Chapter 12: Morning and Evening.
Summary: Dusk arrives at the burial site of Dawn, but soon discovers that she is nothing but a scapegoat, in the plots of Shade and Pride.
Dusk stood in front of the spirit of Dawn, they looked at one another, "why hasn't your spirit left this world?" Dusk coldly asked the much more positive spirit of Dawn. Crossing her arms the two girls stared at one another, Dusk staring coldly and with little to no care, "well, tell me, what is holding you to this world?" Dusk continued to interrogate the spirit
Dawn tilted her head, "so this is another mirror image, it seems like there were more copies of me than just the princess," Dawn stated with a warm smile.
Dusk remained calm and glared at the bluenette, "I am here to take your aura, but you are going to stop me anyway," Dusk walked closer to the spirit, she looked over to the tree to see the inscriptions, "tell me, why are you so important to him?" Dusk questioned her doppelganger, placing her hand over the love heart.
"It seems like you have had a terrible life haven't you?" Dawn asked the bluenette softly.
"I don't remember my past, but all I do know is that I have to destroy Ash, he is my sworn enemy," Dusk professed as she lowered her arms.
"So, you don't know, but why are you siding with Shade and Hollow?" Dawn asked the doppelganger with a concerned expression.
Dusk looked away as she started to turn away, "they both promised that they would help me find my past," Dusk answered back quietly.
"So you aren't evil," Dawn pointed out much to the chagrin of the Dark Aura Master.
"What do you mean?!" Dusk asked angrily as she punched the spirit, but phased through it, she looked back and lowered her gaze, "oh right you're a spirit," Dusk remembered as she calmed herself.
"You're after my aura, is there a reason behind it?" Dawn asked the double of her curiously.
"Yeah, I was sent to get your aura so we can kill the Aura Guardian," Dusk replied with a dark smile.
Dawn's spirit burst out into laughter, she turned towards the Dark Aura Master and sat next to her, "do you really think that tricking Ash with my Aura would work?" Dawn asked her darker self.
"What do you mean by that, I don't care what I do as long as the mission of Pride and Shade are successful," Dusk informed the spirit grimly.
"You know you could be a hero to this world," Dawn suggested with a sense of optimism.
"I don't want to be a hero, I am more interested in make Ash's life a misery, heck I might even take away his new light," Dusk glanced over towards the spirit of the Sinnoh native.
"I see, so you don't want to help them out, is there a reason why you don't remember your past?" Dawn asked Dusk about her reason for not knowing her past.
"How the hell should I know? But then again I am not interested in learning about it," Dusk snapped back leaving the spirit to shake her head in amazement.
"Then I will not tell you, but maybe you should ask Shade and Hollow, why they sent you to get my aura, even though there isn't much left of it, I am guessing only a few weeks before it is completely depleted," Dawn explained to the young woman as she looked to her in shock, "by taking it here and now, you would be releasing the rest of it and my mission might go unfulfilled," Dawn told the doppelganger of her problem.
"Mission? What mission is it you're talking about?" Dusk asked the spirit of Dawn.
"To make sure that Ash, gets back to his normal self, not living in the past, I really do want him to be happy," Dawn answered the Dark Aura Master, she looked up to the sky to see the sunset, Dawn looked over to the hill, "follow me to the top of that hill," Dawn's spirit pointed to the top of the hill, she vanished leaving Dusk perplexed by the intentions of the spirit.
Dusk looked at the grave and started to think about why she was at the location to begin with, "what does she mean by making Ash happy?" Dusk asked herself, she started to feel compelled to follow the spirit of the young woman up to the hill.
After making it to the top of the hill Dusk looked around to see the surrounding area, she noticed Lake Verity, the road heading to Sandgem Town and of course Twinleaf Town, "hey what is this about? Is this your favourite area in Sinnoh?" Dusk asked in frustration, she tried to find the ghost of Dawn and figuring out what she was trying to tell her.
"You know why I like this hill?" Dawn asked as she pointed towards the horizon.
Dusk looked towards the setting sun, "this is where you and Ash had your first date," Dusk replied as she watched the sun setting in the distance.
"Correct, it took him over a year to confess, but I must admit, I wasn't much better," Dawn started laughing at herself as she sat down on the hill.
"It took you twice as long right?" Dusk asked the bluenette to which she confirmed the Aura Master's suspicions, "humans really are idiots aren't they?" Dusk asked the doppelganger.
"Yes we are," Dawn answered back with a cheeky grin.
"You know something, I get the feeling we have meet before," Dusk professed her interest in Dawn.
"Why do you say that?" the spirit asked the Dark Aura Master.
Dusk looked away trying to avoid the question, "forget it, I shouldn't have said anything," Dusk retorted coldly, "but why don't you tell me what I need to know," Dusk suggested quietly.
"Alright Dusk, the other reason why taking my aura will not work is because Ash has already accepted the fact that I am dead already, by taking my aura you are asking for death," Dawn explained to the best of her ability, Dawn looked towards the sunset and smiled, "don't you think life is more precious than someone's aura?" Dawn asked Dusk, leaving the young woman puzzled by the question.
"Why do you ask that?" Dusk answered with her own question.
"Ash hesitated in hurting you because you look like me and the princess, isn't it wrong to take advantage of that?" Dawn asked the bluenette curiously.
"I don't care about wrong or right, but if what you say is true about Shade and Hollow using me as a scapegoat, I will torture the answer out of them, but don't think for a second that I am not setting my sights on destroying Ash," Dusk explained to the ghost of Dawn, she stood up and looked toward the sunset once more, "this sunset is really nice," she said with a more composed expression.
"Is there a reason why you want to hurt Ash so badly?" Dawn asked her darker self.
"The Aura Guardians are my sworn enemy, even Greed is a problem to the Shadow Lords," Dusk informed the other copy of her as she started to vanish.
Dawn stood up and sighed at the doppelganger, "you know, I cannot allow you to hurt Ash, even the princess isn't going to allow for it, she might not be an Aura Guardian, but she is strong enough to make sure Ash is safe," the ghost stated as she left the scene leaving the Dark Aura Master perplexed by the declaration.
Dusk stood on the hilltop, thinking about why Dawn wouldn't stop defending Ash, "why? Am I missing something?" Dusk asked herself as she turned towards Sandgem Town, "I think I better get some answers from those two idiots, but I might as well get some answers from Ash as well," Dusk resolved her choice, she glanced over her shoulder and then towards the grass, "cannot wait to see how well they explain themselves before I kill them," Dusk whispered as she started walking towards Sandgem Town.
(Oreburgh City)
Ash walked through the town searching for Gluttony, getting frustrated with the man who was hiding, "where is that blimp?" Ash asked himself, walking towards one of the alleyways, he glanced around the corner with no one there.
Greed also looking around for his former comrade, "yo Ash, have you found him yet?" Greed asked his teammate calmly.
"No not yet Greed, how can someone so large be so difficult to find?" Ash complained as he continued to scan the city for Gluttony.
"Oh it seems like those two are having a difficult time finding Gluttony," Shade whispered to himself as he looked down to see the princess also helping to find the Shadow Lord, then noticed Melissa who was walking into the battlefield, "and of course the weak Aura Guardian," Shade smirked at the young woman.
"What about Dusk?" Hollow asked his friend.
Shade smirked at the other Dark Aura Master and looked towards the distance, "what about her, she is nothing but a scapegoat, she gets the Aura of Ash's weakness and she will be killed, then we take her aura," Shade informed Hollow of the plan to destroy Dusk, he started walking towards the road leading to Hearthome City, "let these fools play this little game, we have something more interesting to attend to," Shade admitted to his ally, the two walked off, leaving the city to it's fate.
Meanwhile Ash looked up at Mount Coronet, "Shade and Hollow were there, but Dusk wasn't," Ash whispered to himself he glanced around to see the princess walking through the streets of Oreburgh City, "what are you doing here?" Ash asked the young royal.
Gluttony spotted the princess and charged at her, "now to devour you," Gluttony told the princess, as he got closer Ash with his fist clenched a powerful burst of Aura, as he jumped up the royal Ash punched him and sent him flying towards the building Pokemon Centre.
Ash turned to look at the princess, "idiot I told you to stay where it is safe, why did you wonder out into a dangerous area?" Ash asked the princess who was shocked to hear Ash chastising her.
"I was looking for a child who got separated from his parents," Salvia replied with a frown.
Ash scanned the area in hopes of finding the child, he quickly pointed to a building which was on the verge of collapse, "there, the child is in there," Ash told the princess, "I will help too," Ash informed the princess.
"No, you deal with Gluttony, I will save the child," Salvia replied, she ran off to find the child only to look back and see Ash searching for the enemy, 'one day Ash, I will be of some use, right now, all I can do is get in your way,' Salvia thought to herself as she entered the building and started her search for the child.
Ash walked up to Greed who was still searching for his former comrade, "he got away, that fat bastard," Greed hissed, he looked over to the mountains, "Shade and Hollow are going to be a serious problem, they might have walked away, but there is a good chance that they could return to save Gluttony," Greed explained the problem to Ash who nodded in agreement.
"Yeah and Dusk isn't with them, I am worried, what if she is somewhere else set to ambush the camp of the people?" Ash's concern started to grow for the people's safety.
Greed put his right hand on his chin and looked towards the camp, "doubt it, she would have done something by now, she hasn't done that, plus I sense that she isn't a total threat, she could be a useful ally one day," Greed explained to Ash who was looking over to the building Salvia entered, "don't worry about her, she will be fine, it is you that I am worried about," Greed confessed with a smirk.
"Thanks," Ash snapped back with disdain, they recommenced the search for the Shadow Lord who remained in hiding, "it would be easy for me to use Aura sensing but, I have almost used it all up fighting Gluttony," Ash started walking onwards to where he last saw Gluttony, "Greed, what else should I know about Gluttony?" Ash enquired calmly.
(Sandgem Town)
Meanwhile Professor Rowan was working with another trainer who was making his choice, "alright young man, time to choose your first pokemon," the professor instructed the starting trainer, but before the boy could choose his pokemon the doors swung open revealing a woman whom seemed familiar to Professor Rowan, "what Dawn? I thought you were dead," the shocked professor questioned the young woman with shock.
"Shut up, my name isn't Dawn, my name is Dusk," the woman introduced herself to the professor intimidating the other people around her, "I might look like her, but I can assure you, I am nowhere near as nice as Dawn," Dusk stood in front of Rowan who stared into the eyes of the young woman.
"You do look like her, but your personality is opposite to her," Professor Rowan stepped back a little fearing the young woman, "what do you want?" Professor Rowan asked the bluenette.
"Simple I want a pokemon," Dusk answered the question, she pushed the boy aside and inspected the pokemon, "if you want to know what my intentions are, I am going to destroy the Shadow Lords and the Dark Aura Masters and if Ash gets in my way he will fall as well," Dusk declared her intentions to everyone in the room.
"You are going to use pokemon as weapons? I cannot allow it," Professor Rowan enquired, watching the blue haired woman inspecting the pokemon, "what makes you think you can use pokemon in that manner?" the professor watch as Dusk continued to inspect the three starter pokemon, ignoring him.
"Hey I was going to choose first," the child informed the young woman.
"Can it pipsqueak," Dusk growled at the starting trainer, "haven't you ever heard of the saying Ladies first?" Dusk enquired as she looked down at a small blue penquin pokemon, "you," Dusk pointed to the small pokemon who looked at her with a concerned expression, "I need your help," Dusk requested the starting pokemon.
"Dawn chose the exact same pokemon," Professor Rowan whispered as he watched the young woman picking up the pokemon.
"Hey I was going to choose Piplup," the child complained as the bluenette walked passed him, ignoring the complaining of the child.
"Don't worry kid, I am certain he has hundreds of Piplup, so you can choose another one," Dusk glared at the starting trainer. Approaching the elderly professor, with the pokemon of her choice in her grasp, "now that I am a trainer, I need a pokedex and pokeballs," Dusk informed the Sinnoh pokemon expert.
"You are not a trainer, nor would I allow you to train a pokemon," growled the professor staring into the eyes of the bluenette.
Dusk started to glow a purple aura causing the professor to tremble in fear, "listen up, if you want Sinnoh to be safe, then you have no choice, give me one of those pokedexes and pokeballs," Dusk demanded of Rowan, glaring at him as the people inside the lab started to stand back as the young woman formed a sphere, and threw it at one of the shelves, causing the shelf to topple from the explosion.
"I don't like your way of convincing me," Professor Rowan stepped back towards the cart holding the pokedex.
"I am not after your approval, in fact I don't really care for your opinion," Dusk hissed as she walked toward the cart taking a pokedex and five pokeballs, she recalled the water type pokemon and started making her way to the exit.
"You look like Dawn, but I can tell you are nothing like her," Professor Rowan pointed out.
"I have been told that a few times, I am glad I have nothing in common with someone as soft as her," Dusk snapped back, leaving the professor stunned at the insult of one of his finest starting coordinators, "nor am I interested in being anything like her," the bluenette, professed her disdain towards her counterpart, she exited the building with the pokeball in hand, she looked back to see the starting trainer getting his first pokemon, 'kid, when this conflict is over, you will be able to journey safely,' Dusk thought to herself as she walked towards the next road.
Professor Rowan looked out the window watching the Dark Aura master leaving the small town, "she has a role to play in the defeat of the Shadow Lords, but I am concerned about her attitude," Rowan whispered, placing his hand on his chin, he ignored the starting trainer's pleas to give him a pokedex and five pokeballs.
(Oreburgh City)
"Found you, you bastard," Greed jumped down after spotting the Shadow Lord, cracking his knuckles he started smiling at his foe, "you know, making sure the people weren't around also helps me fight, since there aren't innocent people in the area, I can fight at my full strength," Greed started to remove his black trench coat, revealing his red shirt and blue jeans, "I have always hated you shadow Lords, for killing friends and taking my love away from me," Greed threw the coat on the ground, charging towards the larger member of the Shadow Lords.
Ash was trying to find the shadow Lord, but was stopped when Greed was thrown towards him, "damn you Greed, why couldn't you wait?" Ash asked with frustration.
"Well it seems like my anger towards my former comrades overtook me," Greed wiped away some of the blood coming from his mouth, Greed got up and watched as Gluttony emerged from the alleyway, "well Ash, it seems like you falling for that trap was a blessing in disguise," Greed cleaned up some of the dust on his shirt.
"You whatever, just don't expect it to happen all the time," Ash answered back as he walked towards the front line, he ran towards Gluttony with his right fist glowing, before Gluttony could react, Ash landed a vicious punch on the Shadow Lord sending him flying towards the building, "get up from that one! If you can!" Ash yelled at his foe.
Much to the surprise of Ash, the Shadow Lord stood back up and acted like nothing had happened, "that was a good one, but it isn't good enough," Gluttony ran towards Ash, catching the Aura Guardian off guard, he started to shuffle back as with the Shadow Lord throwing a few punches, "I am faster than you think," he taunted the young man.
"I told you don't be fooled by his appearance, he is faster and stronger than you think," Greed informed Ash, who was evading each of the attack, "fine," Greed clenched his fists and rushed towards the Shadow Lord, but as he got closer a powerful arm swung towards him knocking him away from the battle, he was sent flying towards the wall of a building just feet away, injuring him at the same time, "oh great now she will be pissed," Greed complained, grasping on to his right side.
"Greed!" Ash called to his ally showing even more concern for him.
"I will be fine, but, don't stop moving, he has a massive weakness, the more energy he uses to fight, the sooner he needs to eat, which means he will slow down making it easier to defeat him," Greed explained the weakness of Gluttony to Ash.
"How long is that?" Ash asked as he took a powerful hit from Gluttony, but shrugged it off like it was nothing.
"Judging from the way you took that hit, I would say another fifteen minutes and Gluttony will be completely helpless," Greed got up slowly and watched as his new friend continued to evade the attack and Gluttony's movements became sloppier, slower and even seeing how exhausted he was becoming, "that's it Ash, keep going," Greed whispered as he watched Ash take another punch from Gluttony, but the punch was too weak to do any amount of damage to the trainer.
"So you seem to have run out of energy," Ash growled as he grabbed the wrist of Gluttony, removing his fist from his face, he glared at the Shadow Lord, "so how about we turn the tables a little," Ash smirked at his foe, punching him with his other left hand, the Aura Guardian sent the enemy flying towards the wall causing him to cry out in pain, "not easy to fight on an empty stomach, but don't worry, I am certain no one will save you," Ash taunted the Shadow Lord, he charged towards him but was stopped by a ball of purple aura, Ash leapt back to avoid the attack, standing in front of him, was Shade, "well I thought you left the city," Ash hissed at his rival.
"Well you thought wrong, Gluttony is still needed, so you killing him is out of the question," Shade informed the Aura Guardian, helping the injured Shadow Lord up, he charged towards Ash and with his right fist raised he was set to punch the trainer, "and since you are exhausted, your reaction time will not allow you to dodge this so easily," Shade announce punching the rival Aura Guardian.
Ash flew back towards the building, without any amount of control the Aura Guardian crashed into the wall, wincing in pain, "I am not done yet," Ash growled at his foe.
"Give it up, you haven't the energy to continue fighting, the only reason why you had a chance against Gluttony, was because you have Greed on your side and Gluttony hasn't had a thing to eat," Shade informed the trainer while helping his ally away from the battle, "too bad for you, you might of won this battle if you actually made an effort," Shade taunted Ash who fell to his knees.
Ash watched his enemy walking away from the battle, he started to hit the ground in anger, "Shade, you will suffer, just you wait!" Ash promised his foe, but was ignored by the Dark Aura Master. Ash quickly collapsed because of his injuries from the fight, much to the concern of Greed who got to him as fast as possible.
(15 minutes later)
Greed helped Ash towards the camp where the people were, Salvia looked up to see Ash was being helped away from the city, she quickly ran up to Greed and Ash, "what happened?" Salvia asked Greed, but was more concerned for the injured Aura Guardian.
Greed looked at the ground and shook his head, "we had the battle won, but as Ash was about to land the winning blow, he was stopped by Shade, Gluttony got away," Greed answered the princess, looking away with a pained expression.
"What so he was injured by Shade?" Salvia asked the Shadow Lord.
"Not only that, he took a considerable amount of hits from Gluttony, he might have a few other injuries as well, luckily for me I was winded, but Ash…." Greed helped the man towards the bed, in the tent city, "he took a powerful hit from Shade who knew that Ash was exhausted," Greed seeing the attack on Ash who was tired from the fight with Gluttony.
"I see, so he was able to keep up, but when another enemy showed up, he was easily beaten," Salvia looked down at the trainer who was unconscious from the hit he had taken, "Greed, I will help him, you go and help Melissa with the people," Salvia instructed the Shadow Lord.
"Yeah, I am scared of her, there is no way I am going to put myself at risk, I might get hurt even more than I am now," Greed started to chuckle but winced in pain from the injury he took.
'He also has a fever too, is that from the aura he was hit with?' Salvia questioned herself, removing her right and from his forehead, Salvia quickly glanced over to Greed and then back down to Ash, "please, just go, he helped me out when I wasn't well, it is about time I repay the favour," Salvia grabbed a cloth and placed it on the trainer's head.
"Alright, I will go, but please make sure he is alright," Greed pleaded with the young woman, he walked out of the tent and looked back, seeing the young royal helping Ash with his injuries.
"There you are, I was worried about," A female voice sounded causing Greed to jump back in fear.
"M-Melissa, how did you know I was here?" Greed asked the nurse with a scared tone.
"Easy, Queen Hilda told me you were here," Melissa retorted with her hands on her hips, she walked up to Greed, "why in the world would you force your friends to get me out of the city?" Melissa started to point at the Shadow Lord.
"Because I don't want you getting hurt," Greed snapped back, softening the expression of the Kanto Princess.
"I see, so you do care about my wellbeing," Melissa stepped back with her arms crossed, she looked over towards the tent where Salvia was helping Ash from his injuries, "Hilda did say Ash would get injured," Melissa stated with a concerned expression, she walked away with Greed following her, "since you aren't badly injured, I need your help, since you are the hero who saved the lives of countless people," Melissa informed the Shadow Lord.
"It was Ash that did all the work, I am not taking any credit from him," Greed informed the young woman.
"Oh so you choose to be modest about your role in the situation," Melissa teased the Shadow Lord.
"So what, all I seek in life is the finer things," Greed confessed, but Melissa wasn't buying watching him walk away, she titled her head and smiled at him, 'I used to be tough, but now, I find myself exactly like these people,' Greed started to laugh at himself.
"You're such a softy Greed," Melissa whispered gently, as she watched Greed helping a little girl find her parents, "you don't realise it, but you have a heart of gold, that is enough to make anyone rich," Melissa pointed out with a proud smile.
Meanwhile back in the tent Ash woke up seeing the princess helping him with his injury, "hey, what are you doing?" Ash asked the young royal.
"Oh you're awake," Salvia stopped her treatment of Ash.
"Yeah, but why isn't a doctor helping me out?" Ash asked the young royal.
Salvia looked at the ground and smiled, "I might not have the power you or Greed have, I might not be as strong as anyone else you know, but I still want to help you with your revenge," Salvia informed the trainer.
"No, this is no longer about revenge, it is about saving the Sinnoh region and the world, it is about saving your kingdom," Ash replied with a serious expression.
Salvia turned away with tears streaming down her face, "thank you Ash, you're the best," Salvia started to cry, she got up and walked out of the tent, she looked up to the sky hoping that Dawn was watching over him, 'Dawn, he is slowly but surely coming back,' Salvia thought to herself as she cleared away her tears.
With the Dark Aura Masters causing even more trouble an injured Ash will soon come face to face with Dusk
Next time chapter 13: Echoes from Beyond.