Ch 55: Shadow revealed
A pair of young aura guardians quickly parkoured through the trees of the rainforest in the dark of night. When they reached a high point in a large tree one looked back at where they had come from.
"I think we lost them."
"This is crazy, everyone in the entire guild, just gone."
"They're not exactly gone. "
"I suppose. In either case we need to get the hell off this island and back to the mainland."
"Pidgeot can't fly us from here, we'll be spotted. We have to make it to the docs and take about."
"We should be quick about it, for all we know every other guardian on the island could have fallen victim to whatever it was that got the other guardians."
"But wait what about all the people of this island?"
"We can't help them if we end up like our brothers and sisters."
"Let's go then." The two guardians continued parkouring through the jungle.
The following morning Ash and Serena were in their bed with their underwear beside the bed.
Serena was laying on Ash with her hands on the sides of his face and her tongue in his mouth. At the same time Ash had his hands on her rear end.
When Serena moved her face to Ash's chest, he looked down at her.
"Just a few days left." Ash said.
"You're right. I'll be sad to leave." Serena said.
"Serena there's something I actually need to tell you." Ash said.
"What?".
"I'm not sure why, but the aura of this island has been drastically changing over the last few days. It's like there's some strange power influencing everything around it. I feel this is something I should tell the local guardians. So sometime today I want to go to the guild and inform the guild master." Ash said.
"Alright but later, right now you belong to me." She said before she brought her head back up and kissed him while the two moved their bodies.
Later that day Ash was ridding the back of Blastoise down the river of the rainforest. He noticed that the change in aura that he had been feeling was especially strong as he moved deeper into the rainforest.
Finally he reached the waterfall secret entrance to the guardian guild.
When Blastoise swam through the water, Ash saw the hidden doorway on the other side. He placed his hand on it and used his aura to open it.
As the door opened Ash and Pikachu were surprised to see no guardian standing on the other side like there normally would have been.
"That's weird." Ash said before he and his pokemon walked inside.
As he walked in he felt no other aura presence inside the guild.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Ash said as he walked around.
"Pika!".
"Oise!".
The 3 heard no responses as they searched the entire guild and found no one.
"This is bad. What in the name of Reduka is going on?" Ash said in a concerned tone.
Elsewhere , Serena made her way to the town of Tarel. The town on the other side of the island was the only settlement on the island besides the resort. Serena was taking her and Ash's pokemon to the pokemon center since they had not been looked at in a long time. She was also getting some groceries for their condo.
As she walked into the coastal town she saw far fewer people than she saw the last time she was there. Very few people walked the streets, and those she did looked very frightened.
Serena was confused as what was going on. When she walked into the pokemon center she saw several frightened people sitting in the corner, holding their pokemon closely.
Serena walked up the counter but didn't see Nurse Joy.
"Where's nurse Joy?" Serena asked.
"She's gone." Another person said.
Serena turned to see a skinny man sitting in the corner with a Raticate in his arms.
"What are you talking about?" Serena asked.
"How do you not know, people have been disappearing. It started with people visiting the rainforest not returning. Then at night, people claim they saw white lights in the darkness and people disappearing."
"Disappearing?" Serena asked.
"Last night someone claimed they saw the same here at the pokemon center. In the morning Nurse Joy and her Chansey were gone.
"Why hasn't Officer Jenny done anything about it?"
"She went missing as well."
Serena was now a bit afraid. She wondered why the guardians weren't doing anything about it. Maybe Ash would have the answer when he came back.
"How is it you don't know about this?" The man asked.
Serena gave a slightly squeamish. After May and Brendan left, Ash and Serena spent most of their time in their Condo, doing things. They did spend some time in the Lagoon or the rainforest. They hadn't seen many other people.
"This was suppose to be Raticate's and my vacation , now we're waiting to get the hell out of here. I'm staying here in plain sight of other people until the next boat departs." He said.
Serena saw frightened expressions on the other people's faces.
She decided groceries could wait and she should get back to Ash.
Ash was ridding on Blastoise's back as he and Pikachu looked around.
Ash noticed the aura in the rain forest had drastically changed. He used his aura vision and saw no pokemon around him.
"No guardians, now no pokemon." Ash said with a very concerned tone.
If pokemon were disappearing, he feared for the female Pikachu he had been meeting.
Elsewhere in the rainforest, a female Pikachu was running for her life. She was covered in burn marks and scraps , but still ran with a Pikachu's speed as a much larger pokemon pursued her. The larger pokemon roared as he tore through the foliation and glided when he had the room.
As the Pikachu got to the top of a slight hill , the pokemon pursuing her unleashed a Hyperbeam that landed just behind her. After the Hyperbeam hit, it exploded hurling the female Pikachu forward.
"Pika!" She cried out before flying forward until she hit the ground and began tumbling down the slope.
Elsewhere in the river, Pikachu and Ash both heard something.
"Pika?" Pikachu said.
That was when he saw her, the female Pikachu he had been meeting , she was tumbling down the side of the ridge above them and fell towards the water.
"Pika!".
"Oh no!" Ash shouted when he saw this.
As soon as the female Pikachu hit the water she began to sink.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted before he leapt into the water and swam after her.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted.
Pikachu continued to swim down until he reached the other pikachu and tried to drag her up. Finally they reached the surface as Pikachu struggled to keep the female Pikachu above the water.
Moments later they were both grabbed by Ash and lifted out of the water.
After doing so He held them both up in his arms.
"I've got you." Ash said before Pikachu looked intensely at the female pikachu who was breathing slowly.
"Pika!" He shouted as he turned to Ash.
"I'll do what I can." Ash said as Pikachu climbed back onto his shoulder.
Ash took a deep breath and placed his hand on the female Pikachu's chest as his eyes glowed blue then his hand.
Moments later the female Pikachu began coughing out water and slowly opened her eyes.
Her vision was blurry, but she finally saw Ash holding her.
"Pika!" she shouted in fear.
"It's alright I." Ash started trying to show her he was friendly with his aura. The female Pikachu, however, didn't like humans. She shocked Ash with electricity and shocked Blastoise as well.
"Blast!" He shouted as Ash grunted in pain.
"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted.
When the female Pikachu saw him she stopped and gave a confused look.
Ash and Blastoise tried to regain themselves. It had been a while since Ash had been shocked like that.
The female Pikachu didn't realize Pikachu was a human's pokemon.
"Pika pikachu." He said saying Ash would never hurt her and that they only wanted to help her.
The female Pikachu wanted to trust him, but she still didn't trust humans. Except the aura guardians of the rain forest. They were the only kind humans she ever saw. The other ones just came in and tried to catch her fellow Pikachu. Battling them, then taking them away.
That is when Ash seized the moment and tried to show the female Pikachu who he truly was with his aura.
When the female Pikachu felt Ash's aura, she saw his true nature and also that he was a guardian.
"Pika." She said with a breath of relief.
"Well that's better." Ash said.
A few minutes later they were back at the condo with the female Pikachu as he looked at her and tried to help her injuries.
"I wish we weren't out of potions, that would make this a lot easier." Ash said.
While all guardians could heal with aura to an extent. Masters and healers were far better and more effective than ordinary guardians like him.
Pikachu stood over the female Pikachu as she looked up at him.
Ash could feel from his connection to Pikachu that he cared deeply about this female Pikachu. It didn't take long for Ash to put it together. The way he leapt into the water after her.
"What did this to her and where are all of the other pokemon?" Ash asked.
"Pika, Pikachu?" Ash asked.
"Pika." She said.
"Pika pikachu."
"Chu." She said.
Pikachu turned to Ash with a concerned look.
"Pika, Pikachu." He said. He told Ash that according to her, bad things have been happening in the rain forest. A strange man with a strange pokemon had been coming into the rainforest at night. He made guardians act strange before they left with him and never came back.
One by one he kept taking them until they were all gone. After all the guardians were gone, he started taking pokemon as well, doing the same to them. When he took her family , she tried to stop him and shocked him with electricity.
After doing so, his dragon shark started chasing her and hurt her.
"Dragon Shark?" Ash asking thinking of what it could have been.
Moments later the door to the condo opened and Serena came in with a slightly freaked out expression on her face.
"Ash something weird is happening on this island." She started before she saw the female Pikachu.
"Why do you have another Pikachu?" She asked before the pikachu looked very afraid of her.
"Pika!" She shouted.
"Easy, she's my mate." Ash said.
"Mate?" Serena said before realizing a pokemon probably wouldn't understand wife.
"Pika, Pikachu." Pikachu said backing Ash up.
The female Pikachu calmed down.
"This is the female Pikachu , Pikachu has been…Seeing. She was attacked and is hurt."
"Oh you poor thing." Serena said upon seeing her injuries.
"Ash something bad is happening here. I was at the town and people have been up and vanishing in the night. We need to ask the guardians what's going on." Serena said.
Ash didn't like hearing that from Serena.
"Alright that's not good, because I went to the guardian guild and it was deserted. Not a single guardian was there. The rain forest was also clear of wild pokemon. According to this Pikachu, someone has been taking guardians and pokemon away in the night. I assume it's the same person who's been kidnapping people from the town." Ash said.
"What are we going to do?" Serena asked.
"We're going to get some help. We shouldn't do this alone" Ash said.
Elsewhere in Kanto Red and Korrina were inside a guardian guild with Lucy and Brock.
"Have you guys heard from Ash and Serena yet?" Brock asked.
"A few days ago, Ash said they were having a a great time." Red said.
"If they're on their honeymoon, I assume they're having a great time." Korrina said as the other's sweat dropped.
Moments later Felix walked into the room with a serious expression on his face.
"Dad what's going on?" Red asked.
"I just got a call from Ash. Something serious is going on in the Seafoam islands. Kal can wait, guardians are missing. Any of you want to find out what's going on?" Felix asked.
"Hell yeah!" Korrina shouted.
"Always." Red said.
"I'm in." Lucy said.
"I can help. I hope" Brock said.
"Good because we're leaving now. It's a long way to the seafoam islands." Felix said.
Later that night, Serena and Ash were trying to get some sleep, but with everything on their mind it was hard. Ash had hoped after he synced up with Altair's aura it would be the end of this kind of business, at least for a while.
But something dark was happening to on the island, he could feel the power growing. It wasn't just a coincidence and he knew it.
Serena looked over at Ash who was still sitting up.
"Keeping ourselves awake all night isn't going to help us. We need to get some rest." Serena said.
"I just can't Serena, I can't get what's going on off my mind." Ash said before Serena wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down beside him.
"Well maybe there's a few things we can do to get the disappearances off our minds." She said before kissing him.
The following morning Ash and Serena were carefully making their way down the river to the guardian guild. Ash told his father to meet them there believing it would be a safe place to meet.
"Ash are you sure the guild is a safe place to go?" Serena asked as she stood behind him on Blastoise's back. Pikachu was on Ash's shoulder while the female Piakchu was on his other shoulder.
"Pikachu said the female Pikachu saw all the guardians disappear in the rain forest. Only a guardian can enter the guild. I assume the guild was emptied when the other guardians went looking for the missing brothers and sisters" Ash said.
A few minutes later , Blastoise swam under through the waterfall to the secret entrance of the guild.
Ash walked up to the door and opened it with aura.
After opening it he let Serena walk in first.
Ash returned Blastoise before walking in himself.
As they walked in , Ash felt something strange. Aura presences he had not felt the last time he was there.
"Somethings up." Ash said.
As they walked further in Serena almost jumped as a man came out from the corner. The man was over 6 feet tall and had a large muscular build on him. He wore a guardian robe with a different style to that of Kanto aura guardians, it seemed more like the designs they had seen in Kalos.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" He said in a very thick Kalos accent.
Standing behind him was a very large Aggron.
Ash was surprised to see another guardian here.
"She's with me. I'm a guardian like you." Ash said as he stepped forward and showed his hidden blades.
The man then seemed less aggressive.
"What are you doing here, the last time I was here this place was empty." Ash said.
"I could ask you the same thing boy, my name is Master Belair of Kalos."
"What's a Kalos master doing here?" Ash said.
"We were told all the guardians here were gone, why are you here?".
"I'm not a part of this guild, we were on our honeymoon when I came here to discuss with the guardians about strange aura I've been feeling. Then I found this female Pikachu who told me that something has been taking pokemon and guardians away." Ash said.
"It's been happening to the people of this island too." Serena said.
"H'mm, disturbing. Come with me, we should discuss this with the grand mentor."
"The Grand Mentor!" Ash almost shouted.
"Follow me." He said.
Ash couldn't believe he was going to meet the grand mentor of the aura guardians. Not every guardian knew who the grand mentor was. Only the mentor's and the masters of the grand enclave.
As they approached the main chamber of the guild they saw 5 other guardian masters. Each looking like they were from a different region.
Beside them were a Venusaur, a Gallade, a Blaziken, an Alakazam, a Garchomp. and a Lucario. In the center was a massive and older looking Charizard.
Sitting at a table in front of the Charizard was none other than Arthur Ketchum.
Ash, Serena, and Pikachu had confused expressions upon seeing him.
"Huh? Grandpa, what are you doing here?" Ash said.
"What! Who is this boy who dare speaks to the Grand Mentor in such a way!" One of the masters shouted.
"Grand Mentor!" Ash shouted.
Arthur's eyes widened as he saw Ash.
"What in the name of Reduka!" Arthur shouted as he got up.
"He said he was a guardian grand mentor." Master Belair said.
"He calls the Grand mentor grandpa as a sign that he's old!" Another master shouted.
"No, he called me that because he's my grandson you twit!" Arthur shouted before the masters all looked stupid.
Arthur and his Charizard walked over to Ash.
"Ash my boy what are you doing here?".
"Grandpa, you're the grand mentor? I , I don't understand? You, dad he" Ash asked.
"It wasn't for you to know Ash. There's a reason only mentor's know who a grand mentor is." Arthur said.
"But why are you here?" Ash asked.
"I would ask you the same thing, though I assume this would be the island you were on your honeymoon at that you talked about at the wedding." Arthur said.
"Yes." Serena said.
"He says he knows something about the disappearances Grand mentor." Master Belair said.
"Grandpa, this Pikachu says something has been taking guardians and pokemon in the rainforest away." Ash said.
"That's what we heard as well. Two nights ago, a pair of guardians from this enclave escaped from the island and told Agatha the same thing that you heard. A mysterious man and a mysterious pokemon was doing something to the guardians, making them disappear. When Agatha told me, I feared it might be the work of the psychics." Arthur said.
"The Psychics?" Ash asked.
"We always knew that some psychics still roam this earth. Considering what happened on this island thousands of years ago, I can see why the psychics would want to make their come back here."Arthur said.
"But the only psychics left are those who Altair made peace with." Ash said.
"No, the templars were defeated but not completely destroyed. I always feared they might try to do something. Still this is just a theory. I wanted to come here myself and discover the situation considering what happened on this island. These masters are some of the finest in the brotherhood." Arthur said.
"Grandpa, let me help you figure out what's going on." Ash said.
"Pika!"
"I appreciate it Ash, hut we have the situation under control. It might be best for you and Serena to simply leave."
"When I became a guardian, I vowed to serve and protect my brothers. I can't sit by as dozens just go missing."
Arthur smiled.
"I wish you father were more like you." Arthur started before they heard more footsteps.
"Ash, are you there?" They heard before Felix and the others walked in.
"Woah." Lucy said when she saw all the masters and Arthur.
Arthur was less then ecstatic to see Felix.
"Dad?"
"What are you doing here boy?"
Ash and Pikachu sweat dropped as he got in between them.
"I asked them to come here to help us." Ash said.
"What's going on, why are you here father." Felix asked.
"Let me catch you both up." Ash said as he explained everything to both groups.
"Wait you're the grand mentor!" Red shouted.
"Grand Mentor it's a privilege." Korrina said as she got on her knees.
"Get up Korrina." Arthur said sweat dropping.
"We'll since we're here we can help." Felix said before Arthur turned to him.
"You have the traitor to deal with! We can handle this." Arthur said.
"If my son's are here, I'm staying." Felix said as he and Arthur stared at each other intensely.
Red got between them and had a serious expression on his face.
"That's enough, the both of you! If you haven't forgotten there are dozens of missing guardians, innocents, and pokemon. We need to figure this out and help them, it's our duty!" He shouted in a firm tone.
Arthur and Felix stepped back and away from each other.
Moments later they heard more footsteps.
"Grand mentor!" Another voice shouted.
They turned to see another guardian master. This one had dark skin with a sleepless blue hooded jacket and had a very hurt young guardian in his arms and a Tyranitar beside him with a hurt Pidgoet in his arms.
"We found two of the missing guardians!" He shouted. This master spoke with a thick Zahara accent.
"Set them down!" Arthur shouted as the two were placed on the table.
"Let me through!" The Sinnoh Master shouted as she started to heal them.
The young guardian began to cough up blood as she and her Pidgeot slowly opened their eyes.
Arthur put his head over hers.
"Easy there, you're safe now. You both are, I am the Grand mentor, I need to know what happened."
"Grand, Grand mentor" She started in a too excited tone before the Sinnoh master had her Gallade use Psychic to restrain her.
"You need to calm down." She said.
"What happened?" Felix asked her.
"We, we were hiding in the rain forest. The guidlmaster went missing after he tried to look for 6 guardians who went missing earlier. My cousin and I were moving when we saw a white light, he vanished and we tried to attack it. It , it struck back with some kind of psychic attack 2 days ago, we barely survived." She said.
"Psychic, h'mmm. Where were you?" Arthur said.
"My cousin and I were trying to look near the old castle in the mountain. That is where we felt the power at it's strongest."
"The castle, then that is where we go." Master Sera, stay here and take care of them." Arthur said.
Lucy and Ash turned to Brock and Serena.
"Guys , this could get." Ash started.
"Don't even." Serena said.
"We came this far, we're not stopping now." Brock said as Ash and Lucy sweat dropped.
"No point in trying to stop them Ash." Lucy said.
Thirty minutes later, the group was making their way through the rain forest.
"So they think psychics did this?" Serena asked as she followed Ash.
"It could be, a psychic attack hurt those two guardians, that has to mean something." Korrina said.
Pikachu noticed the female Pikachu shaking as they went through the rainforest.
"Pika." He said.
"Pika." She said explaining she was afraid the man would come back.
"Chu." Pikachu said saying he wouldn't let anything hurt her.
Felix and his Lucario noticed Arthur's Charizard staring at them as they slowly walked up beside Arthur.
"The power is definitely coming from the castle, I can feel it." Felix said.
Arthur didn't respond.
"We're both working towards the same goal, you could at least talk to me." Felix said.
"This is where Altair stopped the man in the mountain, now something is desecrating the place where our greatest ancestor did the greatest thing any guardian had ever done. I will rescue our brothers and stop whoever is doing this." Arthur said as he walked ahead of Felix who sighed.
They made their way out of the rain forest and to the entrance of the mountain path that Ash had gone to when they first arrived on the island.
"This is it. I remember this place." Ash said.
"Be on your guard." Master Belair said.
They kept moving forward as Ash and the others felt the power growing.
Eventually they reached the gate Ash remembered from Altair's memories.
However, something was wrong. The gate did not look ancient, it looked like it was in good repair.
As they slowly approached the gate it began to open on it's own.
"What the?" Brock asked.
"Well that's not spooky." One of the guardian masters said as they walked through the gate.
Once they were past it, they didn't notice a pair of guardians with a Scizor and Alakazam standing on top of the gate watching them.
Ash remembered this place well from Altair's final memories. He could see all the guardians and Al Mualim's men battling. By his choice of course.
Red and Serena noticed Ash was looking at the path very strangely.
"Are you ok?" Serena asked.
"This is where I went before I went into a coma." Ash said.
Finally they reached the top of the mountain and saw the castle, just like the gate, it looked to be in a good state of repair.
"The dark power is coming from inside the castle. Let's go. " Arthur said as they walked in.
"Chu." The female pikachu said shaking.
As the others walked in Serena noticed Ash staring at the castle.
"Ash are you alright?" She asked.
"This, this is where Altair had his final fight. When I relived what he did, I could feel a dark power inside the castle. I, I feel that same power here." Ash said nervously.
When they slowly walked inside , the interior looked exactly like it did when Altair was there.
As they walked into the main entrance they saw a group of people and pokemon standing around.
"What the? Who are you people? What are you doing here?" Arthur said.
One of the people stepped up, her hair and face made it clear she was a Nurse Joy, but she wore some king of green robe dress.
"Welcome, the mentor wasn't expecting visitors." She said in a very monotone voice.
"Hail the mentor." all the other people said as the pokemon spoke in unison too.
"The mentor?" Ash asked.
"You're the missing nurse Joy." Serena said.
"I am a servant of the mentor , no one else." She said.
Ash and the others could feel a foreign power exerting it's influence on these peoples' minds.
"We need to find the source of the power to help the. Where is this mentor?" Red said.
"Follow me." The Nurse Joy said as she lead them through the castle.
As they made their way further into the castle, they saw more brainwashed people and pokemon.
"Chu!" The female Pikachu shouted as she saw her pack of Pikachu standing on the ground.
She tried to run to them, but Ash caught her.
"Pika!" She shouted trying to get free.
"Chu!" Pikachu shouted telling her they weren't themselves.
"Pika." She said with a sad expression.
"The mentor is in the room ahead. All will be saved by his grace and wisdom." The Joy said as she opened the door and revealed a massive room.
Ash soon realized it was the old water gardens transformed into a semi throne room. The room was mostly open with a few tables, and a large upstairs section with a spiral staricase int he center of the room over a pool of water and a glowing blue pylon of light in the center.
As they walked in they saw them, dozens of aura guardians and their pokemon around the room. Some on the ground floor and some in the upper areas.
"It's the missing guardians!" Korrina shouted.
"Hail the mentor!" They all shouted in monotone voices.
"Listen to me, I am the grand mentor! You're being controlled!" Arthur shouted.
"Grauu!" His Charizard roared.
"Hail the true mentor, he who will lead the world from darkness." They said.
Ash and the others then felt a power like they had never felt before.
They turned to the pylon of light as a floating pokemon slowly lowered itself down.
It was a bipedal, humanoid creature with some feline features. It was primarily gray with a long, purple tail. On top of its head were two short, blunt horns, and it had purple eyes. A tube extended from the back of its skull to the top of its spine, bypassing its neck. It had a defined chest and shoulders, which resemble a breastplate. The three digits on each hand and foot had spherical tips. Its tail was thick at the base, but thined before ending in a small bulb.
"What, what is it?" Lucy asked.
"It, it almost looks and feels like a Mew." Felix said.
The pokemon turned its eyes to Felix.
"I am not Mew." A powerful voice said.
"Wait, was that the pokemon?" One of the guardian masters said.
" I am mewtwo, the ultimate creature on this world. My psychic power has dominion over all those you see before you, and soon the entire world." It said.
"So it's him, he's the one controlling them. He's the one behind all this!" Red shouted.
"Why are you doing this!?" Ash shouted.
"Pika Pikachu!".
Mewtwo turned his eyes to Ash.
"I serve the will of the true mentor!"
"What?" All of the group said in unison.
"He who will lead us all to paradise, to a perfect world." Mewtwo said.
"Wait , so Mewtwo is being controlled, then who is behind all of this?" Felix asked.
"Come now, you really haven't put it together." Another voice said.
When Felix heard the voice a shiver went down his spine.
His eyes and the others' shot to the top of the staircase as a dark figure slowly walked down the steps until he was just beside Mewtwo.
"I've been waiting for you, Felix." Seir said as he stood before them all with the Heart of Reduka in his right hand.
Author's note
So, the first chapter of the movie arc begins.
Many questions will likely come and I will answer them.
Still the movie arc will be at least 2 more chapters that will loosely follow the anime movie.
So until next time, please review, comment, suggest, or ask(via PM)