Chapter 22: Between Light and Darkness.
Summary: Ash starts his training undaunted by the darkness within, will he succeed? And what will be the result of his success?
Ash and Salvia entered the route heading towards Solaceon Town, the pokemon flying overhead with Bidoof running in the grassy fields, Aipoms swinging from tree to tree, leaving the two a amazed at the sight of the numerous pokemon that inhabited the area, "it was nothing like this when I was here last," Salvia confessed with a broad smile, the bluenette happily waltzed through the fields as the pokemon ran away from her in fear.
"You know, rushing into the fields can upset the pokemon," Ash informed the princess who was happy to see the pokemon frolicking around. Scratching his head, he started to wonder more about the dark aura that had taken hold in the past, 'I don't want to scare or hurt her,' Ash thought as he raised his right hand, he concentrated some aura into his hand and formed a bright blue sphere.
Salvia witnessed Ash forming the aura in the palm of his hands and grew curious, approaching the trainer she placed her left hand over the sphere, "so what are you thinking?" she asked the young man.
"I need to conquer my darkness," Ash quickly reminded the princess of his own personal battle.
"Conquer your darkness?" Salvia raised the question with a bewildered expression, "what do you mean?" she asked the raven haired trainer.
"If I don't conquer this darkness, people are going to get hurt," Ash answered the question, he allowed for the sphere of aura to dissipate, clenching his fists, 'most of all I don't want you getting hurt,' Ash thought to himself, immediately thinking of Salvia and what had happened in the last fight with the Shadow Lords.
"You don't to pressure yourself," Salvia tried her best to reason with Ash.
Ash stopped walking and clenched his fists, "you're wrong, I cannot run away from this, the darkness will be there, but I need to make it useful to me, not something that will hurt others," Ash argued with the bluenette.
"Are you scared of what might happen?" the princess asked the Kanto native, before she could get an answer she noticed that Ash was shaking, she immediately recognised that Ash was fearful of what might happen, 'I see, he doesn't want the darkness to rule his life,' Salvia thought, taking into consideration of what had happened while her and Ash were fighting against the Shadow Lords.
The sound of the pokemon flying overhead caused Ash to think more about his control over his aura, "even if I manage to conquer it, I still will not have all the experience to control it," Ash whispered, loud enough for the concerned princess to hear it.
"Dusk said that even if she managed to gain control of herself, she still has a difficult time controlling the dark aura," Salvia informed Ash, she watched Ash trying to call for the dark power, 'he might be trying too hard,' Salvia noticed the strained expression on Ash's face. The blue haired royal wanted to intervene but knew that it was something that Ash needed to combat on his own, "um…Ash, if you need help, I will be here for you," Salvia encouraged Ash in his endeavour.
Ash nodded as he started to focus his aura, "thanks princess," Ash replied softly.
(Near Celestic Town)
A woman with long brown hair, red eyes, wearing a blue dress and a white blouse with black boots5 appeared from the cave awaiting her teammates, "so, things are about to get started, Shade and Hollow better hurry up," she said with a smirk, she looked over to the distance, sensing a powerful aura coming from miles away, 'again, he is at it this time he seeks to control the Dark Aura,' she thought to herself as she turned to see the summit of Mount Coronet, "space, time and darkness, will soon be in Pride's control," she whispered.
Shade and Hollow walked into the small town, they glanced back knowing that Ash was on his own personal mission to control his darkness better, "it seems like he is training to get a better grasp on his inner darkness," Hollow whispered, feeling the sweat running down his forehead.
Shade chuckled at the trainer trying to fulfil his own goal, "doesn't matter, he can control himself, but Dark Aura is difficult to control even for veterans," Shade replied quickly, he shot his vision over to the cave spotting the true female member of the Dark Aura Masters, "Willow, it seems like Dusk and Ash are on their way here," Shade informed the brunette of the coming battle.
"What of the princess?" Willow asked the two male members.
"Knowing her, she will be at Ash's side," Hollow stated as he remembered the first fight with Ash.
Willow laughed at the situation, feeling like everything was going the way she had wanted it to go, "good, now you two, go up to Mount Coronet, I am going to say hello to our guests," Willow walked towards the town entrance while sense the growing aura from Ash, 'so, he plans on taking his aura control to another level, this game could get interesting,' Willow thought as she walked into the thick fog that blanketed the fields and the lake front.
(Solaceon Town)
Greed entered the town with his thoughts placed firmly on the plans to save Sinnoh, "Hilda and Hilbert, I know you two are here as well," Greed looked over at the tower, seeing his Unova friends, he noticed the concerned face of Hilda who was looking to the north east, 'something is up,' Greed noted to himself.
"Greed, I am concerned about Ash, I can sense that he wants to utilise his Dark Aura, I never foresaw that," Hilda stated while visibly shaking from her vision, 'I cannot tell them yet, Ash, will get stronger, but he does need that Dark Aura, but I am scared that he will lose control again,' Hilda thought about the situation with her friend.
"Greed what about our other friend?" Hilbert asked the Shadow Lord.
Dusk walked up to Hilbert her hands on her hips, "I am not your friend, nor am I Ash's, Salvia's, Hilda's and especially yours Greed, I am here to warn you not to get close to Ash," Dusk informed the trio, she looked over her right shoulder, sensing the powerful aura emanating from Ash, 'if he loses control he will hurt his friends, wouldn't want him to regret anything before I kill him,' Dusk turned away from the people she denied her friendship to.
"Wait Dusk," Hilda stopped the bluenette.
Dusk halted and glared at the brunette, "I am in a hurry, I need to get to Celestic Town," Dusk snapped at the Unova Queen.
"I need to know, what is this dark aura about?" Hilda asked the Aura Master.
Dusk with her fists shaking, but soon burst into laughter, "it is the darkness of a person, darkness turned into aura, I sensed it a while ago in Ash, in fact I think before he came here, he had some experience in this dark aura," Dusk answered the question, it was almost time for her to continue her move towards Celestic Town, 'it isn't like he will be out of control for long, after all he has the princess there,' Dusk thought to herself thinking about the strengthening bond between the two.
"I also sense that Salvia is there as well," Hilda stated with even more concern for her friend.
"Yes, I know, but I don't hold any concerns for her, she will be fine," Dusk replied as she watched the brunette rushing up to her.
Grabbing her collar, she shook the Aura Master with tears, "how can you say that?" Hilda asked angrily.
"Because, it will be the princess that helps Ash regain his senses while he is trying to gain control of this power," Greed immediately answered his friend.
Dusk forcibly pushed Hilda away from her, "do that again I will break your arms," Dusk threatened the Unova queen, she quickly looked over to Greed as the brunette stepped back in fear, "plus our friendly Shadow Lord is right, it will be Salvia that can help Ash," Dusk informed the others, a confident smile.
"So we are just going to let Ash rampage and hurt the princess, why?!" Hilbert asked the Aura Master, he was now uncertain as to how he could help.
"Simple, you would just get in the way," Dusk answered back, showing her own form of confidence in Ash and Salvia, 'it isn't like those idiots can help in anyway,' Dusk thought to herself, she looked up towards the sky to see the panicked Starlys and Staravias, "I am out of here," Dusk remarked as she walked away from the trio of friends.
"So we can do nothing, so we just stand here and let Salvia get hurt," Hilda fell to the ground angry at her own inability to do anything.
"She will be fine, even if Ash loses control, he still will not hurt her in any way," Dusk answered as she walked towards the northern part of the town.
Greed walked up to the royal couple, "you two go to Ash and Salvia, I will go with Dusk and make sure the Dark Aura Masters don't do too much damage," Greed instructed the Unova duo. Greed started following the Aura Master as the Unova couple rushed off, east of the town and towards the area of concern.
Meanwhile Ash was surrounded by a black aura, he was trying to get control of the aura, but wasn't getting any better, Salvia tried to encourage him to but she was soon blown off her feet by the exploding aura. On her back she sat up and watched the black and blue aura flying in every direction, 'wow, this is Ash's aura,' Salvia gulped as she watched Ash looking west of where they were, 'what did he sense?' she asked herself, before she realised what was happening Ash ran off in search for the people who were walking towards the area.
"Enemies are coming here," Ash stated in a blood thirsty tone, he ran off to greet them.
Salvia jumped to her feet and started to chase after Ash, "foes? But that means that he might see one of our friends as enemies," Salvia immediately assumed the problem, she continued her chase and noticed two familiar people in the area, Ash heading in their direction, "Ash, stop, they're our friends," Salvia tried to reason with Ash, but her voice wasn't reaching him.
In his subconscious Ash noticed his two friends that were being put in danger by the darkness that had taken control, 'no I need to stop,' Ash tried to gain control over the darkness.
"Destroy everything, everything that hurts you," a voice played in his mind.
Ash looked around to find out where that voice was coming from, 'no, I cannot hurt my friends,' Ash tried arguing with the voice, it wasn't long before Ash was confronted with an image of his darker self, a menacing grin across his face, he stepped back gasping at what he had seen, 'you, you're me,' Ash announced in shock.
"Exactly, I am the darkness that haunts you," the look alike informed the trainer.
"No that isn't right," Ash tried to deny it, but the darker Ash started laughing at him, 'what's going on?' Ash asked himself wanting to figure out why someone looking like him was in his own subconscious.
"You want answers? Well it is simple, you let your fiancé die because you are weak," the Dark part of Ash grinned menacingly, causing the real Ash to fall back with a mortified expression.
'No, not this again,' Ash clutched his head in horror, but the images of Dawn dying in his arms played back around him, 'what do you want from me?' Ash asked the menacing spirit.
"Simple, you to give into your anger and destroy anything that hurts you," the other part of Ash pointed out, he then pointed to an image of the princess, "including her."
Ash turned to see Salvia rushing towards him, "why?" Ash expressed his shock at the idea of hurting the princess.
"She is the reason why you are hurting you fool, she looks like her and was the reason why you are in this struggle," the darkness reminded Ash, but noticed the resistance flowing from the trainer, "you fell for a trap because she wanted to selfishly save her father," the mental attack continued on Ash.
Ash fell to his knees and clutched his head, 'No, that's not true, I needed to save the king,' Ash argued with his darker self.
"Yet you failed because she is too weak," the darkness continued to torment Ash. "she doesn't care about you, only a way to save her kingdom," Ash's opposite continued to inform Ash of the royal's mission.
Ash quickly go to his feet, glaring at his dark counterpart, "let me guess, I am also to blame for Dawn's death as well as my mother, Johanna, Piplup and my partner pokemon?" Ash questioned the shadowy figure.
"Yes if you had taken the other part of your power that would never have happened," Ash's darkness informed the trainer.
"Well that is why I am here, to prevent that from happening," Ash answered back, his resolve coming back.
Salvia watched the trainer frozen on the spot, perplexed by his lack of movement, "Ash, are you alright?" Salvia asked in concern, but not a single word was heard form Ash, he remained silent, she placed her right hand on her shoulder, but was quickly pushed away, she watched Ash turn towards her, his eyes darkened, she gulped at the intimidating sight, 'oh no, Ash it's me Salvia," the princess tried to plead with the trainer.
'She is the one holding you back,' the voice echoed in Ash's mind, before Ash could react, the dark presence overtook him and gain control over Ash, 'unlike the previous times, I will make sure you remember what happens here,' the voice stated his sickening intent to kill the last remaining Sinnoh Royal.
Shaking in anger Ash turned his attention to Salvia, not even recognising her, she tried calling out to him, but the calls were ignored by the blind anger of the Aura Guardian, "no one cares about me, everyone will suffer!" Ash yelled out forcing the princess to step back as fear continued to pulsate through her body.
"Ash, don't let this darkness control you," Salvia pleaded with the trainer, before she could finish her sentence Ash grabbed her throat making her grab his hand, "no Ash, I am here for you," Salvia started to fade as the aura started to burn her neck.
"No one is here for me, there is no point in trying to trick me," Ash snapped at the royal, but was soon hesitant when he noticed the genuine concern in her eyes, his grip weakened.
Salvia was soon free from the grip and quickly embraced Ash, "don't give up Ash," Salvia buried her head into the angry man's chest, tears rolling down her face, "you're my best friend, I don't want anything bad to happen to you," Salvia tried to comfort Ash while he was trying to pry himself free of the royal's hug, "it's no use, I will help you no matter what," Salvia kept telling the furious Ash.
'Wait, what am I doing?' Ash asked himself, he looked down as the dark Aura started to change colour yet again, 'I remember, I was trying to gain control of my dark aura,' Ash quickly remembered what was happening, he looked down now feeling more composed than he was moments ago, he looked around to see that part of the route was destroyed by his outrage, "Salvia, I am sorry," Ash apologised as he returned the embrace of the princess.
Back in his subconscious Ash emerged as his darker part was laughing at the young man, "so you also prove soft," the darkness started to insult Ash, Ash took the chance to rush up to him and grabbed him by the throat.
"No way, I will never hurt Salvia," Ash lifted his darker self up off the ground and glaring at him with the intent to win, "this dark aura belongs to me, not you," Ash informed the figure as he threw him on the ground.
"So you don't mind having that weak, soft hearted woman getting in the way," Ash's darkness started to question the judgement of the trainer.
Ash glanced back and smiled at the princess' image, "no, I don't mind her being around," Ash confessed while a bright light started to illuminated the area, causing the darkness that surrounded the two to vanish, leaving an area that was half dark and half light, empty with only two people in the subconscious of Ash, "but there is no room for you," Ash stated while approaching the darkness.
"Stay away from me," he demanded, but Ash raised his left hand extending it out towards the enemy, in shock the darkness flinched for a moment wondering what was really happening.
"I have no intentions of falling into darkness again, I only did it today so I can conquer it," Ash stated with a smile, he grabbed the right arm of the dark being helping him up, "that is something I have done, you have no power over me," Ash commented causing the shadowy figure to start crying.
"I hate you, you bastard!" the figure turned away, angry at Ash who watched him walking away,
Standing in the distance Dusk was watching Ash now more composed, "so Ash, you finally master the dark aura, well, that now means you're now an Aura Master like myself," Dusk smirked at her comrade, "this makes it more interesting, makes it worth my effort to destroy you later," Dusk laughed at the new Aura Master.
'She is your weakness, destroy her,' the darker part of Ash ordered the young man.
Ash stood his ground and glared at the darkness, 'no, I already told you, you have no control over me,' Ash snapped back with a confident smile, he walked up to the darkness and grabbed him by the collar, 'you think you can control me, no, I control the darkness, I will go forward without fear, because I have light now, her name is Salvia,' Ash explained his new found strength to the dark part of him.
'This isn't the end, when you least expect it, I will take control of you,' the darkness of Ash soon vanished as light began to pour in causing the darkness within Ash to finally vanish.
"I don't think so, as long as I have Salvia with me, you will not get any more chances, because she is now everything to me, my light in the darkness," Ash reminded the darkness as he looked back to see Salvia staring at him. Ash looked away now feeling a little more flustered by the presence of the bluenette, 'oh man, now I feel much calmer,' Ash thought to himself, breathing a sigh of relief after his battle against the darkness, but he was also unsure of how he could keep a hold of his new found light.
Ash turned towards a large boulder and placed his right hand on it, "let's try something," Ash stepped back a few steps and raised his right hand, he focused his new dark aura this time maintaining a greater degree of control, a purple sphere formed in his hand, he pushed the powerful orb right into the rock causing it to explode.
"He doesn't have full control of his dark aura, not yet, but he can now use his darkness to stand more of a chance against the more powerful foes," Salvia noted as the trainer turned towards the princess and smiled at herm clenching his fist in pride at his new achievement.
Ash created another ball of aura this time with blue colourations, "I no longer fear the darkness, because there is someone providing me the light I need to go forward," Ash confessed his new found confidence to the princess, he avoided looking back and started walking forward, 'how can I say that she is the one providing me that light?' Ash asked himself.
Greed watched as his friend led the way, noticing how Ash was hiding something, "come on Ash admit it already, she is your light," Greed started laughing at the new Aura Master.
"Oh and by the way, why is Hilda and Hilbert near Ash and Salvia? I told them they would get in the way," Dusk hissed at the Shadow Lord, displeased with the intervention of the Unova Royals, 'but it doesn't matter, just as long as Ash, manages to conquer part of his darkness,' Dusk thought to herself as she glanced at the tree lined route to the east, seeing Hilbert and Hilda approaching their friends.
Ash looked up to see his allies walking towards the fog covered route, a more positive expression, he looked back and smiled at the princess, his face turning slightly red, "Salvia, I don't want you leaving my side," Ash informed the royal.
Salvia now puzzled by what Ash was saying, "what are you talking about Ash?" Salvia asked the new Aura Master.
"Nothing, just thinking out loud," Ash replied, he turned away and started scratching his head, 'man, what was I thinking by saying that?' he asked himself, unsure of his own words, Ash peeked back at the princess, 'I am a fool, I get lost after Dawn's death being played back in my memories,' Ash stared to berate himself, he looked away, 'and now I find that I am falling in love with Salvia, someone who looks like Dawn,' Ash clenched his fists, frustrated in his own feelings.
"Ash, are you alright?" Salvia asked the Aura Master.
Ash nodded and continued towards the road towards the next fight, "yeah, I am fine, nothing to worry about," Ash lied, but tried to hide it with the best of his ability, 'damn, now I am lying to the princess,' Ash grew more frustrated at himself, 'of course there is something,' Ash told himself, but as he was about to say something to the royal she felt her left hand tap him on the back.
Salvia walked passed Ash and smiled, "come on Ash, time to continue our mission to save the world," a confident princess reminded him. She started humming a few notes pleased that Ash was able to keep true to himself, she peered back without Ash noticing, 'today, I felt like I was able to help you conquer the darkness that was holding you back,' Salvia told herself as she looked away, she looked at her friends who were a distance away from them, she placed her hand over her heart and exhaled in a comforted manner, 'I am also thinking that Dawn made sure nothing happened to him, thank you Lady Dawn,' Salvia thought to herself.
"Yeah, no point looking back, we have a future to fight for," Ash replied happily, 'when did it all change? When did I fall in love with Salvia? Or did it happen over time? I don't think I will ever find the answer,' Ash kept telling himself, he looked up, seeing that she was leading the way, unaware that Ash was staring at her, 'when did I take notice?' Ash kept asking more and more questions of his own feelings, 'there is no doubt, Dawn, I have found someone I want to share my life with, but the only thing that is holding me back is uncertainty,' Ash held back his laughter which seemed more directed at himself.
Walking to their next mission, Salvia and Ash caught up to their friends from another region, "yo Ash, Salvia, it has been a while," Hilbert called to his friends, he noticed the almost awkward air between the two, "so you two, did something happen?" Hilbert asked his two friends.
"Nothing but conquering my darkness," Ash answered back with pride, glancing back to Salvia then a way again, he gulped for a moment and scratched his head with a pleased expression, "also I found someone who can illuminate the darkness for me," Ash confessed but was too embarrassed to state who it was.
Hilda approached her friend, her left hand over her mouth, giggling at the trainer, "who is it Ash, could it be?" she started before Ash placed his hand over her mouth.
Ash peered again this time with both his friends watching, "quiet Hilda," Ash whispered with displeasure.
"Oh come on Ash, it isn't like it's a problem Ash," Hilbert tried to convince his friend in telling them who he was referring to.
"Oh come on you two, leave Ash alone," Salvia demanded of her friends, the two watched Ash proudly smile at the princess.
They jumped back and started whispering to one another, fixated on Ash and Salvia, "so Hilda, it seems like there is something happening between those two," Hilbert whispered, while the two friends watched in a puzzled manner.
"Yeah, they are both oblivious to one another's feelings for each other," agreed the brunette, noticing how Ash was looking back at the princess then looking away when she looked up at him, "those two are in love, but they are too scared to admit it," Hilda informed her husband with a cheeky grin.
Ash and Salvia head towards the trials that will draw them closer together, what challenge will those two face.
Next up, Chapter 23: Convergence of the storm
Followed by a five part mini-saga, trials of time, space and darkness.