Ch 62: Round three
In Shalour city the people were in a riot as they formed around the estate of the lord of the city, Lord Thronin. Lord Thronin had taken all of the citizen's pokemon as ordered by the king. However, instead of killing them all at once he was slowly butchering them for meat to eat.
After the people found out their beloved companions were being used as meals for the lord they were out for blood. On the balcony of his estate Lord Thronin was watching as thousands of the citizens shouted out at him.
"Filthy peasants, how dare they judge me they're better" He said. Thronin was a bit overweight with long black hair and brown eyes. He wore fine silk robes with several silver bejeweled rings on his fingers.
Just outside the estate a Knight was at the gate with a dozen soldiers in chain mail as thousands of angry citizens formed around them.
"Stay back! All of you!" The Knight shouted holding his sword up.
"Give us back our Pokemon!".
"You monsters!" The people shouted. On the gate wall several archers got into position with their bows aimed at the crowd. On the ground a young man slowly made his way towards the front of the crowd.
When he reached the front he stared at a figure up on the gate wall. After another moment he turned to knight and took a deep breath. A burst of aura flew forward and knocked the knight and his men down.
The aura guardian rushed forward and leapt onto the knight as he tried to get up and plunged his right hidden blade through the armor and into the knight's throat. Seeing this inspired the crowd and they rushed forward overwhelming the soldiers on the ground.
The archers on the wall were about to fire when another 4 aura guardians leapt down from above and impaled their hidden blades into the throats of all 8 archers.
The aura guardian on the ground rushed into the estate courtyard as the angry crowd rushed behind him. The other 4 aura guardians quickly parkoured across the walls following the one on the ground.
When the guardian reached the main courtyard over 2 dozen soldiers including several knights had gathered.
" Stop where you are!" one of the knights said as he and his men tried to surround the aura guardian. Just before they could the other 4 all leapt down and air assassinated several of the soldiers.
The soldiers slowly backed up as they saw the 4 aura guardians walk closer.
"Lay down your arms and you will not be harmed." the lead guardian said.
"Never!" The knight said.
"Very well". The guardians rushed forward and began cutting through the soldiers and knights with their martial arts and hidden blades. Within minutes only they were standing.
"Into the palace" The main guardian said. The 5 guardians began scaling the keep walls as the citizens rushed into the courtyard before trying to breach the main doors.
"Lord Thronin is inside, but we need to save those pokemon first. Thomas, you and Markus go and find an entrance for our partners. The rest of you with me." The lead Guardian said.
As the other 2 aura guardians rushed across the palace keep roof as one of the other guardians in a white and black robe used a burst of aura to knock one of the windows open.
"Everyone through a different window." The main guardian said as he did the same to another window. A soldiers was walking through the hall way he saw a broken window.
" What's this?" He asked as he went over to investigate. Just as he got to the window an aura guardian came forward came forward and thrusted one of his hidden blades into the soldier's neck before throwing the soldier out the window.
Another two soldiers down the hallway saw this, but before they could do anything the lead guardian burst through a window near them and slammed his hidden blade into their chests as he brought them to the ground.
"No!" A knight further down the hall said as he saw what happened.
The third aura guardian wearing a violet and red robe used a burst of aura to break throughout he window and the slammed his hidden blades through the knight's armor.
With all the soldiers dead the 3 guardians quickly and stealthily moved through the hallways. Several minutes later they made their way to a large storage room under the keep where hundreds of pokemon were being kept in massive cages, deprived of food, water, and much air.
A knight walked down the stairs tot he men in the cellar.
"Lord Thronin is about to have a feast, he'll need some fresh meat" The Knight said.
"What does he want?" A soldier asked.
"He said a Rapidash, a Pangoro, and a Tauros, they have the best meat.
"Alright" The soldier said as he walked towards a cage. The pokemon inside the cage knew what was about to happen. They wanted to cry out in fear but they had given up at that point and were ready to accept their fate.
Just before the soldier could open the cage the aura guardian in white and black robes came down from above and stabbed his left hidden blade into the the man's throat.
"Not today" The young man said. He got up as the other two aura guardians revealed themselves and assassinated another 3 soldiers.
"No! Get them ,they're impossibly outnumbered!" The Knight said.
"Not quite" The lead guardian said as another larger door burst open as another two aura guardians came in.
"We're here with some backup" One of them said. All 5 aura guardians pressed their mega evolution stones. Moments later a Mega Charizard X, a Mega Garchomp, Mega Lucario, Mega Absol, and Mega Lucario came in behind the other 2 aura guardians.
"Oh no" The knight said. The pokemon in the cages watched on in amazement as the aura guardians and their mega pokemon tore through the soldiers and knights in the cellar.
The after the lead aura guardian slashed his hidden blade across a soldier's throat he saw a knight rushing towards the door. As the knight climbed up the steps a pair of soldier's corpses were hurled against the wall in front of him.
Mega Charizard X flew over and got between the knight and the door. As the knight backed up he heard someone behind him. He turned around to see the lead aura guardian there.
"Why are you running? Fight me like a man. If that's what you are" The Guardian said. The knight screamed as he raised his sword and lunged at the guardian. The aura guardian blocked the sword with his hidden blades before forcing the sword up and the knight to the side a bit before smashing his foot into the man's calf.
As a result the knight cringed as the guardian came forward and plunged his hidden blades through the knight's armor killing him. As the guardian retracted his blades the knight fell to his knees and then tumbled down the stairs.
"We're all clear!" Another guardian shouted.
"Good it's time to free these pokemon". Back at the front door the crowd was still trying to break the door open.
"Let us in you gutless wretch!" A man shouted. Not a moment later the door opened as a pair of dead soldiers tumbled in front of the crowd. Moments later hundreds of pokemon rushed out into the crowd.
"Our pokemon!". The crowd rejoiced as their beloved companions were returned to them.
Back in the palace Lord Thronin was staring down at the crowd with their pokemon.
"No! My meat! How did this happen?" He said. Above him on an upper walkway the aura guardians quietly assassinated the archers on the ledges.
"My lord they will be inside soon we need to leave" A knight captain said.
"Right, we need to" Thronin started before the 5 guardians leapt down and each assassinated a soldier.
"Guardians! Kill them!" Thronin shouted as he and 4 soldiers ran for another doorway. Moments later the 5 mega pokemon burst through the doorway as Thronin tried to turn around.
"No! No! Kill them all!" He said as he ran. The main guardian went right for the captain and blocked his sword with his hidden blades. The captain unleashed a relentless assault with his sword and shield. However, the guardian was able to block each strike before finally getting his forearm up and knocking his shield arm to the side.
He then used his hidden blade to cut off part of the man's arm armor taking his shield off. As the captain came in with his sword arm the guardian blocked it with his forearm and plunged his other hidden blade into the man's throat.
After the captain dropped to the ground the lead guardian saw his allies had killed the rest of the soldiers and Lord Thronin was cowering in the corner.
The 5 aura guardians and their pokemon slowly walked over to him.
"No! Please! I have money! Lot's of money, it's all yours! No please you can't kill me over pokemon. They're only vermin!" Thronin said. The lead guardian and the guardian with white and black colored robes grabbed Thronin by his arms and dragged him across the room to the balcony overlooking the courtyard where the crowd and their freed pokemon were amassing.
"Yaaah!" Thronin screamed as he was hurled off the balcony by the guardians and slammed into the courtyard. Moments later the crowd and their pokemon realized who it was that had fallen to them.
"No! No! No!" Thronin cried out in terror before being silenced. The 5 guardians stood atop the keep with their pokemon beside them.
"We did it Vaeron, another one of the king's murderous servants is dead" The guardian in white and black said.
"Yes, but we still have a long way to go before we get to him Andre" Vaeron said.
"Well at least with Shalour city free we've reclaimed the tower of mastery" Another one of the guardians said.
"Yes, it will serve as our headquarters for now. Our numbers may be small, but we will soon have the brotherhood back to full strength" Vaeron said.
"Grauu!".
"Sol!". The pokemon roared.
Ash slowly opened his eyes and saw Pikachu sleeping beside him.
"Oh, I had another dream. It was the same aura guardian Vaeron that he had seen in his other dreams" Ash said. He laid back down and stared at the ceiling.
"Why do I keep having these dreams? Once was strange, second maybe a coincidence, three times very strange, but now four" Ash put his hands on his temples.
"I need to talk to Felix about this". Elsewhere in the Grand Chateau Castle, Serena awoke to the sound of energy and thumping. She opened her eyes and saw a large pile of reddish violet diamonds in front of her bed.
Diancie closed her eyes as she began glowing and formed another diamond in front of her hands. Standing in front of her were her 3 bodyguards. When the diamond was fully formed Diancie tried to catch her breath.
"Well does it look any bigger?" Diancie said.
"Well it is slightly bigger than the last one" Merrick said.
"Well that's something" Diancie said as she dropped the diamond into to pile.
"Diancie what are you doing?" Serena said.
"Oh morning Serena, sorry if I woke you. You see I was thinking about what you and Ash told me yesterday and I realized you were right. I'm only going to make a good queen through hard work and determination. So I stayed up all night practicing my heart diamond making. They're getting slightly bigger, so that means I'm making progress" Diancie said.
"Wait a minute you've been up all night! Diancie you need to rest or you're going to wear yourself out" Serena said.
"Yes princess please listen to her" Joker said.
"But I need to work hard and believe in myself!" Diancie said.
"I'm happy you're doing that Diancie but it's 4:02 in the morning. If you don't let yourself rest and recover you'll only make it worse for yourself" Serena said.
"But I" Diancie said.
"Please princess do as she says" Knight said.
"But I had hundreds of years to do such, If I want to succeed I need to" Diancie started before Serena got up and grabbed her.
"Sleep, we both need it" Serena said as she yawned and walked back to the bed. She put Diancie on the bed then got in next to her.
"I need to" Diancie started.
"Sleep, please just sleep " Serena said as she closed Diancie's eyes. In truth Diancie was so tired that moments after Serena did so she fell asleep.
"Whew" Serena said before she laid her head down and went back to sleep.
"Oh thank heavens" Merrick said.
"That leaves just one problem. what about all these heart diamonds? We can't just leave them here, they're too valuable" Knight said.
"It's no problem once a heart diamond's energy is gone it disintegrates into dust" Merrick said.
"Then that means we have to consume the energy in all these heart diamonds ourselves" Joker said. 3 three carbink sweat dropped.
"Well…We better get started" Merrick said. Several hours later Ash and the others in his apartment were up. Red and Korrina were down in the kitchen with Felix and Delia as they served breakfast.
"Oh morning Ash" Red said as he saw his brother walk in.
"Morning guys" Ash said as he sat down and Pikachu leapt onto the floor where the other pokemon were having breakfast.
"So how did you guys sleep?" Delia asked.
"Just great" Red said.
"Korrina I hope our guest bed is cozy enough" Delia said.
"Uh right the guest bed it's just great" Korrina said as she and Red sweat dropped. Felix gave a concealed smile to Red and Korrina without Delia noticing.
"So do you guys know who Serena is facing today?" Delia asked.
"No they haven't posted the listings yet" Ash said.
"Well I'm afraid Alexa won't be able to watch Serena's match, she wants to get some pictures of the other matches too. I'll come to both her matches today but I'll need time to head to the other matches as well" Delia said.
" Well this is a big event, I'm sure you and Alexa will have a lot to cover" Ash said.
"Oh we do" Delia said.
"So Felix since I've been traveling with your sons the last few months I've missed out on current events with the brotherhood. Anything big going on?" Korrina asked.
"Well the Lumoise guild has kept me updated. The guardians from the Kanto brotherhood who were here to help us with team rocket have all returned home. Also apparently team flare has been popping up more and more lately. The last 3 assignments I went on for the guild involved tracking down team flare grunts in the city. In fact the day before you got here another non full time guardian and I were sent to track down and take down a group of grunts running a smuggling ring in the northern district of the city" Felix said.
"What about Diancie's city?" Red said.
"The mentor sent a strike team of guardians to the city, they cleared out the flare grunts and paladins there but found no signs of any officers" Felix said.
"Dam if we captured one of their lieutenants they might be able to point us to who's in charge" Korrina said.
"We are getting closer, every time we find one of their hideouts we get more clues. It's only a matter of time before we find their leader" Felix said. That was when Felix noticed Ash's aura. Something seemed a bit off about it. At first Felix was afraid Ash was still being affected by the flare grunt, but after a moment he realized it was something else. Something different.
After the group finished breakfast they got ready to head to the castle. As Ash put on his jacket and hat he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in" He said. Felix opened the door and walked in.
"Ash, we need to talk" Felix said.
"Dad, actually there is something I wanted to talk to you about" Ash said.
"Something is happening to you, I can feel it in your aura" Felix said.
"I know, it started a few days ago when we were at the castle. When we were looking at the pictures I suddenly had something like a vision. I saw someone's arm as they knocked a painting off the wall. Then that same night I saw a vision of an aura guardian about to assassinate a man in knight armor" Ash said.
"What?" Felix said.
"It then happened two more times when I slept. I head dreams that seemed so real. They were of an aura guardian named Vaeron, the first one was of him in a medieval aged Cyllage city fighting through knights and soldiers to save his Charizard. Then I had another last night of him and 4 other guardians infiltrating a palace and freeing hundreds of pokemon from a horrible fate" Ash said.
"H'mm, Vaeron well that is a rather uncommon name. However, I know of many aura guardians who have had that name" Felix said.
"Dad I feel I've heard it before somewhere, I just don't know where".
"Well wherever you heard it is irrelevant. I think I may know what is happening to you".
"What?" Ash said.
"While this has never happened to me, I have heard stories of aura guardians that experience visions of their ancestors through their aura".
"Visions of my ancestor?" Ash said.
"You see Ash a guardian's aura is inherited from their parents. Your aura is inherited from me, just as mine was inherited from my father, and his father, and his mother. This means your aura is practically the same as say your great , great, great , great grandfathers. Sometimes when your aura comes in contact to a significant place where your ancestor's aura was used, then the aura can begin to recall those events" Felix said.
"So I'm seeing the life of our ancestor?" Ash said.
"Most likely, my father always told me we came from a long line of aura guardians" Felix said.
It started to make more sense. Why the man in Ash's visions looked and sounded so much like Felix. He was his ancestor. Still Vaeron, that name wasn't a coincidence, he hard heard it before it meant something and he had to know what.
Elsewhere in the castle Serena and Diancie woke up.
"Morning, well later in the morning I guess" Serena said.
Diancie stetted her arms and yawned.
"Wow, you were right Serena. I do feel much better now that I've had some sleep" Diancie said.
"Ohhh". Diancie and Serena turned and saw the pile of diamonds was gone. Instead lying there were the 3 carbink covered in diamond dust.
"I can't move" Joker moaned.
"What happened to you three?" Serena said.
"Where are my diamonds?" Diancie asked.
"Ohh, princess we couldn't leave heart diamonds just lying around for anyone to take. We had to consume all their energy so they would disintegrate" Merrick said.
"You know I could just reform those diamonds back into energy all at once and reabsorb it myself" Diancie said.
"Ohhhh" all three moaned.
"Well now I'm feeling hungry." Diancie said.
"Let's go get some breakfast" Serena said. Thirty five minutes later Serena had gotten changed into her dress and walked down to the main lounge area with Diancie and her parents.
"I can't wait to see who I'm facing today!" Serena said.
"We should check the postings before the lines get too long." Alex said.
"Well maybe we should find Ash and the others first." Grace said.
"Well I can head over and check for you if you two want to find them". Alex said.
"Really, thanks Dad." Serena said.
"I'll meet you all back here after I find out who you're facing." Alex said. After he left Serena, Grace, and Diancie started looking around for the others.
As Serena looked around she and Diancie bumped into someone.
"Oh sorry." Serena said.
"Watch where you're !? Oh it's you." An all too familiar voice said. Serena felt a hint of dread as she saw Sara standing in front of her.
"Sara" Serena said.
"Well It's rather unpleasant seeing you here, I guess that means you decided not to save yourself the embarrassment of loosing and leave. Ashamed, now you'll get humiliated by me again, only this time in front of all these people." Sara said.
"I'll show you Sara, I hope you're facing me in round 3 so I can put you in your place!" Serena said.
"I'm afraid it will have to wait. I'm facing someone else in round 3, your little friend Shauna." Sara said.
"What? You're facing Shauna?" Serena said.
"That's right, which mean's I'll have the pleasure of knocking her out of the grand festival as well." Sara said.
"Just you wait, Shauna's going to beat you!" Serena said.
"We'll see." Sara said as she walked off.
"Wow she's kind of like a female Furfrou." Diancie said.
"Wait what?" Serena said.
"Serena!" they heard. The two turned around to see Ash in front of them.
" Ash, there you are. I've been looking for you." Serena said as they walked towards each other.
"You I can tell from your aura that you're a little stressed out, is everything ok?" Ash said.
"I just had a run in with Sara." Serena said.
"Ah" Ash said.
"Anyway I found out that she's facing off against Shauna. I'm just afraid that she might win and knock Shauna out of the grand festival." Serena said.
"Don't worry, Shauna'a made it this far she can handle Sara." Ash said.
"I guess you're right, though I didn't sleep great either. Diancie's been practicing her heart diamond making during the night. Plus i've sort of grown accustomed to you next to me while I sleep." Serena said.
"Well I haven't had exactly peaceful nights either. I've been having visions of my ancestor through my aura." Ash said.
"Visions of your ancestor?" Serena said.
"I keep seeing an aura guardian from the past that looks like a younger version of my dad. His name is Vaeron".
"Huh, Vaeron that name sounds familiar." Serena said.
"I know, but from where?" Ash said.
"Did you talk to Felix about this?" Serena said.
"Yeah he's the one who clarified that it was vision of my ancestor. I just hope I can figure this whole thing out" Ash said.
"I'm sure you will." Serena said.
"I can focus on that later though, I want to enjoy your performance here" Ash said.
"Oh Ash" Serena said blushing a little. She put her arms around him and kissed him.
"Serena I found your opponent for" Alex started as he walked up and saw what was happening.
He was about to say something when he felt someone grab his shoulder.
"Would you being doing that if he was your son?" Felix said. Alex sighed.
"You don't have any daughters, you wouldn't understand." Alex said.
"No but I do know what it's like to be in love, I assume you do too." Felix said.
"It's different, she's my daughter." Alex said.
"And Grace was someone's daughter." Felix said. Alex sighed again. Several minutes later Ash and Serena met up with the rest of the group.
"There you guys are." Serena said.
"Serena, I know who you're facing in round three." Alex said.
"Really who?" Serena asked.
" A duchess named Cynthia Marlthel. I know her, or at least I did several years ago" Alex said.
"How do you know her?" Grace said.
"Seven years ago I was stationed at a base near Anistar city. I knew a young second Lieutenant Marlthel who had just graduated from the academy.".
"So she's a soldier." Serena said sounding a little nervous.
"It's fine Serena, you can beat her". Ash said.
"Right, but we need to find Shauna too. I need to tell her about Sara." Serena said.
"What about Sara?" Clemont said.
"Apparently she's facing her".
"Really" Red said.
"Looks like you might not be able to knock her out of the tournament then." Korrina said.
"Knock who out?" A familiar voice said. Serena and the others turned around to see Shauna standing there.
"Shauna, have you seen who you're facing in the next round?" Serena asked.
"No I was just about to check." Shauna said.
"Well had a run in with Sara and she said she's facing you". Serena said.
"She is? Well that's a bit sooner than I hoped" Shauna said sounding nervous.
"There's no need to worry Shauna, you can beat her. You just have to believe in yourself and your pokemon." Clemont said.
"Right! I can do this!" Shauna said.
"Well you still might want to check the time and place of your match too." Serena said.
"Right" Shauna said sweat dropping. After Shauna left to check on her match listings the group began to mingle in the lounge. Grace and Delia were watching Ash and Serena as they talked.
"Those two really seem happy together." Delia said.
"They do, Alex doesn't like admit it. But they're in love" Grace said.
"You really think so." Delia said.
"Well according to her, plus I know young love when I see it." Grace said as she looked back at them again.
"Seeing those two reminds me of my own love story." Grace said.
"How did you and Alex meet?" Delia said.
"Well I was racing in a Ryhorn derby in a town near the Kalos Army's officer academy. I was moving my Ryhorn to the starting line when I noticed a number of young men around my age wearing Kalos army uniforms. I noticed a blonde haired one with blue eyes who was giving me some looks of attraction. After the race he found me and congratulated me on my win. After that he introduced himself and offered to take me to dinner".
"So you said yes" Delia said.
"Well he just looked so handsome in uniform I had to say yes. After the races he took me to dinner and we talked all night. I told him about how my dad trained me as a racer like he was. He told me about his dreams about becoming a general. Eventually we went on more dates until he became my boyfriend. After another 2 years after he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant I was competing in the National finals, but I lost in the 3rd round. To cheer me up, he proposed" Grace said.
"Well that's a lovely story" Delia said.
"So how did you and Felix meet?" Grace asked.
"Well we both grew up together in Pallet town where we were close friends, but when he turned 6 his family moved away for reasons I wouldn't find out until much later" Delia said before she started to look a little uncomfortable.
"My twenties were I time of my life I wasn't necessarily proud of. I did things that I'm not proud of and I was in a bit of an abusive relationship" Delia said.
"That sounds horrible." Grace said.
"It wasn't pleasant, that was until Felix found me. I hadn't seen him in almost 18 years but we still recognized each other. Even after he saw what I had become he still had faith in me and was able to rescue me from that life and my abusive boyfriend".
"Awe he rescued you" Grace said.
"And I mean literally rescued me" Delia said.
"Oh" Grace said sweat dropping.
"He left a nice big scar on my old boyfriend in doing so. I actually had to convince him not to kill him" Delia said.
"You saved your abuser?" Grace said.
"Even he didn't deserve to die" Delia said.
"Well that story sounds amazing. What happened after that?" Grace said.
"After that I took some community college classes and got into news reporting, all the while Felix supported and took care of me. After graduating I got a job working at the Kanto newspaper and he asked me to marry him" Delia said.
"So what was that bad life you were in and how did you get in it?" Grace said.
"I'd rather not talk about it" Delia said looking a bit ashamed.
"So what pokemon are you going to use for your matches today?" Ash said.
"I've already used Delphox and Corsola so this match I'll be using Aurorus for round three" Serena said.
"If your opponent's a soldier she might have a dinosaur too" Ash said.
"That's true, but I feel like" Serena started.
"There you are" A familiar voice said. Ash and Serena turned to see Lysandre and Malva standing there.
" Lysandre, Malva you guys made it." Serena said.
"Of course we couldn't miss out on watching you compete." Lysandre said as the others didn't notice him glance down at Diancie.
After Felix heard Lysandre and Malva's voices he shot his head over to them standing by his son and Serena.
"Everything alright?" Alex asked him.
"Yeah fine, I just needed to tell Ash something." Felix said as he walked over to them.
"So you've made it to round three. Very impressive Serena." Malva said.
"Hello Lysandre" Felix said as he stood behind Ash , Serena, and Diancie .
"Oh Felix, good to see you again" Lysdandre said.
"Lysandre, Malva good to see you as well" Felix said. Lysandre noticed that Felix didn't seem as friendly as he had been before.
"So I've been wondering, you two have been here for days. There are many others here you could see and get to know. Why are you sticking with us?" Felix asked.
"Come now Felix, we're friends. Why would we not spend time with you and your family" Lysandre said. Ash and Serena were a bit confused at the way Felix was acting.
"Is he alright?" Ash wondered.
"Pika?" Pikachu said just as confused.
"Hey there you guys are" Shauna said as she walked up to them.
" I found out when my match is, it's an hour after yours so we'll be able to watch each other's match" Shauna said.
"Awesome, oh speaking of which my match is starting in a few minutes. We should get over there" Serena said.
Several minutes later the group was in a battle theater as Serena took her position on one end of the stage. On the other end was a woman in her late twenties wearing a Kalos army uniform with two gold bars on her shoulder ranks.
"Yup that's Cynthia Marlthel. Looks like she made it to captain." Alex said.
"Is she a good trainer?" Shauna said.
"I haven't seen her in years, but she has to be good to have made it to duchess" Alex said.
"So you're Serena Achille, any relations to an Alex Achille?" Cynthia said from across the stage.
"Yes, he's my father" Serena said.
"Really" Cynthia said.
"The match between Duchess Serena and Duchess Cynthia is about to begin. Trainer's choose your pokemon" The ref said.
"Ok, this is it. I choose you Aerodactyl!" Cynthia said as he sent out a large Aerodactyl that roared as he flew up and over her.
"An Aerodactyl, alright I had a feeling she might have a dinosaur. I choose you Aurorus!" Serena said as her massive Aurorus came out.
"An Aurorus! Your father got you a dinosaur!" Cynthia said in disbelief.
"Well not him" Serena said.
"Begin" The ref said.
"Aerodactyl use rock slide" Cynthia said as he Aerodactyl unleashed a barrage of massive boulders down at Aurorus.
"Aurorus use Ice beam into Aurora beam".
"Agility!" Cynthia shouted. Aurorus quickly opened her mouth and blasted the each of the incoming boulders with ice before shattering them to bits with Aurora beam. As the Aurora beam continued forward towards Aerodacyl , he used agility to evade the beam.
"Looks Like neither has the advantage yet" Clemont said.
"Serena will soon" Ash said.
"Aurorus use Mist!" Serena said. Aurorus let out a thick mist from her side crystals that quickly covered Aurorus and the area around her.
"Get ready to dodge Aerodactyl!" Cynthia said.
"Aurorus use Icebeam!".
"Agility!" As an Ice beam flew from the mist at Aerodactyl, the massive flying dinosaur showed unbelievable speed in avoiding the Icebeam.
"Dam she's fast" Serena said.
"That mist may conceal her, but Aurorus is far to big. Use Rock Slide" . Aerodactyl roared as he unleashed a barrage of massive rocks down at Aurorus. This was bad, the Mist concealed Aurorus bit it would also conceal the rocks from her. She couldn't use the same tactic she had used before.
"Aurorus get out of the mist!" Serena said. The ground shook as Aurorus sprinted across the ground narrowly escaping the last of the rocks as they slammed into the ground behind her.
"There you are, Iron head!" Aerodactyl flew down at Aurorus with his head turned to metal.
"Serena he's coming right at her!" Ash shouted.
"Ok think, wait that's it! Aurorus use Icy Wind!" Serena shouted. Aurorus turned and unleashed a thick and cold burst of wind at Aerodactyl. The wind hit Aerodactyl and the cold was very painful to Aerodactyl.
While the wind slowed Aerodactyl down, it didn't stop him as he continued towards Aurorus.
"Aurorus move now!" Serena said. Aurorus dove forward just in time as Aerodactyl flew behind her.
"Dam this girl is good" Cynthia said as her Aerodactyl regained some altitude.
"Serena's doing pretty good, but she needs to land one of her attacks dead on if she wants to win" Red said.
"She's done if before" Ash said.
"Aurorus use blizzard!".
"Aerodactyl stay up high" Cynthia said.
"What?" Serena said. Aerodactyl stayed up high as Aurorus unleashed a thick blizzard of ice and snow at the flying dinosaur.
"Why would she tell him to stay up there, he'll get knocked out?" Shauna said.
"Unless" Ash said. Cynthia waited until the Blizzard was close, then made her move.
"Sky Drop!". Aerodactyl flew straight down and narrowly avoided the blizzard.
"He avoided it!" Clemont said.
"Re-angle your wings!" Cynthia shouted. Aerodactyl quickly re-angled his wings just before he hit the ground and flew right at Aurorus with incredible speed.
"Serena he's coming fast!" Ash shouted.
"Aurorus use Icy wind!".
"Not again, use Supersonic!" Cynthia shouted. Aerodactyl unleashed a piercing sound that hit Aurorus hard. She suddenly felt very dazed and confused.
"Oh no she's confused" Serena said.
" Perfect now use Ironhead!" Cynthia said.
"Aurorus quick use Icy wind!" Serena shouted. Aurorus tried to use her attack but her confusion was too much. Aerodactyl slammed his now metal head hard into Aurorus doing an immense amount of damage.
"Aurorus!" Serena shouted. Her pokemon hit the ground hard as Aerodactyl flew back up.
"Oh no" Grace said.
"Come on Aurorus! You can get up!" Ash shouted.
"Aurorus you can do this! Please get up" Serena said. Aurorus struggled to get back on her feet.
"Finnish her with Rock slide". Aerodactyl unleashed a furry of boulders down at Aurorus.
"Aurorus use Blizzard!" Serena shouted. Despite her pain and fatigue Aurorus raised her head and unleashed a powerful blizzard into the air.
"Sky drop!" Cynthia shouted. The Blizzard froze all the rocks solid before they were shattered into pieces by the force of the blizzard. Aurorus kept her eyes on Aerodactyl as he flew straight down.
"Re-angle your wings!" Cynthia shouted.
"Ancient power!" Serena shouted. Aurorus quickly unleashed a furry of massive rocks at Aerodactyl just as he re-angled his wings and flew at her.
"Agility!" Cynthia said. Unfortunately she was too late and the rocks crashed into Aerodactyl.
"Oh no Aerodactyl!" Cynthia said as her Aerodactyl dropped to the ground and struggled to get up.
"She's got him now!" Red said.
"Go Serena!" Ash said.
"Pika!".
"Now use Icebeam!" Serena said.
"Aerodactyl quick use Supersonic!" Cynthia shouted. Aerodactyl tried to raise his head as Aurorus unleashed a massive beam of ice. Just before Aerodactyl could use Supersonic he was hit with the ice beam and hurled back.
"Aerodactyl!" Cynthia shouted. Aerodactyl hit the ground unconscious with swirly eyes.
"Aerodactyl is unable to battle, the winner is duchess Serena who will now advance to round 4" The ref said.
"We did it! We won!" Serena shouted.
"Auros!" Aurorus shouted.
"Alright they did it!" Ash said.
"I'm so proud of her!" Grace said. Cynthia returned her Aerodactyl and gave Serena a respectful bow before she returned it.
"She's made it to round four, quite impressive" Lysandre said.
"Well I guess it's my turn now" Shauna said.
"We'll be there rooting for you Shauna" Clemont said. Twenty minutes later the group was in another battle theater watching Shauna take on Sara. Both were using their Greninja and the battle was not going well for Shauna.
"Greninja use Water Shuriken!" Shauna shouted.
"Greninja double team". As Shauna's Greninja leapt up and unleashed a pair of water Shuriken's , Sara's Greninja made a dozen copies of himself around Shauna's Greninja.
The Water Shurikens hit two of the copies but the other 10 were still standing.
"Wrap your tongue around him" Sara said. The real Greninja whipped his tongue out and wrapped around Shauna's Greninja.
" Greninja!" Shauna said.
"Now finnish him" Sara said. Her Greninja used his tongue to whip Shauna's Greninja around , smashing him into the ground 4 times.
"Greninja use Night slash to break free!" Shauna cried. Her Greninja tried to slash his opponent's tongue, but every time he got close he was smashed into the ground.
"Night Slash!" Sara said. Her Greninja hurled Shauna's Greninja into the air before leaping up and slashing him across the face with Night slash.
"Greninja!" Shauna said.
"Oh no" Clemont said. Shauna's Greninja slammed into the ground with swirly eyes.
"Duchess Shauna's Greninja is unable to continue, the winner is Duchess Sara who will advance to round 4" The ref said.
"Ha I've done it!" Sara said.
"Oh no, Shauna lost" Serena said. Shauna couldn't believe it; after all her hard work that she and her pokemon had put into it she had been knocked out of the tournament.
She raised her pokeball and returned her Greninja.
"Thank you Greninja, I know you did your best" Shauna said. She gave a respectful bow to Sara who returned it, despite giving a cocky smile to her.
"Don't feel bad Shauna, you never had a chance at winning anyway. It's better you get knocked out sooner before you get to close and get disappointed as a result" Sara said.
Shauna tried to ignore her as she turned and walked out of the room.
"This isn't good, we should go talk to her" Serena said. Back in the lounge Shauna was staring out a window at the city before she sighed.
"Shauna are you ok?" Serena said. Shauna turned around and saw the others behind her.
"Hey guys" Shauna said.
"Shauna are you ok?" Serena said.
"I'm , just fine" Shauna said before she fell forward and into Clemont's arms. Clemont could feel her tears make his shoulder get wet.
"I worked so hard, for so long just to be beaten by her" Shauna said.
"Shauna I know how disappointed you must be after what just happened, but you can't forget how far you made it. Round 3 of the battle chateau, there had to be hundreds of people who didn't make it this far and you did" Clemont said.
"That's true, but it's not just the fact that I lost. It was loosing to her" Shauna said.
"Well she might have won today, but the way Sara acts and views herself she'll never be a better trainer than you" Clemont said.
"Really?" Shauna said.
"Shauna I've been around pokemon my entire life and seen hundreds of trainers. Trust me , trainers like her will never go as far as trainers like you" Felix said.
" Well that makes me feel a little better" Shauna said. She turned to Serena with a determined look.
"Serena can you do me a big favor" Shauna said.
"Uh sure, what?" Serena said.
"Beat Sara" Shauna said.
" No problem" Serena said.
Author's note
Sorry this took me so long to post, but I've been traveling recently.
Anyway like I said the visions Ash has been having will continue. Also I won't be showing every one of Serena's battles as that will take too long. So the next chapter will skip over a few battles.
ALso I go back to class on the 12th so I will not be able to update as fast.
So until next time, please review, comment, suggest, or comment