Ch 39: The pokemon Mansion
It was early in the morning on Cinnabar island and Serena was awakened by the sounds of waves crashing against the beaches. She opened her eyes and saw Ash and Pikachu weren't in bed. She looked around and saw a note on the nightstand.
The note read "Got up early to do some training with Aerodactyl. Will be back for breakfast."
"Ash, has to have his pokemon in tip top shape." Serena said smiling as she stretched and got out of the bed.
Elsewhere on a secluded beach, Aerodactyl was in the air as several large rocks were hurled at him.
"Aerodactyl dodge them!" Ash shouted.
"Aeroo!" Aerodatyl cried as he quickly flew down and evaded each incoming rock.
"Excellent, your speed and evasiveness is improving. Alright let's work on your strength. Charizard throw some more." Ash said.
"Grauu." Charizard growled with a grin as he hurled several more large rocks up at Aerodactyl.
"Alright Aerodactyl try Steel wing!" Ash shouted.
Aerodactyl covered his wings in metal and flew at each of the rocks, smashing his wings into each of them. The rocks were broken, but not into small pebbles, just smaller pieces.
After smashing each of the rocks Aerodactyl landed in front of Ash with an excited expression.
"Good job out there, a good first day of training." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu said nodding.
"Grauu." Charizard said also nodding.
"Alright why don't you rest up, I should probably work with the rest of the team too." Ash said as he let out the rest of his pokemon.
"Alright guys, we did good yesterday. We have 6 badges now, just two more and we're in the Indigo league." Ash said.
"War!".
"Saur!"
"Moaah!" They shouted back sounding excited.
"Now, this doesn't mean we lighten up. We train and work harder than we have before. You three have shown me that you're ready for some harder training sessions." Ash said.
The 3 nodded, not afraid of training harder, but motived to improve their abilities.
"Alright let's get started." Ash said as Pikachu leapt off his shoulder and Charizard stepped forward. Both remembering when they reached this point in training.
A few hours later Ash's pokemon were on the ground sitting back to back with sweat pouring across their bodies.
"Saur." Ivysaur said trying to catch his breath. Ivysaur, Wartortle, and Tauros had just gone through the hardest training session they had ever had.
Pikachu and Charizard both stood beside Ash. The three of them had also taken part in some training which left them pretty tired as well.
"Alright, I think that's enough training for today. How about we get some breakfast?" Ash asked.
"Pika!".
"Saur!".
"Moahh!" His pokemon shouted in agreement.
Ten minutes later they were back at the hotel having breakfast with the rest of the group.
"So how did training go?" Serena asked.
"It went well, Aerodactyl had a good first day and the rest of my pokemon moved up a level." Ash said.
"It's good to see your pokemon are improving." Brock said.
"So what do you guys want to do today, I mean I guess we could go to the beach, but we just left the Seafoam islands and you can't beat those beaches." Lucy said.
"Lucy has a point, there has to be something else we can do here." Brock said.
"Well maybe there are some stores we could look at." Serena said.
"Maybe." Lucy said.
"Uh." Ash said as he and Brock sweat dropped.
Moments later Brock noticed Blaine walking over towards them.
"Morning kids, enjoy your first night here?" Blaine asked.
"Yes, your hotel is very nice." Serena said.
"Thank you, Ash do you know professor Oak?" Blaine asked.
"Yes, why?" Ash asked.
"He's on the phone and asked to speak with you." Blaine said.
"Alright." Ash said as he got up and walked over to the phone as Pikachu climbed back into his shoulder.
Ash stood in front of the phone screen as professor Oak appeared on the other side.
"Professor you needed to talk to me." Ash said.
"Yes Ash my boy, as I told you yesterday I was educated by Dr. Faraway on Cinnabar island many years ago. Even when I was learning under him, he was conducting research on why and how Eevee can evolve into so many different pokemon. I was always interested in finding the research after his passing , but never could. I have recently discovered from one of his daughters that the research is still inside the mansion and that in his will he left it to me." Oak said.
"Really?" Ash asked.
"Indeed, I was hoping since you're already there that perhaps you could make a quick trip to the mansion and pick it up for me." Oak said.
"Am I allowed to just walk into an abandoned mansion and take something inside? Isn't that looting?" Ash asked sweat dropping.
"Of course not, you're collecting property that's legally mine. You should be fine." Oak said. Ash and Pikachu sighed.
"Alright we can get it for you." Ash said.
"Outstanding, thank you. Now the research should be located in his old journals and his old computers. Just find the right files and you should be good." Oak said before the phone call needed.
"Well looks like we're going to that mansion." Ash said.
He went back to the others and explained to them what Oak asked of him.
"He wants you to search an abandoned mansion for some old research?" Serena asked.
"Yeah, I know it's not the most pleasant thing to do, but professor Oak has done a lot for me. I owe him at least this much. Besides, you guys don't have to come, he just asked me to do it." Ash said.
"No, we can help you." Serena said.
"Yeah we don't mind." Lucy said.
"Thanks guys." Ash said.
"So where is this Mansion anyway?" Brock asked.
That was when Ash realized Oak never told him where it was. He and Pikachu sweat dropped.
For the next hour the group went around asking people about the mansion. Many of the people they crossed were tourists and thus didn't know about the mansion. The people who did know about the mansion seemed very frightened of it. Like something bad happened there.
Finally they found someone who told them about it.
"Mr. Faraway's mansion, yes. It's further inland, a bit separated from the city itself." The older man said.
"Thank you, no one else seemed to want to talk about the mansion." Ash said.
"Did something happen there?" Serena asked.
"Well, the thing is Mr. Faraway lived far away from the rest of the city. Most of the people knew who he was though. Over 20 years ago he was alone in his mansion, something happened. His mansion was found in tatters and he was found dead. However, there was no signs of any break ins or foul play. Some times a low life may try to break in and loot it, but for the most part people leave it alone" The man said.
The group all sweat dropped upon hearing this.
"Well, we've dealt with worse I suppose." Serena said.
The group made their way to the city outskirts and found a large mansion. The mansion was of an older design and red. The mansion looked abandoned, in a poor state of repair, as well as a rooftop that seemed to have burst open.
"He wasn't lying, it looks like something bad happened to this place." Brock said.
Ash and Lucy felt something else as well. A very strange aura surrounded the mansion. Something truly strange and powerful.
"Well we may as well head inside." Serena said.
As they walked inside they didn't notice a pair of figures from the upper levels of the mansion interior watch them enter the mansion.
"Looks like we got some more punk kids hanging out. Better let the bosses know." One of the figures said.
The interior of the mansion looked just as out of shape as the inside. There were broken pieces of wall and columns around the floor, peeling wallpaper, rusted metal, broken windows, and torn up rugs.
"Nice place." Lucy said.
"Let's just find Oak's stuff and get out of here." Serena said as she gave an uncomfortable look.
The group made their way through the mansion, going through each room. Brock and Lucy found a room with some old books about pokemon evolution , but nothing about Eevee research. Lucy also noticed there were several books on legendary pokemon mythology.
"Nothing here." Lucy said.
"Hey Lucy look at this." Brock said as she turned to a table where Brock was looking at a picture.
"Look at this picture." Brock said as he showed her a picture of an older man with short grey hair, black glasses, and a grey goatee, wearing hiking gear with a team of men as they stood in a jungle path.
"Is that Dr. Faraway?" Brock asked.
"It must be, I saw pictures of that man elsewhere in the mansion." Lucy said.
"Are they in a jungle?" Brock asked.
"It looks like it, but I can't tell where it is?" Lucy said.
Elsewhere in the mansion Ash and Serena were walking down another hallway.
They saw several pictures of Dr. Faraway with his wife and daughters.
"They looked like a happy family." Serena said.
"We've searched through most of the house, but we've found nothing." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu said as he saw a set of stairs that lead to an upper level.
"An upstairs area, maybe it's there." Serena said.
"Maybe." Ash said as they walked up the stairs.
When they reached the upper level they saw another hallway. As they walked down it, Ash felt like something was off. Like there were other auras there.
He looked around and was about to use Aura vision, when Serena walked into a room.
"Hey Ash, this room looks like a private study." Serena said.
Ash and Pikachu turned to the study and walked in. The room was large, had several bookshelves filled with books. A few cabinets filled with paper, and a desk with a few notebooks on it and a computer.
Pikachu leapt onto the desk and gave the computer a small shock of electricity that caused it to turn on.
"Thanks Pikachu." Ash said as he got onto the computer and tried to look around its files. The computer was much older than Ash was use to , but he was able to find some files on Eevee research.
Once he had them, Ash sent them to the printer next to the computer.
Serena looked on the desk and saw a few notebooks labeled "Eeveelution research.".
"I think this is it too." Serena said.
"Well we have the research from his computer and his notebooks. We can leave now." Ash said as he took the printed research and notebooks, then put them in his bag.
"Looks like we can go." Serena said anxious to get out of the house. Still, there was something about the mansion. That room in particular , there was a strong aura presence. Or at least the remnants of a once very powerful aura.
Pikachu was about to leap back onto Ash's shoulder, when he saw a pair of pictures.
"Pika." Pikachu said.
Ash and Serena turned back to the desk and saw the two framed pictures.
One was of Dr. Faraway in a lab coat standing beside a younger man in a lab coat. Ash recognized the younger man as none other than professor Oak as a young man.
"Hey look, it's professor Oak. " Ash said.
"He looks so young and happy." Serena said.
Ash also noticed the second picture. The frame was broken and the picture slashed. The slash went clean across the desk as well. Ash could make out Dr. Faraway standing next to another man in a black suit. But the slash went across the man so Ash couldn't tell who it was.
The strange thing was, the picture frame was sliced cleanly, almost frighteningly clean.
"What could have done that?" Serena asked.
"I think I have an idea." Ash said nervously. He let out his right hidden blade and guided the edge of the blade across the cut mark. To his horror, he found the blade went across the cut mark perfectly.
"I thought that might be the case. This picture was cut by a hidden blade, an aura guardian was here." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu said sounding concerned.
"An aura guardian? But why?" Serena asked.
"I don't know. But I thought I felt an aura remnant here. Whoever this guarding was , they were under great stress and anger." Ash said as he continued to follow the cut mark across the desk and found it went to a drawer on the side. There was a lock on the drawer that had been broken by the same hidden blade mark.
"They were looking for something." Ash said as he opened the drawer and found a journal.
The journal was already opened and Ash read the entry that it was opened too.
"Oak has learned well under me, but there is little more I can teach him. He's grown into quite the scientist."
Serena and Ash looked onto the next section.
"Project Newmoon is nearly ready to go underway. My associates and helpers are packed and have everything prepared. I'd ask Oak to go with me, but he has started his own lab now and has far to much work. Besides I fear he would not approve of my investor. Regardless we're leaving for the jungles of Guyana next week."
"Investor? Guyana?" Serena asked.
"Guyana is a jungle in south western Kanto." Ash said.
The journal continued.
"The team has arrived in the jungles go Guyana and we're ready to begin looking for" The journal said before it cut out.
Ash and Serena noticed the last few pages were torn out.
"Huh? Torn out?" Serena said.
"Why would the aura guardian take them?" Ash said before he and Pikachu both heard something with their advanced senses.
Ash turned back to the door and used his aura vision.
"Serena." Ash said.
"Yes." Serena said feeling the uneasiness in his aura.
"Get behind me." Ash said as he stepped in front of her and let out his hidden blades.
Moments later a pair of flash bangs flew into the room. Before they could go off, Ash threw an aura barrier over them, which shielded them from the effects.
After both flashbangs went off 2 rocket grunts sprinted inside with electric batons in hand and Nidorans beside them.
Ash lunged forward and sliced the batons in half with his hidden blades, then slammed his elbow across one's face before smashing his knee into the same grunt's gut and kicking him into the wall.
The second grunt tried to grab Ash from behind only to be flipped over Ash and onto the ground.
"Pika, chu!" Pikachu shouted as he leapt down and smashed each of the Nidorans with Iron tail, knocking them out.
"Team rocket, and if there's two grunts here, there are bound to be more." Ash said.
"Wait, hidden blade marks and team rocket. You don't think Seir's here do you?" Serena said as she gave a frightened expression.
"I don't think so. Lucy and I would have probably felt his aura. Besides that hidden blade mark didn't look fresh, it looked old , years old." Ash said.
"That's a relief." Serena said.
"Regardless I still want to clear out this mansion, I don't like the idea of team rocket sulking around here looting this place." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu said nodding.
"You're right, but we'll need to tell Brock and Lucy." Serena said.
"Agreed." Ash said.
He used his aura vision to find Lucy and Brock on the main floor.
"Lucy." Ash said to Lucy via aura message.
"Ash what's wrong?" Lucy asked.
"Team rocket is in the mansion. We need to clear them out." Ash said.
"Alright where are you guys?" Lucy asked.
"Upstairs" Ash said.
"Alright we'll clear the main floor." Lucy said.
"Sounds good." Ash said.
Back on the ground floor, Lucy let her Seviper out while Brock let out his Chansey.
Lucy used her aura vision to look around for any hostile aura.
"Hold on." Lucy said when she saw some movement.
She let her hidden blades out before a pair of flash bangs flew out from behind a few corners.
"Look out!" Brock shouted.
Lucy unleashed a burst of aura that hurled the flash bangs back.
They went off and 3 rocket grunts came stumbling out of their hiding places looking disoriented.
As this happened, 4 Zubat flew out at them.
Seviper opened his mouth and blasted 2 of the Zubat with Flamethrower as Chansey hurled an egg bomb that exploded in between the other 2 Zubat. After the explosion, Chansey rushed over and began slapping the two Zubat with Double slap.
As the 3 grunts got up, Lucy quickly slammed her foot into the first one's face, hurling him back into a wall. The second one tried to club Lucy from behind with his electric baton, only to have Lucy come back around and slice the baton in half with her left hidden blade , then slam her right palm into his throat. As the grunt stumbled backwards Lucy acrobatically leapt up and slammed her foot into his face.
The third grunt hurled his baton at Brock, only to have Brock duck and then tackle the man into a column. After doing so , he grabbed the baton from his hand and shocked the grunt with it.
"Are there any more here?" Brock asked.
Lucy used her aura vision again , but didn't see any more grunts in the area.
"I think we're good here, we should look around more." Lucy said.
Back upstairs, Ash and Serena were looking around the hallways. Serena had let her Scyther out , who was using his enhanced vision to try and sense any movement. Ash likewise was using his aura vision to look for any hidden rocket grunts.
"Ash look." Serena said. Ash and Pikachu turned to see the hallway needed with a gaping hole that lead to another gaping hole in the main floor.
"Well, looks like we can't continue this way." Ash said.
Serena looked closer over the edge and then looked up to see there was a third gaping hole in the ceiling directly above the other two holes.
"What could have done this?" She asked.
Moments later the floor where Serena was standing break to crack and then break. Serena started to fall down the hole.
"Ash!" Serena shouted.
Ash sprinted over and grabbed her arm. However, in doing so, the floor under Ash also began to break and he too fell down the hole with Pikachu.
"Schyther!" Scyther shouted as he flew down and snatched the three of them in between his arm blades. Scyther used his wings to try and slow the fall as they went down through he 2 holes.
At the bottom of the second hole was the basement where two rocket grunts were standing.
"So did you find anything in his bedroom?" One asked.
"I found two hundred dollars in cash in the nightstand." The other said.
Moments later Scyther landed on top of them, knocking them out.
"Woah, thanks Scyther." Serena said as he let them down.
Ash and Serena looked around and saw they were in a wrecked lab area. The walls were black and there was wrecked lab equipment.
"This must have been Dr. Faraway's lab." Serena said.
Ash felt the aura presence that he felt earlier stronger in the lab. He also felt the somewhat overwhelming aura that surrounded the mansion was the strongest in the lab.
Moments later A pair of flash bangs flew out at them.
Once again Ash got in front of Serena and threw up an aura barrier that absorbed the flash bangs' effects.
Three more grunts rushed out with electric batons in hand and Nidorans beside them.
Ash blocked two of the grunts' Batons with his hidden blades before pushing forward, cutting them in half. He then smashed his right elbow across the right grunt's face and put the other grunt in a headlock.
When the other grunt looked up again he was hit in the throat by Ash's palm then had the first grunt hurled into him.
Meanwhile Serena moved back as the third grunt furiously swung her baton at her. After avoiding another swing , she grabbed her arm and locked her in an arm bar, forcing her to let go of her baton. She then threw the grunt into the ground and onto her own electric baton, knocking her out.
As his happened Pikachu blasted two of the Nidorans with Thunder and Scyther slashed the last one with Slash, knocking them all out.
"Is that all of them?" Serena asked.
"No, I can see another two in the room ahead." Ash said as he used his aura vision.
The 4 walked into the next room of the lab and saw it was even larger than the room they were in before. It also looked much more wrecked with several large machines and computers in it.
Standing in the center of the room looking around were none other than Cassidy and Butch.
"Should we check to see if the grunts got those kids?" Butch asked.
"They didn't!" Cassidy shouted as she saw Ash and Serena.
"You!" Butch shouted.
"Cassidy." Ash said.
"Bill." Serena said.
"It's Butch!" Butch shouted.
"What is team rocket doing in this mansion anyway. Don't you have anything better to do than look an old mansion?" Ash asked.
"Looting! We're recovering, everything in this house already belongs to team rocket!" Butch shouted.
"What?" Serena asked sounding confused.
Scyther noticed Cassidy's hair had started to grow back and looked at her.
Cassidy noticed Scyther was out and gave a frightened expression.
"Get them!" Cassidy shouted as she let out her Raticate.
"Go Nidorino!" Butch shouted as he hurled a pokeball out.
"Raticate use tail whip!" Cassidy shouted.
"Nidorino use Hyper fang!" Butch shouted.
"Pikachu Iron tail!".
"Scyther use Metal claw!" Serena shouted.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted as he ran forward and knocked each of the stingers away before reaching Nidorino and slamming his tail into his head. Nidorino was hurled back and knocked out on impact.
Meanwhile , Raticate opened his mouth and tried to bite Scyther with his massive fangs.
"Scyther!" Scyther shouted as he slashed his metal claw blade across Raticate's open mouth, knocking him back. He then slashed across his body with both his claw blades.
Raticate landed in front of Cassidy with swirly eyes. Cassidy saw Scyther eyeballing her with his arm blades held up.
"Yahh!" Cassidy shouted as she returned her Raticate and ran off.
"Hey wait!" Butch shouted as he returned his Nidorino and ran off after her.
"Should we go after them?" Serena asked.
"Nah, they're not worth it." Ash said as Pikachu and Scyther nodded.
Ash looked around with his aura vision and saw the 2 auras he had been feeling were the strongest here.
" Something happened in this lab." Ash said.
Serena noticed a large glass tube that was bigger than a human stood broken open in front of several machines.
"Look at this." Serena said.
Ash and the pokemon came over to the tube as well.
"It looks like something came out of it." Ash said.
Pikachu looked around the room as well and found a table in front of some broken computers.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted as he saw what was sitting on the table.
Ash and Serena walked over and saw several papers sitting on the table.
Ash recognized the papers, they looked like they had been torn out of a book. He looked closer and realized they were some of the missing pages from the journal.
"Serena, it's the missing journal pages, or at least some of them." Ash said. He could feel the guardian's presence on them.
The two looked at the first page and started reading.
" It has been almost a week , but we finally found the lost temple that we have been searching for. It appears from the hieroglyphs and engraved pictures that the people here worshiped Mew. But I never would have expect what happened next. We found a living Mew, inside the temple, still living there."
"They found a Mew!" Ash said remembering Mew from Sir Aaron's memories.
"Mew, like that pokemon you told me about from your ancestor's memories?" Serena asked.
"Yes." Ash said as they read the next page.
"We hoped we could study Mew more, but he left only an hour after we found him. Still he acted quite playful for the time we were with him. But our investor wants more. Lucky for us we can give it to him. We found something else, a fossilized eyelash that Mew left behind thousands of years ago. With this we can." The page cut out there.
The next page didn't continue it, which meant several pages were still missing.
"Mewtwo is growing fast, and is growing more self conscious. I've never seen this in a pokemon before."
"Mewtwo?" Ash asked confused.
They looked at the last page.
"Mewtwo won't listen to us anymore, he's growing more violent and I fear that soon he'll." The writing cut out.
"Who is this Mewtwo?" Serena asked.
"I don't know, but whoever the guardian who came here was, they were looking for him." Ash said in a concerned tone.
Later that night they were with Brock and Lucy at the hotel in front of the phone.
"So did you find the research?" Oak asked.
"Yes, we have it all. I had Nurse Joy mail it to your lab." Ash said.
"Good, I really appreciate." Oak said before he noticed their concerned expressions.
"Is everything alright?" Oak asked.
"Professor, did Dr. Faraway ever talk about a pokemon named Mewtwo?" Ash asked.
"Mewtwo? I can't say he did, in fact I've never heard that name in my life. I have heard of the pokemon Mew and Dr. Faraway was quite interested in him. Why do you ask?" Oak asked.
"No reason." Ash said.
"Well then, thank you again and good luck." Oak said before the phone call ended.
"So what does this mean?" Brock asked.
"I don't know, but it's something the brotherhood should know about." Lucy said.
"I agree." Ash said.
"They could probably handle this better than us." Serena said.
"In the morning I'll contact my old master, they'll inform the mentor." Lucy said.
"Alright, we should get some rest." Brock said.
Ash and Serena were in their room with Pikachu already asleep.
"So, are we going to do more wedding planning?" Ash asked.
Serena sighed.
"I'm actually pretty tired. I think I'm going to bed." She said.
"Alright." Ash said trying not to sound excited. He laid down so Serena could rest her head on his chest. A few minutes later when he was sure she was asleep , he took out Altair's time flower.
"Finally." Ash said as he contacted his aura to the time flower and saw Altair in third person perspective.
Altair and his Lucario rode on the back of a Rapidash across the trails of ancient Kanto. As they approached a rocky ridge, Altair noticed a trio of roman legionaries and an armored Arcanine standing on the ridge.
After passing the ridge, they entered an encampment filled with roman legionaries and a dozen or so legionary pokemon.
The Rapidash stopped in the middle of the camp and allowed his passengers to dismount.
The centurion of the legionary encampment approached them with a Wartortle beside them.
When the Centurion reached Altair she removed her helmet and let her long black hair fall down past her shoulders.
"You're late." she said.
"Always good to see you Maria." Altair said in his consistent serious tone.
Altair looked around then turned back to Maria.
"I thought general Titus would be here?".
"General Titus was recalled back by the senate for important matters. He sent me in his stead, he trusts me to represent him well." Maria said.
"Well then, we best not keep Robert de Sable waiting." Altair said. He and his Lucario remounted their Rapidash as Maria and her Wartortle mounted another.
The four then rode out of the camp and down the trail.
"The Tulls are finally gone, wiped from the world. Goodbye and good riddance" Maria said.
"The Tulls were a monstrous group, but I had hoped that I could change them. But alas I could not." Altair said.
"You have too much faith in the world Altair." Maria said.
"You have too little." Altair said.
"I have seen plenty of what our kind is capable of, it helps me sleep at night knowing I help put down the monsters that do it." Maria said.
Altair turned to her.
"I have seem from this world than anyone should. Seen the terrible things the Tulls did to pokemon and Arceons. Even before the Roman Republic. Do you remember the times when we believed pokemon were monsters?" Altair asked.
"Well I." Maria started.
"Do you?" Altair asked.
"Yes." Maria said.
"Do you remember fearing they would find you alone, tear you apart, eat you. They were mindless killing machines weren't they. Tell me you didn't think this way of them." Altair said.
Maria gave a guilty look before she turned back to her Wartortle and caressed his head.
"The truth is, we can't judge all based on the fears we have. I was the first Arceon to befriend a pokemon, since that day I had a dream all Arceons and pokemon could live together in harmony. With the Tulls defeated, this dream may finally be a reality. We just have to finish terms with the Knights Templars." Altair said.
"Then you guardians can spend all your time training Arceons to raise pokemon." Maria said.
"We have trained most people on how to raise pokemon. Under our guidance you romans have built a society based on reason, a society where Arceons and Pokemon work together. There is little more we can teach. When this is over, we will act as silent protectors, guardians of all peoples and pokemon." Altair said.
"You don't want to be remembered in the history books. The ones who started civilization." Maria asked.
"We don't do our duty for glory, we do our duty because the creator asked us too." Altair said.
Maria looked back at him.
"You're about the most self ritechous person I've ever met, you know that. Can you act more like an Arceon, show some dam emotion." Maria said.
"Grauu." Lucario growled.
"It's alright my friend, she means no offense, she is just curious. I am the way I am because I must. As a teacher to so many, I must present myself in the best way. Live by everything I teach. It is what Reduka would want of me." Altair said.
"When was the last time you did something that didn't relate to what he told you to do. Have you ever tasted Alcohol, watched a pokemon battle with your friends, ever had a lover?" Maria asked.
"I have watched my students battle their pokemon to improve their abilities, but never for entertainment value. I do not drink, and I have never been with a woman." Altair said.
"You need to live a little, see that there is more out there than duty." Maria said.
Lucario looked back at Altair with a concerned look. He couldn't help but feel Maria had a point.
"What about you? Have you done much outside your duty?" Altair asked.
"Huh, I guess I haven't. I've never opened myself up to a man, I only went to the colosseum to watch a pokemon battle because general Titus insisted that I come, and I punish any of my men if I catch them drinking on duty." Maria said.
"Then we share this problem." Altair said.
Moments later Lucario noticed another ridge with two men wearing black tunics with a red cross on their chests and swords on their belts. Between them was an Abra wearing a similar tunic.
"We're here." Altair said as they entered a camp filled with templar soldiers.
As their Rapidashs walked through the camp, the templars and psychic pokemon kept their eyes fixed on them.
Altair and Lucario noticed that each of the templars aura seemed very off balance and nervous as they entered the camp.
This made Altair and Lucario think.
As Altair, Maria, and their pokemon dismounted , a trio of Templar Knights in full chain mail armor and helmets, each with a Kadabra all approached them.
"Follow us." The first one said.
He lead the 4 of them to a tent. As they walked inside they noticed the tent was mostly empty except for a single chair.
Sitting in the chair was a templar knight without his helmet on and an Alakazam beside him.
The templar had long grey hair, blue eyes, and light skin.
"Where is general Titus?" He asked.
"He's not here. Where is Robert De Sable?" Maria asked.
"He is waiting for you. I will inform him you have arrived." The knight said as he got up. He noticed Altair and Lucario stare at him. They both felt a great amount of uneasiness from the templar's aura.
As he walked out of the tent, Altair and Lucario used their aura vision and looked at what was around them.
"Maria." Altair said.
"What?" She asked.
"Draw your weapon." Altair said as he let out his hidden blades.
Moments later several templar soldiers with their swords drawn burst into the tent all around them. Before Maria could even react, Altair slashed several down with his hidden blades, moving like a demon.
Maria then drew her Gladius and slashed across a Templar soldier's stomach. She blocked the strike of another before forcing his sword aside and stabbing into his gut.
Four Kadabras rushed inside and tried to use Psychic. Lucario unleashed an aura sphere in from of them that burst and knocked them off balance. He then rushed forward and slashed two of them with Metal claw , knocking them out.
Maria's Wartortle got into his shell and unleashed Rapid spin on the other two. As he hit them and knocked them back, Lucario slammed his palms across their throats in a cloths-line like move.
As Maria lopped a third templar soldier's head off, she felt her arm grow stiff and found herself unable to move. A Templar knight walked in with his eyes glowing as he used Psychic on Maria.
"Let me go you bastard!" Maria shouted as he walked closer to her with his sword held out.
Before he could reach her, Altair hurled him back with a burst of aura. As the knight got up he tried to use Psychic on Altair. However, Altair covered himself in his aura, which protected him from the Psychic's abilities.
He then sprinted forward and acrobatically leapt up and over the knight as he thrusted his sword at Altair. Altair slammed his foot into the knight's helmet , knocking him off balance as Altair landed and knocked the knight's sword aside with his left hidden blade before jabbing his right blade through the knight's helmet and into his head.
After the man dropped to the ground Altair turned back to Maria.
"Those treacherous bastards." Maria said.
"We need to get out of here." Altair said.
"Grauu." Lucario said nodding. The 4 exited the tent only to find the 3 knights from earlier waiting for them.
They drew their blades and unleashed a combined psychic attack towards them.
At the same time their Kadabras unleashed 3 Psywaves at their pokemon.
Wartortle was hit and knocked backwards, but Lucario leapt up and over the Psywave before landing in front of the 3 Kadabras and unleashing a furious Close combat assault that knocked out all 3.
At the same time Altair unleashed an aura sphere that flew into the wave of Psychic energy coming at him and Maria. The Aura sphere burst and sent the Psychic energy to the sides.
After the Psychic attack was cleared, Altair sprinted forward and unleashed a spinning kick into the chest of the first knight. The other two knights quickly came at Altair with their swords, only to have Altair block them with his hidden blades, then force them aside and slice his right blade across the throat of the first knight , who had just gotten up.
As the second knight tried to bring his sword back up, Altair slammed his foot into the man's arm, forcing his sword arm back down before coming back around with his right hand and slamming his hidden blade into the chest of the third knight who was raising his sword up behind him.
Finally Altair dove up and into the last knight, slamming him into the ground and plunging his hidden blade into his chest.
"We must hurry." Altair said as Maria helped her Wartortle up.
The two rushed across the camp, cutting down any templar soldiers in their path until they reached the camp entrance. Standing there were over a hundred templar soldiers, some Psychic pokemon and the Psychic knight they saw earlier.
"You two should have been killed in the tent, this would have been so much easier." He said with his sword drawn.
"You templar bastards! You won't get away with this!" Maria shouted.
"We will, I have over a hundred men here. I doubt even the legendary Altair could beat these odds." The knight said as Lucario growled.
"I could, but luckily I don't have to." Altair said. Moments later several templar soldiers on the ridge were cut down from behind and hurled over the ridge.
All of them turned to see an entire Maniple of roman Legionaries and their pokemon rushing into the camp.
"Ha!" Maria shouted with a smile as she rushed over to take command of her men. With Maria in command and organizing her legionaries in a good formation, they made quick work of the templar soldiers and their Psychic pokemon as Altair and his Lucario cut their way through any straggling templars until they reached the knight.
The knight saw Altair and unleashed a wave of Psychic energy at him.
The wave hit Altair and knocked him onto the ground. The knight sprinted at Altair and hurled his sword down at him, only to have Altair roll to the side and leap back up. The knight tried another Psychic attack, but Altair slammed his palm into the ground, unleashing a pulse of aura that knocked the knight off balance.
Altair came forward with his hidden blades, but the knight blocked the first few strikes with his sword. He was much faster than the other knights. Still when he came back at Altair, the aura guardian blocked his strike with his left hidden blade and kicked the templar in his calf making him cringe.
Altair leapt over the knight with a spin and kicked the back of his head in doing so, making him stumble forward.
As the knight turned back to Altair , he tried to blast him with another Psychic attack, but Altair absorbed the attack with his aura , then leapt into the Knight knocking him onto the ground before Altair plunged his left hidden blade into the man's chest.
As he knelt over the dying templar, the knight looked back up at Altair.
"It is done then, be at peace templar." Altair said.
"I wasn't suppose to die here." The man said.
"Your master wanted me and General Titus to die today. Why?" Altair asked.
"Because you're a threat to our plans." The templar said.
"What plans?" Altair asked.
"Our plans to save all of Arceon kind." The templar said.
"Save it from what? The Tulls are defeated." Altair said.
"Save it from itself, the Tulls may be gone. But Acreons are weak, they fear what they do not understand. You guardians try to guide and educate them, but it will never work. They will slip back into the mindless monsters they once were. That is unless they are guided through other means, control." The templar said.
"So that's it then, you templars seek to control the people. Make them mindless slaves , safe in your arms." Altair said.
"Yes, we knew your guardians would never understand, and Titus wouldn't either. That is why Robert De Sable wants you two dead." The templar said.
"You won't succeed." Altair said.
"Oh but we will, you'll see." The templar said before dying.
"May death all you to find the peace you sought. Rest in peace." Altair said as he closed the man's eyes.
He got up and saw Lucario had knocked out the templar's Kadabra.
"Altair, we've cleared out the camp." Maria said as she walked over.
Altair turned to her.
"Robert wanted to kill me and General Titus, they may make another attempt at his life. You must warn your people that the templars are our enemies." Altair said.
"I will." Maria said.
"I must go to my own people and warn them. Safety and peace Maria." Altair said as he and Lucario mounted their Rapidash.
"To you as well Altair." Maria said.
Ash opened his eyes as the memory faded.
"So the templars really were up to something." Ash said as he thought about their goal. Saving humanity by controlling it. It reminding him of Lysandre and his plan. He wondered if there was any connection between Lysandre and the templars.
Author's note
Alright that ends Chapter 39, I realize that chapter 38 was a bit plain and didn't have an Altair memory in it so I hope this chapter was better in those regards.
As for the mystery dungeon story, I don't know if some of you have gotten the idea that I want to stop this story where it is and start the mystery dungeon story. What I mean is after this book is done to do a mystery dungeon story before I write the third book.
In any case I can tell you that updates may be a little slower, I am a bit more busy now than I was before Field training, regardless I update when I can. I try to update the story as soon as each new chapter is made and then proofread.
I am doing my best.
Now some of you may or may not know this, but pokemon movie 18 was recently released in Japan. I don't know when it will be released in the states, but as of know I have no plans on implementing it into this story.
If they were still in Kalos I probably would, but since they're in Kanto I have to go with movie 1. Still I am looking forward to seeing movie 18 when it comes to America, hoping there will be some serious Amourshipping in it, more than movie 17 had.
So until next time, please review, comment, suggest, or ask(via PM)