CH 23: One step forward two steps back
It was early in the morning in Saffron city and inside a massive Skyscraper sat the leader of team rocket inside an office staring out at the city below.
Standing beside him was Seir , Cassidy, and Butch who starred out at the city with him.
"Just look at it, the entire city belongs to me." He said smiling.
"This is only just the beginning when my plans are complete all of Kanto will bow beneath me." Moments later the doors opened as Christian the Cleaver walked past a pair of rocket sentinels guarding the door outside.
"Sir, my mission was a success." Christian said as he held his arm.
Seir noticed he had cut marks all over his uniform and on the exposed parts of his body, bruises and a few cut marks.
The man in the chair turned around to see his officer take out a golden medallion and place it on the desk in front of the rocket boss.
The man smiled as he picked up the medallion and held it in his hand.
"I must say Seir, your brotherhood's ancestors were foolish for leaving this somewhere anyone could get it. I can see why you left then. With this the armor will be nearly complete, he will obey my every command." The man said before looking up at Christian.
"These are the results I expect from my officers" The man said as he turned to Cassidy and Butch who sweat dropped.
"You two could learn a lot from him. Perhaps I should assign you to serve under him."
"No sir, please I've heard terrible things. These two fuck up every job they're suppose to do. I work better with just myself and my men." Christian said.
"Hey we aren't screw ups!" Cassidy shouted.
"Right , your fuck ups." Christian said.
"You know what." Butch started before Christian drew his boomerangs and the two junior officers backed off.
"Perhaps you have earned some time off, you did complete a very important mission. Besides it looks like an aura guardian did a real number on you. Take the week off, I'll call upon you when needed."
"Yes sir, thank you sir." Christian said as he walked out of the room.
"The armor may be close to completion but thanks to that meddling Ash Ketchum Duncan's pokemon army was destroyed. We need a new one, and I know just where to get it. In case Ketchum or any other aura guardians try to meddle into it, I want you to end them Seir. Take these two with you. " The man said turning to Cassidy and Butch.
"Uh could we serve under someone else." Cassidy said sweat dropping. They heard heard rumors that Seir had killed several grunts just for talking against him. They had gotten many death threats from other officers they served under, but Seir had actually followed through on such threats.
Seir nodded before leaving the room.
Cassidy and Butch cautiously followed him.
The man turned back to the window with the medallion in hand.
"Who knows, maybe when this is done, I'll reclaim what is mine."
Meanwhile back in Lavender town Serena was up with her new Misdreavus.
"Alright Misdreavus use Psywave." Serena said.
"Mis." Misdreavus said as she let out a wave of violet energy above her.
"Shadow ball in the center." Serena said.
Misdreavus formed a ball of ghost energy in front if her before unleashing it into the center of the wave. When the two collided the ghost and psychic energy energy mixed and created a a blue form of energy that came down like a fountain of water around Misdreavus.
"Mis." Misdreavus said amazed at the beauty she had just created.
"Yes, that went great. I think we're ready for the showcase." Serena said.
"Char!".
"Ni!"
"Eve!".
"Mis!".
"That looked amazing." Ash said.
Serena turned to see Ash and Pikachu watching from rock a few feet away.
"You really think so." Serena said blushing a little.
"Pika." Pikachu said nodding.
"Well Misdreavus is doing great. She really likes performing." Serena said as Misdreavus floated down to Charla and started asking her about what she thought of her performance.
"So how are Butterfree and Pidgeotto doing at Professor Oak's?" Serena asked.
"Well Pidgeotto is taking charge of a flock of trainers' Pidgys and Butterfree has been getting friendly with a pink female Butterfree." Ash said.
"Really." Serena said.
"Wait Serena, you said that Misdreavus is ready to perform. Are you planning on using her in the showcase today?" Ash said.
"Of course, she's been training really hard the last few days. I think she's ready." Serena said.
Ash and Pikachu both sweat dropped a little.
"Serena I know you performance training is going well and you're anxious to let all your pokemon perform. But you've only had Misdreavus a few days. She has learned a few things, but you're probably going to be up against some very impressive performers. I think you should just let Charla and Nidoran take this one." Ash said.
"Pika, Pikachu." Pikachu said nodding.
"Ash I appreciate your concern but I've been doing this long enough to know what I'm doing. I got first in the last showcase remember. I know Misdreavus hasn't had a long time to train, but just because she's at a disadvantage doesn't mean she shouldn't get a change. It's like you said, don't just use pokemon who are super effective against your opponent's type." Serena said.
Ash and Pikachu sweat dropped again.
"Serena believe me , there's a big difference between using a fire type against a water type, then sending a pokemon that's only had a few days of training into a gym battle. It's all about sufficient training and experience " Ash said.
Serena wasn't annoyed with Ash, she knew he was only looking out for her. Moreover she knew Ash had a point. It certainly wouldn't be easy for Misdreavus to compete given she only had a few days of training.
However, Serena was confident in her abilities to train her pokemon how to perform. She had been doing it for 5 years. When she first started training Charla and Nidoran they didn't do good. But Misdreavus had shown great promise and improvements over the last 2 days.
"Ash I know we can do this. You're right to be concerned, but just like you're a professional with regular battles, I'm a professional with this. You've taught me that I need to be confident in myself. I want Misdreavus to get some proper experience. It's like my mom use to tell me , sometimes you have to go for broke." Serena said.
Ash and Pikachu sighed.
Ash was glad Serena wasn't being smug about it, that she did realize that she would have a disadvantage and it would be a challenge.
He knew that sometimes takings risks and challenging your pokemon was important, but the thing was Ash only did this when he had sufficiently trained his pokemon. Serena had spent 2 days training Misdreavus. He doubted even Daniel Rian could get a pokemon to be ready to face a good gym leader in just two days.
That was when they both felt their stomachs' growling.
"Oh, I guess we haven't had breakfast yet." Ash said sweat dropping.
Pikachu felt his own stomach growl and nodded.
A few minutes later they were at the pokemon center with Brock and Lucy.
"So how is Misdreavus doing?" Will she be able to perform today?" Lucy asked.
"She's been working really hard and we have her routine ready." Serena said.
"Well that's great she'll be." Brock started when he heard something.
"HUh." He looked down at his waffles and saw a pair of red eyes that began to rise up at him.
"Ahh!" Brock screamed as he moved back and fell backwards.
Haunter rose up and began laughing like crazy.
"That wasn't funny Haunter." Brock said as he got up.
"Haunt!" Haunter shouted as he continued laughing.
Ash had sent Butterfree and Pidgeotto back to he could have Haunter and Primeape in the group. Primeape was over with Bulbasaur, Charizard, and Wartortle eating breakfast. Primeape was wearing Wartortle's old shades and nervously kept his head down and away from Wartortle as he ate.
Wartortle noticed this and sighed.
"War." He said to Primeape.
Primeape slowly raised his head at Wartortle.
"War, Wartortle." Wartortle said trying to explain that there was no hard feelings between them. That he didn't care about the shades anymore and he didn't mind if he wore them.
"Prime." Primeape said sounding a bit relieved.
"So how are Primeape and Haunter doing in their training?" Serena asked.
"Primeape loves training, Haunter was a little harder because he kept trying to joke around, but eventually I made some good progress with him." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu said sweat dropping over his breakfast. The first 5 times he tried to do a training exercise with Haunter, he would disappear and try to scare Bulbasaur or Primeape.
"So where is the showcase being held today?" Brock asked.
"The recreation center, at about 3:00" Serena said.
"I wonder how many people will show up after the Saffron city detour." Lucy said.
"If they're determined enough they'll get here to compete." Brock said.
"Since we have some time before the Showcase, how about we see how Mr. Fuji and Cubone are doing?" Ash asked.
"Sure, I would like to see how he's doing." Serena said.
After finishing their breakfast , the group went over to Mr. Fuji's house.
Inside they saw Mr. Fuji and Reina feeding the orphaned pokemon there.
"Well look who came back." A creepy but familiar voice said.
The group turned to see Lex and his Gengar standing in the corner.
"Were you standing in the corner just to be creepy?" Serena asked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I was." Lex said as he and Gengar walked over.
"Oh you guys are here. Welcome back." Reina said as she saw them.
"We came to see how Mr. Fuji and Cubone have been doing." Ash said.
"We're doing fine." Mr. Fuji said as he turned to them.
He revealed Cubone who had finished his food and was how happily playing with the other orphaned pokemon.
"He doesn't seem to be distressed by his mother's passing anymore." Mr. Fuji said.
"I've also noticed that the aura of this town doesn't seem to be as dark and as uneasy as it was before." Lucy said.
"After we brought Marowak to peace and cleared the tower of team rocket we brought the aura of this town to peace." Lex said.
"That's good to know." Ash said.
Cubone saw the group and walked over to them.
"Cu." he said smiling.
Ash knelt down in front of him and put his hand alongside Cubone's cheek. He could certainly feel how much more peaceful the Cubone's aura was compared to when he first met him.
"You are doing a lot better. I'm glad you're able to be happy again." Ash said.
"Pika, Pikachu."
"Cu, Cubone."
"So Serena is your showcase today?" Reina asked.
"Yes at 3:00."
"Well I'm sure the pokemon would be alright on their own for that time. Serena would you mind if we came to watch?" Mr. Fuji asked.
"Yeah we'd love to see you perform." Reina said.
"Sure it'd be great to have you guys there." Serena said.
"3:00 then." Lex said.
Serena , Brock, and Lucy sweat dropped. They all agreed that he was an aura guardian and a good man. But they were still creeped out by him.
"Well." Serena said still sweat dropping.
"Then again I did need to head out for the enclave. Team rocket is in possession of a relic of Reduka. That is something the mentor should know." Lex said.
"Yes!" Serena almost shouted.
"Yes that is of upmost importance." Lucy said.
"You're quite right. I'm afraid I'll have to miss it." Lex said.
"Well that's just too bad." Brock said.
"I hope we can meet again some day." Lex said before he and his Gengar walked out of the house.
"I'll sure miss his charm." Serena said.
"Well he does have a point. I don't like the fact that Christian got a way with that medallion." Ash said.
"I'm sure the mentor will do everything she can to get it back. Trust me , she takes these things seriously." Lucy said.
"So if the showcase starts at 3:00, what time should we be there?" Reina asked.
"Try 2:40." Serena said.
"Alright we'll be there at 2:40." Mr. Fuji said.
A few hours passed before Serena and the others made their way to the Lavender town recreation center. The recreation center was done up in a much fancier manner for the pokemon showcase.
Serena made her way to the changing room where she changed into her performing dress and did her hair up in a ponytail.
She had Nidoran, Charla, and Misdreavus out. She had left Eevee with Ash and the others while she performed.
"Alright guys I'm afraid only two of you can compete today. Misdreavus since you haven't been in any yet you're definitely going to perform. Charla, Nidoran. Do either of you really want to perform?" Serena asked.
"Ni." Nidoran said shaking her head, indicating she didn't mind sitting this one out.
"Alright thanks Nidoran." Serena said.
After returning Nidoran Misdreavus floated over to Serena. Serena in truth was a bit nervous about the showcase ahead of her.
She saw many of the other performers in the room were all older than her. She started to think more about what Ash had said to her about experience. Maybe sending in Nidoran instead of Misdreavus would be better.
"No, I have to go for broke." Serena said to herself. She had to show Misdreavus that she was confident in her abilities. She had to use Misdreavus and use her first.
She also had to remain confident in herself. She had only trained Misdreavus for 2 days , but she knew taking risks was part of it all. She couldn't be afraid to make them.
"Alright you're going up first Misdreavus, are you ready?" Serena asked.
"Mis!" Misdreavus shouted sounding confident.
Elsewhere in the recreation center auditorium, Ash and the others were sitting in an upper level area of seats. Sitting on Lucy's left side were Mr. Fuji and Reina. Sitting in Ash's lap was Eevee.
"Eevee!" He said excited to see Serena perform.
"So Ash, you're a student of professor Oak?" Mr. Fuji asked.
"Yes, I am, but also of Professor Sycamore." Ash said.
"Oak and I are old friends, he's told me a bit about you and your success in the NPC. He holds you in high regard as one of his best students."
"Really." Ash said feeling a bit honored.
"Yes, and I don't blame him. You also remind me a lot of another certain student of his I met many years ago. A young man with a Charmeleon passing through Lavander town to get to his next gym battle. Unlike the others though, he payed his respects to the pokemon buried at the tower and spent time with the orphaned pokemon. He even offered to take one to raise. Which I allowed. Now a days he's known around the world." Mr. Fuji said.
" Daniel Rian." Ash said.
Mr. Fuji nodded.
Moments later the spotlight shined on the center of the stage as the master of ceremonies holding his cane and keeping his hand on his top hot.
"Welcome to the Lavender town pokemon showcase!" He shouted as he took off his hat and held it out.
"Today we have many fine young performers here to show us what style and beauty they and their pokemon are capable of." He said as the curtain raised and revealed all the performers.
"Look there's Serena." Reina said.
"Eevee!" Eevee shouted.
"So without further ado let's get started. " The master of ceremonies said.
One by one the performers did their routines with their pokemon until it was Serena's turn.
"Now presenting out next performer, Serena Achille and her Misdreavus!" The master of ceremonies shouted.
"Wait she's using Misdreavus? She's only been training her a few days." Lucy said nervously.
Ash could see and feel from his aura connection to Serena how confident she was. While he was glad to see she was confident, he still worried she was making a big mistake.
But in the end, he knew this was her decision to make. He could try and guide her but he couldn't tell her what to do. She had to do what she believed was best.
"Alright Misdreavus this is it." Serena said.
"Mis!" Misdreavus said.
"Now before her routine Serena must adorn her Misdreavus in beautiful attire." The master of ceremonies said as a chamber rose up onto the stage.
Serena had already explained to Misdreavus that this sometimes happened in showcases. The two walked inside before Serena started dressing up Misdreavus.
When the timer was up Serena walked out with Misdreavus floating beside her.
Ash and the others could see she was wearing a red short tiara with several ribbons around her body that tangled down below her.
"Alright Misdreavus use a twirling confuse ray." Serena said. Misdreavus began twirling around while using a spinning beam of light that twirled with her.
"Wow she looks beautiful." Reina said.
Ash and Pikachu watched nervously when they noticed something going wrong. Misdreavus was starting to get a little dizzy, seeing as she had never done it as long as she was doing it now. Misdreavus's form was getting a little sloppy and Serena saw this.
"Misdreavus stop!" Serena almost shouted. Misdreavus stopped as the confuse ray slowly continued twirling around her.
Serena let out a little breath of relief. Still she knew the judges had to have seen that. She knew she couldn't let that distract her from the rest of the performance. She had to keep going.
"Alright let's keep going. Misdreavus use Psywave around you." Serena said.
"Misdreavus's eyes glowed red as she unleashed a thick wave of psychic energy above her.
"Shadow ball in the center." Serena said.
Misdreavus turned her head up and formed a ball of ghost energy before unleashing it up. However, Serena looked on in horror as it didn't go in the center like they practiced before.
"Oh no." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu said nervously.
Serena then saw what had gone wrong. When she turned her head, her tiara had fallen into her eyes and she couldn't see the center. This had gone wrong because Serena had not had the time to have Misdreavus practice with props on yet.
The Shadow ball hit the side of the Psywave and caused it to distort and move unevenly.
"That doesn't look right." Reina said.
"No." Brock said.
Serena and Misdreavus tried not to look dismayed or nervous as they gave their bows and the crowd applauded.
"Quite a performance. Now presenting our next performer Michel Wilkerson and his Blastoise." The master of ceremonies said as Serena and Misdreavus walked off the stage.
"Serena's performance looked like it didn't go according to plan." Mr. Fuji said.
"It didn't." Ash said nervously.
"Eevee?" Eevee said confused on what was going on.
"Pika." Pikachu said trying to explain to him what happened.
Serena and Misdreavus sat in the dressing room as Misdreavus gave a rather distressed look.
"It's alright Misdreavus, you did your best out there, that's all I could ask for from you. Besides it's not over yet, we can still make it to the next round." Serena said trying to keep Misdreavus's spirits up.
A few minutes later she saw Blastoise burst out of 2 angle streams of water causing the water to come out in a beautiful manner with a double rainbow around him.
The crown began an uproar of applause as Michel and his Blastoise bowed.
"Well folks our judges have made their decision and we know who is moving on to the next round. We have many good performers here today, but unfortunately only 3 may move on to the next round." The master of ceremonies said.
Serena took a deep breath as she anxiously waited to see the results. Ash and the others also watched nervously.
"The first performer moving on is Isabel Lucanda." The spotlight shined on a dark haired girl in a yellow dress as she stepped forward.
"Michel Wilkerson." Another spotlight shined on Michel as he stepped forward.
"Now the final performer moving on is Diana Mitchell." The master of ceremonies said.
"Oh no." Ash said.
"She, didn't make it." Lucy said.
Serena felt like she had been kicked in the gut. This was the first time she had not made it past the first round. More than that , it happened because she was overconfident in her abilities and overeager to have Misdreavus perform. Exactly what Ash had warned her about, but she didn't listen to him.
Serena went back to the dressing room and sighed as she undid her ponytail and let her hair down.
Misdreavus came out of her pokeball with Charla and Nidoran, Misdreavus gave a very sad look.
"Mis." Misdreavus said. She felt very bad, that she was the reason that they weren't moving on.
Serena turned to Misdreavus and put her hands on the sides of her face.
"It's alright Misdreavus, like I said you did your best. I guess I just got a little overconfident in my abilities. You should have been trained more before I sent you in here. I let the whole team down." Serena said sounding disappointed in herself.
Charla came up to Serena and placed her claws on her upper legs.
"Char." Charla said trying to cheer them up.
Serena was about to change back in to her normal cloths but decided not to. She stayed in her dress and walked out of the changing room with her pokemon.
Waiting outside were the others.
"Hey guys." Serena said.
"Serena, are you ok?" Brock asked.
"I'm fine, we can leave if you guys want." Serena said.
"We probably should get back to the pokemon." Mr. Fuji said. The group stood outside Mr. Fuji's house.
"It was great meeting you all, and thank you again for saving me." Mr. Fuji said.
"It was great meeting you guys too." Ash said before the group turned and walked away.
"So where to now?" Serena asked.
"Fuchsia city, it's a long ways from here , but the most direct way is by taking route 12." Brock said.
"We need to head south of Lavender town." Lucy said.
"Alright let's go then." Ash said.
Later that night the group set up camp several miles south of Lavender town. Serena put Eevee to bed in his pokeball and was in her tent with Ash.
Ash had just his black shorts on and Pikachu was already asleep. He noticed Serena was still in her performing dress. Ash saw she was staring at the medallions she had won before.
"Serena , you haven't changed out of your dress yet." Ash said.
"Yeah , I just feel like waiting it." She said before she sighed and put down her medallions.
"I guess you can say I told you so now." Serena said.
"Serena, it's alright. Loosing is all part of the process. You know this." Ash said.
"I've lost before , but my overconfidence is what brought me down this time. I was so sure that I could get Misdreavus ready in just a few days, I went for broke and I went broke. How could I have been so stupid." Serena said. Ash put his hands on her shoulders and turned her so she was facing him.
"Serena you're not stupid, you made a decision that you believed in. It may not have gone the way you wanted it to, but you stuck by and believed in yourself. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. But what's most important is that you learned and can grow from this experience." Ash said.
Hearing what Ash said made Serena realize he was right, this was an opportunity for her to grow and improve herself.
"If I am to improve myself , maybe I need to change myself." Serena said as she put on a serious face and looked right into Ash's eyes.
"I want you to cut my hair."
"What?" Ash said in disbelief.
"I need this, I need to know that I'm not the same person who acted like this. Cut my hair so it's short , just above my shoulders." Serena said.
"Serena that's a pretty drastic." Ash said nervously.
"Ash I need to do this." Serena said.
Ash sweat dropped and nervously let out his right hidden blade. Before he could raise it he felt a serious shift in Serena's aura before she grabbed his right hand stopping him.
She then put on a big smile and began laughing.
"Ha I got you!" She said laughing.
"What?" Ash said.
"I was just pranking you , I don't want you to cut my hair." Serena said laughing.
"Whew, I really thought you were being serious." Ash said.
"Why would I cut my hair just because I messed up in a showcase. That would be way to overdramatic of me and too drastic." Serena said.
"Yeah it would, besides I like your hair long." Ash said as he stroked the side of her hair. Serena blushed. Even after 5 years of being in a relationship with Ash, she still felt giddy about the fact that she was with the boy she had loved since childhood. Plus the fact that she saw him shirtless on basically a daily basis.
"You know you look even more beautiful in your showcase dress , it's almost disappointing you change right out after every showcase." Ash said.
"Really, well I'm glad you like it." Serena said still blushing before she reached behind her back with her hands.
"It is nice to wear this a little longer." Serena said as she stood up and finished unzipping the back of her dress. She then brought her hands back in front of her as her dress fell down to her ankles and she was now just in her black bra and panties.
Ash's face shot red.
"Opps." Serena said with a sly smile. Ash came up and picked her up in his arms before laying down with her beside him still in his arms.
Serena moved her head over Ash's and started kissing him. Meanwhile Ash had his right hand against the back of Serena's head in her hair and his left hand on the back of her panties.
Twenty minutes later Serena was fast asleep with her head resting against Ash's shoulder. When Ash knew she was asleep he slowly reached into his bag and took out the time flower. He took a deep breath before connecting to Aaron's aura.
After his vision went white for a few moments, Ash saw he was back in Rota and saw Aaron in front of him with Lucario beside him Ash noticed that his Lucario was in Mega form. Aaron did not look the same as the last time he saw him. He looked around 4 years older than he was the last time he saw him.
Aaron slashed his right hidden blade across the the throat of a man wearing a brown leather padded jerkin uniform with a red cap and a sword in hand. Another man in the same uniform tried to come at Aaron from behind, but the much more agile aura guardian hurled his other arm back and smashed the soldier's face , making him stumble before plunging his hidden blades into the man's chest then hurling him onto the ground.
At the same time Lucario slammed his fist into a Machoke's face, hurling him back. A second Machoke came up behind him and tried to use Karate chop. Lucario quickly twirled around and knocked his arm aside before leaping up and smashing the Machoke's face with both his feet before backflipping.
The Machoke fell to the ground with the other. Both Machoke were wearing red vests over their chests to signify their allegiance.
Aaron saw several citizens and their pokemon trying to run from a trio of men, two wearing the same uniforms as the ones he just killed and the third wore a metal chest plate, shoulder metal plates, metal greaves on his forearms, and a helmet covering his face around his eyes, forehead and sides, only showing his mouth and cheeks with a red plume of feathers on top.
Beside them were a pair of Gravelers with red vests around their chests.
Aaron took a deep breath and raised his hand before unleashing an aura sphere that burst in front of the soldiers, hurling them back onto the ground. At the same time Lucario did the same thing , launching two aura Spheres at the two Gravelers , easily knocking them out.
Aaron quickly sprinted over and slashed two of the men as the armored one got up and swung his sword at Aaron.
Aaron hurled his foot at the man's arm and knocked it aside before he plunged his right hidden blade into the man's throat.
"We need to hurry , there are more Giath soldiers in the streets ahead." Lucario said.
"You're right let's go." Aaron said.
The two continued running when they saw a Pair of armored Giath soldiers and Beedrills with pincers painted red.
The Giath soldiers were standing over a pair of dead Rota guards and the Bedrills over a wounded Nidorino.
The Giath soldiers saw Aaron and raised their swords before they heard screaming. They looked up and saw an armored Giath soldier fly through the air and land in front of them.
Moments later Aaron and Lucario looked up to see Maximus leaping through the air and air assassinating the two soldiers. Before the Beedrills could do anything they were hit with a massive Hydro pump and hurled into a wall before being hit by a Body slam.
A massive Mega Blastoise stood over the two unconscious Beedrill as Maximus knelt down beside the wounded Nidorino and used his aura to heal him.
"Aaron there you are, we need to link up with the others." Maximus said.
The two aura guardians and their pokemon rushed down the streets cutting down several Giath soldiers in their path. At the end of the street 6 armored Giath soldiers and 4 Machoke stood before them.
Before they could do anything the soldiers were knocked off balance by hurts of aura that came from the side. Two aura guardians came from the flanks , one with a Mega Gengar, and one with a Mega Alakazam.
The two aura guardian plunged their hidden blades into 4 of the soldiers before leaping into the last 2 and assassinating them with their left hidden blades.
The Gengar unleashed Shadow claw on two of the Machoke while the Alakazam unleashed a Psychic that hurled the two Machoke back.
"This way brothers, we need to rally the city guards and create a chokepoint." One of the guardians said.
Aaron and Lucario followed the other 3 guardians down the streets until they reached a large courtyard by the city gate where over 2 dozen Rota guard soldiers with a few Nidorino, Poliwrath, and Machoke beside them, were battling an entire wave of Giath soldiers and an assortment of their own pokemon.
"Let's get to work." Aaron said. The 4 guardians and their pokemon joined the fray and made quick work out of any Giath soldiers their came across as their pokemon easily handled the Giath pokemon.
Aaron slashed across an armored Giath soldier's throat before sprinting at another and grabbing his arm as he leapt over and across his body, dragging the second soldier to the ground before assassinating him.
A third and fourth armored Giath soldiers both charged at him with their swords drawn. Aaron knocked the first one's sword arm aside with his left forearm before plunging his right hidden blade into this throat. Just as the last one came at him,Aaron delivered a powerful kick to the man's stomach, knocking him back before he twirled back and slashed his hidden blades across the man's throat.
Meanwhile Lucario used metal claw to knock a Giath Machoke's Karate chop aside before hurling his left fist forward as he turned around and smashed an incoming Giath Graveller's face. A second Machoke leapt up at Lucario only to have Lucario grab his leg and hurl him into the first Machoke. As the two got up Lucario unleashed close combat on them both.
Moments later a massive jet of blue fire roared over the mass of Giath soldiers as they streamed in through the gate.
The guardians and Rota soldiers looked up and saw a massive Mega Charizard X soar in and slam his foot claws into a pair of Beedrill before unleashing a furious Dragon claw around the mop of Giath soldiers and pokemon.
Amidst the fury another aura guardian leapt down from the Charizard X's back and air assassinated 2 Giath armored soldiers. He then made his way through the mop of soldiers, cutting them down like they were blades of grass.
When he killed all of the men in front of the other guardians and Rota soldiers , his eyes glowed blue before he unleashed a massive wave of aura that hurled the remaining Giath soldiers and pokemon back to the gave.
When their captain got up they saw the Guardians and Rota soldiers get into a good position to bottleneck them.
"Retreat!" The captain shouted as he and his men ran out of the gate and up the hill.
"We did it, they're turning tail!" Rota guard captain Talion shouted as his men and pokemon started shouted in victory.
Aaron and the other guardians walked up to Vaeron and his Charizard.
They looked up at the top of the hill as several more armored Giath soldiers appeared on Ponytas and another man in the center on a Rapidash.
The man had long very dark brown hair with a full mustache goatee that extended along the end of his chin to the back of his head. He had light blue eyes and light skin. He had a relatively small body , smaller than Aaron while he looked about the same age. He wore a metal chest plate and shoulder plates with the symbol of the house of Giath on the center as well as braces on his forearms and a long red cape on his back.
Vaeron stepped forward.
"So the Ekans finally reveals himself." Vaeron shouted.
"Caesar Giath." Aaron said.
"Looks like he arrived just in time to see his plan fail." Lucario said smiling.
"So you guardians are still here." Caesar shouted.
"Yes and we have made quick of your forces Caesar. Perhaps you should have learned this by now." Aaron shouted up at him.
"You guardians are so foolish, believing that your unnatural abilities mean you will always be able to stop me. Very soon I will be standing over all your bloody corpses!" Caesar shouted.
"Why don't you come down here and say that little man." Maximus shouted back.
"I am not afraid of you." Caesar said.
"That is why you hide behind an army, and cower up on that hill." Aaron shouted.
"Rest assured guardians , I will return. This city will be mine, all of Kanto will be mine!" Caesar shouted.
"Never, not so long as we are here to stop you!" Aaron shouted.
Caesar and his men quickly rode off as the guardians turned to the Rota guards.
"There are many people that will still need help, spread out and assist them." Vaeron said.
"We'll join them." Maximus said as he, his Blastoise and the other 2 guardians walked with him.
"We should check on the queen." Aaron said.
"Yes, we should." Vaeron said. The 4 made their way into the castle and entered the throne room where they saw Domenico in full battle armor with a guard captain beside him and two Poliwrath.
"Are the Giath invaders gone?" Domenico asked.
"Yes." Vaeron said.
"Caesar was here too." Lucario said.
"Caesar, that wretched Ekans." Domenico said.
"He has been denied his prize today." Another voice said. They turned to see Rin walking in with the crown on her head.
"Your majesty." Vaeron said as he and Aaron respectfully bowed.
"Sir Vaeron, sir Aaron. I thank you both and your fellow guardians for defending our city and our people." In said.
"It is our duty." Aaron said.
"The city is safe now. If you'll excuse me, I must rest. I'm not the young man I once was." Vaeron said as he and Charizard walked off.
The memory began to move forward faster until it was night. Rin was alone on a balcony staring out at the tree of beginning.
"Beautiful isn't it." Rin heard. She turned over to see Aaron standing on the railing.
"Ahh! Aaron don't scare me like that." Rin said.
"Sorry." Aaron said as he stepped down beside her.
"You know I've always wondered what it must be like inside there." Rin said.
"My father told me that some day I should travel into the tree itself and into the heart. I was actually planning on doing that tonight.".
"Why tonight?" Rin asked.
"The attack on Rota. You never know how long you have, and this is something I don't want to miss out on." Aaron asked.
Rin sighed.
"I know where you're going with this Aaron. You know this can never happen between us. I know the way you feel about me. It's just not going to work, I am the queen." Rin said.
"Come on, I just want you to see the heart of the tree of beginning. " Aaron said.
Rin sighed.
"Alright, just be clear. Nothing else is going to happen." Rin said.
Moments later Rin saw a Pidgeot fly towards them and land on the railing. On his back was Lucario.
"We're flying in?" Rin said nervously.
"We'll be fine." Aaron said.
The memory moved forward again until Ash saw they were in some kind of cave. In the center was a massive glowing blue crystal.
"The heart." Lucario said.
"It really exists." Rin said. Lucario and Aaron could feel the sheer power of the heart , it was overwhelming.
"It's amazing." Aaron said.
"This is what keeps the tree alive, what watches over our city." Rin said as she slowly walked closer.
While the power of the heart was overwhelming, Lucario and Aaron were a little confused. They felt no different. Maximus and Vaeron described it as life changing.
That was when they both felt something else. Something very different. They turned around to see a pokemon floating in front of them.
The pokemon was like a pink cat with a long tail. Lucario and Aaron felt something in the pokemon like they had never felt before.
"That pokemon, I've seen it before. Back in the book dad use to make us study." Ash said to himself.
"Mew." The pokemon said.
"Who is this?" Lucario said with his eyes widening.
"I've never felt a pokemon like him before." Aaron said. Rin turned and saw the pokemon as well.
"What pokemon is that?" She asked.
"We don't know." Aaron said.
"Mew!" The pokemon said smiling as he flew around them in a playful manner.
He floated in front of each smiling trying to play with them. Using his powers he generated a violet bubble in front of him before popping it and smiling even more.
"He's amazing." Lucario said.
Aaron and the others stared to feel themselves change. Aaron and Lucario could feel all manner of life in him.
This had to be what Vaeron was talking about. This pokemon.
As the pokemon began to float away, Rin looked at this pokemon then back to Aaron.
"You were right Aaron. This was life changing." She said.
"Thank my father. He's the one who told me to come here." Aaron said. Rin looked uneasy as she looked up at Aaron.
"Maybe I was wrong, about us. Even if I am a queen, I am a human. I'm allowed to be with the one I love." Rin said before she wrapped her arms around Aaron's shoulder and kissed him.
Ash's vision turned white again before he saw he was back in his tent.
"So Aaron did end up with her." Ash said.
Author's note:
Glad I was able to do another Sir Aaron memory, and introduced his villain. (The best assassins creed villain)
So yeah in this one I wanted Serena to get a little confident but not smug, I think I handled it well.
Also you see where I stand on the whole hair issue, though personally I don't care that much, I just found it a bit over the top and preferred her with long hair. But like I said, I really don't care that much it's just a personal preference
I feel like I should have more to say, but nothing comes to mind at the moment.
So until next time, please review, comment ,suggest, or ask(Via PM)