Chapter 13: Echoes from Beyond.
Summary: with the escape of Gluttony and him and Salvia running out of time to rescue her father, Dusk appears to cause her own bit of trouble, but he isn't ready to fight, leaving it up to the princess to stand her ground.
Ash with his arm in a sling emerged from his tent, he noticed the people feeling safer, letting out a gentle smile, he looked around to see if the princess was alright, "she even nursed me back to health," Ash chuckled as he spotted his friend running away from an angry woman, "hey Greed why are you running away?" Ash asked but was ignored by the Shadow Lord who ran passed him.
Melissa stopped in front of Ash, "hey, have you seen Greed, he ran away as soon as I told him that, he needed to gather some food and then he ran in the opposite direction," Melissa explained the situation to Ash.
Ash shook his head and pointed towards Jubilife City, "he went that way," Ash answered the Nurse, revealing the direction of the Shadow Lord, she ran towards the Shadow Lord not even thanking the trainer, "it seems like those two are really close," Ash chuckled at the misfortune of his friend, but as he started walking down the road, a sense of seriousness surrounded him, 'what do we do with Shade, Hollow, Gluttony and Dusk?' the trainer asked himself as he remembered the fight against the Shadow Lord.
Meanwhile in the city Shade was helping he hungry Shadow Lord, "you know there is plenty of food for you to eat," Shade pointed out with a smirk showing him a candy store, then pointing at a pizza story, "if they exploit your weakness once more, there will be no way we can help you," he smirked at the Shadow Lord who burst in the eatery and started eating all the available food.
"You know, he will suffer indigestion in the next fight," Hollow grew concerned for his comrade.
"Hmph, doesn't matter, Gluttony is a liability, we only saved him to see what Dusk will do next," Shade confessed his intentions to Hollow who was keeping an eye on the Shadow Lord.
Gluttony who was unaware of the conversation between Shade and Hollow, continued to eat the food, making his way to the storage area of the restaurant, barging through counter not even phasing him, he pulled off the door to find more food, "more food," Gluttony cheered as he jumped in to grab more food from the area.
"So what about Greed? He isn't exactly making things easy," Hollow asked his ally calmly.
"Yes I know that, his betrayal wasn't unexpected, but he could still prove to be useful, since after all he is a Shadow Lord, nothing is going to change that," Shade replied with a smirk.
"You mean his knowledge of his former comrades and the past?" Hollow asked his leader.
Shade nodded, turning away from the eating display of Gluttony, "you know, Pride, Sloth and Wrath, they still have the king of this region fooled into believing that they can bring back his wife, I would love to see his face when he finds out that can never happen," Shade started to laugh at the situation, crossing his arms he watched the clouds rolling over from the north, "there is a storm brewing," Shade whispered waiting for his ally to emerge from the building.
Gluttony walked around searching for more food to eat, "there is no food left, can we find another place?" Gluttony asked the men gleefully.
"Of course Gluttony, we have plenty of time," Shade replied smirking at his comrade, leading the Shadow Lord towards the next place to gather food.
(Near Lake Valour)
Pride was walking in front of the king, his plans were going as he was expecting, he looked up to see the Staravias flying overhead with the Starlys, 'now to lure the princess to the city,' Pride thought to himself as he looked back to see the king surrounded by his guards, 'this is almost too easy, I wonder how Shade and Hollow are going,' Pride clenched his fists knowing that everything was about to come together in the next fight.
"Pride, it will take us some time to get there at the current pace we are taking," the king reminded the leader of the Shadow Lords.
"What's the rush? We have plenty of time," Pride replied calmly, he waved his hand assuring the royal that everything was alright, 'are all royals this stupid?' Pride started questioning the intelligence of the leader, 'I cannot wait for this to come to an end, once I end this royal family, there will be nothing to stop me from achieving my goals,' Pride thought as he continued on slowly, he glanced towards the distance seeing parts of the forest knocked down.
'Yet this king things he is using the Shadow Lords, this entertainment has really gone on for way too long,' Pride reminded himself of the situations that led to this moment, 'how the Shadow Lords have changed throughout history, now we are heading towards our own glory,' Pride held back his laughter as he stared into the palm of his right hand.
"Pride, are you sure that everything is in place?" the king asked the man he thought was his ally.
"Yes your majesty, everything is set," Pride answered the king assuring him that the plan was in place, growing frustrated with the kings constant pestering over the issue, 'once the pieces are set, I will enact the real plan,' Pride thought to himself as he glanced over his right shoulder to see the king was looking at the entrance of Lake Valour.
"This place is amazing, soon my wife we will see this land together again," The king started to grow more confident, but the guards were looking a little unsure of the words.
The guards looked at one another wondering if the king was in the right mindset, 'something isn't right, it feels like we are being led right into a trap,'' one of the guards thought as he nodded at the other guard, 'plus why would the princess want to betray her father and her kingdom?' the guard asked himself with his hand over his chin.
"He is thinking about the same thing as I am, there is something not right,' the second guard thought to himself, he glared at Pride who was marching ahead with great confidence.
"You two seem to doubt me," Pride stated while eyeing the two guards.
The two guards gulped for a moment as they wondered how Pride could know what they are thinking, "no sir we don't," the guards replied as they hid their own fear of the man leading them to Pastoria City.
"Listen for now, Pride is in charge, we follow him," The king explained to the two guards, but they were still not happy with the situation they were in.
"Sire, why is Lady Salvia a target? She hasn't done anything wrong," the guard on the left enquired but the king ignored the guard trying to pretend that the guards said nothing, "sire…" the guard tried to persist but was stopped by his comrade.
"Not now, we need to hold our tongues," the older guard informed the much younger guard trying to keep him calm, knowing that the situation could get worse.
"We set up camp here," Pride instructed the three people he was leading.
(2 hours later)
The young guard walked through the forest picking up firewood, as he continued on, he heard a man talking to someone over the phone, "that's right Shade, we are already leading the king into the trap, there he will kill his own daughter," Pride informed his teammate of the situation.
Upon hearing the confession, the guard dropped the logs onto the ground catching the attention of the Shadow Lord, "no, I must warn the king," he Guard started to run, but as he continued he felt a sharp pain on the right side of his abdomen, he fell to the ground and immediately called for his Alakazam, "take me somewhere safe," the guard issued his command.
"What have we here? A royal guard whom has heard too much, too bad I cannot let you live now," Pride informed the young guard, as he was about to kill the guard the psychic type pokemon teleported the injured guard to another location. "Lucky little rat, but he is too injured to be a threat now," Pride picked up the logs he looked at the ground and covered up the puddle of blood that was in the area, using only a bit of dirt and leaves to help hide the evidence.
(Veilstone City)
A man with lavender hair, wearing a black jacket with a white shirt and blue jeans walked through the large city, as he continued on a strange man appeared in front of him, but he was quick to notice the res stain on his uniform, "hey you're injured, we better get you to the hospital," the man dropped his backpack and ran up to him, he helped him up and noticed the dagger in his abdomen, he looked up to the see the concerned psychic pokemon, "so he teleported from someone, he was about to be killed," the man stated with a frown.
"Hey… who a-a…..are you?" the guard asked weakly.
"I am a trainer, my name is Paul, but don't waste your strength, we need to get you to a hospital," Paul tried his best to help the guard up, he placed his arm around him and helped him slowly but surely as blood dripped down his side and onto the street, "what happened?" Paul asked sternly.
"I was attacked by a Shadow Lord, his name is Pride," the guard responded to Paul's enquirey.
"Why?" Paul asked the injured guard.
"I overheard him saying he means to assassinate the king and his daughter," the Guard explained as they moved closer to the hospital.
"Alright, where is the princess?" Paul asked the guard.
"Last we heard….she is with one of her best friends," the Guard was helped into the entrance.
"Who Dawn?" Paul asked the guard.
"No, she was killed, someone else, he is an Aura Guardian from what I remember," the guard dozed off, after telling Paul of who was about to collapse himself.
After regaining some of his composure, he looked to the front counter, "hey we have an emergency, this guy is badly injured," the trainer announced to the nurse, they quickly tended to the man, leaving a shocked man to digest what he had heard, 'I don't believe this Ash, promised I would be his best man at his and Dawn's wedding, he promised he would look after her,' Paul thought as he stepped back, not watching where he was going, "I don't believe this," Paul placed his head in his hands in shock.
A young woman walked up to the lavender haired trainer, he looked up almost in tears, "the royal guard's wound isn't fatal, but he will need to rest a few days," the Nurse informed the trainer.
Paul got up and walked out of the hospital, "why? How could this have happened? Why is the princess with Ash?" Paul asked himself as he gazed back with his eyes widened in despair.
(Later that night)
Dusk walked into the camp, looking around, the air remained cold, but she didn't seem to mind, 'found you,' she turned towards the tent containing Ash who was unaware of the arrival of the woman.
Salvia walked towards the tent with food in hand, she heard something from a distance and grew concerned with the feeling she was getting, as if the presence of someone familiar was ain the area, the wind picked up but she brushed it off and entered the tent to present Ash with the food, "here is your dinner Ash," Salvia handed the food to Ash, who was looking at the map of the city and thinking of the plan for the fight against Gluttony.
"You know, it didn't exactly go to plan," Ash whispered.
Salvia placed the plate of food on the map, "you know, not everything goes to plan. Sometimes things go wrong and there is nothing you can do about it, you just have to put one foot forward and not look back," Salvia informed Ash.
"I see, so I couldn't change what happened no matter what," Ash stated with a sigh, he looked at the food and smiled, "thanks," Ash replied as he grabbed the plate of food, Salvia exited the tent, not knowing that Ash was turning his attention to her, 'she has supported me since Dawn was murdered, she really is an amazing friend,' Ash thought, taking his first bite of the food.
"I hope he likes what I cooked for him," Salvia walked away from the tent, looking back with a smile on her face.
Ash continued to eat the food he was given, 'she even tended to me while I was injured and made sure I didn't do anything stupid, I would have been lost if she wasn't around,' Ash thought to himself, he finished the plate of food and stood up, he walked out of the tent and was forced to jump back falling into his tent collapsing it at the same time, "hey what was that about?" Ash asked as he struggled to free himself from the tent.
"You will answer my question," Dusk informed the Aura Guardian.
"Dusk, what are you doing here?" Ash asked after freeing himself from his tent, "I thought you were following Shade and Hollow," Ash told the bluenette.
"I have no interest in them," Dusk answered back as she stepped closer to the injured trainer, "now, I want to know, why are you so familiar to me?" Dusk asked the trainer as he started to slide back with his uninjured arm.
"I have no idea, it isn't like you were Dawn," Ash tried to plead with the young woman.
"What was that?" Dusk asked venomously.
'Man, she isn't messing around,' Ash thought to himself as he started into the cold eyes of the woman.
Ash got up and prepared to fight, but the young woman stood firmly on the spot, "you're injured, what chance do you have?" Dusk asked the Aura Guardian, she closed her eyes and smirked in the direction of the trainer, "you're also really low on your aura, it seems like you wasted it during a fight against Gluttony," Dusk informed the trainer as she opened her eyes yet again and looked at the cast on the arm of the Aura Guardian.
"Can I ask you a question?" Ash asked the Dark Aura Master.
"No," Dusk replied coldly.
Ash chuckled knowing that he was in serious trouble, "wow, never thought the look alike of my future wife was going to be the one to try and kill me," Ash joked to himself, he watched as the woman formed a ball of dark aura in her hands.
Before Dusk could attack the vulnerable trainer, Salvia appeared to stop the woman, "you, the weak princess of this region," Dusk taunted the royal.
"Why are you after Ash? What has he done to you?" Salvia asked the enemy with a concerned tone, visibly shaking from the intimidating woman in front of her.
"Why are you so concerned? It is my mission to destroy the Aura Guardian," Dusk answered the princess as she forced the dark aura to dissipate.
"Simple, because Ash is the one that I care about, my other friend wouldn't forgive me if something were to happen to him," Salvia answered the Dark Aura Master, who glared at the princess.
Dusk shook her head and turned around, "friends? You're almost as foolish as the person that I met a couple of days ago," Dusk started to insult the princess.
"What are you talking about?" Salvia asked, watching the doppelganger turn.
Greed walked up to the group after seeing the raised dust In the distance, he turned to the woman and noticed a striking resemblance to the princess and Dawn, "who are you?" Greed asked the woman.
Dusk turned to Greed who was standing in front of her, "me? You see Shadow Lord, my name is Dusk, a Dark Aura Master," the blue haired Aura Master introduced herself to Greed.
"Never heard of you," Greed replied quietly.
Dusk shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, "why am I not surprised? After all you betrayed the Shadow Lords," Dusk glared at the former member of the Shadow Lords.
"You really have no idea Dusk," Greed quickly snapped back, his fists clenched but still resisting the urge to go into a rage.
"Seems like I hit a nerve," Dusk continued to taunt the Shadow Lord. Dusk charged towards the injured Ash, a ball of purple aura surrounding her right fist, "now to end you!" Dusk yelled out as she raised her hand into the air.
"I will not let you!" Salvia shouted at the Dark Aura Master, jumping in front of Ash to make sure he didn't get hurt, Salvia looked up to see that Dusk had frozen, holding back her attack, "well, what are you going to do now?" Salvia asked the Dark Aura Master.
"Move, now!" Dusk ordered the princess.
"No, I will not move," Salvia replied, now shaking in fear from what could potentially be her last words. Dusk stepped back, and dissipated the dark aura yet again, she turned away allowing Salvia to lower her guard and to exhale in relief, knowing that Dusk had a reason to stop her attack, she looked up to Dusk who was about to leave the area, "wait," Salvia called for the Dark Aura Master, but the calls were ignored.
Ash slowly approached the Dark Aura Master, but much to his surprise she called out her Piplup, "what? She has a Piplup," Ash's eyes widened at the sight of the small pokemon. "Hey wait, why did you stop?" Ash asked the bluenette with a relieved expression
"Use Bubble to cloak our escape," Dusk ordered her pokemon, the penguin pokemon leapt into the air and performed the attack as ordered, but before the Dark Aura Master could escape Salvia jumped in and grabbed the doppelganger's arm as she made her escape, "let go of me you fool," Dusk ordered the princess, trying her best to shake the royal's grip on her arm.
"No, you still haven't answered my question," Salvia retorted in anger, refusing to let go of the more powerful woman's right arm.
The bubbles cleared up revealing that Dusk was no longer in the area, Ash looked around to find that Dusk wasn't around, he scanned the area again and discovered that the princess was no longer with them as well, "hey Greed, where is Salvia?" Ash asked.
"She is not here? Damn," Greed looked around for the bluenette.
Meanwhile in a building in Orebugh City Salvia and Dusk were sitting silently, "you idiot, what is your problem? Don't you know how much trouble you're in?" Dusk questioned the royal about her actions, she walked up to the window.
"You haven't properly answered my question, there is a reason why you want to hurt Ash, or don't you remember?" Salvia started to question the motives of her look alike.
Dusk slammed the window shut, frustrated that she was with the princess, "why are you so adamant to know what I am thinking?" Dusk questioned the princess.
"Dusk, that doesn't seem like your real name," Salvia told the Dark Aura Master, "what is your real name?" Salvia asked the woman.
"I don't know, I have no memories of my past, in fact, my only memories were that of the last four weeks," Dusk answered the princess' questions.
Salvia looked at the ground and started to feel bad for the Dark Aura Master, Salvia took a deep breath as the lights in the building started to go out, "you know Shade and Hollow are heading to Celestic Town right?" Salvia asked the foe.
"Dawn told me I was being used by those two, so I need to get answers from them, but if they don't spill the beans, I am going to torture the answers out of them, as for Ash, if he gets in my way, I will also destroy him," Dusk threatened the trainer in front of the royal much to her dismay.
"But what did Ash do to deserve this from you? He has already been through so much," Salvia tried her best to plead with the bluenette.
Dusk looked at the princess and smiled at her, the Dark Aura Master opened the door, "I can sense it, you have feelings for him," Dusk informed the princess, causing her to shake her head in denial. "He is an Aura Guardian," Dusk repeated her first answer, Salvia got up and walked up to Dusk, "what?" Dusk asked the bluenette.
"That isn't a good enough reason," Salvia walked out of the building leaving Dark Aura Master on her own, Salvia looked back with a confident expression, "if you hurt Ash, I will never forgive you," Salvia promised with a hint of malice in her voice.
"You didn't even ask me, what my goals are, oh well, I guess I will reveal them soon," Dusk reminded the princess, but she ignored her and continued to walk back to the campsite, "not that I would have told you anyway," Dusk stated as she walked out, she looked towards Mount Coronet and clenched her fists.
Meanwhile in the east side of the city Shade and Hollow where helping Gluttony with his meal, "alright this place has plenty of food, too bad for Ash, he is injured so there is no way he can fight," Shade started laughing at his foe, looking back towards the lights that illuminated the campsite, "wonder what he will do when we unleash a full Gluttony," Shade continued through the empty streets of Orebugh City.
"So what next? We both know that Dusk will be arriving to re-join us," Hollow inquired as he looked towards the streets in concern.
"Gluttony, we leave the rest to you, if you see Dusk, kill her," Shade instructed the Shadow Lord who was still eating the remaining food of the store room at one of the restaurants, "Hollow, time to get a move on," Shade rushed off with his teammate close behind him.
Dusk walked through the city and immediately sensed that her allies were heading out of the city on their own, she looked back to find that Salvia was standing behind her with a concerned expression on her face, "what do you want this time?" Dusk asked the princess with growing frustration.
"Don't you think you should have a plan, you might not make it out alive," Salvia informed the Dark Aura Master.
"Alive? Oh no I will make it out alive, Shade and Hollow will suffer," Dusk replied as she walked away from the princess again, "now go back to the stupid camp, tell Ash, that when he is fully recovered, I will be aiming to destroy him," Dusk ran off leaving the princess with a concerned sigh.
(Back at the camp)
Ash continued his search with the help of Hilda and Hilbert, he looked around only to find the princess was well, walking back into the camp, "Salvia, thank goodness you're alright," Ash breathed a sigh of relief, but looked over to his friends, "what happened?" Ash asked the young royal, but she looked at the ground, she shook her head wondering what Dusk was thinking, "did she do anything to hurt you?" Ash's concerns started to surface even more.
"No Ash, she allowed me to escape," Salvia answered Ash, she looked up and then turned her attention to her other friends, "she told me to give you this message, recover and fast, so she can be the one to destroy you," Salvia informed Ash of the intentions of Dusk.
Ash scratched the back of his head and chuckled for a moment, "wow, she isn't a nice person, but I can sense that she has a part to play in this situation," Ash whispered as he walked back to his tent leaving Salvia concerned for his well-being.
"What's the matter princess?" Greed asked the bluenette.
"I am concerned about him, he might be opening up a little more, but he has to save my father, prevent Shade and Hollow from getting what they want and then there is Dusk who wants to kill him," Salvia pointed out her concerns for the trainer, watching him entering his tent, "he got hurt because and I feel like I am at fault for that," Salvia told the Shadow Lord.
"I don't think Ash blames you for getting hurt, he was ambushed when we were about to land the winning blow on Gluttony, as for Dusk, I don't think she is as big of a threat as we think she is," Greed stated, keeping his eye on the Dark Aura Master, "our biggest threats are the Shadow Lords, Shade and Hollow," Greed stated the true threats to the Pokemon World.
Gluttony is now ordered to kill the Dark Aura Master, Dusk. What will this mean for Ash and his friends in the fight against the Shadow Lords as well as the Dark Aura Master?
Next time: Chapter 14: Greed Vs Gluttony 3: Overshadow.