Authoress' Note:
Yesh… this chapter was supposed to come a lot faster… but one of the characters acted up on me and moved things forward a lot sooner that what I had planned. :'D So I had to rewrite a few scenes to fit the new turn of events and still make it work into my plans ahead.
Props to SilentObserver for standing up for me! It was awesome to see I have someone backing me up. :)
Also, rest assured my shippings-ranting-anonymous-guest-friend, that this story is by no means romantic (which I thought I had cleared enough when I added the genre). Needless to say, that doesn't mean the characters can't have their little moments if it's in their personality, so do bear with it please.
Anyway, this thing is already too long. Enjoy!~
Chapter 10 'A Force to be Reckoned With'
The moment the energy shield vanished, the first thing Mewtwo did, was look for his Pokémon companions and make sure they were all fine and well. So now he was listening intently as Pikachutwo gave a report of what he heard from the group of humans that had invaded their recent home. Mewtwo had already suspected they were dealing with another criminal organization bent on using the island's power for their own selfish purposes, but he was surprised to hear from Venusaurtwo that they hadn't come alone. Apparently the group had brought a couple of young human kids and their Pokémon. The grass type was in the middle of explaining how he and Meowthtwo had stumbled upon the kids after they had fallen into one of the ancient traps, when Meowthtwo came running in, exclaiming their old friends were being attacked by the bad group.
"What do you mean by 'old friends'?" Mewtwo asked filling intrigued.
"Nya-nya! Meow-nya!"
The Psychic's eyes widen in recognition right before a powerful Thunderbolt Attack rose in the distance with a loud crack. Mewtwo levitated lightly over the ground with a focused frowned. "I'll go investigate the situation. You all stay here and keep hiding."
.:oOo:.
"I'm telling you, man! I saw it again! How come you didn't?!"
"What's up with him now?"
"He says he saw the same pink and black legendary creature pass us by so fast it was just for a second…"
"You are still going on with that?"
"But it's true! It was going back from the opposite direction! Wooosh! Through the water! Like that!"
As the officers riding beside them had their conversation, with one of them trying to convince another two of what he saw, Professor Kukui's concentration went entirely in the piece of land that could clearly be seen in the horizon. They had finally found the island.
"Henry, Evan scouting duty!" Officer Jenny's voice was heard just ahead of them. Immediately cutting their conversation, two of the officers raised their head in attention as Jenny continued. "Stay hidden and do not engage with the criminal group if possible. In the case you find any of the missing kids, I trust you to evaluate the situation properly and act accordingly!"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Can't we go too?" Lana asked as she watched the two officers speed up ahead.
"They'll go first to make sure it is safe for us to land," Professor Kukui explained. "We will be of no use if we are caught by surprise."
It made sense, but it didn't mean the kids like the idea. All they wanted was to look for their missing friends and make sure they were all okay.
.:oOo:.
Kiawe grunted as he tried to force himself free of the binding ring around his arms and torso. A lingering headache thanks to Malamar's Psychic attack left him stunted for a few seconds before he had regain his bearing. Looking around, he noticed everyone else wasn't holding any better. When the Malamar had gotten ahold of them, he had been forced to watch helplessly as the goggles guy shot his weapon at the distracted Pokémon, two rings each, before going for them as well. Once the energy ball had transformed and tightened around him, Kiawe felt Malamar's power loosen, and he fell to the ground right beside Ash and Bonnie, each struggling to break free without success.
"We recaptured the kid," the nutty scientist was saying as he communicated through a Holocaster. "I'm heading back to the seal chamber."
"Well done, Xerosic. I'll be expecting your prompt return," his leader commented before cutting the call.
"Xerosic Sir, what are the orders?" a female grunt stepped up to ask.
"Bryony and Aliana should be done by now. Take the kids and go back to camp," the Xerosic guy ordered. "As for their Pokémon… make sure they are as far away from the volcano as possible. We won't take any chances."
.:oOo:.
The ambush had been fast and without warning. As they were walking through the dark forest, attacks came from four different directions, successfully splitting their attention and increasing the chances of getting captured. Before she even understood what was going on, Serena and Braixen had been tie-up together by a single ring with Clemont falling somewhere near them seconds later.
"Pikachu, be careful!" Mallow's voice got her attention towards Pikachu himself, who had been surrounded by grunts' Pokémon ready to battle. In a desperate attempt to knock down as many as possible, Pikachu had released one of his most powerful Thunderbolts and almost succeeded. But he didn't count on one of the admins coming behind a rock and shooting an energy ball at him.
"Ugh… we got the Pikachu, where's the trainer?" Aliana asked half whining.
"Wherever he is hiding, he won't leave without his Pikachu," Celosia said matter of factly. "We'll just wait until he shows up."
"It's the first time I hear you making sense," Bryony commented mockingly.
A loud ring interrupted the conversation before it escalated into bickering. Mable pulled out a Holocaster and huffed.
"It's Xerosic," she announced before walking away to take the call.
"You still haven't told us what you want with Ash," Clemont voiced.
"Hmph, as if we have to tell you anything," Aliana was the one to answer.
"Let's just say he has a very interesting Aura," Celosía mentioned cryptically.
As he observed the other's reactions, Clemont barely detected Pikachu tensing in something akin to realization. That's when he understood the purple-haired lady's comment actually had a hidden meaning.
"Aura… you mentioned something like that when we were in the airship," Mallow told Slowking in remembrance.
"Pi Pikapi pika… pikachu pi-pi?"
The Slowking regarded Pikachu for a moment before nodding. "I'm afraid that is exactly it."
As he got his answer, Pikachu seemed to deflate in sudden worry; his ears flattening against his skull; leaving Clemont even more intrigued, but his thoughts didn't linger there as Mable returned.
"Mission accomplished, let's head back" she reported. "We are taking only the kids."
A shiver ran down Clemont's back at the implication, exchanging a worried glance with Serena, he knew she had gotten to the same conclusion. They had found Ash.
.:oOo:.
A little ways away from them, Rotom dashed through the forest with only one purpose in mind. Even if this time, Ash hadn't say anything but his name, Rotom understood perfectly what his assigned trainer wanted him to do: 'Escape and get help.'
He had been easily ignored by the bad guys, allowing him to sneak away from there undetected. So now he was on a mission. That is how a few minutes later he stumbled; quite literally; upon a couple of uniformed personnel that he recognized as police officers from Alola.
"Wow, what hit me?"
"Are we under attack?!"
"Bzzt, bzzt! We need help!" Rotom exclaimed getting their full attention.
"Hey, aren't you Professor Kukui's RotomDex?"
"That's right! I'm- wait! There's no time! Ash, Kiawe and Bonnie are in trouble, bzzt!"
The two officers were startled by the outburst already in high alert.
"Let's contact Officer Jennie..."
.:oOo:.
"How did we end up on guard duty?" Aliana was asking; her face reflecting a childish pout as she swung her weapon around carelessly.
"Can you really complain?" Celosia shrugged. Both of them had stayed behind, watching as the grunts under their command prepare the recently captured Pokémon for transportation. "You had your fun with Xerosic's little project. I've been wanting to give it a test myself since he blabbed about the initial idea."
Before Aliana could respond to that, a voice cut through everyone's thoughts.
"You, humans! What is your purpose here?"
The grunts stopped what they were doing at the suddenly invasive voice in their heads, looking around in search of the owner.
"Who's there?!" Celosia demanded to know.
"I won't ask again, how did you find this place and what is your purpose?"
That's when they saw it. A strange looking Pokémon with cold eyes descended through the top trees into the clearing, scanning its surroundings with a calculating glare.
"Pi! Pika!" the Pikachu's sudden yell caught the new arrival's attention. "Pi-Pikachu Pikapi! Pikachu-chu-pi!"
Narrowing his eyes at whatever he had been told, the unknown Pokémon scanned the area again before nodding.
"I understand… leave it to me," he finally said as he raised his glowing paw.
.:oOo:.
The scene they encounter as they reached the shore left them speechless. The land was scorched and broken in several parts. Fallen trees and smoking bushes. It was like the aftermath of a war zone. Which Kukui was fast to deduct, it was.
He looked around frantically, searching for his students but there was no sight of anyone. Not even the criminals.
"Professor."
Officer Jenny's call got his attention to where she was standing. The officers she had sent to scout ahead had come back fast, announcing they had news of the kids. As Professor Kukui approached, he finally saw Rotom floating beside them, reporting to Jenny in the officer's place.
"Rotom!" he called as he walked to stand beside Jenny.
"Professor! We need to hurry, bzzt!"
"What happened?" Kukui asked immediately.
"It says three of the children had been looking for the others when they were ambushed and captured," Jenny explained.
.:oOo:.
"Glad to see you back with us, Ash."
Lysandre's casual greeting only served to put Ash on edge. Just being near the madman, made him feel inexplicably vulnerable; now more so than ever as he had been separated from his Pokémon. He tried taking comfort in the fact that Team Flare had reunited him with his friends, but the sole fact that they had been captured too, ruined the poorly attempted positive thought.
"Why are you even alive?" Bonnie's voice cut through his thoughts. "We saw Squishy defeating you with one of his crazy laser attacks!"
Kiawe couldn't help gawking at the boldness of the girl; never mind what she was claiming to have seen. But the guy didn't seem angry about it. In fact Lysandre ignored her completely, having his focus entirely on Ash, who had gone uncharacteristically quiet.
"I'll like to continue our chat from this morning," Lysandre said politely. "I do believe you have the right to know what we need you for, before we begin."
"I know you want me to break Fenriar's seal," Ash said with a scowl. "You can forget about it. I'm not helping you do anything!"
"Ah. I see Slowking already explain that to you. Excellent. This saves time," Lysander said, ignoring Ash's last remark entirely. "We learned that in order for the seal to be broken, a certain kind of energy is needed. The one we would call our life force, yet only few could canalize into something tangible." Seeing the group's confused faces, Lysandre explained. "You might know this energy as Aura." Gazing at Ash, he saw there was finally some recognition. Smiling, he continued. "As you might have guessed, that is the same kind of energy used for certain type moves."
"Are you saying the seal can only be broken by weakening it with Aura based attacks?" Clemont asked incredulous.
"That is a logical train of thought," Lysandre shook his head. "But of course, the Aura Guardians who sealed the beast away wouldn't have made it so easy to break."
"So that won't work…" Serena guessed in relief.
"No. We've tried," Lysandre admitted. Most of them getting chills from what could have happened have they succeeded. "Further research however, has provided us with the solution," he turned away from them as he continued. "As it turned out, only an Aura Guardian would be able to break the seal."
Clemont frowned in suspicion. If only an Aura Guardian could break the seal, he couldn't understand why Lysander would have gone through the trouble to find Ash… unless...
"I thought the Aura Guardians only were from ancient legends," Mallow commented.
"It is true that they are a rare sight nowadays," the man agreed. "Still, we found records of at least one adept in training; whose location we are yet to figure out," he turned to look at Ash before he continued. "And most recently, someone who has the ability to be one, even if they don't actively practice it..."
Something clicked and Kiawe's eyes widen in realization. "Wait just one second! Are you implying that Ash…"
Kiawe turned sharply to look at his friend, finding he was just as surprised by Lysandre's explanation; his face going pale with some sort of realization.
"H-How did you…?"
That's when Kiawe knew Ash wasn't surprised by the information; he was surprised by the fact the guy knew about it.
"Perhaps these could clear things up for all of you," Lysandre suggested, as he showed two blue flowers.
"Time Flowers?!"
Lysandre chuckled at Ash's outburst. "So you are familiar with them," he commented completely unsurprised. "Then you must know how they function. Would you like to do the honors?"
Ash gritted his teeth and sent a defiant glare to the man, deciding not to answer. Last he needed was to admit to him how true his findings were.
"I see you won't. Though expected, I must admit I was rather curious to see a true Aura user activating them instead of our… alternate method."
Serena looked worriedly at Ash who had yet to deny Lysandre's remarks. His frustrated scowl being more than enough proof of her own suspicions.
She thought of saying something, but Lysandre turned the machine attached to the first flower on, and without warning, their surroundings shifted in distortional waves…
Sorry for any typos... Proofreading at 1am is no fun...