated balloon right
next to them. It's a good thing she was far away from them, because
their conversation was one that wasn't exactly child friendly. The man
and Pokémon were trying to inflate the balloon, while the woman was
just sitting on a rock yelling at them.
"Come on James! A Jigglypuff could inflate faster than you! Meowth, is
talking really the only thing you can do right? Why haven't you fixed
the controls already?"
"Shut the fuck up Jessie! After all, you're not doing anything!"
"I don't see why I should!"
"Well Jess, ya were da one that forgot ta fill up the balloon with
gas!"
"Gas, gas, gas, think of it as saving the environment, we could all
use less gas."
"Not if we need it to get to the boss!"
"Shut up! Let's just ask for help."
"Of course, now who do you want to ask, some person on a yacht?"
"Hey look guys, a person on a yacht!"
Jessie and James stopped their arguing and turned to the direction
Meowth was pointing at. They could also see a pair of bright lights,
which lit up a small yacht coming their way. Jessie and James were
dumbfounded, as usual.
"Well this awkward, isn't it Jessie?"
"I guess so James. Now, let's go ask the person for some 'help'."
"Right, 'help'. Mwahaha!"
"Youse two really shouldn't shout out your 'evil' plans out loud."
That earned Meowth a pounding on the head from Jessie.
"Shut up Meowth, hey over here!"
"If you help us we promise we'll only steal half of your gas!" That
earned James a pounding on the head from Jessie as well. Despite their
headache, James and Meowth were frantically waving their arms, trying
to get the yacht to notice them. However, before the yacht could even
come their way, it started to glow in a pinkish purplish aura and
disappeared. Team Rocket was dumbfounded again. Was the boat they just
saw an illusion, or real? However, there was one thing that was true
in all of their minds. "Damn..." "Wobbuffet!"
A Flamethrower and a Hydro Pump had collided, causing them to explode
and create a cloud of heavy black smoke. Afterwards, the smoke
cleared, revealing a very well trained Arcanine smirking at an equally
strong Blastoise. Ash was feeling so excited, he couldn't help but
shout out as the Pokémon dodged so expertly each others moves. This
time however, he was watching someone else battle. He wasn't sure how
the battle started, but it was very exciting and showed that their
trainer was very skilled. Even though this battle was merely a
training session; if it were a real battle then it would have been
truly more exhilarating. Nevertheless, Ash and the other spectators
were enjoying themselves. Now, it was time for both Arcanine and
Blastoise to use Hyper Beam. But instead of attacking each other, they
launched the Hyper Beams to the audience! Ash closed his eyes, hoping
that somehow the Hyper Beams would not hurt him. Five seconds had
passed, and in those five seconds the crowd had gone from cheering to
a deathly silence. Ash opened his eyes and was thankful not to have
been injured. But when he turned around, to his horror, the entire
audience had completely disappeared! Ash tried to get up and run away
from here, but was then pinned down by something larger and heavier
than him. "Ash..." With a chill down his spine, he turned around to
see that the thing that was holding him down was a man. The man seemed
to have a very muscular build, but he had messy spiky hair that let
down on his face. Ash couldn't see his eyes clearly, but his voice was
the thing that made Ash truly terrified. "Ash...I failed once...but
now I'm not going to fail again!" Everything turned black, and Ash
found that he was alone. The field, the Pokémon, even the man, disappeared. But before Ash could think about what was going on, he felt the
air squeezed out of him instantly. He looked down and saw that his
lower body was somehow emerged in a shadowy substance that was making
him go lower and lower. The more the shadow sucked in Ash, the more
air he was losing. Ash had lost any hope now that he was going to get
out. With only his head was left, he started to think about Pikachu,
hoping that it would be al-
"Pika!"
"Chuuu!"
"Waaaaaaah!"
"Pikapi! Pikapi!"
"Ash, what's wrong?"
"Wake up Ash, wake up!"
Ash opened his eyes and saw that Pikachu was right on top of him. Dawn
and Brock were also standing over him.
"Huh, you guys were am I?"
"We're still on Selia's boat."
"For the last time, it's a yacht!"
Selia was coming over their way, with a somewhat crossed attitude.
After all, you should never call a person's yacht just a boat. Right
on cue, Brock went up and grabbed Selia. "Good morning Selia! I hope
you're having a beautiful mornyaaa!"
Right on cue as well, Croagunk came out and greeted its master with a
Poison Jab. Brock fell, and faintly said "Because I'm sure not."
"That's nice Brock. Now, what happened to Ash?"
"I think he had a nightmare. We had to use Pikachu to wake him up."
"Oy, more like Pikachu's Thunderbolt."
"So Ash, what was your nightmare about?"
"Ya know what, I don't even remember it!"
Everyone sighed, but were relieved that their friend was finally
awake. "Well I have great news for you all! We are now about to reach
Kanto!"
"No way!"
"Awesome!"
"Selia, did you take all night to get here?"
"Maybe, but don't worry about me! I get up with the moon and set with
the sun."
"Well if we just got here, then how come the anchor is all wet?"
"Umm... hey look it's a cliff!"
Quickly changing the subject, everyone turned to look at the
approaching cliff. It was not that high and could be reached easily.
"Selia, is this where that man lives?"
"No Ash, he lives a mile east from this cliff. No one goes to visit
him, so he may be a little crazy."
"How crazy?"
"Well just don't tell him who you really are. If he asks, you are
Ashton Ketchup."
"PikaChuu?" (Ketchup?)
Although Ash and the gang were headed to the cliff, they never took
the time (or sense) to look over them. A heavily bandaged Meowth
balloon (cleverly disguised as a cloud) flew right over them and
landed deep in the forest. Once it landed a duo of very tired humans
and an equally tired Meowth stumbled out of the balloon. A man in a
black uniform came over and directed them to an old log cabin.
However, inside the cabin was a very high tech office with an
elevator. Jessie, James, and Meowth followed the Rocket Grunt
grudgingly down the elevator to the bottom floor. When they walked
out, they were in a large dark room. In the center of the room, a man
barely visible was sitting in an armchair with a Persian, who was
giving deadly glances to the trio. No wonder no one would upset
Giovanni, Team Rocket's Boss. "So, you three are Jessie, James, and
Meowth, am I correct?"
"Huh, oh yes sir!"
"So, is it true that while you were in the Sinnoh region you
encountered a boy that stopped you from your plans?"
"Yes! Yes sir! We're so-"
"Grateful."
"Eh?"
"You heard me. I'm grateful because you three have saved me a lot of
trouble in completing a task for me. Now, I need you to do me
another favor..."
It took a while, but the yacht finally reached the shore. When they
unpacked and got off, they still had to walk all the way through a
forest. Brock and Dawn were about ready to give up and fall down, but
Ash was determined to go and find the man who could tell him more
about his abilities. When it seemed that they would never get to a
cliff, the forest cleared and a plain clearing was visible. A few
flowers and wild weeds were scattered around, but besides that there
was no other sign that something or someone was living here. The only
thing odd about the clearing was a huge boulder, but that was it.
Everyone looked around, hoping to see more, but they could only see
the clearing and the edge of the cliff.
"Selia, are you sure this is the right place? It's deserted."
"Trust me Brock, this is the place."
"This is crazy! There's no one here! What do you think Ash? Ash?"
Brock turned to face Ash, who had a blank and emotionless stare.
"It was here..."
"What was here Ash?"
Ash moved forward, not responding to anyone. He got closer and closer
to the edge and stopped.
"Ash?"
"This was where your father was thrown off, right Ash?"
"Yes..."
"Hold on, how did you know that Selia?"
"The truth is I was there when he was thrown off."
"What?"
"Selia, why didn't you tell us before?"
"I thought Ash was already too depressed to hear it. Sadly, I was too
late to do anything to save him."
"You couldn't save him Selia?"
"No Ash, I'm sorry."
There was a silence in the air.
Ash kept his head down, not looking at anyone.
"Why?"
"Why what Ash?"
Then he looked up at Selia grimly and said "Why is it that nobody
cares about my dad?" He started to backup against the edge a bit more.
Everyone got nervous, and were all afraid that Ash might throw himself
off the cliff.
"Pikapi..."
"Ash that's not true! Everyone who ever knew him loved your dad very
much!"
"Oh please, you would rather save me if I jumped off."
"Ash no!"
But before Ash could take a step back, a Thunderbolt hit him. He fell
foward and was instantly knocked out. Everyone turned to Pikachu, who
had fired it in a desperate attempt to stop his friend. Selia thanked
Pikachu for its quick thinking, and started to go over to Ash. But
before anyone could reach him, a giant mechanical arm came from under
the cliff and grabbed Ash!
"Ash!"
"Listen is that the voice of a- yaaaaawn."
"Huh, oh yeah, it speaks too loud and near."
"Oh great, guess who it is."
A Meowth balloon came up from underneath the cliff and swinging in a
mechanical arm was a still unconscious Ash. Team Rocket was still
sleepy and restless from not sleeping for over ten hours.
"Oh good, it's you losers. I was afraid it could be someone that we
need to worry about" said Dawn.
"Hey! We'll have you know that da boss personally sent us to pick up
da twaaaaaaaaa." Meowth yawned.
"Yeah! If we're so dumb, then how come we have the twerp?" said James.
"He does have a point" said Dawn
"Wait, Team Rocket's Boss sent you to pick up Ash?"
"Yeah, what's it to ya blondie?"
"Blondie! Alright Team Rocket, no one steals my friend and insults a
beautiful woman while I'm around! Croagunk go!" Brock released a
Pokéball and out came his Croagunk. "Croa!"
"Good thinking Brock! Piplup lets go!" Dawn let out a Pokéball as
well, releasing Piplup from it. "Piplup!"
"You two, make sure you don't hurt Ash, ok?"
"Don't worry, Team Rocket can't even steal a Pikachu, let alone Ash."
"We beg to differ twerp! Seviper, go!"
"You too Carnivine!"
Both released their Pokéballs and released a Seviper and Carnivine.
However- "Carnivine! Get off my head and go get the twerp!"
Carnivine and Croagunk fought off using Vine Whips and Poison Jabs,
while Piplup dodged Seviper's Poison Tails and launched its
Bubblebeams. Meanwhile, Selia and Pikachu went to Ash and tried to get
him out, but not before being spotted by Meowth. "Well ain't dis
ironic! Pikachu came ta rescue da twerp!" "Pika-Chuuu!" Not amused,
Pikachu launched a thunderbolt on Meowth and the balloon, which
conducted the electricity to everyone. Unfortunately, it also conducted
to Ash as well.
"Aaah!"
Pikachu stopped attacking now that its friend was awake. However, Ash
fainted again and everyone stopped fighting.
"Ow, Jessie we better (ow) leave before we (ow) get burned to a crisp!"
"Right, huh, what's up with the twerp?"
Everyone turned to Ash and noticed that something was wrong with him.
He kept moving around and twitching around. It wasn't until he started
to glow in a bluish light that everyone got scared.
"Brock, is Ash supposed to do that?
"Umm, I don't know...Selia?"
"Shh! Everyone back away from Ash as much as possible. You too Pikachu."
"Pi Pikapi..." (But Ash...)
At that moment, the bluish light began to surround the balloon and
started to squeeze it. The tighter it squeezed, the more the balloon
was compressed. "What the hell is going on?" "I don't know Jess, but
we better get out before the balloon-" The bluish aura squeezed one
last time and the balloon exploded. "Damn" thought Selia. Team Rocket
was sent blasting off into the forest, but Ash fell down towards the
sea. "Pikapi!" Everyone went over to the edge of the cliff to see
where Ash fell. What they saw, however, was something they never expected.
He didn't know when he started to climb up, he just did. The feeling when he goes up and sees everything below him let him escape reality. He would climb everything: trees, houses, cars, even his father's shoulders. Everyone knew that Ash loved being up high, even if he was a little short. Why couldn't his father understand that? Whenever Ash would climb up a tree or his roof, five minutes later his father would pick him up and bring him back to Earth. This time, however, Ash had climbed a tree too tall for his father to climb and bring back down. So, naturally, Ash's father did what any father would do: nag his son. "Ash, you have until the count of ten to get down. One!" Ash naturally did what any boy his age would do: ignore and keep on climbing. He even added some taunting for good measure. "Come on dad! Can't climb a tree?" "Three! Four!" Ash laughed and kept on climbing a branch. "Five! Six!" The more Ash went, the less he heard of a creaking sound. The louder he got, the less Ash's father heard of the creaking sound. "Seven! Eight!" When Ash sat comfortably on a branch, he looked on at the amazing view of Pallet Town. "Nine!" But Ash never got to enjoy his view, and his dad
never got to ten. The branch had already snapped by then. As Ash was falling, he couldn't tell if tine had slowed down or sped up. He closed his eyes, hoping not to see too much of his blood when he hit the ground. Then, he felt something grab him by the ankle and could hear a faint voice. "Boy! Boy wake up! Boy!" Ash opened his eyes and found himself staring at the sea, which was just above him. "Ok, how did I-aah!" He could feel all the blood rushing to his head and started to get dizzy from seeing everything upside down. "What's going on?" "Well my boy, you seem to be hanging around!" Ash felt a tug and was pulled up a bit more. "Waah! Who's there?" "Don't worry, I'm just saving your life, nothing special." said the same voice. Ash felt another tug, and the next thing he knew was that he was lying on a cold rocky floor. He was in a cave, and standing right over him was a man. He looked as if he was in his 30's and looked very shabby and dirty, just like any regular person who lived in the streets. It was hard to tell how his face looked liked, because it was hidden by a very dirty sailor hat (it was once white, but it somehow been turned to a brownish dust looking color). The other thing that hid the man's face was his tangled black beard. Oh, how Ash hated beards. Every morning, he would make sure his dad shaved even the stubs off his chin. Normally, with a beard like this, Ash would have a disgust look on his face, but given the circumstances, he did nothing about it. The man helped Ash to his feet. "You know you shouldn't really jump off cliffs. It's not good for your sanity." "Umm, I'll try not to next time." For some weird reason, the man spoke in a really bad British accent. To Ash, there was something familiar about the man. The man also thought there was something peculiar about Ash as well. "Hey boy, are you queer?"
"The hell?"
"Hahaha, sorry kid but it's been a while since I asked somebody that!"
Whatever feelings Ash had for the man went away immediately.
"Well thanks for saving my life and stuff, but I think I'll be goi-"
"Oh but you can't leave now! Your friends are at the door!"
"Door, what door?"
"Follow me boy!"
The man turned and went down the cave, which was like a long corridor. Ash reluctantly went behind him. As he walked, he noticed large piles of dirty clothes ("Oh god" Ash thought), empty bottles of beer ("So he's drunk huh? That explains a lot" and a pile of blankets ("Guess that's his bed, huh? Poor drunken hobo"). There were many rocks and crystals on the ceiling and floor, but it was still wide enough for at least six people to lie in side-by-side. Finally, Ash could see a little light coming from the end. Picking up his pace, Ash stopped and saw the hobo man trying to lift a huge boulder from on top of him. Unfortunately, it wasn't going great for him.
"And puuuush! And puuuuuuush! Phew, is it me or did this boulder get
heavier? Oh, little queer dude! Help me lift this boulder please?" the hobo said, in his bad accent.
"The hell, now I'm little queer dude? And what's with his accent?" Ash thought.
"Umm, ok." Ash said.
Ash went over to the boulder, not expecting to make the boulder budge as much. To his surprise, when he pushed on the boulder, it moved upwards by nearly a foot.
"Whoa, either I'm strong, or the hobo is very weak." Ash thought. The more Ash pushed on it, the more the boulder moved upward until finally it got off and light came pouring in. "Ah! My eyes! Hurry up and come in!" cried the hobo.
"Uh, Ash is that you?"
"Dawn!"
"I think this one is Ash."
"Brock!"
"Pikapi!"
"Pikachu!"
Everyone went down the hole and tightly hugged Ash, glad that he was alright. Pikachu was nearly suffocated in the hug, but once it left it got picked up by the hobo. "My, what a cute Pikachu! It's obviously been well trained, haven't you?" said the hobo. Before Pikachu could Thundershock the man, Selia came in. "Oh god, you don't know how grateful I am. Thank you so much Jerry!"
"Jerry?"
"Oh right, where did I lose my manners? Jerry's the name, and aura's my game!"
Author´s Note!
Sorry for the confusion everyone, I hope I made it easier for you. Anyways, thanks for the reviews and for pointing out my mistake, even if I did realize it was midnight. WHich makes me wonder, why would anyone read a fanfic in the middle of the night? The same goes for me I guess. I´ll be updating soon, don´t worry!