Chapter – 3
*Afternoon, Cameron Castle, Rota*
Lady Ilene was roaming in the corridors of her castle, her faithful Mime Jr. by her side. The day had been pretty boring with her listening and trying to solve peasant problems most of the time. She looked out the window and sighed. It hadn't always been like that. Here ancestors were actual kings and queens of Kanto. Yet ever since the Pokémon League had come into existence, she had been relegated to the rank of a Lady. She still had control over the people but it was mostly limited to in and around Rota. She had no idea in a faraway island, someone had just shouted Rota.
Suddenly she saw a bright flash of light in the corridor next to her and heard something heavy fall. Sure the Aura crystals glowed sometimes but this kind of light was unusual. Taking a moment to think, she decided to investigate, her Mime Jr. climbing to her shoulder. As soon as she turned into the corridor, she met a sight she did not expect.
In front of her, mostly visible by the light coming from the window, was one of the last persons she had expected. Standing next to the window, holding a pokeball was Ash Ketchum. She had seen him a lot on TV lately, especially due to the fact that he had basically declared war on the League. Standing with him was Brock, the man that had tried to hit on her many times, and a girl that looked just like her niece Princess Salvia.
"Ash what are you doing here? Especially with royalty. Good evening Salvia, how have you been? And Ash I'm sorry for the loss of your mother" she said with a calmness that befitted her exactly since she was practically the queen of Northern Kanto. Before Ash could frame an answer, Dawn spoke up. "Oh I'm flattered Queen Ilene, but I'm afraid I'm not Princess Salvia. I just look a lot like her" she said, visibly flustered. "I'm Dawn" she said doing a short curtsey.
"Oh no need for that" she said waving Dawn off. "You just look strikingly similar to my niece". Ash decided to chime in just then. "Queen Ilene, I know it's a lot to ask given the circumstances, and we wouldn't like you to put your kingdom in danger but could we stay here for some time" Ash asked.
"Oh sure, you and all your friends are always welcome here" she said. "Queen Ilene" Brock said going into his romantic phase. "Ever since I saw you last, you earned a place in my heart. And I know you must-"Brock was cut off in between by Croagunk's Poison Jab and Mime Jr. using Mimic on him. Croagunk then dragged Brock to the back of the group.
"Well, we better get going", her calm demeanour not even scratched by Brock's antics. She faced people like that almost a dozen times a week. She then led the three of them – Brock had apparently recovered and had returned Croagunk – to one of the main chambers. "Amanda" she shouted, apparently for the faithful old lady that had served her from her childhood. An old lady – one that Ash and Brock knew – came running. "Yes my queen" she was one of the few servants who still called her queen. Most of the servants had started to call her Lady. Seeing Lady Ilene wasn't alone she immediately said "Ah, I see you have guest. Would you like me to take them to their chambers?"
"Yes please, Amanda" she said. "Madam Amanda" Ash asked suddenly "Would you mind taking only Dawn and Brock? I would like to discuss some matters of importance with the Queen". "Please leave us" She said to a little sceptical Amanda. "And make sure they are fed and taken care of. And only our most faithful servants are to know of them and they are not to mention our guests to anyone" Amanda left though not before giving a doubting glance to Ash. If her queen trusted him, then she did too.
"Now Ash, what did you want to talk about?" Lady Ilene said, immediately taking on kinder, almost motherly face. "Well, first off I wanted to ask you about Aura Guardians. I know the Leagues been trying their best to exterminate them but there must be same left" Ash said with a hopeful expression on his face. "I'm sorry Ash, the last one I knew in Kanto was your father. And he vanished no soon after becoming one fifteen years ago. You were just one year old back then. Other than that the only one I know would be Sir Riley, and he lives near Iron Island in Sinnoh". "Yes, but there must be others with Aura powers right?" Ash almost pleaded. "They couldn't have killed every Aura Guardian".
"I'm afraid Ash but it does seem that way. I'm sorry" She said looking sad. "But I think maybe Sir Aaron could help you with that. He is the true aura guardian after all" Ash looked up a little confused. "But how is that possible? Sir Aaron Ketchum is already gone. And so is his Lucario". Queen Ilene smiled at that. "How did you save the tree that fateful day? How did Lucario and Sir Aaron get absorbed into the tree? How does a Time flower show us the past? It's all the same Ash. It's the power of Aura".
Ash looked at her wide eyed as she continued. "Aura is the power that controls it all. The core of everything. Sir Aaron's body might not be here. But his soul, his Aura is. If you can find a way to talk to him, he might tell you of a way to revive the Aura Guardians. But only the most powerful Aura guardians have been able to feed the Tree enough Aura to make the connection. I would say you will have to train a lot if you want to do that"
Ash thought about it for a few moments. Sure his aura signature was very similar to that of Sir Aaron but his Aura wasn't very powerful. It was still like an unpolished gem and only came out in times of dire need. But then he hardly had any training. He finally decided on a course. "Queen Ilene, I think I would like to try that. But not now. I will need to train right now. Then when I'm stronger, I can try." Ash said with a determined look on his face and his hands glowing lightly blue.
"Very well, but you will need a Pokémon to teach you and practice with. Is there any Pokémon that you 'bonded' with on your journey? Like you could talk to him in your mind. Just like Sir Aaron's Lucario did. We could try and locate him" Queen Ilene said. "Well there was this one Riolu in Sinnoh. I felt like we had a real connection. He had been experimented on and was really powerful and could use Aura sphere. I think he lives in the Lucario kingdom in Sinnoh. Could you try and find him"
"I can try. I know some people in the Lucario Kingdom. Now I think you should go and rest. Your friends must be wondering where you are" Queen Ilene said in a motherly fashion. "Yes my queen, but is there someplace we can train without being seen?" Ash asked. "Yes, there are some battle fields connected to the dungeons where we used to hold indoor matches. You could train there" Queen Ilene answered. "Yes my queen. I'll take your leave now"
Ash immediately started to leave but then stopped and turned. "Um, where are Dawn and Brock staying?" he asked sheepishly remembering he didn't know where the guestrooms were. "I'll take you to them" Lady Ilene said and led Ash through a criss-cross of corridors to a large room, then stopped. "You will find your friends inside. Remember not to be seen by anybody. I'll send Amanda to care for your needs" Lady Ilene said. "Yes my queen. We are sorry for all this trouble" Ash said and bowed a little, then went inside.
*Midnight, Cameron Castle*
Ash was standing in the balcony of his shared room with Dawn and Brock. Pikachu was standing on the railing. He had apparently been tired and decided to leave with Brock and Dawn in the afternoon. Ash had been facing problems with sleep lately. Even his talk with Queen Ilene hadn't cheered him up. As a matter of fact, it had given him more stuff to worry about. He looked up from where he was standing to see a big bright moon staring back at him.
"Hi Ash, what are you doing?" Dawn said from behind him. Apparently she had snuck behind him when he had been busy staring at the moon. "Oh Dawn, I'm sorry I woke you up" he said turning towards her. 'Wow, she looks even beautiful in the moonlight' he thought. She shrugged, "I wasn't able to sleep anyway. So what're you doing?" "Nothing, just thinking" Ash said turning away from her. She looked at Pikachu who made an equally confused face at her, then turned to Ash.
"Ash, what is it? I have never seen you so stressed" she asked. Ash just sighed "A lot has happened Dawn. Some time ago, we were normal trainers trying to take our goals. Now, we are criminals trying to flee the league. We are fighting for the aura Guardians, an order that doesn't even exist anymore. It's a lost cause. I don't think we can do it".
He looked up to see Dawn staring at him, and then received a full force slap on his cheek. He was about to say something but was stopped by Dawn hugging him. "Oh Ash, don't worry. The league is wrong and that is why we are fighting against it. Because no one else has. But because of us, everyone will. As for the Aura Guardians, I believe in you, Ash. As long as you are alive, the Aura Guardians stand" Ash looked down for a minute then hugged her back "Thanks Dawn, I really needed that."
They spent almost a minute in that position, and then heard Pikachu doing a "Chaa" and sniggering. Seeing him, they immediately separated Blushing furiously. "So Ash, you never told me your father was a Champion? How come?" Seeing Ash's face had fell, she immediately said. "Oh, I'm sorry, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to-"She was cut off by Ash. "No, I think it's time I started telling people more about myself."
"My father was Richard Ketchum, more often called as Red. He was a great Pokémon trainer and Kanto champion. Or that's what I've been told. When I was barely one year old, due to an accident at Silph Company in Saffron City, his Aura powers activated. After about a month of that, he was called to Crown City in the Sinnoh region for some work. I now know that was because of Kodai. I asked Kodai what happened when he was in jail. All he said was that my father tried to stop him, but fell in the time rift. No one knows what happened to him after that.
"Oh I'm sorry Ash", said Dawn seeing how quiet the place had gotten. "No don't worry. I think we should try to sleep though. We have to start training again tomorrow, right?" Ash said trying to lighten up the mood a little. "Yes, Good night Ash" Dawn said yawning and went inside. Ash stayed for a little while, then followed her.
*Next Day, Cameron Castle, Dungeons*
"Woah, I never knew Cameron castle had dungeons under the lake" Ash said looking around. "Not many people know. These were created to be a kind of Labyrinth so that only the royal family could make it out of here. Although most of the exits are sealed off now" Amanda told them. They then reached a much wider area, which opened to a huge hall. And by huge, I mean there were four battle fields placed side to side. All of them could easily train in here.
"Well, let's start", Ash said releasing all his Pokémon. Dawn and Brock followed suit. Ok so Pikachu, you said you wanted to show me some new moves, right? Pikachu answered with a thumbs up and took his place on one side of the nearest battlefield. "Brock, care to be our opponent?" Ash asked his old time buddy. "Thought you'd never ask. Just because you guys spend most of you waking hours training doesn't mean I have fallen back".
They both took places on opposite sides of the field. Dawn decided to officiate since Amanda had already left. "This will be a one on one battle between Brock and Ash. Battle begin". "Let's go Pikachu" Ash shouted which was mimicked by a cry of "Pikaa". "Steelix lets win this" Brock shouted as his mammoth iron snake took its position. "Ash, you take the first move since Brock has the advantage" Dawn said as all other Pokémon decided to watch the battle.
'Well this is going to be a tough battle. Steelix resists normal and steel, and is flat immune to electric. I'll need a strategy.' Ash thought as Pikachu waited for his command. "Ash you have the first move" Dawn reminded him. "Ok, so Pikachu let's see your new moves. Pikachu immediately began running forward, then jumped and condensed its electricity into a ball at the tip of its tail, then launched it. "You learned Electroball, well done" Ash commented, but frowned when Steelix emerged without a scratch.
"My turn, Steelix use Dig" Brock shouted as Steelix vanished into the ground. "Damn" commented Ash "Pikachu, use electric countershield to rise in the air, and stay there" he shouted. "Knew you would do that" Brock smiled a little. "Steelix use Smack down" he shouted. Pikachu being in the air evaded the effects of dig, but not another move. Smack down got it right back to the ground. "Now Earthquake" Brock shouted. "Jump Pikachu" Ash shouted. Unfortunately Smack down stopped it from doing that and Pikachu got a full force Earthquake.
"Guess we will have to go for broke. Pikachu run on Steelix and then Iron tail the head" Ash shouted. Apparently Brock heard it. This was one of the disadvantages in a Pokémon battle. Your opponent could mostly hear you just as well as your Pokémon. But Brock didn't say a thing until Pikachu had already jumped. "Now steelix, iron tail right back" he shouted. Pikachu's tail turned iron hard and so did Steelix's. Both combatants lunged at each other and their tails clashed like swords. It soon became a contest of pure strength.
Unfortunately, Steelix was much stronger than Pikachu in terms of pure power and also because of the STAB the move was getting, Pikachu was thrown straight into the air to a huge height. Fortunately the roof was quite high, probably to facilitate Flying Pokémon. Pikachu then began descending at high speed because of gravity pulling him down. Ash saw his chance.
"Now Pikachu, use Volt Tackle, full power". The volt Tackle aided by the fastening fall made an incredible combo, but Brock wasn't done yet. "Steelix, use Iron Head, straight up" Brock shouted and Steelix pushed its giant body off the ground and straight at Pikachu. Just as they were about to clash, Pikachu condensed all his power into a small spot on his fist and slammed a point blank Thunderpunch at Steelix's head. Unfortunately for Steelix, he was moving against gravity, while Pikachu was moving with it, so he took a lot more damage than Pikachu. Then they crashed.
A huge crowd of dust rose as they fell to the ground. Then from between all the dust, rose Steelix, a dent on the right side of his head from Pikachu's last attack. And in front of him, stood Pikachu, not at all intimidated by him. "Use Bind, then close-range Dragon breaths" Brock shouted as Steelix grabbed Pikachu between its coils and repeatedly harassed it with Dragon breaths. "Pikachu, don't give up buddy" Ash shouted, turning his hat backwards. "Let the battle begin" he said to himself then shouted. "Pikachu Thunder, max power" Pikachu mimicked his cry with a "Pikaaaaa" growing louder every second as he charged his electricity and then let it all go at once.
A brilliant flash engulfed the battlefield as Pikachu unleashed all its stored electricity. Steelix took barely if any damage, but there was a side effect which apparently no one had predicted. Apparently Steelix had charged too much because of Pikachu's extremely powerful electric attacks, that when Pikachu tried to stop his attack, it couldn't. Thunder just kept on flowing from Pikachu's cheeks. Then both of them began to rise.
"Huh, what's happening" Ash asked confused by why Pikachu was leaking so much electricity. "Apparently, Steelix is so charged that it is acting like a powerful Lightning rod and sucking all of Pikachu's electricity. And because of that he is kind of turning into an electromagnet, and floating just like Pokémon like Magnemite and its evolutions do". Brock said, apparently in awe of the situation.
Suddenly both of them separated and Pikachu flew straight up, this time actually impacting the ceiling and steelix had a hard collision with the ground. Since it was made of steel though, it took a lot less damage than it should. As Pikachu began to fall down, Brock shouted his order. "Steelix, use Double edge, straight up" Steelix, once again jumped straight up towards Pikachu. "Pikachu, get OUT of there." Ash shouted. Pikachu heard him and opened his eyes at the last moment. All of his electric energy was drained, and would take some time to recharge and it was already far too late to dodge. He felt a strange power inside him, and Thunder punched straight down. This time though, his fist didn't glow yellow, it glowed blue.
The Force Palm that followed hit when Steelix didn't expect it, at all. It knocked the breath out of him and he fell back to the ground, this time making a huge crater in the ground. Everyone was awed by it but something was racing in Ash's mind. "Pikachu, use Electroball, rapid fire". "Yes Ash" Pikachu said though everyone except Ash just heard a "Pi PikaPi". Pikachu tried to condense electricity just like he was used to, just as Steelix was recovering. Pikachu then sent out a barrage of attacks. The first two were Aura Spheres, while all the others were plain Electro balls. Steelix got hit just as it was recovering, and fell back down.
Even Pikachu was awed by itself. It had never felt this power before. It was very powerful, but seemed locked somehow. Ash was amazed as well. He had heard Pikachu talk, just like he had heard that Riolu in Sinnoh or just like Sir Aaron's Lucario talked. And he had just used a few Aura attacks. Did that mean? Did that mean Pikachu could use Aura now? So many questions. Dawn was the first to recover and immediately saw Steelix lying face down on the ground.
"Steelix is unable to-"Dawn stopped as she saw Steelix had opened his eyes. It rose with a deafening roar and started glowing, just as Brock's heart began to glow the same colour, manifesting itself as a bright glow in his chest. But steelix had no further evolutions, they all knew it. When the glowing stopped, Steelix had changed.
Its face now had spikes jutting out of it and many translucent and slightly coloured crystals were protruding from its body, just like its tail. Many more were levitating around it. The answer immediately came to them as they had seen this form once in the news back in Alto mare. Steelix had mega-evolved.
Before any of them could say anything, Dawn shouted. "Wait both of you. I think both of you have discovered some new powers of your Pokémon, why not evaluate them properly first. Look at it, Pikachu used some attacks it shouldn't have been able to and Steelix mega-evolved. Don't you think we should call it a draw and first work out the extent of their powers"? "Well I agree with you Dawn. What do you say Brock?" "Yeah let's call it a draw. For now" Brock agreed with them. "Why don't we leave the Pokémon to train for a while, have some lunch, and bring them their food"? Brock asked. "Agreed said both of them as the Pokémon cheered for the two brave combatants and Steelix reverted to its original form.
"Yeah I'd like some food, especially some ketchup" Pikachu said as all others just heard "Pika Picha cha". All except Ash.
A/N: Finally done. Damn this took a lot of time. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. School opened today and I was kind of enjoying the last few days of my summer holidays. Anyways, tell me what you think of the chapter, and the battle, which arguably took half the chapter. Anyways, on to some reviews.
Espeon44: Unfortunately, Meloetta has been around for centuries, so portraying it as a baby won't be possible, so no, sorry.
Halo didact: A sincere thanks for all your reviews. As for Legendary Pokémon obeying the league, the Rockets are trying to create an Obedience Master Ball. Yes, Zero's machine is going to be the one responsible for getting Giratina. Thanks for the reviews though.
Bleachedred Shinigami Pokémon: Ash will get a Mega Pidgeot, Mega Charizard (can switch forms b/w X and Y), Mega Lucario, Mega Sceptile, Mega Garchomp and Mega Mewtwo X. As for the Pokémon Ash catches, you'll have to wait.
MCRasengan: Actually Tobias' Latios is Ash's Latias' father. Ash will have Mega Latias, Mega Mewtwo, and Tobias' Darkrai and if my mood says it, for the final battle b/w Ash and Tobias, the Shiny Mega Rayquasa. I'm still unclear though.
Zanzara: You kind of read my mind. It was going to be revealed later but anyway, Tobias is Giovanni's illegitimate son.
Ash latios: As I already read in above another answer, Tobias' Latios is their father.
Guest: Hey no worries, I got google translate so review in any language you want.
Ditto1235: Houndour maybe. If he doesn't have too many megas already. Otherwise Dawn. Greninja, definitely.
Guest: Arceus won't be scared, he could wipe everything in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately he made a foundation rule that he won't take any part in mortal matters. So if a person catches Arceus in an Obedience master ball and asks Arceus to destroy the world, he will do it. Though Ash will get his blessings in the Hoopa movie, yes I will do that, how else will Ash get Hoopa?
Yes Ash will be able to revive Aura of anyone. Thanks for the suggestion. The Aura League or "Conference of Guardians" will be established. Rota will rebel against the league along with most of northern Kanto. Alto mare will be too. Most of Sinnoh and parts of Hoenn and Johto, and area around Dragon village in Unova. These will be in clear rebellion.
As for the harem, I did think about it. So because of this, Aura guardians can take as many wives as they want, because they are on the verge of extinction. This will greatly help Brock . Anyways Ash will have Dawn and Anabelle, but only because she will save Ash's life and ask this in return. Videos of traitors will be recorded and leaked and will mobilise many people against the league. Also Sabrina will be with the League and Anabelle will fight her (and save Ash).
TheSansMan, Bryan mccloud, Johnathen: Thanks for your suggestions and reviews.
And that's done. Now for some general knowledge. I will be doing the Hoopa movie and a few Meloetta episodes, so Ash and Dawn can catch them. Serena will come and love Ash, though the story will still be Pearlshipping. My interest in the anime fell after how bad Black and White was. So I didn't watch X and Y. Though I recently started watching its episodes by the dozen. The series is great though I like pearlshipping more. Anyways Bye, Sayonara, Adios, Aloha or whatever it is in your language. Don't forget to review. See you next chapter.