Chapter 14: Greed VS Gluttony: Overshadow.
Summary: forced to face Gluttony one last time, Greed gets an unexpected help when things start to go badly for him.
"Now Ash, there is no way you can finish this fight against Gluttony, not in your condition," Greed walked towards the exit of the tent, with Ash watching his friend getting ready to take on the fight against the Shadow Lord, "you are still drained of Aura from your last fight and your injuries still haven't fully recovered," Greed informed the trainer with a frown.
"What should I do?" Ash questioned the Shadow Lord, holding the cast on his right arm.
"There are two options, you either head to Pastoria City, or you head to Celestic Town, whatever you do, it also means your time span for saving the king is limited," Greed explained the problem ot Ash, he looked over to Salvia packing her bag ready to leave the tent city.
"Whatever you decide Ash, I will go with you," Salvia promised the trainer, but the Aura Guardian remained quiet, still unsure as to how to best deal with the situation he was in.
"Ash, you need to decide now," Hilbert enforced the issue on to Ash.
"What about you two?" Ash asked the king and queen of Unova.
"That is up to you Ash, we also need to make sure that Pride doesn't get his way with the world," Hilda answered the trainer's question, 'how can I tell them? It doesn't matter what happens someone will lose their life,' Hilda looked at the ground with a saddened expression, she looked over to Salvia who approached Ash.
"Alright, I need answers, so I will be heading to Celestic Town for a quick visit, then I will be off to save the king," Ash declared his plan to knowing that it would also allow him some time to recover his aura reserves and the chance to use it to recover fully from his injuries.
"Good, that means you two will need to keep an eye out for Pride, while you Salvia, please keep Ash safe, Dusk is still out there, she has a part to play before this is over," Greed stated while walking out of the tent, he noticed Melissa walking up to him, "you stay here and make sure the people are alright," Greed instructed the nurse.
"I will Greed, but please don't do anything that would make me worry," the pink haired nurse pleaded with Greed, but the shadow Lord left the woman on her own walking towards the fight.
"You know I was always the weakest Shadow Lord and yet I was the one that caused the most trouble" Greed laughed at his tendencies, leaving a perplexed nurse to tilt her head, wondering what he was going on about, "but now it is time to show the Shadow Lords exactly what I am capable of," Greed looked back with a cheeky smile on his face, "I will return soon," Greed promised the young nurse.
Salvia walked up to Melissa who was watching the Shadow Lord leave for the fight, "you just need to wait for him, he isn't going to die that easily," Salvia assured the Kanto Princess.
"I hope you're right Salvia," Melissa replied nervously.
Ash walked out of the tent, ready to leave for the next destination, "come on Princess, time to get a move on," Ash said quietly, 'I can sense the danger,' Ash thought as he started to realise his inability to join the final fight against Gluttony.
"I know what you are thinking Ash, you want to fight as well," Salvia walked next to Ash and headed to the northern boarders of the city, the two walked ahead without their other friends, Salvia looked back and waved at her friends.
"You know something, I feel like we aren't getting anywhere, the enemy is always one step ahead of us," Ash commented his concerns to the princess, he grabbed his only pokeball and stared at it for a moment, "what should I do? You might see me as being brave, yet in reality I am scared," Ash confessed his fear to the young royal.
"Of what Ash?" Salvia asked the trainer calmly.
Ash looked towards the city and thought about the meeting with the new friends, "of losing my friends, my pokemon, in fact losing everything," Ash confessed his fear to the princess.
"That will not happen again," Salvia snapped at the trainer, gritting her teeth in anger.
Ash looked at his pokeball and smiled, "I hope you're right," Ash returned the gesture softly. The raven haired trainer started walking towards the mountains with one last look at the city, 'Greed, Melissa, Hilda and Hilbert, please be alright,' Ash prayed for the well-being of the new friends he had made in the previous two weeks, leaving the city to the protection of Greed.
Meanwhile back in Oreburgh City Greed started his search for Gluttony and noticed the trail of eaten food and wrappers on the ground, "doesn't seem I have to look to far, I will find him sooner than expected," Greed scanned the streets while following the trail of litter, "really Gluttony, you have no sense of cleanliness," Greed complained about his former allies bad traits.
"Oh this food is really good," Gluttony complimented the food he was gorging down on the food inside a shop.
"Found you," Greed whispered to himself, but before he could make his move Gluttony rushed at him, catching him off guard, sending the former Shadow Lord flying towards the street, "okay, so he has eaten a lot of food," Greed remarked with a hint of sarcasm, he landed in a grassy patch and prepared his counter attack.
"This is where you will die Greed!" Gluttony yelled out his threat, running at the former ally.
"I think not, you will get indigestion before that happens," Greed promised his enemy in a joking manner, he evaded the next attack, but was soon sent flying towards the mines of the city, Greed ran towards his foe and unleashed a volley of punches, but Gluttony just absorbed the attack leaving Greed to figure out what to do next, "great, he isn't even flinching," the former Shadow Lord hissed out his annoyance at the prowess of his foe.
"Is that all you have Greed?" Gluttony taunted the past comrade, smirking at him, he ran towards Greed and used another lariat.
Greed was leapt back to avoid the attack, but Gluttony looked up grinning at him and pulling back his right arm, to prepare for the punch, "the opening I need," Greed whispered, he tackled the Shadow Lord avoiding the attack, but as he was preparing for a counter attack, Gluttony smashed both his fists into the back of Greed forcing him to fall into the ground, crashing into the ground, a small amount of blood fell out of the mouth of Greed as he cried out in pain.
"You were always the weak link in the Shadow Lords," Gluttony teased his former ally, kicking the old ally, he watched as Greed was sent flying towards the cave entrance.
Greed slowly got back to his feet, grasping his right side, panting from the brutal assault that was being dished out, "he forced Ash to use all his aura and here I am facing him alone," Greed looked out of the cave to see Gluttony approaching him, "he is relentless, there has to be some way to defeat him," Greed cleaned up some of the blood.
(Hearthome City)
Ash and Salvia walked into the city, Ash looked at his injured arm and let out a sigh, "I feel bad that I cannot help Greed," Ash professed his frustration.
"I know, but you cannot do anything, you would just get in the way," Salvia pointed out while looking at the Aura Guardian's injury, she looked around to see people from Oreburgh City walking around the much larger city, "you know, with everything that is going on, I need to become stronger for the people of this region," Salvia stated as she started to remember what was being told of her while she was looking after Ash, 'Hilda, you and Hilbert have been through a lot, yet you expect me to be myself,' Salvia thought to herself, feeling ashamed that was what she needed to do.
"Hey are you alright?" Ash asked the princess, but the princess ignored his question.
(Flashback)
Hilda and Salvia walked through the tent city, watching the people who were helping one another out, "you know the Sinnoh region and her people are amazing," Hilda informed the younger royal.
"Yeah," Salvia replied quietly, she thought back to the time where she helped the child, "have you ever felt like you were getting in the way?" Salvia asked the Unova queen.
"Why do you ask? I am one of the strongest trainers in Unova," Hilda informed her status in her home region.
"Really, not only beautiful but also a great trainer," Salvia looked back towards Ash who was staring at his pokeball, 'he has been staring at his pokeball for a day now,' Salvia noticed the saddened expression on his face.
"You know, compliments will get you nowhere," Hilda teased the princess.
Salvia looked at the ground and frowned at her own weakness, "yet for a princess, who is supposed to be a successor to the throne of Sinnoh, I am really a weak person," Salvia acknowledged her own problems to the brunette.
"So are you going to sit back and watch Ash face all the troubles?" Hilda asked her friend, "you are strong, but you need to figure out where your strengths rest," Hilda assured her friend as she ran off to find Hilbert who was helping the other people of the city out.
"I am just too kind and gentle," Salvia replied to Hilda who looked back and nodded at her friend.
"Nothing wrong with that at all, you cannot be expected to have a fiery temper like me, or as vicious as Dusk, you need to be yourself, that is what the people of this region are expecting you to be," Hilda wisely told the princess with a proud tone, she walked off leaving the bluenette to ponder about her way of doing things.
Sighing for a moment Salvia looked towards the sunset over the caves from the west, "I have made many resolves in the past, but each time I am falling short of my goals, but now I need to find my own way instead of copying others," Salvia whispered to herself, 'so far everyone has been teaching me something, it's decided, from this day forward, I am taking my own path, not following what everyone expects of me, I will become the queen of this region the way I feel I need to,' Salvia decided her own course to take in her future.
(Return from Flashback)
"Ash, there is something I want to ask you," Salvia told Ash grabbing his right arm.
Ash looked back with a puzzled expression, "what?" Ash asked curiously.
Salvia let go of the Aura Guardian's arm and gulped, "I want you to help me with something important," Salvia answered Ash's curiosity.
"Tell me at the Pokemon Centre," Ash walked off towards the large building with the red roof, followed closely by the princess, Ash glanced towards the mountain and took a deep breath, 'if I wasn't injured I would be able to take on Gluttony, but then there is also Dusk, there is something odd about her,' Ash thought as he remembered his meeting with the Dark Aura Master.
Ash walked through the tree lined avenue towards the imposing Pokemon Centre, while Salvia stared at the beautiful city, seeing the tall buildings that dominated the skyline, 'this city is amazing, too bad we are only here for a short time," Salvia whispered, watching the sun setting in the distance.
After entering into the medical facility Ash looked out to see the princess preventing her hair from blowing into her face, 'Just what does she want to say?' Ash asked himself, sititng down having at glance at his pokeball.
Salvia quickly looked in the direction of Ash and noticed him looking at his pokeball, "I hope I can ask him," Salvia reminded herself, still feeling nervous about what she has decided to go for.
Salvia entered the Pokemon Centre, the place was busy, approaching Ash slowly a thousand thoughts rushed through her mind and taking into consideration of what Hilda told her, "hey come sit down, have something to eat," Ash called to the young royal.
"Ash, I need you to help me search for a goal," Salvia informed Ash, she sat down and grabbed a plate of food with Ash handing her the cutlery, "after the fight is over, I want to learn about being a trainer, I also need to see what path I can take, but I want the path to be uniquely mine," Salvia explained her intentions to Ash.
"Why are you asking me?" Ash asked the princess cautiously.
"Because, I need your advice," Salvia admitted to the trainer much to his surprise, "I might be a royal and I should know this sort of stuff, but in reality…" Salvia stopped and started to laugh at her own problems, she looked up and tilted her head, "I am still a novice when it comes to pokemon and being a leader, well if I am going to be queen of this region I need to learn my own style," Salvia informed Ash of her situation.
"I don't know how I can help you," Ash confessed his part in the story.
"That's fine, you just need to be yourself, I will learn from you," Salvia argued her point to Ash, she started eating her food while Ash looked away in shock at the resolve of the princess.
Ash started laughing at himself, he looked back with a gentle smile directed at the young royal, "thanks princess, you really are strong, you ask me for advice and you aren't scared to do so, but for me, it seems like I have a lot to learn from you," Ash explained his inner turmoil to the young royal, he thought back to how Greed was fighting Gluttony and how he had failed to defeat him. Ash kept an eye on the people inside the busy Pokemon Centre, watching the people eating their meals and cleaning up their prized pokemon.
Salvia finished her first mouthful of food and focused on Ash, "when I find my own unique path, I would love it if you were to follow me on that path," Salvia requested the trainer to help her out, "you know, show me the world," Salvia picked up another fork full of food.
"Alright I promise, I will show you the world, maybe I can help you find that goal you want to seek," Ash expressed his interest in helping the bluenette.
Ash turned away not noticing the redness creep across the face of the princess, she looked up with her mouth agape and in shock at the promise of Ash, she moved her right hand over her heart and continued to keep her blue eyes glued on Ash, 'no, it cannot be…..there is no way, it has only been three weeks since I met him again,' Salvia thought not daring to say her thoughts out loud.
Ash looked back to see the princess who remained quiet, "you alright?" Ash questioned the Sinnoh Royal with a clueless expression.
Salvia got up and placed the knife and fork on the table, "yeah I am fine," Salvia ran off leaving Ash to watch the princess leaving him alone.
Left scratching his head, was puzzled by her sudden change in personality, "odd, she hasn't acted like that before," Ash reminded himself as he walked around the medical facility, he eventually made it to the exit, looking back to find that the number of people had dwindled as it started to become late and the moon hanging over the horizon, "Greed, I hope you're winning the fight," Ash whispered as he looked out the window.
Meanwhile Salvia was in her room, her arms around her legs, she was thinking about what was going on, "here I am finding a way to save me kingdom and now I find myself falling in love with Ash," Salvia placed her head on her knees and started hitting it as if to tell herself what was she thinking, "how did this happen?" Salvia asked herself over and over again.
(Oreburgh City)
Greed jumped back not wanting to take another hit from Gluttony, "hey what about giving me a chance to fight back?" Greed started to question the Shadow Lord.
"No way," Gluttony replied with a smirk, he continued the attack making sure that Greed was jumping back, it was until Greed had his back to the wall.
Greed ran his hands on the wall of the cave, "oh no, I am trapped," Greed started to panic as he watched Gluttony rushing towards him, he closed his eyes knowing that it was all over, "sorry Melissa," Greed apologised, but was completely unaware of what was about to happen.
"Open your eyes you moron," a female voice sounded.
Greed opened his eyes to see Dusk had attacked Gluttony from behind, "I thought you were heading to Celestic Town," Greed to the Dark Aura Master.
"Can it, I am here to destroy Gluttony, you stay where you are," Dusk ordered the Shadow Lord, she formed two balls of aura in her hands one coloured black while the other was blue.
Greed noticed the two different coloured balls of aura and got up, grasping at his right side, "what's going on, I thought she could only use dark aura, but here she is using both dark and standard light aura," Greed whispered to himself as he watched the young woman pummelling the Shadow Lord with both forms of aura.
"I thought you were one of the strongest, get up!" Dusk demanded of the foe, as the foe got up slowly she rushed at him again this time giving the Shadow Lord a powerful set of kicks, "is that you've got?!" Dusk continued her decimation of the Shadow Lord.
Greed watched in awe of the Dark Aura Master easily destroying his former ally, "this is nuts, Ash and I were struggling, yet Dusk is destroying Gluttony with ease," Greed watched as fear started to creep across his face.
Dusk combined the aura in her hands and pushed it into the stomach of the foe causing the Shadow Lords to stagger back as blood fell from his mouth, "nothing to say? Well that doesn't matter, you are the one that will send a message to the rest of the Shadow Lords, now it time for me to rip you to pieces," Dusk informed the Shadow Lord, she rushed at him and kicked his right arm instantly breaking it, the Shadow Lord screamed loudly holding his right arm, "I am not done yet," Dusk kicked his other arm breaking it as well.
"She's serious, she intends to maim even the Shadow Lords, the scary thing is, she is making it look easy as well," Greed gulped in fear as he watched the bluenette walking up to the former ally, seeing him walking back with his arms broken.
"So Gluttony, what should I break next?" Dusk asked the frightened Shadow Lord, "I know, how about preventing you from getting away," Dusk suggested as she ran towards the Shadow Lord, deliberately missing his legs, "opps I missed," Dusk looked up, seeing the Shadow Lord visibly trembling in fear.
"No, stay away from me," Gluttony started to shuffle back, seeing the darkness in the bluenette's eyes.
"Oh come on, you started this fight, all I want to do is end it," Dusk shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.
"Hey he is no longer a threat, you already broke his arms," Greed tried to reason with Dusk, but was ignored, he watched in fear as Dusk mercilessly rushed towards the Shadow Lord, with two balls of aura aimed at the Shadow Lord's head, the balls of aura exploded enveloping Gluttony in a bright light that illuminated the cave.
"That was way too easy," Dusk landed as she looked back knowing that Gluttony was taken by the fatal blast.
"She had no qualms about killing Gluttony," Greed whispered as he watched the princess look alike started to leave the battle. Approaching the young woman Greed started to hesitate, "hey, how did you know I need help?" Greed asked the Dark Aura Master.
"Me help you? Don't kid yourself, I only destroyed Gluttony because I was bored," Dusk answered the Shadow Lord much to his dismay.
Greed noticed the blue and black aura dissipating from the Dark Aura Master, "also, how can you use blue aura and black aura, that isn't possible," Greed decreed as he watched the woman ignore him.
"I am only letting you live because you are at least honourable, not like the other bastards in the Shadow Lords," Dusk coldly stated her allegiances to Greed.
Greed watched the blue haired woman leaving the scene of the battle, "I was going to ask you to help rebuild the city, but there is no chance of that right?" Greed asked the Dark Aura Master.
"I'm in it for myself, so no I will not help," Dusk walked off towards the next city leaving Greed shaking not only in fear but anger at the same time.
Greed started walking through the streets, taking a deep breath and starting to realise that Dusk wasn't going to be easy to win over as an ally, "she is strong, perhaps too strong, I cannot convince her to join our cause," Greed thinking about the frightening eyes of Dusk.
"Greed!" Melissa cried out to him, seeing his injuries from the fight, "you got hurt," Melissa crossed her arms she looked back to see the litter all over the city, "did you win?" Melissa asked the Shadow Lord.
Greed looked at the ground with disdain, "yeah Gluttony is dead, but I wasn't the one who killed him," Greed started to flashback on the cold killing of Gluttony, 'why did she kill him in cold blood?' Greed started to question himself about the actions of Dusk.
"Are you alright?" Melissa asked the man with a concerned smile on her face.
"Yeah I am fine, I will be staying to rebuild this city, then I need to see Ash afterwards," Greed stated his intentions to the Kanto royal.
"Oh so you are going to go and fight again?" Melissa asked the Shadow Lord.
Greed nodded and started to laugh at himself, "yes I am, I want to save this region as well as the world, much like Ash and the princess," Greed informed the pink haired nurse with a sense of pride.
"Okay, just make it out alive alright," Melissa pleaded with the Shadow Lord, placing her right hand over his cheek and smiling at him, "I don't know what I would do without you," Melissa told Greed in a sweet manner.
"Stop it, you are making me softer than I already am," Greed started laughing at himself, looking away and showing his own redness on his face.
(Hearthome City)
Ash woke up from his sleep sweating heavily, as if he was sensing that something was wrong, Ash jumped out of his bed and ran towards the main foyer, his loud footsteps even waking up the princess who also exited her room, "Ash?" Salvia asked the man who was too busy running towards the now quiet and almost empty main foyer.
"I can sense it, her aura mine as well, what's going on?" Ash asked himself, his uninjured arm was still shaking as he looked out the window, seeing the night sky with a tint of redness on the horizon, "what happened in Oreburgh City?" he started to question the situation.
"It is almost four o'clock in the morning Ash, you need to rest up," Salvia informed Ash.
Ash looked back and frowned, "Salvia, prepare you bags, get changed we are leaving now," Ash instructed the royal.
"But Ash…" Salvia tried to argue with the trainer.
"No buts! Pack your stuff we are leaving!" Ash yelled at the royal angrily, almost as if he was in a panicked mood. He started running back to his room, changing back to his normal attire and picking up his bag, he started running back to the main foyer waiting for the princess.
Salvia emerged from the hall, immediately getting ready to leave the Pokemon Centre and the city, "why are we leaving Ash? Tell me!" Salvia demanded angrily.
"Dusk is on her way here," Ash stated as he exited the Pokemon Centre.
"She might not admit it, but she is a kind hearted person, but her methods are wrong," Salvia whispered, but was left with little to no choice but to follow Ash and make their way to get the answers they needed at Celestic Town.
Before the sun began to rise, Salvia and Ash left the now quiet city heading towards Solaceon Town, not daring to complete their night's sleep in case Dusk decided to show up, "I don't want the people to be in any danger," Ash confessed his concerns to the princess who tiredly followed him.
Meanwhile nearing Hearthome City Dusk looked towards the distance, "they don't interest me at the moment, I am going to head south, and take out Wrath on my own," Dusk decreed taking the southern road towards the trap that she knew was set for the princess.
Ash turned and noticed that Dusk was heading towards the trap, "what no way, she is heading to Pastoria City," Ash turned around and ran back to Hearthome City not even thinking about Shade and Hollow.
"Why is that so bad?" Salvia asked the Aura Guardian.
"Don't you remember, she looks like you, we have to rush to Pastoria now and save your father," Ash informed the royal following him without hesitation.
"Damn you Dusk, you are ruining everything," Shade growled at the former ally, he punched the ground next to him in anger, "Hollow, we are Pastoria City right now," Shade barked out his instructions to Hollow as they jumped from the building's roof and running towards the next destination.
Ash started to notice the dark aura coming from his second enemies, "oh no those two, they are following Dusk, we better hurry," Ash started running with Salvia following him back into the city, not hesitating to place his left hand over his injured arm, "no time to wait for the rest of my aura to recover," Ash whispered as he started to heal himself from his previous battle all the while running removing the cast and bandages, he clenched his right fist and continued to run back to the city, "even with twenty five percent of my aura, I will still fight," Ash decreed with determination to face the enemies in front of him.
With the next collision set in stone Ash and Salvia make their way with a change of plans, they now must find a way to rescue the king while trying to find a way to convince Dusk that she needs to join their cause, the deadliest battles await Ash and Salvia in Pastoria City.
Next time Chapter 15: the Twilight of Change