Chapter 16
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or it's affiliates.
A/N: Here I am with another chapter for all those who like my story. This chapter is somewhat of a filler chapter but is necessary for the story to continue. Speaking of the story continuing, we are nearing the end of this tale and things will begin to come full circle. I am still unsure on the exact number of chapters left but I think twenty will be the max. Sorry if this upsets some of you but that is just the way it goes.
To my loyal guest reviewer, thank you very much for your continued support of this story. I hope that you are still enjoying the story and can give me some more input, especially with this chapter and the few that are left. Thanks as always.
Please read and review and also vote for my next story on my profile page, it's very close still and I can't start the first chapter without a decision. Thanks and on with the story.
"Sabrina, whatever happens stay back and let me handle it okay?" Ash said seriously while never looking away from Mewtwo's limp body.
"Okay, if you say so." Sabrina said in a dazed voice. She had brought one hand up to her still tingling lips just to make sure that it had been real and not a fantasy. She had kissed Ash and not just on the cheek like last time but on the lips, his lips. Those soft, warm lips that had felt incredible against her own and had even returned the kiss.
While Sabrina was off in her own world, Ash returned Metagross after all the hard work it had done and readied himself for what he had come here to do. Taking a deep breath Ash spread his wings to their full length as they began to glow brighter with a white light and then when they reached their peak, Ash knelt down and drew his wings around himself and Mewtwo. The result was a large glowing white dome with only the middle of Ash's back exposed.
The light of Ash's wings had drawn Sabrina from her fantasy and she began to watch what was happening in front of her. Despite all she had seen in the last few hours she still gazed in wonder at what Ash was able to do. What had happened to Ash had been terrible and unforgivable in her eyes but it had given the chance to grow and become what he was now. It was true he was capable of great darkness and destruction but the warmth and light that he was capable of outshone all that like the sun does the moon. As Sabrina continued watching the glow began to fade around Ash. Just as Sabrina was about to ask if he was done, she felt a rush of wind blow by her and a crashing noise behind her. Spinning around quickly Sabrina saw the Pokemon Ash had called Mewtwo pinning him to the wall by his throat.
"What's going on here?! Tell me now! Speak!" Mewtwo screamed into Ash's brain, his voice laced with anger and confusion.
Sabrina moved forward but was stopped by a look from Ash. "You died in the battle with me and Yveltal. That was a terrible mistake, one that I came here to fix. So I had my Pokemon find your body and I brought you back to life. I'm sorry for killing you old friend, I will regret it till the day that I die."
"Your sorry?! You kill me and all you can say is your sorry? Mewtwo said with disbelief as he released Ash and backed away from him with a scowl on his face.
Rubbing his neck where Mewtwo had held it, Ash looked at Mewtwo seriously. "I also brought you back to life and considering you killed me once before, I'm going to call us even."
Moving his head quickly to the side in shame Mewtwo grimaced. "Fine. We are even." Opening his eyes Mewtwo noticed Sabrina standing to the side watching. "Who is she?"
"That is Sabrina. She is a powerful psychic trainer and a friend."
"Hmm, I see." Mewtwo said while giving Sabrina a scrutinizing glance. By the way Ash it is good to see you back to your senses, was she responsible for that? And where did Yveltal go?"
"No she wasn't the whole reason but that is a story for another time. Now as for Yveltal, I don't know where it went." Ash said as he scratched the back of his head, a nervous trait from his childhood.
"You lost it?! Do you realize the havoc it could cause running around on the loose? It's not called the destruction Pokemon for nothing you know!" Mewtwo yelled at Ash.
"I realize that! That is another reason that I needed to heal you, so we could find it and ..." Ash started but stopped abruptly as the his vision began to spin and he fell to the floor unconscious.
"Ash!" Sabrina screamed as she ran to his body. Fearing the worst had happened twice in one day. Just when she had gotten him back.
"Son of a bitch!" Red yelled as he got up after receiving a hard blow to the chest from Yveltal's long tail. Red had been fighting the massive bird for so long that night had fallen, leaving only the light of the many fires to illuminate the makeshift battle field. Early on Red had figured out that his aura spheres were useless against the black and red bird. They actually seemed to give the bird a power up which was problematic due to how strong the damn thing was to begin with but to make matters worse was what happened if it touched him. Even the slightest contact made Red feel weaker and it didn't go away after the contact was over.
"Tal!" The beast screeched as it came at Red with the black aura around it's wings. Just as it swung it's left wing at Red's head, Red was able to duck and strike back with a left punch to the birds body. But as soon as the punch landed Red's legs felt like jelly and he fell to his knees. Literally seizing the opportunity, Yveltal used it's tail to grab Red around his midsection and pushed him into it's right wing. Red could feel his aura leaving him as the contact continued but there was nothing while he got weaker and weaker. As Red's eye's began to get heavy he finally realized what the creature was doing to him, not only was the bird taking his aura but it was also taking his very life force. The beast was killing him but to hell if it was going to do it without a fight. Reaching down as best he could, Red touched the button on one of his pokeballs releasing it's contents in a flash of light.
"Aero!" The prehistoric Pokemon screeched as it was released.
"Aero, Hyper Beam now!" Red yelled with all the strength he could muster in his weakening state.
"Aero!" It screeched as the orange beam charged quickly in it's mouth and then was released toward Yveltal where it collided with the beast's chest. The impact sent Red's body flying as Yveltal was pushed through a building by the powerful beam. Using it's incredible speed Aero was able to catch Red on it's back before he hit the ground.
"Thank you old friend." Red gasped out while he looked for Yveltal while trying to stay awake. Seeing no movement Red spoke to Aero. "Come on, lets find Yellow and get somewhere safe.'
"Ro!" Aero answered and began flying away from the battle field.
Meanwhile...
Lysandre approached the still body of Yveltal that was laying amongst the rubble of the building it had crashed into. As Lysandre looked upon the magnificent Legendary Pokemon in front of him, the man beside him spoke. "It seems to only be stunned temporarily. Best if you used the device now before it awakens."
"Yes, I believe that would be wise Doctor." Lysandre replied as he strapped the back pack device on his back and placed the reddish orange glasses on his eyes. Then pressing a button on the pack, three mechanical arms sprang form the pack. Each of the arms had three fingers and what looked like an eye in the center of the fingers.
"Now just touch Yveltal with one of the arms and the machine will do the rest." Dr. Xerosic explained as he took a few steps back.
Nodding in understanding Lysandre stepped forward and directed one of the arms to Yveltal's exposed wing. As it touched there was a dark glow on the arm and then there was a red glowing light that went into Yveltal causing the bird to shudder.
"Now you should have complete control of it." Dr. Xerosic said proudly with his hands behind his back confidently.
"We will see. Yveltal stand before your new master!" Lysandre ordered through the headset attached to the glasses.
After a moment of the rubble shifting, Yveltal was able to stand on it's hind legs in front of Lysandre. It's body seemed to be fine and injury free but it remained unnaturally still and its gaze was focused on Lysandre.
"Excellent! Now bow to me." Lysandre smirked as the Legendary Destruction Pokemon began to lower it's head to him. "Ha very impressive doctor. Now all we need are the other two and our plan will go off without a hitch."
Ash awoke with a start from what he hoped was only one of his usual nightmares. He had been facing down Yveltal with the blood covered, lifeless bodies of Sabrina, Lily and Malva behind him and blood covering his hands and cloths. Had he done that to them or was it Yveltal? Was it a sign of what was to come? The nightmare had ended before he was able to get any answers.
"Ah finally awake." A gruff voice said from beside Ash. Looking around in the darkness Ash realized he wasn't in the cave anymore but in a room laying on a bed. It was too dark to see everything clearly but from the little he could see it appeared to be a room at a Pokemon Center. The man who had spoke was much easier to identify, even in the dark.
"Paul. I didn't expect you to be the one watching over me, wheres Sabrina and what happened to the handcuffs?" Ash asked as he rubbed his wrists where the metal objects had been.
"Well it was no small feat getting her and the others to leave you alone but I can be persuasive when I want to be. As for the cuffs, Jenny decided not to arrest you. She said that since you saved everyone she would drop all the charges but she did request that you leave town as soon as possible."
"Well I'll have to thank her later for that. But it does seem like I'm not welcome in a lot of places these days." Ash said as he smiled but it quickly faded as a question came to mind, one that had been bugging him since he woke up on the beach. "Why are you in Kalos Paul?"
A stern expression came over Paul's face after Ash asked that question. "I thought you would have been able to figure that out on your own by now."
"So the League still wants me huh? And they sent you and the girls here to bring me in?"
"No, not exactly." Paul said grimly as Ash looked at Paul with a puzzled expression. Paul sighed and decided that he couldn't back out now and should get everything out in the open. "We were sent here to find you but not to bring you back. We were ordered to kill you."
Shock crossed Ash's face as the words sunk in. It really shouldn't have been so surprising after what had happened before. The League had basically killed him by dropping him in the wilderness all those years ago and after what he had done to Goodshow, he should have expected repercussions. But he never would have thought the League would send people to kill him, capture yes, but not outright kill him. He had always figured if the caught him they would use the law to kill him the legal way and show Goodshow's killer being put to justice, not quietly in a foreign land. Then Ash's thoughts turned to who was sent to do the League's terrible deed. "Did the others know about this?"
"Yes but I got the impression that they only agreed to come to find you." Paul said as a smirk crossed his face. "Some of them are quite fond of you despite everything."
"Hmm." Ash nodded while staring straight ahead in deep thought. "What about you Paul? What's your opinion on all this?"
"Well I argued against killing you from the start but I was over ruled." Paul watched Ash tense slightly at his words but continued. "But after some a not so pleasant conversation with Sabrina about what really happened in Goodshow's office, my opinion of you and the League has changed."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Nothing." Paul stated as he stood from his chair and moved toward the door. "Just think of it as me doing a friend a favor."
Smirking, Ash replied. "Thank you friend."
"Don't mention it. Ever. Now I think I will leave. I think someone else wants to see you."
"Okay. See you later Paul." Ash said as Paul left through the door and Sabrina entered. She looked terrible, like she had been crying earlier in the night leaving her eyes red and puffy. "Hey Sabrina."
In a blink Sabrina had run to Ash and hugged him tightly. "When you fainted I got so worried, I thought you had died again."
"I know and I'm sorry for worrying you like that. I guess I just used too much energy and passed out. Thanks for bringing me back." Ash said as he patted Sabrina's back to comfort her.
"Your welcome Ash." Sabrina said as she quickly released Ash and sat in the chair that Paul had been using.
Seeing Sabrina calm down some, Ash decided to ask her somethings that were bugging him. "So where did Mewtwo go?"
"Not sure really. He teleported us just outside the Center and said he would be keeping an eye on you and then just disappeared."
Ash smiled at Mewtwo's actions. That Legendary in particular hated being around humans but what had he meant he was going to keep an eye on him? "I figured as much, he's not a very social fellow. Is everyone else here too?"
"Yeah Lily, Misty, and Cynthia are all here too but Paul didn't want all of us in here so after a lot of yelling and convincing they went to bed." Sabrina explained.
"Oh yeah what time is it? Was I out very long?"
Chuckling at Ash's sudden outburst Sabrina smiled. "Lets just say it is very early in the morning."
"Wow, well that explains why I'm not tired anymore. Have you gotten any sleep yet Sabrina?"
Shaking her head, Sabrina gave a small smile to Ash. "No, I was waiting to see that you were okay."
"Thank you for caring about me Sabrina. It really means a lot but you should get some rest." Ash kindly said as he touched Sabrina's hand.
"I'll be fine."
A silence fell over the two as they sat in the dark holding one anothers hand. Sabrina was simply enjoying Ash's company and the gentle warmth from his calloused hand on hers. Ash's mind was in a more contemplative state, thinking about the terrible nightmare he had earlier and something Paul had said. Seeing no real way but to ask outright, Ash cleared his throat. "Sabrina, Paul said that some of you girls are quite fond of me. What did he mean by that?"
Taken aback by Ash's directness on the sensitive subject, Sabrina took her hand away from Ash's. "Are you sure you want to know? I'm sure you can guess some of what Paul meant."
"Yes but I want to know. It's important that I know now in case anything should happen." Ash responded seriously.
Sighing Sabrina shook her head. "It's not my place to tell other people's feelings."
"Please Sabrina. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." Ash persisted.
"Fine." Sabrina said in slight frustration. "Lily, Misty and I all have feelings for you. Deep feelings that go beyond friendship. There now you know."
Looking at Sabrina and then out the small window, everything began to make more sense. Misty sticking by him for so long when they were younger, Lily kissing him before he was exiled, Sabrina kissing him in Goodshow's office and then again in the cave and maybe even Malva holding his hand in the training room. They were showing him affection and he had been blind to it. He had ignored them, not out of cruelty but simply because he hadn't realized what they were doing and because of that he had hurt them all.
"I didn't realize..." Ash began while still gazing out the window.
"Ash it's okay. It's ..." Sabrina started but was interrupted by Paul bursting through the door.
"Yveltal has attacked Luminoise City! We have to go now!"