Chapter 15: The Twilight of Change.
Summary: the stage is about to be set Ash and Salvia head to rescue the king, but will soon come face to face with Shade and Hollow, a new revelation will shake the Aura Guardian to the core.
Ash and Salvia made it to the southern exit of Hearthome City, they looked over towards the sun rising over to the east, as the sky started to illuminate as it started to change colour, "Ash, what are we going to do?" Salvia asked curiously, but the trainer stared into the distance, with the princess looking out to the left seeing Ash punching the air in front of his with his now uninjured arm, 'you said your aura is up to twenty five percent, but the other three." Salvia's concern for Ash started to become more apparent.
"Yes I know, but I cannot let them destroy Dusk, she is important and she doesn't even know it yet," Ash answered the concerns of the young royal.
Salvia walked ahead of the trainer, she looked back to see him pondering his next move, "we don't have much time, we were forced to change the plans," Salvia whispered, thinking about her next meeting with her father, "what will I say, how will he act this time around?' Salvia asked herself as she pulled out a picture of her family.
Ash silently approached the princess and looked at the photo, "wow, you seem really happy," Ash pointed out as he stared at the picture of her family.
"This is my mother, she was killed last year, it was when my father changed," Salvia told the Aura Guardian, she stared at the photo and smiled, "while you have been beating yourself up, I have been trying to find my own way to save dad," Salvia confessed her intentions to Ash, "I was even thinking of having you help me out," Salvia admitted her goal to Ash.
"So you intended to ask me anyway?" Ash enquired, the princess nodded in reply leaving him perplexed and upset at the same time, "why didn't you tell me?" Ash asked the bluenette trying to hold his frustrations back.
"Because you were too busy talking about revenge," Salvia retorted pushing the trainer into a corner with his own problems, "I wanted to tell you, but I was scared of how you were going to react," Salvia explained to Ash, not replying Ash walked ahead unsure as to what to say to the Sinnoh Royal.
Ash looked up and noticed that the sun had fully risen, "come on, we need to have a break, breakfast would be a great idea," Ash suggested refusing to look back at the princess, dropping his backpack, his pokeball dropped and rolled to the bluenette.
Salvia picked up the pokeball and stared at it for a moment, "why are you carrying this around?" the princess asked the trainer.
Ash looked back and walked up to the young royal, he snatched at the pokeball, but the princess stepped back slightly to prevent him from taking the red and white device, "give me back Lucario's pokeball," Ash demanded the return of his pokemon.
"Hold on, I thought you didn't have a Lucario, what changed?" Salvia questioned the trainer.
"So what, you have been hiding something from me as well, so you're equally at fault as well," Ash retorted forcing the Sinnoh native to hand back the pokeball, "but if you want to know, I caught Lucario before I proposed to Dawn, I was in the Unova region revisiting some of my friends there," Ash gave Salvia the reasoning behind his pokemon.
"So you have visited many regions before," Salvia walked passed the trainer looking around to see the numerous pokemon walking through the grassy fields and the many flying type pokemon flying through the air, "I want you to help me discover my pathway, of course it will not stop me from my royal duties, I am confident that you are the one to assist me," Salvia confessed her goal to Ash, she walked up to the table and placed her bag on the ground next to the table.
"Why would you want me to help you out?" Ash asked the royal, stared at the pokeball and thought about his revious journeys, "everything I went through in the last three years of my journey was because Dawn had inspired me, I felt the need to return that," Ash explained the intentions as he pulled out the ring from his pocket.
"You did that, she always admitted being at her happiest level when she was around with you," Assuring Ash about how happy the doppelganger was, she picked her plate and grabbed a knife to spread the jam on the scones, Salvia watched the trainer sitting down, putting his pokeball in his pocket, "you know, I have been hiding the fact that I have a pokemon as well, so how about we make a deal?" Salvia suggested to the now quiet man.
Ash grabbed one of the scones and pushed it into his mouth, not hesitating to grab another, chewing on the scone he looked over to the royal whom had a look of disdain. Ash swallowed the remains of the scone and looked at the next bit of food in his hands, "tell me, what do you have in mind?" Ash asked the princess calmly.
Salvia smiled and gently cut another baked good in half, "no more secrets between us, we are friends after all," Salvia stated happily, but soon felt a little saddened by even her using the term of friend towards Ash, she looked away from Ash not daring to make eye contact with him.
"Sure thing, so you tell me what pokemon you got," Ash agreed with Salvia's idea.
"It was Dawn who helped me capture the pokemon, she said she owed it to me," Salvia admitted to the trainer proudly, her fond thoughts remained with the lost friend, "she helped me capture a Ralts, to which I evolved it all the way to Gardevoir," Salvia called out a green humanoid pokemon with a white dress like feature. Salvia looked up to her pokemon and gave her some pokemon food, "I have been trying to think about what I wanted to do, participating in contests were amazing, but I wonder what kind of thrill I would get if I battled gym leaders," Salvia let her thoughts out, showing Ash her curiosity about the challenges of the Pokemon world.
"So you want to discover what the world has to offer you," Ash looked away thinking about his own actions in recent times, "why are you so determined to figure out what you want to do?" Ash asked the princess calmly.
"All of my friends have done something to better themselves, yet for me, I am stuck inside palace walls, living in fear of what I am missing out on," Salvia explained to Ash, confessing her fears. Salvia looked at the fields as a group of pokemon looked up to the group hoping for food, "they look so cute," Salvia cheered as she got out of her seat, she approached the group of pokemon, mostly brown, buck toothed pokemon with an immense amount of fur and puffy cheeks, as the princess got closer the pokemon backed away from her.
"Might I suggest befriending them with pokemon food?" Ash suggested the idea, he picked up his backpack and pulled out a container of pokemon food, he leapt out of his seat and walked up to the princess, opening the container he pulled out some of the food, he extended his right hand out to allow for the pokemon to grab the food, "hey I will not hurt you, this food is good," Ash promised the group of pokemon.
Salvia watched Ash assuring the pokemon, her mouth now agape from awe at how gentle Ash was being towards the pokemon, 'he is at ease now,' Salvia thought as she watch a Bidoof grab a small amount of pokemon food, "wow, Bidoof the food!" Salvia's excitement started to grow.
"Hold out your hands," Ash instructed the royal, the princess cupped her hands together and watched Ash tip some of the pokemon food into her hands, the pokemon in the background watched the trainer tilting the tin back up, "pokemon can judge our personalities really well," Ash stated as he looked over to the pokemon.
Salvia moved her hands towards the brown pokemon, nervous at how they were going to react, she started shaking as the trainer pushed her hand gently towards the wild pokemon, "don't be nervous, these pokemon are friendly," Ash assured the princess.
The young royal watched as the Bidoof approached cautiously, the bluenette watched nervously as, keeping her gaze fixated on the group of pokemon, 'I have never done this before,' Salvia thought to herself, watching one of the pokemon carefully took one of the pieces of food from the young woman's hand.
Ash removed his hand and allowed Salvia to feed the pokemon on her own, smiling at her he went back to the table and eating a bowl of cereal, "so, I take it this is the first time you have hand feed wild pokemon," Ash called to the princess who was enjoying her time feeding the pokemon, 'I take her silence as a yes,' Ash thought to himself as he started crunching on the cereal he had scooped up and placed in his mouth.
"Can I please have some more?" Salvia asked the Aura Guardian, looking back in hope that Ash would provide more pokemon.
Before Ash got to his feet the wile pokemon ran away, Ash looked over to the shrubs in the background spotting two people emerging from them, "Shade and Hollow, I knew you would arrive," Ash hissed at the Dark Aura Masters.
"So you knew, you have some of your depleted aura back," Shade glanced over to the less than pleased princess, "so sorry for scaring those pokemon away, but I thought it would be nice to pay a little visit," Shade informed the two people as he approached the table. The Dark Aura Masters watched the trainer stand between them and the bluenette, "what are you worried about, we are only here to have a little chat," Shade eased the tensions between him and Ash, but with no success.
"Tell me, why are you using Dusk?" Ash growled at his enemies.
Shade burst out into laughter as he grabbed one of the scones from the table, "so you know, well there is no point hiding it," Shade bit down on the morsel of food.
"Hiding it, you mean to tell me there is something else?" Ash clenched his fists in anger.
"Calm down, you aren't even in the right shape to fight us now," Hollow informed the Aura Guardian, he picked up a bowl of cereal.
"Hey that's our food," Salvia told the Dark Aura Masters.
"Don't care, you were more than happy to feed the wild pokemon, so you can feed a few friendly visitors," Shade replied with a cheeky smirk. Eating a few scones Shade glanced up to the trainer and smirked, "so you want to know why Dusk also doesn't know the truth, simple there is a third one of us, her name is Willow, at the moment she is waiting for us at Celestic Town," Shade explained to Ash who was trembling in anger at the treatment of Dusk.
"There is something else, she was also a scapegoat of our plan, we had her chase after Dawn's aura and would have used her to die at the same time as you," Hollow explained the plan to Ash as he stepped back in horror at the plan, "that's right she was going to be sacrificed in order to fulfil our true intentions," Hollow grabbed a slice of bread and spread some jam on it.
"True intentions?" the clueless Ash enquired in a frustrated tone.
"Yeah, to bend time and space, we needed her to die, because she is special, not like you and me," Shade pointed to himself and Ash.
"Palkia and Dialga, why are you after those two? And what makes Dusk such an important piece of the puzzle?" Salvia asked the Dark Aura Masters, trying to figure out what was happening.
Shade turned his vision to Ash and smirked at him, "you know don't you?" Shade asked the Aura Guardian.
Ash looked at the ground, "yeah, she is capable of using both dark and Standard aura," Ash retorted solemnly, "you were planning on using her as a human shield in order to absorb her aura," Ash said in a calmer tone.
"Very good, but that isn't all," Shade continued to taunt the trainer. Shade looked up to the sky and raised his right hand into the air, "you see we aren't as strong as the Shadow Lords, but when their spirits are released, we intend to have them thrown into the universe where they will never come back, then we will follow the plans of Team Galactic, to create a new world, opposite of this one," Shade started to explain his plan to Ash who was clenching his fists, "why you ask? Well let's say we want to lure out our greatest prize Giratina," Shade confessed his true goal to Ash and Salvia.
Shuddering in rage Ash stepped forward and hit the table causing some of the food to jump into the air, "so you are after Giratina," Ash hissed as he approached the Dark Aura Masters, before he could act Salvia pulled Ash back and shook her head, "Salvia?" Ash started to question the actions of the princess.
Salvia glanced to her right and then returned to Ash, "we cannot over react, we can't be certain if what he said about Dusk is true and that his intentions are what he says they are, and as for the other Dark Aura Master we haven't met yet, we cannot be certain if what he says is the truth," Salvia explained the situation, reasoning with Ashm but Ash looked away with disdain trying to gather his thoughts.
"Your girlfriend is right, you cannot over react, our game have just begun," Shade teased the trainer as he stood up and looked towards the next major city, he walked up to Ash and placed his hand on his right shoulder, "it would hurt us to no end if something were to happen to you, especially in the shape you're in, little to no aura and still with an injured arm," a hint of sarcasm emerged from the lips of Shade.
Ash watched Shade walking off to Pastoria City, "so this is all a game to you? You will lose this game," Ash growled at his enemy.
"Oh come when you play a game at least have some fun, otherwise how will I have some sense of satisfaction in your demise," Shade started to leave the area with Ash watching from a distance. Before walking further away, he looked over to Ash and smirked, "how about this? I will give you a hint, head to Celestic Town first, the first part of the game is there," Shade informed the Aura Guardian leaving the two perplexed people to watch in confusion.
Salvia took notice of the anger of the Aura Guardian who was trying his best to figure out the ploy of Shade, "this is a game to them, don't those idiots realise that they are causing more trouble than the Shadow Lords?" Ash sat down wondering what his next plan of action was going to be, "I thought it would be easy, saving your father, saving your kingdom, now…." Ash started to question his resolve even more as he looked towards the group of pokemon who were hoping for more food.
"Ash, you cannot hesitate now, you have learned what is at stake, if you give up because others think it is a game, then you might as well go home," Salvia reminded Ash as he stared at his hands his injured hand shaking from the injury he had suffered.
"I don't have a home to go to," Ash snapped back much to the royal's surprise, seeing his determined expression, his left hand glowing blue, "I will save everything, no more games!" Ash yelled at the decreed as his hands clenched into fists.
'I hope he doesn't put pressure on himself,' Salvia walked to the seat opposite Ash, she looked down at the adorable pokemon and smiled at them, "you know, life is really a precious gift, you cannot throw it away because others keep stacking the odds against you," Salvia tilted her head and grinned at the young man, "okay, bad things have happened, but that's life, nothing can go the way you want to go," Salvia continued to explain to the raven haired trainer, she looked up to the sky to see the puffy cloud passing over head and the trees swaying in the breeze.
Ash felt the breeze pressing against his face, listening to the pokemon calling out in the wild and Salvia telling him that everything will be fine. "You keep telling me all this, but tell me how can you stay so certain?" asking the princess, trying to get an answer, not even noticing Salvia crying for a moment, "why aren't you answering?" Ash questioned the royal.
Salvia wiped away the tears and glanced over to Ash, "because I don't have the answers Ash, I want to know them, I keep telling myself to take my own path, but I have no idea what road to take, there are so many options laid out before me," Salvia told Ash her answer.
"Alright, I promise to help you whenever I can," he promised the royal, looking down at his backpack and grabbing the tin of pokemon food.
Salvia for a moment looked over to Ash, her face reddening yet again, she started to shake it off, but it was so obvious the pokemon around her, she bit down on her bottom lip trying to gather the courage to tell Ash something important, "um….Ash, can I feed the pokemon?" Salvia asked the trainer.
"Yeah of course," Ash replied pulling out the tin of food.
Salvia looked away angry at herself for the question she had asked, 'I am so stupid, can I feed the pokemon?' the princess started to beat herself up after asking Ash, 'I guess my confidence isn't high enough,' Salvia admitted to herself, she watched Ash walking up to her and noticing that his right hand was shaking.
"Hold out your hands again," Ash whispered, the bluenette held out her hands and cupped them, Ash poured another small portion of pokemon food into her hands, "you know apart from everyone I have befriended so far, you are my best friend at the moment," Ash confessed softly, not even taking notice of Salvia whose blush was growing .
"So, what are your intentions after all this is over?" the princess gave Ash her question.
Ash dropped the tin in shock and turned away, "I don't know, fulfilling a promise," Ash stated his goals, but was at a loss for his own goals.
Ash's pokeball dropped out of his pocket again, Salvia picked it up and stared at it for a moment, "might I suggest your original goal?" Salvia suggested, calling out the black and blue pokemon from the confines of the pokeball. Salvia walked up to one of the smaller pokemon and knelt down in front of it, presenting the food for the Bidoof to take the pellets leaving the princess to watch it approaching the other Bidoof.
"Yeah, you're right," Ash replied, carefully watching the plump mouse pokemon eating the food given to them, he looked up to the aura pokemon and nodded, "you're right, I need to start anew, otherwise what would have Dawn achieved by giving her life away in exchange for mine?" Ash started to ask with a deep sigh.
"Exactly, giving up because things don't go the way you want it to go doesn't help you or anyone else, you have friends here to support you, Greed, Hilda, Hilbert, me," Salvia continued to explain to Ash about the people around him, she looked back and closed her eyes for a moment the wind picked up the leaves sending them into the distance, opening them yet again, the princess watched the leaves dance into the distance, "I have decided, whatever Shade and Hollow are planning I will assist you, they might be games to them, but there is more at stake, no more sitting back watching you get into trouble," Salvia watched the clouds continue through the sky as the determined expression became more obvious in her eyes.
"Even putting your life on the line?" Ash questioned the Sinnoh Royal, Salvia nodded without hesitation and stood up, letting out a concerned smile Ash, turned away with his pokemon standing between him and the princess, 'again she is right, I cannot let my new friends down, they are willing to fight no matter what the odds,' Ash thought to himself, thinking about Dawn, 'Dawn, I promise you, from now on I will go forward with my life, so please watch over me as I fulfil my dreams,' Ash prayed to his deceased love.
Salvia watched Ash and proudly kept her gaze on him, "you know Lucario, I think Ash is about ready to go forward with his life, I know it must be difficult for him….. honestly it has been difficult for me as well, I lost my best friend," Salvia whispered to the pokemon standing next to her, she looked back to discover that the plump mouse pokemon were finishing their food, she held back her tears, looking up in hopes that Dawn was watching over Ash.
(Near Pastoria City)
"Damn you both, when I am done with Pride and Wrath, I will deal with you Shade and Hollow," Dusk looked back, she hid herself in the forest as the pokemon stared at her with apprehension, "get lost all of you," Dusk demanded the pokemon but they remained on the sport and tilted their heads, 'those two cannot hide anything from me, they want to find Arceus, I will stop them,' Dusk promised herself. The blue haired Dark Aura Master started to remember the words of the spirit of Dawn.
As the Dark Aura Master continued towards the city she was stopped by a powerful explosion that sent the pokemon running away in fear, the bird pokemon flew from the canopy of the forest, Dusk looked up to find a large man emerging from the trees on the road, "you are Dusk, the one who killed Gluttony!" the man yelled at the woman.
"Yeah, I destroyed him, so who are you?" Dusk asked the powerful man.
"I am fury, I am rage, anger embodied, they call me Wrath!" the man introduced himself to the Dark Aura Master.
Dusk started to crack her knuckles and smiled at the Shadow Lord, she stood up and started to power up her aura, "a shadow Lord, well this makes my job so much easier," the bluenette decreed, she started to laugh as the powerful Shadow Lord charged towards her, knocking down trees without any amount of care.
Dusk jumped back as Wrath punched the ground she was standing on, creating a powerful shockwave, "what?" Dusk's eyes widened in fear, she watched the Shadow Lord rushing towards her, not giving her the time to counter attack, "damn I should have taken a rest," Dusk continued to evade the powerful attacks of the Shadow Lord, "what are you lot doing here, get lost now!" Dusk demanded of the pokemon to leave the area.
Meanwhile at a safe distance Shade and Hollow were watching the dust rising from the forest, "ah there they are Dusk and Wrath," Shade whispered as a broad smile crossed his face, signalling for Hollow to follow him, the Dark Aura Master rushed towards the developing battle.
"Yes, but what of the Aura Guardian and the princess?" Hollow asked Shade with a concerned tone.
"I don't care, but the games have just began," Shade declared with a smirk.
Further back Ash froze on the spot, he looked up to see the pokemon flying away from forest that was further away, Ash clenched his fists in anger, "something is happening," Ash stated, the princess looked up and felt the shockwaves coming from the origin of where the pokemon were, "Dusk is fighting again," Ash announced what he had feared.
"Then we better hurry and save her as well," Salvia pushed Ash forward.
"She would hate that, from what I can tell with her, she isn't the type that likes being rescued," Ash whispered making the princess pause in her actions, Ash looked back and nodded at the young royal, "but we cannot sit back as one of our…." Ash gulped for a moment as he began to shudder with the idea, "allies, yes Dusk is a friend," Ash struggled to confess the status with the princess.
"Alright, then why are we still here?" Salvia stood next to Ash, questioning his hesitation.
"No more hesitating, let's go forward and protect this world," Ash announced his new found resolve to the princess, running ahead of the royal who watched him heading towards the newest fight.
Salvia placed her right hand over her heart and smiled, "again, you amaze me," Salvia professed to herself.
"Hurry up princess, we have a region to save," Ash called to the royal.
Smiling at herself she ran towards Ash with a redness running across her face, 'this is what this feeling is like,' Salvia thought as she gained ground on Ash, 'the feeling of being in love,' Salvia reminded herself of her feelings yet again, not wanting to say anything out loud, 'I will hold back for now, he has a lot to worry about, I don't want him to worry about another situation,' Salvia told herself as she continued running to Ash's side.
Alright ladies and gents Ash, Salvia and Dusk, will be involved in three games, but sadly I have no idea what kind of games to put them through.
Next time chapter 16: The Punishments Due.
Okay I admit it, I used the title of my next chapter from one of my favourite songs