Chapter 8 - Tied

Where am I..?

Ash groaned; his head felt terribly dizzy. It was like he was hit with some kind of huge baseball bat; but then that would be weird since baseball didn't exist in this time anyway. It took the teen a few moments to remember what happened to him...and more importantly who ambushed him.

He jolted and opened his eyes; realizing when he tried to move that his hands and feet were bound. Not with ropes; but with a strong stream of dark aura. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to break free from the purple mist that surrounded his limbs; no luck. They were as thick and tight as metal bracelets.

Calm down. There has to be a way out of this.

For the first time he breathed deeply and took a look around. He was in a forest area; and not just any forest either. The trainer recognized the nearly healed burnt mark on one of the trunks; he was in the clearing where he and Aaron trained in. He wasn't alone either; there was a lone silhouette not far from where he was. He wasn't facing him; actually the teen could only see his back at the moment. The figure seemed to be mumbling about something inaudible from his position; yet as much as Ash wanted to find out what he was saying he decided to stay quiet for now. He could probably use this to his advantage. There was a possibility at the moment that whoever kidnapped him thought that he was still unconscious.

When the mysterious person turned to him, the trainer quickly closed his eyes and tilted his head down. Luckily, it looked like it was enough to convince him for now that he was still asleep. That's good.

"This should probably last me for a while." he suddenly muttered. The voice was familiar; it was definitely the teen that he saw before. Ash never expected him to be able to use Dark Aura...or to knock him out for that matter. He wondered though, what did he mean by what he just said by 'Should probably last me for a while'?

The black-haired male sighed loudly; it sounded stressed and tired. "I hope Leader would actually give me something today."

Is he that greedy..?

"I don't think mom and dad would last any longer..."

Wait, he's doing this for his parents..?

He suddenly laughed. "Sounds too cliché for you Ash?" the bounded boy opened his eyes and jerked his head up in surprise. The baffled look that the trainer gave the teen was almost hilarious. "I was just kidding. I don't even know my parents."

"You knew I was awake?" he asked; not showing a shred of sympathy about his relatives. He said it so calmly as if he didn't care if he never knew them.

"You made it too obvious kid. I guess Sir Aaron hasn't taught you how to mask your aura yet." the black-haired boy smirked as he kneeled down in front of Ash. "As soon as you woke up," he pressed his finger right on the trainer's chest. "the aura in your body flickered brightly. It's something that everyone does; but expert aura handlers can lower the aura they emit after letting it out for a few seconds. That way it wouldn't be so noticeable for others to pick up."

Ash growled. "I...I don't need anyone telling me that."

"Oh really? There's no use in acting cocky boy."

He hesitated; searching for words that can he can say so that he wouldn't look so...afraid. "You have no right to tell me what to do." he spat back. The black-haired teen looked a little surprised; but then unexpectedly, he laughed cheerily; it almost sounded like a child's. "I forgot, I never did tell you my name now did I?"

"Your name?"

"Yeah." he still had that big grin on his face. The teen looked almost too excited to tell Ash about a secret that he knew would blow his mind. After stifling a giggle he looked at the bound trainer; his eyes gleaming. "Let's start all over, my name's Umbreon. Nice to meet you Ash!"

-o-

Lucario scowled as he kicked a rock in his path; sending it flying to a nearby bush. He had so little information on this...this stranger. So many questions and hardly any answers. The jackal pokémon felt so frustrated; he felt annoyed, irritated. Honestly, he wasn't sure why. The boy did nothing wrong and yet...

Am I...am I jealous?

He shook his head. Why would he be jealous? The child was just a beginner; he was a person that Aaron is simply teaching. Who cares that he can do Aura Sphere? He can do it too...yet whenever he saw him with his master...it just...

"Sounds too cliché for you Ash?" a voice suddenly came out. Lucario instinctively went on a defensive stance; lowering the aura he was emanating as well. A second later he realized the question wasn't directed at him, but at someone else. The pokémon cringed; he could hear the boy's voice as well...and it sounds strained; tired. Making as little noise as possible he ducked down and moved silently through the bushes to see where they were. It was then Lucario sensed it...

A Dark Aura user is nearby.

He wasn't the kind to jump to conclusions, yet he pieced the situation together from what he had heard and sensed. Aiden was kidnapped by one of them...and it looks like he was knocked out first before being brought here. The guy who ambushed him probably had to rest; after all knocking someone out takes a lot of energy for both Aura and Dark Aura users. The latter use it more though and have started to become more immune to such strains. Since Aiden wasn't fighting back, it was most likely that he was held back with dark aura. Whoever's controlling it is one powerful user; it would be hard to take him down even with the element of surprise in his side.

Yet he has another advantage; Lucario is a pokémon after all.

Finally the steel/fighting type could see behind his hiding place. There were two people, one was his master's student and the other must be the kidnapper. Lucario suddenly got this uncertain feeling about the mysterious figure; it made him shiver slightly. Was this guy even human?

The atmosphere strangely didn't feel so tense. In fact, the trainer was gaping; his mouth hanging wide open. The pokémon wondered what his abductor told him that made him react that way; but nevertheless kept quiet and waited in his position for a bit longer.

"You...you got to be kidding..." Ash muttered.

"No I am not. I even have a sister that's an Espeon...well, she used to be one." the onyx-haired male was still shocked. This guy...was a pokémon? How is that possible? "Hey, if a Mew can turn to any pokémon it wants, then what's so surprising about a pokémon turning in to a human?"

"For one thing human and pokémon are two very different things." Lucario replied; stunning the two teens. A split second after he shot an Aura Sphere right from the bush directly at Umbreon, who was able to block the attack with his hands. "Phew. That was a close one."

It was then the jackal pokémon emerged from his hiding place and glanced at Ash. "You alright?"

The trainer was a little taken aback from the sudden question. "Tired, but I'll live."

"Good. I doubt Master would like to hear that you were beaten up so easily by some brat-"

"Hey! Don't put me down when you haven't even seen what I can do!" the gold-eyed boy was then surrounded by a purple-black veil that flared up like fire. Out of the blue, he disappeared without a trace only to strike Lucario from behind with a Faint Attack. The move pushed him back somewhat, yet he was still standing with barely a scrape. "Tch, so you can still use pokémon moves even when you're a human..."

"'Course!" he suddenly smirked. "You're a pure pokémon, so you have more resistance to my attacks. But..."

Umbreon lifted his hand up in the air; a small foggy ball in his palm. It then spread around the area rapidly; making the trainer and Lucario cough loudly from the thick smoke.

"Can your master stand up against my younger brother?"

-o-

Aaron cursed silently as he walked on the forest path. The trail that he was following had suddenly disappeared; whoever kidnapped Aiden was really experienced. He had been searching the place to find nothing but trees and bushes; so far there were no traces of his student anywhere-

"Hm?" out of the blue he felt the presence of aura nearby. Was it Aiden's? Closing his eyes, the Aura Guardian soon found a boy that was bound with ropes under a tree. "Aiden?"

"Sir Aaron? Is that you?" a voice replied that sounded very familiar. The man smiled; he found him-

Wait, there's something wrong here. His aura is different...it's smaller...he knows how to hide his aura. It's strange; he looked exactly like Aiden from his eyes, outfit and everything. "Who are you?"

"What are you talking about Aaron? It's me Aiden. Can you help me get out of this first before you ask questions like that? Better hurry before the kidnapper comes ba-"

"You're not my apprentice. I ask again, who are you?"

"...mm...and I thought my voice was pretty accurate." he muttered. "Took me a couple of hours to perfect it." the suspicious child stood up and broke the ropes with no effort. Suddenly his appearance changed drastically; revealing a boy with short brown hair and matching colored eyes. "Who am I you ask?" he giggled. "My name's Eevee, and I'm here to take you down!"

A/N : Did I foresee making an Umbreon gijinka in the initial plot? No, no I didn't. It was a pretty spontaneous thing really (only thought of it yesterday actually O_O), so if you see any errors or problems in the chapter please tell me. ^ ^ This chapter was a bit hard to approach so I'm sorry for delaying this...

Edit (4/1/11): Changed a few words and stuff. Thanks to Mysteryfan17 for spotting some errors I made. :D Next chapter will be quite long since it won't only cover the two battles going on, but also something about the Forbidden Magic. Stay tuned!

Please review guys~