Slowly the sky started to be filled with the light green glow of a powerful aura. Brock recognised it immediately from the screens still showing images. Ash's friends had filed out of the tent where they were waiting for Ash to return to watch the skies. They had been listening to the device Clemont invented until now and were growing steadily more concerned the longer Ash was silent. They watched in awe, seeing the power Ash truly had.

An aura sphere grew to encase Ho-oh and Ash. His friends heard snippets from Ash's past, they sounded too quickly for any of them to make sense of. Ash transmitted his memories to Ho-oh with telepathic messages to Ho-oh to calm down and that Ash would help to keep it safe. As Ash transmitted his thoughts and memories to Ho-oh they both fell into a trance-like state. Ho-oh began to lose altitude and Charizard and Pikachu realised that Ho-oh wasn't landing, it was crashing. They sped up to catch the Pokémon and their trainer. However, the aura sphere prevented them getting any closer. News reporters in helicopters were reporting on the situation and Ash's friends in the tent watched in horror as they saw Charizard's attempts to save Ash being deflected by the aura sphere showing images from Ash's past too quickly for anyone to follow properly. Pikachu called a warning to Charizard seeing that the ground was too close for them to keep trying to save Ash. Sadly the Pokémon had to pull out of the dive and watched in terror and horror as the aura sphere crashed into a smaller park on the other side of Viridian City. The aura sphere shattered on impact and the sounds stopped coming through Clemont's device as it exploded in a cloud of black smoke.

Charizard and Pikachu landed as quickly as possible near the crash site which was engulfed in a dust cloud. Charizard walked one way as calmly as possible, it couldn't afford to fall into a rage right now, carefully surveying the wreckage of the park for any signs of his trainer or Ho-oh. The park was a mess. There was a large crater the size of the aura sphere Ash had made. Trees had been blown out of the ground from the impact in a shower of dirt and old rotting roots. Stone paths had been shattered beyond recognition. Pikachu was more frantic. He ran through the wreckage, calling loudly and panicking for its trainer.

The group just outside the tent were still choking on the smoke clouds from the explosion. "What happened!?" Iris demanded a little shrilly. She had been clearly frightened by the explosion. Clemont groaned in answer and rushed off to check the remains of his invention. Bonnie sighed disappointedly. "My brother's inventions always explode, it just takes some inventions longer to go boom than others," Bonnie explained. Even though she knew the track record of Clemont's inventions, she had truly believed that this one wouldn't explode. Perhaps it was wishful thinking or the belief that Clemont had to make one device sooner or later that wouldn't explode. It took everyone a few moments to recover from the shock and then one thought entered their minds. What had happened to Ash? Gary was the first to leap into action commandeering one of the screens in the tent to show the news. They all realised that whatever was happening Ash would most likely be on the news. Ho-oh was pretty news-worthy after all.

Gary flicked on to the news just as a female reporter came on. She was shown in a helicopter circling a crater covered by a dust cloud in a small park below. The reporter looked a little pale and seemed to find it difficult to explain what had just happened. "Thanks Toby. This is the site of where Ho-oh crashed. Rescue services are on their way here right now to check if the young man holding on to Ho-oh at the time of the crash is alright and if Ho-oh has calmed down. However the damage to the city is extensive and traffic could pose a problem. We suggest that everyone stays indoors until the situation can be sorted fully and we also advise that people stand away from the park below. Ho-oh may still be aggressive. More on this story as it comes, back to you Toby," the female reporter explained in a slightly shaken voice. While she spoke, a little box had appeared in the corner displaying a video soundlessly showing how Ash was holding onto Ho-oh within an aura sphere and images flashing briefly across the green sphere faster than the eye could follow. It showed how Ho-oh and Ash seemed to lose consciousness and they together fell towards the ground. The video continued showing Charizard trying to get to Ash but being deflected by the aura sphere until finally it was forced to pull away as the aura sphere with Ash and Ho-oh inside crashed into the ground and disappearing into a massive dust cloud. Gary turned to the others, who were in turn staring at him or others in the group, horror-struck. They knew they had to get to that park as soon as possible and as one wordlessly ran out of the tent and towards the crash site.

Ash groaned as he came to. Everything ached and his vision was very blurred. He lifted his head slowly and started to survey the damage he and Ho-oh had done. He tried to push himself up with his right hand but instantly fell back down, biting back a cry of pain. He had twisted his wrist, he was certain of it. He took a deep breath and moved his left hand experimentally and pushed himself into a kneeling position with his left hand. He took a steadying breath and looked around. He felt extremely dizzy, dizzier than he had earlier. He understood that it was because he had used his aura and the damage to the aura sphere he made had taken its toll on him. He had over exerted himself. He had a pounding headache and a taste of blood on his lips. He was certain the blood was from a nose bleed. He returned to surveying the wreckage, looking for any sign of Ho-oh. Then he spotted Ho-oh through the dust filled air, albeit a very dusty and unconscious Ho-oh. Ash slowly got to his feet and limped over to Ho-oh, discovering that twisted his left ankle during the impact also. He knew that he had been lucky. That crash could easily have killed him.

Ash fell down onto his knees, exhausted and sore. He placed a hand gently on Ho-oh's side. He breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the Pokémon's breathing and warmth. Ash then wet his lips, rewarded with the taste of blood, and softly called to Ho-oh. Ho-oh stirred eventually. Ho-oh turned its head to Ash carefully and studied the boy. "Are you alright?" Ash asked quietly. His throat felt dry and his voice was hoarse. Ho-oh regarded Ash silently and closed it eyes. "I will be fine. What of you? That was a very dangerous thing you did," Ho-oh answered telepathically. Ash was surprised at Ho-oh's concern but smiled. "Yeah, I'm alright. Can you get up?" Ash replied. Ho-oh nodded slowly and gradually got up. It looked down at Ash and considered the boy. "You truly care for what happens to me, don't you Ash?" Ho-oh commented kindly. Ash nodded as much as his pounding headache allowed him to and also got up on to his feet. Ash stumbled as his leg gave way under him but Ho-oh used its long neck to catch Ash and helped him back to his feet. Ash smiled his thanks.

Pikachu spotted Ash and Ho-oh and called joyously to Ash and ran over to them. Pikachu didn't care what was going on, all that mattered was that Ash was alright. Ho-oh watched the reunion of the two friends. Pikachu chattered away faster than most, in fact all but probably Ash, could follow. Pikachu scolded Ash for being so reckless, it expressed how happy it was that Ash was safe, it explained that Charizard was also looking for Ash and it then broke down sobbing from the stress of worrying about Ash. Ash was amused by Pikachu's half-hearted scolding and relieved that Charizard was alright and finally comforted Pikachu as the Pokémon clung to Ash's neck and cried. Ho-oh was astounded at how understanding Ash was towards Pikachu and knew that the memories Ash had shared with Ho-oh were truly showing Ash's character. Ash was a kind, caring and understanding Pokémon trainer with incredible bravery that enabled Ash to fearlessly protect any Pokémon in need from an out of control Garchomp to the stressed and sobbing Pikachu in his arms. Ho-oh wasn't sure if the fact that Ash had seen it or at least a Ho-oh on three separate occasions meant anything but this Ho-oh was glad to have met the trainer and knew it could trust Ash with its life. Ho-oh finally relaxed for the first time since escaping the humans that experimented on it. That was at least until the sirens of the rescue team arrived.

Well, the end is in sight. The next chapter is the last proper chapter in this part. There is an epilogue which I'll reveal sets up the third and final part of this story. So please let me know what you think of this story and if there was any way I could have improved it.

So until the next chapter.