Chapter 7 - Attacked

Ash groaned loudly as he sat up on another late evening. From the moonlight streaming through the open window, he knew that he over slept...again. His stomach was growling, and that meant another sneak out. "Yeah, that's not happening boy." a voice suddenly came out. The trainer turned and saw a shadow at the corner of the room. But Ash knew more than that and recognized the voice almost immediately. "What brings you here?" he asked; not amused.

Dialga smirked as he stepped in to the light and showed himself. "It's nice that you still remember me. I came here to stop you from adding fuel to the fire."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

The legendary sighed. "I mean between you and Lucario. Don't you think going out by yourself would arouse more suspicion Ash?"

"B-but I'm hungry..." Dialga exhaled sharply. He then threw something to the boy and he caught it easily. "What's this?"

"A bag of chips."

"Chips? They exist in here?" he questioned incredulously.

"Well no. You don't expect me to watch you all the time now do you?"

"T-thanks..." Ash's voice drifted off as he tore a part of the bag and ate the potato chips inside. "By the way, what's your name? I never did get to ask what it was." the teen was silent for a while, but then with a heaved sigh he turned away to avoid the trainer's gaze. "I cannot tell you."

"Aw, come on! Why can't you tell me?" he said with a disappointed frown. Dialga didn't answer; instead, he faced the other open window with a blank stare. "I guess I'll be leaving now. Some advice for you Ash, don't overdo it. This will be the last time I bring you something from your time..." the dark-blue haired male suddenly smirked. "Better enjoy it while you can."

With that, the legendary left the room as quickly as he had came; leaving a confused boy and a bag of potato chips.

-o-

It was around nine in the morning when the trainer woke up again from his sleep and stretched his arms. "Another day of training..." he muttered to himself as he jumped out of bed and washed himself up. The boy was slowly getting used to the surrounding, but he still missed staying in the open air with his friends. It felt like forever since he dropped in here out of nowhere. And even if it was nice here, he still had to get back to his own time as soon as he can.

"But I can say that I can't bring you back until I fulfill the wish you requested before."

The onyx-haired male groaned loudly. How was he ever going to save Sir Aaron like this? He didn't even know if the war was coming soon. For all he knew, that would happen maybe over a year. He couldn't wait that long. He had to go back...

The thought then crossed his mind. That person who did this; if he could send him back in time, then he could've also specified where he would go to. Simply put, he had to be near the time where Sir Aaron was going to...to...

Ash couldn't even bare to think of it.

After fixing his plain dark-blue shirt, he glanced around the room for a moment. It only came to him now about where his old clothes were. It wouldn't hurt to wear them, but then it would have aroused a lot of suspicion to others. So wait, what about Sir Aaron and Lucario? They saw him with his usual attire; didn't they suspect him too? Or maybe they didn't mind it? Either way, it was something he had to keep in mind.

The trainer decided to go out to the garden. He still had a lot of questions, and that was the best place he knew that was quiet. The teen found it a little weird that he knew the way there already as if he's been here for a really long time. "I don't belong here..." he sighed. "Yet why am I acting like I do?"

Pretty soon he was stepping on the soft green grass and was facing the amazingly carved marble pillars that stood there for what seemed like forever. Flowers were scattered all around the area in clumps, trees were covered in large fruits that seemed ripe enough to eat. Ash saw the marble slab he sat on with Aaron and was surprised that there was someone there he did not recognize. He had short hair that was laid down and smooth; black in color. His outfit looked normal; a simple blue collared tee with matching pants that had a few holes in it. Ash found it strange though that someone would be wearing this in here; in this timeline. For a moment, he considered him to be like him; stuck in the past; but that seemed terribly unlikely.

Out of the blue, the figure turned to him, and the first thing that struck the teen was his eyes; it easily stood out in the dark-shaded clothes he wore.

There was a stiff silence that hung between them; brown eyes met gold and Ash was already feeling uneasy. There was something about this guy that sent chills around his spine. Out of the blue, he turned away; breaking the staring contest. The onyx-haired male approached him cautiously; but eased a little after taking a few steps. Surprisingly when he got close, the mysterious person spoke first. "Do you use aura?"

Ash cringed. "Y-yeah..." he replied after hesitating a little.

The guy smiled broadly. "From the way you look, you seem to have a good teacher." he then said. "Well Sir Aaron is an Aura Guardian after all isn't he Ash?"

"He sure is-" the trainer's eyes widened at the sudden realization of what he said. "-wait, how did you know my name?" his reflexes kicked in and he jumped back. "Who are you?"

The other teen still sitting on the white block flinched noticeably, as if angry at himself for making such an obvious mistake. "I guess I did put my guard down too much. Leader did say that you had a pure aura around you." he suddenly muttered. A devil-like sneer suddenly spread across his face. "What's done is done. No use regretting it now."

"I said who are you? And who's this leader of yours?" he questioned again; this time with a threatening tone. His hand was starting to glow; preparing an Aura Sphere if ever he needed it.

The mysterious figure saw it almost immediately. As if teleporting, he suddenly appeared right behind the boy and grabbed his wrist; dispelling the attack. Ash was frozen for a few seconds; yet he broke it swiftly. "Let me go!" he shouted as he struggled to get away from him. His grip was strong though, and the more he twisted his arm, the more his clasp on him got tighter. Ash attempted to summon another sphere from his free hand; but there was something wrong. He couldn't feel the aura building up in him or anything. "W-why can't I use my Aura Sphere?"

"It is simple really." the person behind him responded. "Dark Aura counters the real thing."

Ash turned to his face; he hated to admit it; but his smile was scaring him. He was in real trouble here..! "Aaron-!" his mouth was covered quickly with a hand. It glowed purple and entered his body rapidly; coursing through him and shutting down his aura. Out of the blue he felt tired, so much that he couldn't keep his eyes open. With a final groan he slumped on the culprit's arms; unconscious.

He beamed broadly as he carried the boy on his back. "This will make for a great prize. I'm sure Leader will be pleased."

-o-

The Aura Guardian grumbled sleepily as he rubbed his eyes. How long was he out? From the sun rising higher in the sky, it would be around nine he guessed. Changing in to his usual outfit, he began to plan out what he would do today with Aiden. There was still more training for him; the boy didn't fully master Aura Sensing yet. The man realized that Lucario wasn't in the room; he must've woken up early.

Aaron stretched his arms as he went out of his room. Closing his eyes, he scanned the area; feeling all kinds of blue aura around him. He then noticed something off; where's Aiden's aura?

Already fearing the worst, he quickly sprinted to his room; empty. He swiftly went to each part of the palace; trying to find him through Aura Sensing. No luck; he wasn't anywhere in the palace. "Where could he have gone this early?" he thought; hoping that nothing bad happened to him.

Finally the man checked the garden. Already he felt a disturbance here; dark aura. It was used here recently; he could feel it lingering in the air. Compared to aura, dark aura has a lasting effect that can be felt in close range and tends to stay there for about half an hour. That means that someone was here not long ago...and whoever was here was gone. From the atmosphere, he could tell that there was enough to knock someone out.

Aaron gritted his teeth. Looking up, he could still see the trail that was left. Maybe...just maybe...

"Sir Aaron, where are you going?" he turned and saw a young maid standing there.

He smiled in reply. "Tell Lady Rin and Lucario that I'll be out for a while. I'll be back before dinner, alright?" and with that, he left with a resolve to find his apprentice and punish the one responsible for taking him away.

A/N : After two weeks of inactivity with all of my stories, I finally got this writer's block off of me and finished the seventh chapter. Whew! I'm sorry about this being short and I haven't updated in so long. I actually got stuck in one part, and after I edited that, the rest was easy. Finally moving along with the main plot~

Please Review...and then maybe I'll update faster. Summer's almost here...the problem is the final exams blocking the way. O_o By the way, if you want this story to be prioritized in the summer, please go to my profile and vote for it in the project. Thanks! :D