I'll be honest, it hasn't even been two hours since I uploaded the last chapter and I'm already writing this. I don't know why, but I'm just in the mood. Which is strange because this is going to be done soon, and I want it to end (because I love the ending I have planned and for the satisfaction of finishing my first story) but at the same time I never want it to end. I guess that phrase "all good things must come to end" really is true. It fucking sucks.
darkboy18: Um, no. I don't think I can kill Riley. Well him being drunk was just to introduce the fact that the campaign in Sinnoh is going well and that the Aura Guardians can now be involved. I just made him drunk because that's something to celebrate. As for an X shaped scar, I could've done that earlier in the story, but it's a bit late to do that now. I kind of already described what Ash looks like, scars and all.
Rubyspe: Well I didn't just want to use some random made up characters. I had to do some research (mostly reading others stories involving the Dexholders) and talk to my friend (who knows everything about Pokemon) to figure out their personalities. I hope I conveyed them well.
BlackStarZX: Oh my god, never in my life would I be able to write that kind of... thing. I did that to satisfy a request, but that's as far as I took it (or rather as far as I could make myself go with it). And oh how she will squirm, the satisfaction of bringing justice to my own character is oddly exciting.
Flinhaole: Ha! You wish. Ash isn't going to learn anything about aura, I just think that too many people use it so I use it with caution. Ectreme caution
pikechris990: Yeah, it kind of is. I portrayed Ash as a vengeful, angry, cold-hearted mercenary. it would seem out o character for him to accept help from someone who (kind of) abandoned him
Noble Boss 1: Really? That was smooth? I just used every stereotype every used in anime (knowledge of those stereotypes provided by Liam) and put my own little spins on it.
Noble Boss 2: Thank you, you're a really nice guy you know that?
Noble Boss 3: The shiny Noctowl was a request from a reader. (no need to name names. I don't know if he/she wants me to). I was actually pretty proud of myself for that. I thought it would be easier to picture the scene in your mind from a large overview of the mine rather than Ash's view. Believe it or not my internet went down again, but we got a completely new modem and it runs after than ever now. Oh just you wait, I got that covered big time. (You probably already realize that because you would've read those chapters by the time you read this. On my next story, I'm doing PMs for people who are reviewing the first chapter when I'm typing the 17th.
Mr J: Yeah, you're right. But it didn't feel right having all the Dexholders being on one side and having only one of them on the opposite. Drew was going to be noble in the castle, but I put him in as Giovanni's son so I could move Silver to the other side
Sailor Taichichi Vegeta: Yup, we're almost there and you've been with me the whole way, and I thank you for that Sailor. Swimming in a tub full of gold coins would hurt, a lot. Awkward was what I was going for. I was hoping to create one of those "da fuck did you just say?" moments. Well, we'll see what happens to all of his special people later. I figured the "mood" was over the second her walked out of the door, so I added in a little bit of comedy.
Guest: Wow, I really don't know how to reply to yours. Not that it was a weird review it's just, I'm going to be done with this by the time you get to this reply so I'm unsure if I should even reply. Whatever, you'll be satisfied by chapter... 13? was that it? I don't remember, but she dies.
Chapter 28: Trouble for the Heart
-Ash's POV-
I suppose you could say that my bad day started when I woke up. Now, I didn't wake up under bad circumstances. Quite the opposite actually, I woke to find a beautiful woman resting against my shoulder. I recalled what I had said, what she had said, and unfortunately, what I had to do now. I frowned, remembering why I was here in the first place.
I ever so carefully put May's head down on a pillow, a suitable replacement for my shoulder (probably an improvement). I silently slipped out of her room, meeting an empty hallway and a dark sky. I peered through the window, gauging that it was around four in the morning. The sun was far from visible, but the faintest glow of yellow could be seen overlapping the horizon.
I rubbed my tired eyes, cursing my internal alarm for waking me from my peaceful slumber. I walked through an almost pitch black hallway towards my room, determined to get this day over with. I opened my door soundlessly and closed it behind me to be greeted by my room. I walked over to Pikachu (how he got in here is a mystery) and gently nudging his cheek, recieving a small electric spark.
I scratched him under the chin, earning a a smile from the electric type. I nudged him once again, this time successfully rousing him. He stood and stretched himself, yawning halfway throughout the process. "Pikapi?" he murmured sleepily. "Yeah, it's time to get ready" I told him.
He yawned once again and jumped off the bed while I began to dress myself, grabbing everything I brought with me. I bent down, allow Pikachu easier access to my shoulder and soon we were out the door, heading to the briefing room. I opened the door, receiving the gazes of all the members in the room. Lance, Ruby, Sapphire, Green, Blue, Archie, Riley, Aaron, and King Norman.
"I apologize for requesting your presence so early in the morning, but this is of the utmost importance" Norman said as I found my spot on the table. I took a quick glance around the table, Aaron looked as serious as ever, Riley looked like he recovered well (damn aura probably burned through all the alcohol), Lance was studying the map the had been set out on the table, Ruby was giving every ounce of attention to King Norman as was Green, Archie, Blue, and Sapphire. I don't know what tipped me off, but I could tell they hadn't talked yet.
"We will be discussing the plans to attack Saffron City" Norman said. You could feel the temperature drop in the room "But we haven't even reached Kanto yet" Archie said
Norman nodded to Aaron, who took over the conversation "You're right, we haven't even got to the borders yet. But we have gotten far enough to use the passages" he said. I saw Riley perk up a bit at the mentioning of the "passages"
"Uh, this may sound stupid, but what are the "passages"" Blue questioned with a raised hand.
"Your question is not stupid, I doubt anyone here with the exception of Ash knows what I'm talking about" Aaron said with a glance my way "The passages were said to have been used by Mew in the First Era. Mew used them to transport all of the Pokemon to the correct region when the world was being created by Arceus who was molding the earth, making the land to dangerous for Pokemon to travel on. The passages go underground to all the regions to various places in each region, and one just so happens to emerge in north of the Forest of Death" Aaron said while pointing to the map
"We can use them to travel underground right next to Saffron City, they'll never know we're coming" Archie said with a grin. Aaron nodded "How many people can go through it at once?" I asked
"It can probably hold about seventeen people shoulder to shoulder with its width, depends in the size of the person" he said
"Sir Aaron, should you really be telling us this when we could use these to our advantage in the future?" Lance asked
"If there wasn't some sort of catch then I wouldn't have said anything. You have to have two aura users with you when you get to the entrance, and blowing the door open won't work. Believe me, many have tried" he said
Lance nodded "How long do you thick it'll be till we reach the other side?" I asked
Aaron brought a hand to his chin in thought "I'd say, about four, maybe five days of travel depending on how fast we can move"
"Now here's the big question, how many men are we bringing?" I asked, the room fell silent at my question "We can throw everything we have at them, attack with every man, woman, and Pokemon we have available. Or we send a limited amount of soldiers and keep some to protect Hoenn, increasing our chances of failure. This attack is going to be one and done, we won't have a chance to do this again. They'll send soldiers to where we came from, and the tunnel will no longer be an option to use"
I looked around the room, waiting for an answer "I don't know about you all, but I'm tired of having to keep a knife under my pillow. I say we take a fourth of our soldiers from each outpost and put them on the borders, then we take the remainder and use them to attack" Archie said "We won't be abandoning our people, but it's still an all or nothing gamble"
"Let's not forget, you have the Aura Guardians at your side. It won't be just Riley and myself on the battlefield" Aaron said.
"Let's start moving the soldiers around, the farthest outpost is a three day travel, two by Rapidash" Archie said "Green, you start coming up with the plan of attack, Blue, prepare the siege weapons and get every Pokemon we have ready to fight. Sapphire, you're in charge of taking all the new recruits and training them. I'm not expecting them to be fantastic, but I expect them to know what the difference between a sword and a knife" The three generals nodded
"Ruby, I'm going to need your help with other preparations, and Ash-"
"I take my orders from Lance and those from my employers" I interrupted
"Right, sorry" Archie said
Lance looked at me for a moment "King Norman and I have yet to find a proper role for our resistance, but we'll figure it out by the time the attack is ready" Lance said, with a look to King Norman
Norman clapped his hands "Alright then, this meeting is adjourned. We'll reconvene in three days when everything is ready"
Walking out of the room, I felt a familiar arm wrap around my shoulder "So what are we going to do while we wait for everything to get set?" Riley asked
"I don't know about you, but I plan on training for the first two days, then doing nothing on the last day" I said
"Yeah but the attack is taking place on the third day" he said
"You sure? He said we're reconvening in three days, do you really think that he'd send us out on the same day that we're having a conference?"
"Well I assume he means that we're going to be having this conversation at the same time so it would make sense"
I shook my head "The troops would be just arriving and we would be sleep deprived, he would do better to send us off at night or early the next day. Early in the morning would be better for the troops" I said
"Why's that?" Riley asked
"So they don't have to say goodbye to their families"
"Why would they not want to do that? It's possible that they won't come back from the mission"
"Exactly, if a soldier's wife and family wake up to find him gone, there will be no panic. They'll assume they got up for an early training drill, which isn't that uncommon. This is an all or nothing attack where, if we lose, there are going to be no survivors, no retreat, especially if all the Aura Guardians that are coming are dead. If we take Saffron, we'll have a defendable position and the enemy will be in disarray. Even if we kill Giovanni, but can't take the city, we'll be left in the open, surrounded on all sides. Do you even realize the probability of us dying on this? Chances are we're both going to die" I said
"What kind of an attitude is that? If that's you're thinking then you are going to die. I, however plan on living"
"As do I, I'm bringing in my powerhouses for this job, going around and getting all of them is going to take a while though"
"When do you plan on leaving to get them?" Riley asked
"Soon, I don't have much time to waste if I plan on going all the way back to Kanto and carrying them back using Charizard and Garchomp" I said
"You brought that thing!?" Riley exclaimed
I couldn't help but chuckle at Riley's reaction, Garchomp and Riley have a mutual dislike for each other. It was funny to watch from the side, until Garchomp got mad and attacked, resulting in Riley's Lucario jumping and helping, resulting in a battle that I must stop
"He's one of my best" I said
"But not the best"
"There's only one of those" I said while scratching Pikachu's chin as he slept on my shoulder "Although he isn't proving to be if he continues to sleep like this. Anyway, I'm probably going to head out when I get the go ahead from Lance, which I'm gong to get now. See you in two days or so" I said while walking off to find him (I was going to get him when we got out of the room, but someone just had to open his jabbering mouth)
"Hey Lance!" I called out to my boss when I found him walking in the hallway "I need to go and grab a team or this attack. Do you mind if I head out for two days to get them?" I asked
"Absolutely, we'll need every last bit of manpower to make sure this works. Just be sure to come back in time for the attack" he said
I scoffed "Are you accusing me of trying to get out of this?" I said
"No, but I will hunt you down if you do" he said
"Well you won't need to, I'll be back in two days or so" I said while walking away. 'First things first, May. Man she's going to be pissed when she finds a note telling her I'm going to be gone for two days' I thought with a grimace, imagining the punishments the girl could come up with
Lost in my train of thought, I bumped into someone. I tried to take a step back to steady myself but only succeeded in falling backwards. The person grabbed my shirt to try and pull me back up, but only managed to make them fall down on top of me.
We hit the ground with a resounding 'thud'. I groaned for moment before opening my eyes to look at Dawn, who for some reason was up at like five in the morning. "Dawn? Are you okay?" I asked
She opened her eyes and looked at me "Uh, yeah. You?"
"Yeah I'm fi-" I stopped my self short as I realized what was hanging around her neck "Nice necklace" I said
She looked down at it "Oh yeah, I never got to thank you for it" she said
"That's great, but um, could you get off me first?" I said a little awkwardly. Her face heated up and she scrambled to get off me "I-I-I, um, I-I I'm sorry, i didn't realize the position we were in and uh-"
'The position we were in?' I thought, confused "Whatever, it doesn't matter" I said, not wanting her to keep stuttering like that, it was starting to irk me "My question is "What are you doing up at" I paused to peer out the window "Approximately four thirty in the morning?" I asked her
"I could ask you the same thing" she said, putting her hands on her hips
"Meeting" I said, jabbing my finger in the direction I came from "Now what are you doing?" I asked again
"Me? I just woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. I hate it when that happens, don't you?" she asked
'You got defensive over that?' I thought incredulously "You get used to it" I half muttered
"What?"
I snapped out of my reverie, remembering how many times I've woke up in the middle of the night due to nightmares and spent the rest of the night awake "Nothing. Listen I got to go, I'm heading out for two days and I need to get some things" I said while beginning to walk off down the hallway, my back turned to her
"Okay, be safe" she said while walking in the opposite direction
I heard the pitter patter of feet moving fast through the hallway in my direction before I turned back around at the my name
"Ash" Dawn said while running at me. Out of instinct I turned around to face a rushing "enemy", doing a complete one-hundred and eighty degree spin to face her.
Now, I'm positive she meant to go for the cheek, I'm one hundred percent positive that was her goal, simply a "thank you" for the necklace. It's partly my fault for reacting like I was being attacked by an enemy from behind, turning around completely to face them rather an what most people would do and simply ooh over their shoulder. But after years of having an actual enemy that I needed to defend myself from, can you really blame me? But it didn't matter whose fault it was
The reality of the situation was... that I was kissing the princess of Sinnoh on the lips
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA! Didn't see that coming did you? You all that it was all set and done, that Ash and May were together eh? Well I'm a bastard when it comes to making hearts shatter (I just realized how that sounded but whatever, I couldn't get a girlfriend for my life anyway) and my story reached 100 fucking reviews. YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS! I'm probably over reacting, but this is a milestone that I while not skip (no pun intended). I didn't want to brag when I got to five, or twenty five, or fifty, or seventy five, but now were at the big 1, 0, 0. Thank you everyone, thank you Sailor Taichichi Vegeta, and thank you Mr J for being my 100th reviewer. This chapter was a little shorter than usual (My standard is above 3,000 words a chapter, but I normally aim for over 4,000, hence why I might get disappointed if it's anything under 4,000 words) I digress though, requests, suggestions, hate, and anything else is always welcome. You are all awesome (By the way next two (maybe one) chapter(s) will be all Ruby POV. It'd be boring having Ash pick up his Pokemon and take them back) so, till next time
-novaking2832