Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or its affiliates.
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The room looked like a clothing and shoe store collided with each other and exploded. There were duffel bags scattered around the room with clothes spilling out of them like someone had dug through it and then just stopped. The shoes were everywhere, on the bed, on the floor, there was even one on the TV and they were all different styles and sizes. It was utter chaos that the owner of the room hoped would go away when her guests did.
Speaking of the owner of the room, Lily was waiting patiently by the door for her friends to get out of the bathroom. After her battle, all of the girls decided that they should go and celebrate while the guys hung out with Max to console him after his loss. They decided to use Lily's room to change and do makeup in because it was bigger than the rooms in the Pokémon center. Lily didn't mind too much, it was nice to have company every once in a while even if they made a mess. The thing that was bothering Lily was how long they were taking to get ready, having done Water shows for years and knew how to do her makeup and get dressed quickly so as not to slow down the show.
So Lily being the first one ready in her white knee length dress, minimal makeup and white heels. Her hair was loose and flowed to her shoulders in a cascade of pink. She was beautiful to behold and had many "fans" who asked for dates almost daily but she would always turn them down. She had someone better in mind but who it was she had kept to herself. While she stood at the door thinking or her prince, the other girls came out of the bathroom finally done and ready to go.
The first to come out was Sabrina, the Gym leader of Saffron City. She was wearing a modest purple dress that went to her calves and short heeled shoes. Her hair was its usual straight as a board style but was shorter, only going to her shoulders. Her makeup was minimal with just some eyeliner but with the hard look she always has on her face you could hardly see it.
The next two to come out of the bathroom was May in a red strapless dress and Dawn in a blue strapless dress. They had put their hair up in their usual styles but without the bandanna and hat.
Finally the last two made their way slowly out of the bathroom, still zipping their dresses up. Misty was wearing a sea green strapless dress that went to her ankles and black flat shoes. Her fiery red hair was hanging loose to her shoulders in soft wavy locks. Next to her was Roxanne the Gym leader of Rustboro City. She was wearing a modest bronze colored dress with black flats like Misty. Her brown hair was loose and flowed down to the middle of her back.
Lily looked around at each of the girls and had to smile a little. These were her friends and she wouldn't trade them for the world but five years ago she never would have thought that. In fact she had hated most of them back then but when certain events came to light, a slow friendship began to form. Now they got together whenever their busy schedules would allow it.
"Are you all finally ready to go?" Lily asked patiently, like a mother getting her kids ready for school.
"Yes mom, we are ready. Let's go." Misty said sarcastically.
"Ok, ok just checking." Lily said while opening the door. Just as everyone was walking out the door there was an explosion from outside.
"What the heck was that?" Dawn asked quizzically while looking around at the other girls for answers. They all just shrugged in response, not knowing what it was either.
"It sounded like it came from the stadium but that should be empty by now." Lily spoke while walking to the window that faced the stadium to draw back the curtains. As she opened them, all the girls could see the stadium lights still on and a stray Hyper Beam streaking through the sky.
"What is going on down there? There shouldn't be a battle going on. Come on, we need to find out." Lily said with authority, while grabbing her pokeball belt and heading back to the door.
The other girls nodded in agreement and grabbed their belts and headed out toward the stadium as fast as they could.
Paul couldn't believe what had just happened right in front of him. He, the Champion of Sinnoh, had been defeated, no utterly destroyed. Someone who held no title, had never won a league and wasn't even supposed to have Pokémon had beaten hi like he was a novice. The battle had been lost before it even began; Guardian's monstrous Aggron had taken out three of Paul's Pokémon before finally going down. Then his Tyranitar had come out and tore apart two more of Paul's Pokémon before fainting. Now Paul was staring down Guardian's Steelix, who had tossed Paul's Weavile aside like it was a rag doll.
"Have you had enough Paul?" Guardian said with a smirk as he crossed his arms. "Cause I can keep going if you want more."
"No, I'm done." Paul said sadly. "Ash, you may have defeated me but you need to come with me. If you leave they will just keep hunting you. You will be a fugitive on the run."
"Don't call me that name damn it!" Guardian spat angrily while returning his Steelix. "It's not my name anymore and as for being on the run, that's fine with me. It's not like I have a home and family to go back to, remember."
"What about your friends? We want you around. All of us do, even the ones who said differently five years ago." Paul said seriously, buying time to figure out a plan.
"What did you say?" Guardian said darkly, as dark aura began to swirl around him.
"Your friends didn't betray you, Ash. They were threatened by the League and Team Rocket into saying those things." Paul stated sadly. "Team Rocket needed you gone; you had interfered with their plans too many times. So, they leaned on the League, who in turn threatened your friends into saying those things."
"That can't be true! They betrayed me Paul and you know it! You were there, you saw the interviews! They hate me and I hate them, end of story!" Guardian yelled angrily while the black flames of aura burned more intensely.
Paul could see the black flames surrounding Guardian but wasn't sure what they were. Whatever those flames were they seemed to exude a dark, powerful energy that scared Paul. Trying to remain calm, Paul continued. "I know I was there and yes I saw the interviews but I also saw what happened after you left."
"And what was that." Guardian spat through gritted teeth.
They all were sad. Like you had died or something, which back then wasn't far from the truth. Any time I would ask what was wrong; they would just say nothing and change the subject. I thought that was odd, so I did some snooping and found the money trail from Team Rocket to Mr. Goodshow. Granted at the time I didn't know what it was for until Lily got that stubborn sister of hers to talk."
Guardian was just standing there taking in every word that Paul was saying. His face was expressionless but the flames hadn't gone down.
"Goodshow threatened to close the gym, that's why she betrayed you." Paul continued still buying time. "I know you remember how much that gym means to her. The rest of your friends faced similar situations with something precious to them being threatened."
"So what! They had a choice to make and they made it. There is no going back and changing the past, no matter how much you want to. So what would you have me do Paul? Hmm, forgive them?"
"Yes." Paul stated bluntly. "But not for me, not for them, not even for yourself. Do it for your mother. She would want you to forgive them Ash."
"Paul, tread carefully. I mean it." Guardian said in a deadly tone of voice.
"Ash is your name, not Guardian. Your mother would want you to be the Ash she raised. The kind, caring individual who loved his friends and cared for everyone. Not this "Guardian" person that you are pretending to be. This isn't you Ash." Paul said in a commanding tone.
There was an uncomfortable silence as Paul's words sank in. "Are you done?" Guardian said in a calmer voice than before.
"Yes I am."
"Good, now let me say something to you." Guardian spoke softly. "I want to thank you for all that you have said and done tonight. Only a true friend would be that honest and you were right. My name is Ash, always was and always will be. However, the old Ash died with his family in that fire and the new Ash was born. I was born through destruction and loss and can't go back to the way that I was. There was a positive that came out of it, it made me stronger. Now I'm going to help you get stronger by showing you the pain of losing something, by destroying your precious stadium. Maybe then you will start to understand the mistake you made by trying to take me in tonight."
"What !? No you can't!" Paul yelled in panic.
"Yes I can. Now watch me." Ash stated as a black aura sphere formed in his hand. He then fired it at one of the stadium lights, destroying it on impact. With a cold smirk, he began firing them in all directions, taking large chunks out with each blast.
"Stop! Don't do this Ash! Please!" Paul yelled over the explosions and sound of falling debris.
"Sorry Paul but you said the League did this to me, so I'm just paying them back. Since you are also part of the League now, you should also be punished." Ash said as he charged an aura sphere and aimed it at Paul. "Fear is a choice, Paul. Do you choose to fear me?"
Paul gulped deeply "Yes I do. But I'll ask you one last time, as your friend. Please don't do this."
Ash shook his head "Sorry Paul this is goodbye my friend." Then he fired the aura sphere.
Paul could only watch as the ball of destruction came towards him. "So this is how it ends." Paul whispered to himself as he lowered his head, accepting the inevitable.
When the aura sphere was only a few feet away, Paul heard some familiar voices cry out.
"Starmie, Light Screen!"
"Alakazam, Light Screen!"
"Dewgong, Protect!"
The aura sphere hit the light screens and slowed down, then bounced off the protect leaving Paul unharmed.
Both Ash and Paul turned toward where the voices came from to see the girls and their Pokémon standing there ready to attack.
"Paul are you ok?" Dawn yelled as her and the other girls ran up to him while returning their Pokémon. Dawn and the others began checking him over for injuries but Sabrina was staring intently at the figure with black flames swirling around him. After a minute or so of looking this curious individual over, she spoke softly "Paul, who is that man that attacked you?"
Paul lightly shook off the other girls who were still checking him over and walked up next to Sabrina. "He is a vigilante from Hoenn who kills criminals. He's called Guardian but his real identity is someone you may remember. Someone who disappeared five years ago but by some twist of fate came back, your friend Ash Ketchum.
There was a moment of shock that went through the group like a cold wind. No one knew what to say to Paul's statement. What do you say when someone you care about that was sent away to die, suddenly comes back and attacks one of your friends?
After a minute or two, the first to get over her shock was Sabrina. Being less emotional than the others, she recovered faster. "I find that hard to believe but I'll check to see for sure." Then her eyes glowed blue as she unleashed her psychic powers to look into the man's mind but was stopped by a dark voice in her head.
"Stay out of my head, witch."
Sabrina was shocked out of her focus and nearly fell down. "I don't know who he is but he is strong with aura. That's all I got before he pushed me out."
"Wait how could he push you out?" Misty asked quizzically.
"Aura can combat psychic powers and just like any clash of powers, the stronger one can block the weaker one." Sabrina explained slightly shaken by the experience.
Suddenly from the back of the group, a quiet voice spoke up. "Paul, is that really him? Is it really Ash?" Tears had formed in her eyes as she was asking the questions that she and the other girls desperately wanted to know the answer to.
Paul looked at Lily with a sympathetic expression. Paul knew of Lily's feelings for Ash but the way Ash was now, Paul wasn't sure if her going near him was a good idea. "Yeah it's him. But Lily he isn't the same as he was. He's dangerous; he tried to kill me and destroyed the stadium. You need to stay away from him."
"I just want to talk to him. That's all, ok?" Lily said while stepping forward while silent tears flowed down her face.
Paul at Lily and then turned to look at Ash. The flames had died down considerably and were barely visible at all. When Paul looked at Ash's face he was surprised by what he saw. He no longer had the cold, blank expression he had a few minutes ago but one of surprise. His eyes were focused on one thing and as Paul followed Ash's eye line he realized he was staring at Lily. Not that he could blame him, Lily was a beautiful young women and had showed Ash kindness at a time when he was most vulnerable. Maybe she could calm him down.
"Ok Lily but be careful aright." Paul spoke with a caring voice.
"I will." Lily answered and started walking slowly but steadily toward Ash.