Ch 31: Past and future
It was early in the morning outside Fuchsia city near route 19 and Ash was up with his pokemon. He had already spent several hours doing some intense training with each of them and was now finishing up with Tauros.
"Tauros use Take down!" Ash shouted.
"Moaa!" Tauros shouted before sprinting into a large rock formation and smashing it to pieces.
Ash had sent his Primeape back to Oak's lab so that he could work with Tauros.
"Great job Tauros, you did awesome." Ash said.
"Moaa." Tauros said sweating profusely from his long training work out.
"Alright Charizard ready for another try at Blast Burn?" Ash asked.
"Grauu." Charizard growled nodding. He stepped forward beside Ash.
Pikachu and the others watched from under a tree a few yards away.
"Alright, we made a good start with the Fire blast, now we need to try and make it more explosive." Ash said.
Charizard nodded. He then increased the size of his tail flame, then unleashed another fire blast with the energy focused in the center.
The Fire blast burst around the area of impact in an explosive like manner.
"Good, go again." Ash said.
As this went on Serena was with her own pokemon.
"Alright let's try again Scyther." Serena said sweat dropping.
"Scyther!" Her new Scyther shouted as he flew right at Charla again.
He tried to slash her with fury cutter, only to have Charla grab his arms below the blades and hurled him back.
Serena and her other pokemon sighed.
Scyther was still not obeying her. He reminded her of Ash's Charizard when he first evolved.
She returned him to his pokeball and sighed.
"I'm getting no where with him. Maybe Ash can give me some advice on how to handle him." Serena said.
"Eevee." Eevee said nudging against her leg.
"Well I guess we should probably focus on working with you guys." Serena said.
She came up with new routines for each of her pokemon to practice.
Charla was in the air breathing fire all around herself.
"Now use your wings!" Serena shouted. Charla used her wings to twirl herself around diagonally in mid air while also unleashing small gust that forced the fire around her to flow out in an elegant manner.
Charla then landed and whipped her wings around again, causing the remaining fire to be redirected again, making it into proto-paterns.
"Awesome Charla! You were amazing, your wings give you so many more options." Serena said.
Charla too was amazed at what her new body allowed her to do. Her wings were her favorite new part of her.
"Alright that's enough for now Charla. Eevee you turn." Serena said.
Charla stepped aside as Eevee stepped forward.
"Alright we've been practicing hard and I think you're ready to start your performance training." Serena said.
"Eevee!" Eevee shouted sounding excited.
"Alright let's try the routine I came up with for you. Eevee try quick attack to pick up speed , then try a backflip." Serena said.
Eevee sprinted forward moving as fast as he could from place to place before he did a small backflip landing in the center of where he ran.
"Eevee!" Eevee shouted happy he was able to do it.
Serena, Charla, Nidorina, Absol, and Misdreavus all sweat dropped before the 4 pokemon turned to Serena.
"Alright, I guess that was a little more plain then I thought it would be now that I saw it. It's ok , I have other ideas." Serena said as Eevee stepped up looking very proud of what he did.
"Good job Eevee, you did it just like I said. Alright now try a sand attack into a tail whip to knock it around you." Serena said.
Eevee smashed the ground with his paws, causing sand to shoot out before it was splashed around him with his tail. The sand flew around Eevee in an organized manner but once again Serena and her other pokemon sweat dropped.
"Alright this isn't going like I hoped it would." Serena said.
Serena knew it wasn't Eevee's fault. He was doing his very best and doing what she said. The problem was , none of Eevee's attacks or seemed to have any pizzaz to them like her other pokemon. Serena began to realize why she hadn't seen many if any performers who used normal type pokemon for performances.
That was when Serena realized she could evolve Eevee into a number of different pokemon that would have a lot of show in a performance. But she knew that she couldn't make Eevee evolve just yet. He was still a bit young, and he had to be the one to choose if he wanted to evolve.
"I'll evolve him when he's ready, and if he chooses to do so. Until then I'll just have him practice performances anyway." Serena said. Her other pokemon nodded in agreement, thinking it was a wise decision.
Elsewhere back in the camp Brock and Lucy had their new pokemon out.
Chaney was looking at Brock's Zubat who had gotten a little hurt during a training exercise with Geodude earlier that morning.
"I think his wing is slightly dislocated." Brock said as Zubat nudged his head against his right wing.
"Chansey." Chansey said nodding as she felt his wing.
"Now if we apply the pressure right." Brock started before Chansey grabbed Zubat and with one hand and his wing with her other then quickly forced it back in Zubat's direction.
"Zu!" Zubat shouted in pain.
"Chaney!" Brock shouted. That is when Zubat felt his wing snap back into place and feel better.
"Zu." Zutat said as he flew up into the air with a smile.
"Chansey so did it so quickly." Brock said amazed.
"Chansey." Chansey said smiling.
Nearby Lucy was up with her new Drattini. Her eyes were glowing blue as she placed her glowing left hand on Dratini's forehead. Lucy was opening up an aura connection between the two of them.
Her eyes returned to normal as Dratini looked up at Lucy.
"Now we're connected." Lucy said.
"Drat!" Dratini shouted with a happy expression.
"Now we can begin training." Lucy said.
Brock walked over with Chansey.
"So you set up an aura connection with him." Brock said.
"Yeah, it's ben a while since I've caught another pokemon. I've forgotten how good it feels. So how are you and Chansey doing?" Lucy asked.
"We're going great, we're both learning from each other about healing and breeding." Brock said.
"Well a trainer can learn as much from their pokemon as their pokemon can learn from them." Lucy said.
"That's true, I've learned a lot from my pokemon." Brock said.
"I learned that the original aura guardians learned much of their martial arts from Lucarios. They in tern taught the Lucario how to use their aura more efficiently." Lucy said.
"So are you going to start training Dratini today?" Brock asked.
"Yes, though it's been a while since I've trained a young pokemon form scratch. The last few years of training has been mostly harder sessions with the pokemon I already had." Lucy said.
"Well you could start off with a simple battle. Break the ice for him." Brock said.
"Not a bad idea, but who could he face. My other pokemon are too strong." Lucy said.
"He could always face Chansey." Brock said.
"Really?" Lucy asked.
"Chansey said she wanted to learn how to battle too." Brock said.
"Chansey!" Chansey said as she nodded with a determined expression on her face.
"Alright then, let's do it." Lucy said.
Brock's other pokemon and Lucy's other pokemon were out watching the battle.
Chansey stood in front of Brock as Dratini stood in front of Lucy.
After opening up an aura connection with Dratini, Lucy knew he had only mastered a few moves and thus new her options were limited. But she had won with less.
"Dratini use Twister." Lucy said.
"Drat!" Dratini shouted as he unleashed a small twister of dragon energy at Chansey.
"Chansey use Egg bomb!" Brock shouted.
"Chan." Chansey said she unleashed an explosive egg into the twister. The resulting explosion destroyed the Twister. But when the steam cleared Dratini had gotten much closer to Chansey.
"Thunder wave!" Lucy shouted.
Dratini sparked his horns before blasting Chansey with a paralyzing burst of electricity.
"Ah distracting my pokemon with a direct attack to mask the real attack. Clever, but we've got counter measures. Refresh" Brock said.
Chansey started to glow green as she closed her eyes and healed herself of her Paralysis.
"Right." Lucy said sweat dropping.
"Chansey use Pound!"
"Dratini dodge it!" Lucy shouted. Dratini tried to avoid the attack, but wasn't quick enough.
Chansey reached Dratini and slammed her arm into Dratini.
"Dratini use Wrap." Lucy said.
Dratini wrapped his body around Chansey and began squeezing her.
"Dratini use Leer!" Lucy shouted. Dratini's eyes glowed blue as he hit Chansey and lowered her defenses as he continued squeezing Chansey.
"Defense curl." Brock said as Chansey curled herself up and re-raised her defenses minimizing Dratini's attack's effect.
"Double slap on his head." Brock said.
Chansey slapped Dratini across the face repeatedly until Dratini was knocked off.
"Egg bomb." Brock said.
"Chan!" Chansey shouted as she hurled an egg at Dratini that exploded around him.
"Dratini!" Lucy shouted.
Dratini was laying on the ground with swirly eyes.
"Yes we did it." Brock said.
"Chansey!".
Lucy walked over and knelt down next to Dratini.
"You did well." She said as she returned him.
"Woah I can't believe we just beat the frontier brain slash aura guardian Lucy." Brock said as he and Chansey walked over to her.
"Does this mean I get a Luck Symbol?" Brock asked.
Lucy smiled.
"You beat my Dratini, but you also have to beat me." She said before she smashed her palm into Brock's chest and hurled him onto his back as she came directly over him,
"Well , looks like no Luck Symbol for you." Lucy said.
The two blushed before Lucy helped Brock get up.
The two stood there staring at each other for nearly a minute before Brock tried to say something.
"Hey guys." Ash said as he and Serena walked over to them.
"Hey guys." Brock said sounding slightly frustrated.
He knew Lucy's and his relationship wasn't official and they were still quote "Friends just a little closer." But he wanted them to be in a real relationship. He wanted some time alone with Lucy to ask her about it.
The group sat down and started breakfast.
"So how are Scyther and Tauros doing?" Lucy asked.
"Tauros is doing good, he's got a lot more experience than a lot of my other pokemon did when I caught them." Ash said.
"Well, Scyther isn't doing well. He won't listen to me at all." Serena said.
Ash's Charizard heard this and then turned to Scyther who was eating his food away from the other pokemon.
"Grauu." Charizard growled.
"Well you know I had that problem with Charizard when he evolved. Maybe we could work with him." Ash said.
Charizard turned to them and nodded.
"So how far are we from the the coastline?" Serena asked,
"Looks like not too far, maybe a two to three days at the most." Brock said.
"Sweet, we can get there soon." Ash said.
After finishing their breakfast the group continued down route 19.
"So who are you going to use for your performance in the Seafoam islands?" Lucy said.
"Well until I can get Scyther to listen to me he's off the list. I've started training Eevee to perform." Serena said.
"Really." Ash said.
"Yes and he's giving it all he's got. The only problem is since he's a normal type, none of his moves can do anything really extraordinary or visually appealing." Serena said.
"Huh, I guess Normal type moves for the most part aren't really for show." Lucy said.
"I feel bad because Eevee is trying really hard and is doing everything he can. I considered evolving him with a stone later when he's older, but I only want to if he chooses to." Serena said.
"That's probably the best choice. You should never make a pokemon evolve if they don't" Lucy started before she felt something.
"Huh?" Lucy said as she turned to the side of the trail.
"Lucy?" Brock asked.
Lucy felt a familiar aura nearby, someone who was quite close to her at one time.
She stepped off the path when Brock and the others noticed this.
"Lucy are you alright? Where are you going?" Brock asked.
Lucy didn't say anything , she just kept walking off the path with the others close behind.
"Lucy, what's going on?" Serena asked. That is when they reached an open grove. Lucy saw who she thought it was and her face turned slightly red.
Brock and the others saw there was a small camp set up in the grove. Sitting on a folding chair looking at a map was a man. The man looked like he was in his forties with tanned skin and long brown hair with black eyes,
He wore a green jacket with a red collar with green trousers and a black belt around his jacket with a satchel on the side.
"H'mm, it has to be around here somewhere." The man said.
"Who is that?" Serena asked.
"Brandon." Lucy said.
The man looked up and saw them. Lucy in particular.
"Lucy, is that you?" Brandon asked.
"Brandon." Lucy said. The man got up and walked over to Lucy before the two hugged each other.
Ash noticed a look of jealousy and anger on Brock's face as he saw this.
"It's good to see you again." Brandon said.
"It's really good to see you too. It's been so long." Lucy said still blushing.
"So what are you doing all the way out here so far rom the battle Pike?" Brandon asked.
"Well, I'm traveling with my new friends. Ash, Serena, and Brock." Lucy said before turning to the group.
"Guys this is Pyramid King Brandon. The head of the Kanto battle frontier, and my old mentor." Lucy said.
"Pleasure to meet you." Ash said extending his hand.
"Pleasure to meet you." Brandon said shaking Ash's hand.
"Ash is competing in the indigo league and hopes to make it in the elite four." Lucy said.
"High goals, I like that." Brandon said.
"This is Serena, she's a performer from Kalos." Lucy said.
Brandon respectfully bowed his head to Serena.
"Un plaisir de vous rencontrer Mademoiselle." Brandon said.
Serena blushed a little.
"Un plaisir de vous rencontrer trop monsieur." Serena said back.
"What did they say?" Brock asked.
"Brandon just said it was a pleasure for him to meet her and she said the same back to him." Ash said.
"This is Brock , he's the son of the Pewter city gym leader and wants to be a breeder." Lucy said.
"Hello Brock." Brandon said.
"Hello." Brock said in a less than approving manner as he shook Brandon's hand.
"So you're traveling the Kanto region now." Brandon said.
"Yes, It's been too long since I've done that. I thought it would be good experience." Lucy said.
"True, traveling around is good for a frontier brain every now and again. But how long have you been away from the battle pike?" Brandon asked.
"Well." Lucy said sweat dropping.
"Lucy, it's not good for you to shirk your duties for this long." Brandon said as Lucy looked like she had let him down.
"Now hold on, if Lucy wants to do this it's her choice." Brock said.
"I'm just saying you have to think of all the people who want a Luck Symbol." Brandon said.
"What about you, I don't see your frontier around here." Brock said.
"What are you doing here Brandon?" Lucy asked.
"Well I'm doing some archeological work." Brandon said.
"Archeological work? Like ancient civilizations?" Serena asked.
"That's right, I love working with ancient civilizations. I'm currently looking for one of the rarest civilizations in the world. The aura guardians." Brandon said.
"The aura what?" Ash said as he and Lucy both gave nervous expressions and sweat dropped.
"Aura guardians." Brandon said as he went back into his bag and took out a book with a picture of Reduka on it. Ash and Lucy realized it was a copy of the main aura guardian book they had studied during their training.
"Where did you get that book?" Lucy asked.
"When I was studying the Roman republic's ancient library under Viridian city, I found many ancient texts from the Roman republic. I also found this book, which I believe was written by the aura guardians." Brandon said.
"So who are these aura guardians?" Serena asked nervously.
"Well the history of the early Roman republic speaks of them as those who came before the were supposedly the first humans who trained and befriended pokemon rather than killing or enslaving them. They who brought down the genocidal Tull empire. They taught others how to befriend and raise pokemon as partners. They helped found the Roman republic , the first society built on wisdom and reason." Brandon said.
"Really." Brock said.
"Yes, according to the Romans , the guardians were capable of wielding aura like Lucario. They were also warriors that like none others. They could scale buildings, sprint for miles, assassinate someone without ever being seen. They tried to guide the people to peace with Pokemon and to protect all from those who would bring death and destruction" Brandon said.
"They sound amazing." Ash said.
"Yes, now many historians believe they are simply legend and that they never truly existed. I say differently, I mean look at their culture, they apparently worshiped a pokemon named Reduka who they claimed was the one who created all life. Now no other civilization or culture even mentions Reduka except the guardians. Not even the romans." Brandon said.
"So what do you think happened to the guardians?" Serena asked.
"Well the few historians who actually believe they existed, still believe they died out as the Romans began civilizing other regions and taught the people there what the guardians taught them. However, during my last visit to Kalos I found a hidden chamber underground with more books, including this." Brandon said as he took out another copy of the aura guardian book.
"As you can see , this book is much younger than the one founding the ancient library, thousands of years younger. Still it's around 3000 years old. But far past when they were suppose to be gone. I believe, the guardians existed even around the age of the Kalos revolution against king Aorzorka. The free Kalos army speaks of those who freed lord Thronin and helped build the revolution. Including a man named Vaeron, the man history forgot." Brandon said.
"Vaeron." Ash said sounding interested.
"Yes, many credit Thronin with freeing Kalos. But even Thronin spoke of Vaeron being the true mastermind of the revolution, and doing amazing things. I believe he was an aura guardian. This newer version of the book speaks of him, it also speaks of a tomb here in Kanto where many guardians were buried. I believe that the tomb is nearby and if I can find it, I will have proof the guardians lived far beyond when they supposedly went extinct." Brandon said.
"How interesting." Ash said.
"Since we're here, do you mind if we help you find this place." Lucy asked.
That is when she felt an aura message from Ash.
"Lucy , what are you doing? I don't think we should help him find an ancient guardian tomb. That ground is sacred to the guardians." Ash said.
"He's not a grave robber Ash, besides I haven't heard of this tomb. Think of what a discovery it would be, we could tell the mentor and other guardians could come to pay their respects." Lucy said.
"Alright." Ash said. Ash could feel from Lucy's aura that she wanted to impress Brandon.
Brock could see this too. He didn't like it one bit.
The group continued down the trail as Ash and Lucy used their Aura vision to look for any signs of hidden guardian markings.
"What does the map say?" Serena asked.
"South of the city Fuchsia , and from he geographic markings we must be close by." Brandon said.
That is when Ash saw something in his aura vision. On a large rock embedded into the ground was an aura guardian spade with some guardian text on it.
"Hey Brandon what's that rock." Ash said trying not to sound conspicuous.
Brock walked over to the rock and looked at the map.
"H'mm it does look like a land mark. Good eye Ash." Brandon said as he lead them down another path.
"So you were Lucy's mentor?" Brock asked.
"That's right, I first met her when she was 12 years old and her father told me she needed proper training. She was always a headstrong student." Brandon said.
"I learned from my teacher." Lucy said.
Brandon smiled.
"I suppose you did, though it always seemed like you were being dragged away for something else that you could never tell me." Brandon said.
"Well it was my father's idea." Lucy said.
"Good man your father ." Brandon said.
"He always liked you." Lucy said. Brock kept getting more frustrated with this, when he remembered what Diana said.
He took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.
A few minutes later Lucy saw an aura guardian spade with another symbol on another rock.
"Hey is this another one." Lucy asked.
Brandon looked at it.
"Yes it is, we're getting close." Brandon said.
"So you said Lucy was headstrong." Serena asked.
"She was, always wanting to battle me and beat me. Still hasn't to this day." Brandon said.
"I will someday." Lucy said.
That is when Ash saw something on the ground. A larger symbol that said rest.
"Hey what's that over there" Ash said pointing to a tree. As the others looked away , Ash rushed over and touched the ground while he connected his aura with it.
Pikachu saw the ground shift slightly.
"Pika." He said in amazement.
"Hey guys, look at this." Ash said.
"There was nothing over there." Brandon said when he noticed a small shift in the ground.
"What's this." He said as he pulled it back revealing a staircase.
"Woah." Lucy said.
"I think we found something." Brandon said.
They slowly walked down the stairs as the light from the surface began to fade.
As they got to the bottom they saw another light.
"What is that?" Serena asked. When they got to the bottom they saw a stone room with several gemstones lighting up the room from the ceiling. In front of the entrance was a metal statue of a large man wearing an aura guardian hood robe robe outfit.
He also had his hidden blades held out.
"This is it! Brandon nearly shouted as he walked up to the statue and touched the blades.
"Hidden blades, the weapons of the aura guardians." Brandon said as Lucy hid her forearms behind her back.
"You know legend says that it was the aura guardians who discovered mega evolution." Brandon said.
"Really." Lucy said.
"Yes, amazing isn't it." Brandon said. They walked through the tomb and walked by several small rooms with graves in each. Behind each grave was a statue with ancient scripture under each.
The statues were either of guardians or a pokemon.
"Amazing they buried their pokemon as well." Brandon said.
"The pokemon were guardians too." Lucy said.
"Huh?" Brandon said turning to her.
"So, so I've heard." Lucy said sweat dropping nervously.
"I didn't know you were into Guardian history." Brandon said.
"Well , there's a lot you don't know about me." Lucy said.
Brandon walked up to the burial room and read the ancient script of the statue. As Ash looked at the statue more it seemed a little familiar some how.
"Let me see if I can translate this. Here rests Maximus Daet. Mentor of the Kanto guardians." Brandon said.
"Maximus!" Ash thought to himself.
"This script doesn't look as old as the first book. This could be serious evidence." Brandon said sounding excited.
Pikachu saw the next room with a larger stone grave and saw the statue was of a Blastoise.
"Pika." He said.
The group continued to explore the tomb in amazement at what it held. Whenever Brandon wasn't looking, Ash and Lucy would sneak up to the graves and pay their respects to their fallen brothers and sisters of the past, humans and pokemon.
As they looked in another section, Brandon came over to another grave.
"It's amazing how much the guardians must have cared for each other. A brotherhood extending to man and Pokemon. It's unbelievable, even to their dead, they showed every bit of respect as they did to the living. I can only imagine what it must have been like, to meet a real aura guardian." Brandon said.
Lucy almost wanted to tell him that she was a guardian. But she knew keeping the brotherhood a secret was important.
"Brock check this out." Ash said as he, Pikachu, and Serena went into another room.
Brock looked over at Lucy and Brandon, uncomfortable about leaving them alone in the room.
"Diana." He said to himself.
He followed Ash into the other room.
When Brandon saw he and Lucy were alone he turned to her.
"Lucy you said earlier that there's a lot about you I don't know. Well you're right there isn't" He said sounding a bit concerned.
"Well." Lucy started.
"All that time I spent training you, it was like there was a side of you I never got to see. You were very special to me Lucy. I mean I never had any kids, plus my brother lives in Sinnoh and I almost never get to see his son Paul. So you were the closest person in my life for a while. It just always bugged me that I could never know." Brandon said.
Lucy sighed. In truth, she too had always felt bad that Brandon could never know who she really was. She was the first person she ever had a crush on. Of course she didn't feel that way about him now, he was too old for her and she knew this. But still, he was like a second father too her, she learned so much from him and spent much of her life trying to impress him.
All of this, and he still didn't know who she really was.
Lucy sighed.
"Brandon, there's something I need to tell you." Lucy said.
"Yes." Brandon said. She stared at him for nearly a minute before she sighed.
"I am going to beat you some day." She said.
As Ash and the others got to the end of the tomb's hallway they found another chamber far larger than the others.
"Brandon, Lucy. You should see this." Ash said. The two walked into the large chamber and saw a small staircase leading up to a large grave. Behind the grave was a statue larger than the others and made of solid gold.
It was of an aura guardian all to familiar to Ash with a massive Mega Charizard X behind him. Beside the statue on both sides were banners with the spade symbol of the aura guardians.
"This aura guardian must have been very grand for him to get a grave like this." Brandon said. Beside the grave was a larger one.
"It must be his Charizard." Brandon said. Ash slowly walked up to the statue looking at it closer with Pikachu.
"Could it be?" He said.
"Let me read it." Brandon said as he read the script.
"Here rests Vaeron the great, Mentor of Kanto, and Savior of the Kalos region. It's true then, he was a guardian. This is proof!" Brandon almost shouted.
Serena felt from her connection to Ash , he was getting very emotional at the sight of this. Pikachu could feel it to.
Serena walked up beside Ash and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Ash are you ok?" She asked.
"Pika." Pikachu said nudging Ash's shoulder.
Ash felt a single tear roll down his cheek as he slowly approached the grave of his ancestor.
Brock, Lucy, and Brandon noticed this.
"Ash are you ok?" Brandon asked.
He approached the gravestone and touched it , connecting his aura to it. He felt Vaeron's aura around the grave.
"It's him." He said.
He then felt something, or rather heard it. Heard a voice speak to him, a voice he had not heard speak to him directly in 5 years.
"The center of the grave, connect your aura."
Ash found the center of the grave with a golden spade on it.
Ash placed his hand on it and connected his aura as his eyes glowed blue and his hand glowed blue.
"What the hell?" Brandon said.
"Ash!" Lucy shouted.
The spade began to glow blue as well and opened.
The others watched closely as a chest came up.
"A chest?" Serena asked. Ash placed his hand on the chest and connected his aura to it. When Ash's aura connected to it, the chest opened revealing what was inside.
Ash held the open chest to the others, revealing a pair of black hidden blade holders with a mega evolution stone embedded in one where it normally went. Beside the blades was a time flower, unlike the other Ash had, this one was red with a black spade in the center.
"Those, those are." Lucy said almost stuttering.
"Vaeron's hidden blades." Ash said as another tear came down.
"Amazing! This is the greatest find ever! When the Archeological society hears about this and we show them." Brandon started before Ash heard the voice again.
"Put them on, they're your birthright Ash. Blood of my blood." Ash then realized who's voice it was.
"Vaeron." Ash said as a third tear came down his face. He put the chest down then took the hidden blades out.
"Ash what are you doing?" Brandon asked. Ash put the hidden blades on and felt Vaeron's aura in them.
When he connected to the aura , he felt as if Vaeron had become part of him. He felt more complete than he had ever felt before.
He closed his eyes and when they opened they were glowing blue. As were his hands and much of his body, with an aura cloud moving around him.
"Ash." Serena said sounding a little concerned.
"Pika!".
"I am synched to my ancestor's aura." Ash said. Ash's voice sounded different, like he was much older and had a thicker Kanto accent.
"What's going on?" Brandon asked.
Lucy sighed.
She turned to Brock and gave him an almost guilty look.
Brock sighed.
"Tell him." Brock said.
"Tell me what?" Brandon asked.
Lucy turned back to Brandon.
"Brandon , you were right. The Aura guardians did not go extinct all those years ago, and still haven't." Lucy said.
"What?" Brandon said
"He's an aura guardian, and." Lucy started before she showed her hidden blades.
"So am I." Lucy said.
Brandon couldn't believe what he was hearing and seeing.
"You're telling me, that you're an aura guardian." Brandon said.
She took a deep breath and her eyes glowed blue with her hands as well.
"Our brotherhood has remained a secret organization for thousands of years. We have and still protect the people and pokemon of the world." Ash said.
"You two knew about this?" Brandon asked Serena and Brock.
"Yeah, it took a while to get use to it." Serena said sweat dropping.
Brandon turned to Ash.
"So you're telling me that you're the blood descendent of Vaeron the great." Brandon said.
"I am." Ash said.
"Brandon, it's important you don't tell anyone. Our brotherhood must remain a secret. Please." Lucy said.
Brandon turned to Lucy.
"Alright, on one condition." Brandon said.
"What?" Lucy asked.
"You have a battle with me. So I can see what a Guardian pokemon can battle like." Brandon said.
Lucy smiled.
"Alright you're on." Lucy said.
"This should be interesting." Ash said.
The group met outside the tomb as the Brandon stood on one end of the grove and Lucy on the other with Brock beside her.
"You seem really excited about this." Brock said.
"I am, I've waited for years for a chance to face him again. Now I have it, a chance to prove myself to him." Lucy said.
"Just remember to do your best and have fun." Brock said.
"I will." Lucy said. She turned to Brandon who was smiling.
"Just like old times, eh." Brandon said.
"I guess so." Lucy said.
"I won't be going easy on you like I use to."
"I'm not the frontier Brain in training I like I use to be." Lucy said.
Ash stepped to the side of the field.
"The battle between Lucy and Brandon is about to begin. Each trainer is allowed one pokemon." Ash said.
"Alright go Regirock!" Brandon shouted as he hurled a pokeball forward.
Out came a large golem made of brown rocks. It had an orange pattern on its face that resembles a capital letter "H". It had long arms with jutting shoulders and club-like hands, its legs were short in comparison to its body. There was a line of rocky spines running down its back.
"What is that!" Serena almost shouted as she opened her pokedex.
"Regirock, the Rock Peak Pokémon. Regirock's body is made of rock, and if something chips off in battle, it attaches rocks to repair itself."
"Where did you get a Regirock?" Ash asked as he and Pikachu looked on in amazement.
"Ancient ruins." Brandon said.
Lucy took out a pokeball and threw it forward.
"Go Milotic!" She shouted.
Milotic came out and stared at Regirock.
"Well Milotic, I haven't seen her in a while. It will be interesting to see how much she has grown. " Brandon said.
"Milotic use Hydropump!" Lucy shouted.
"Mi!" Milotic shouted as she unleashed a massive jet of water at Regirock.
"Zap cannon." Brandon said.
Regirock raised his head and unleashed a massive blast of electricity that hit the Hydro pump and extinguished it.
When the steam cleared Brandon and Regirock saw Milotic was gone.
"Aqua tail!" Lucy shouted. Milotic had used the cover of the steam to move around Regirock. She covered her tail in water and hurled it at Regirock.
"Stomp!" Brandon shouted.
Regirock stomped his foot on Milotic's tail forcing it onto the ground.
"Hammer arm!". Brandon shouted as Regirock smashed his arm across Milotic's head at the same time he lifted his leg off her, thus allowing Milotic to be hurled back.
Lucy gave a slightly distressed look, having forgotten how good Brandon was.
"Geez that's one awesome pokemon." Ash said.
"Lucy has her work cut out for her." Serena said.
"Come on Lucy don't give up!" Brock shouted.
"Listen to him, what did I teach you." Brandon said.
Lucy smiled.
"Alright then, let's keep going Milotic. Use Aqua tail." Lucy shouted.
"Hammer arm." Brandon shouted. Regirock hurled his massive arm at the base of Milotic's tail , ready to knock it out of the way.
"Wrap!" Lucy shouted. Milotic wrapped her tail around Regirock's arm and held it in place, before smashing the end of her tail across Regirock's face, dealing a lot of damage.
"Yes." Lucy said.
"She got him!" Brock shouted.
"Pika!"
"Good, very good. But not god enough. Regirock use Bulldoze." Regirock kept Milotic's tail wrapped around his arm as he charged forward with Milotic in front of him being dragged across the ground before being hurled back.
"Now use Stomp!" Brandon shouted. Regirock raised his foot above Milotic's head as she turned back to him.
"Twister!" Lucy shouted. Milotic quickly unleashed a massive tornado of Dragon energy that hit Regirock. Despite his immense size, Regirock was pulled back and away from Milotic.
"Hydro pump!" Lucy shouted.
"Lock on!" Brandon shouted. Milotic opened her mouth and blasted Regirock with a massive jet of water that hurled the rock legendary pokemon out of the Twister.
"She got him!" Brock shouted.
Despite being hit by the super effective attack, Regirock got back up.
"Zap cannon!" Brandon shouted .
Regirock aimed his head and unleashed a massive blast of electricity.
"Block it with Dragon tail!" Lucy shouted.
Milotic raised her tail over her body and tried to smash the Zap cannon. However, it did something different, it went clean around her tail and right for her head.
"Mil!" Milotic shouted in disbelief.
"What?" Lucy said. Mitotic was hit and filled with electricity before fainting and felling over.
"Milotic!" Lucy shouted.
"Milotic is unable to battle. The winner is Brandon." Ash said.
"Outstanding Regirock." Brandon said.
Lucy sighed.
"Milotic return, you gave it everything you had." She said.
Lucy felt a large amount of shame. She had spent so much time preparing for the day she would get to face Brandon again. Now that she finally had it, she gave everything she had and it still wasn't enough.
"Lucy." She heard behind her. She turned to see Brock standing there.
"Are you ok?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm fine." She said.
Brock put his hands on her shoulders.
"You gave everything you have in that battle, you have nothing to regret." Brock said.
Lucy smiled back at Brock and blushed a little.
"You're right, I don't." Lucy said.
"Lucy , I have to say. You battled very well, I'm proud of you. Loosing is always part of being a frontier brain." Brandon said.
"It is, I seem to remember a particular loss of yours. One trainer's Charizard knocking out your Regirock, then your Regice, and your Registeel all on his own." Lucy said.
"Well that that trainer is Daniel Rian there's little you can do to stop him. Man that was one titan like Charizard" Brandon said.
Ash and the others noticed Brandon's Regirock get a bit of a frightened expression upon reminiscing that battle.
Later Brandon was about to part ways with the group.
"Quite a day, I found proof that the aura guardians lived longer. More proof then I could have ever imagined." Brandon said.
"Just remember, you have to keep this a secret." Lucy said.
"Don't worry I will. It was good seeing you again Lucy, and good meeting your new friends." Brandon said.
"It was good meeting you to Brandon." Ash said.
"Good luck to all of you, and Brock." Brandon said turning to him.
"Take good care of Lucy, she means a lot to me." Brandon said.
Brock smiled.
"I will." Brandon walked off.
"Interesting day." Serena said.
"Yes, and it looks like my hidden blade problem is taken care of." Ash said as he looked at his new hidden blades.
Lucy came over and looked at them too.
"Geez look at the design, they're much better then any i've seen. Vaeron must have designed them himself." Lucy said.
Later that night, the group had made camp and were in their tents.
Brock looked over at Lucy and took a deep breath.
"Here we go. Lucy, can we talk?" Brock said.
"Yes." Lucy said.
"Since Lavender town we've known we were more than just friends. But neither of us seem to want to make a move. We're afraid of what might happen. But I'm not afraid anymore" Brock said as he took her hands.
"I want us to be more than what we are. So I'm asking you know." Brock said.
Lucy smiled as her face turned red.
"You know what, I'm ready too." She said before she came in and kissed him.
Back in Ash and Serena's tent, Pikachu was asleep on Ash's pillow.
Serena too was asleep with her head resting on Ash's chest. Ash was staring at the Time flower he got from the tomb.
He knew it wasn't Vaeron's because he remembered it from Aaron's memory. However, he decided to read whoever's it was later. Now that he had fully synchronized to Vaeron's aura he could relive all of Vaeron's memories at will, and he knew what memory he wanted to see.
Ash took a deep breath and focused his aura into Vaeron's. He had the same sensation he had five years ago when he had Vaeron's memories.
He saw Vaeron in his black armored robes. He looked like he was around 54 years old. Behind him was his Charizard. The two walked through a large city as thousands of Kanto soldiers wearing chest and arm armor plates battled Giath soldiers who looked like they were defending the city.
Vaeron and Charizard approached a passageway as two large Giath soldiers drew their blades and stepped at him.
"Stand down old man , before you." One started before Vaeron drew his blades and slashed across their throats in less than a moment.
They then continued down the passage way to a massive chamber that looked like a citadel courtyard.
On the ground in front of the citadel were dozens of Giath honor guards wearing massive armor and large swords with Houndooms and Machamps all around them.
Vaeron walked up to the end of the passage way and looked up at a balcony on the citadel.
"Rodrigo, show yourself!" He shouted. Moments later a large fat man with graying black hair mustache and beard wearing white robes stepped out.
"So, Vaeron the great finally comes to the house of Giath." The man said.
"You know why we're here. Give her to me and we'll be on our way." Vaeron said.
The man smiled.
"So arrogant, it's what killed your son." Rodrigo said.
"And yours." Vaeron said as the smile was wiped off Rodrigo's face.
"What do you and your lizard friend hope to do against my legion of guards. You may have once been the man who stood against armies in Kalos. But you're not that man anymore." Rodrigo said.
"We are what we choose to be Rodrigo. No amount of wealth and privilege can change who you chose to be. A manipulator, a sloth, a rapeist, and an incestist." Vaeron said.
Upon hearing that last part Charizard gave a disgusted look at Rodrigo.
"Enough! How dare you, true the armies of Kanto may come down upon my city. But here I am safe, and you stand alone!" Rodrigo shouted.
"He does not stand alone." Another voice said.
Rodrigo and his men looked to see another aura guardian wearing white and black walk up with an Absol beside him.
"I am Andre, mentor of the Kalos Guardians. I am here to help an old friend and brother!" Andre shouted.
"We guardians are brothers and sisters, when you threaten or kill one of us. We stand together, all of us!".
Rodrigo then heard something he turned to his right and saw along the walls and walkways were dozens of Kanto aura guardians with their pokemon beside them.
"From Kanto to Kalos!" Andre shouted.
Rodrigo turned to his left and saw dozens of other aura guardians with other pokemon.
"Insieme per victoria!" Vaeron shouted.
"Insieme per victoria!" the Kanto guardians shouted back.
"Ensemble pour la victoire!" Andre shouted.
"Ensemble pour la victoire!" the Kalos guardians shouted.
Rodrigo backed up with fear in his eyes. The guardians charged in and beguiled the Giath honor guards.
Vaeron and Andre staying close to each other with their now mega evolved pokemon beside them.
"Just like old times eh." Andre said.
"Indeed." Vaeron said. In the center, Maximus slashed across two honor guards' throats before hurling them back.
"For Aaron!" He shouted as his Blastoise slammed himself into two Giath Houndooms.
Andre and Vaeron reached them.
"Take care of things down here. We're going after Rodrigo." Vaeron said to them both.
"Good luck, may Reduka guide you brother." Andre said.
Vaeron got on his Mega Charizard X's back as he flew them up to the edge of the citadel. Vaeron leapt off and began scaling the citadel before pulling himself up onto the balcony.
As he walked inside his Charizard landed behind him.
Standing at the end of the room was Rodrigo with over 24 of his honor guards beside him and a basket.
Rodrigo drew a dagger and held it over the basket.
"I'll make this simple for you Rodrigo. Give me my granddaughter, and I'll let you life!" Vaeron shouted.
"Grauuu!" His charizard roared.
"Take one step closer, and she dies." Rodrigo said.
"What do you think this will accomplish?" Vaeron asked.
"She may be Aaron's son, but she is also queen Rin's daughter. She really should have told your son about her you know. With her in my hands, Rin's brother will give me the stone in exchange for her life. He would do anything to save what remains of his sister." Rodrigo said.
"King Dominco no longer has the tear Rodrigo. I do, he said he didn't want the stone anymore."
"You lie." Rodrigo said.
Vaeron reached into his robe and took out the tear.
"You! Give to me and you can have her!" Rodrigo shouted.
"You will never have this stone Giath." Vaeron said.
"Do it , or she dies." Rodrigo said.
Vaeron smiled.
"No, she won't." Vaeron said. Another pokemon leapt from behind and above Rodrigo and slammed into him, unleashing a pulse of aura that hurled him and his guards back.
When Rodrigo got up he saw a Lucario with the baby in his arms.
The Lucario growled at him before sprinting back at Vaeron.
"No!" Rodrigo shouted. His guards all charged at them with several Machamp beside them. Vaeron's eyes glowed blue before he raised his hand and unleashed a wave of aura that hurled them all back.
Vaeron was now glowing blue with a cloud of aura around him.
"For Aaron!" Vaeron shouted before he and Charizard rushed forward.
Rodrigo could only look on in horror as Vaeron cut through his men with his hidden blades and aura like a Dragonite fighting a bunch of Caterpie.
At the same time his Charizard X was slashing his massive claws against his Machamps, hurling them back into the walls.
When all the guards were dead and the pokemon unconscious Vaeron slowly approached Rodrigo who backed up to another balcony. Below it was a sewage drain.
"No please! I'll give you anything you want, gold, women, even my sister!" Rodrigo shouted in fear.
"What do I want." Vaeron said as he walked up to Rodrigo.
"I want my son back." Vaeron said as he slammed his hidden blade into the man's stomach.
Rodrigo convulsed once before Vaeron grabbed his legs and hurled him off the balcony.
Rodrigo went flying down into the sewage drain and then began to sink.
"Requiescat in Pace's" Vaeron said before he turned to Charizard and Lucario.
"We did it, we saved her." Lucario said with tears in his eyes.
"We did." Vaeron said as he took his granddaughter from Lucairo. She had Aaron's eyes and looked up at her grandfather.
Moments later Andre climbed up the citadel and approached him.
"We defeated the guard and the city is in the hands of the Kanto army. We suffered no losses." Andre said.
"I'm getting to old for this kind of work." Vaeron said.
"You and me both, our days of glory fighting tyrant kings our behind us my brother." Andre said.
"Perhaps it is time I pass on the position of mentor to Maximus. He suits the role well. Besides this little one will take up most of Sofia's and my time." Vaeron said.
Andre walked over closer and touched Vaeron's Granddaughter's head.
"She's so beautiful, what will you name her?".
"Rin, after her mother." Vaeron said.
"Some day she'll be a great guardian just like her father and grandfather." Andre said.
That was when Vaeron began to think hard about what Andre just said.
He turned to Charizard and Lucario who both nodded to him.
"Perhaps, but only if she chooses so." Vaeron said.
"What?" Andre said as his Absol looked just as confused.
"I was born indoctrinated into the brotherhood, as was my father, his father, and his , and his, and so was my son. The chain breaks here, when she is old enough I will let her choose if she wants to be a guardian. If she does, she will, if not I won't make her." Vaeron said as he looked into his Grand daughter's eyes.
"You will choose your own fate." He said.
That is when the memory ended and Ash was back in his tent.
"Woah, so that's what happened. Aaron and Rin secretly had a daughter. It must have been what she was trying to tell Aaron when she died." Ash said.
He laid his head back and another tear came down his eye.
"Requiescat in Pace Vaeron mia anscestor." Ash said giving Vaeron his final rights in ancient Kanto.
Author's note
Yup a lot of things happened here. Ash has his new hidden blades and mega evolution stone, he has a new time flower from another aura guardian, rest assured you will start to see memories from that aura guardian too.
Don't ask me who they are, I'm not going to spoil it.
Also Brock and Lucy are officially dating!
Also if you're wondering if Rin Jr. became an Aura guardian or not, I'm also not telling. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. It's ambiguous
Also Scyther will eventually learn to respect Serena
So until next time, please review, comment, suggest, or ask(via PM)