Aaron hasn't forgotten the original reason why he was sent to Unova.
If he had a choice he wouldn't do this right after the big battle with Team Plasma. He wanted to duel the Swords of Justice on an even playing field where both parties can duel at their strongest form. However, Fool had given the order to initiate their capture because now is the time where Unova is unable to spare any manpower or attention to the things that they will be doing behind everybody's backs, things that the Unova League will never stand for if they learnt of it.
No region would tolerate the idea of foreigners capturing their mythicals or legendaries.
Tracking down the favourite haunts of the Swords of Justice wasn't easy. Unlike what the historical tales might suggest they don't spend much time at the Moor of Icirrus or the Pledge Grove. In recent times they tend to rest at a secluded cave located southwest of Opelucid City which certain myths refer to as the Challenger's Cave. Aaron and Yasuhira only managed to obtain this crucial piece of information after much digging and searching in the months that they had spent in Unova scouring for clues. Determining the actual location of the cave was also incredibly difficult and would have been impossible without Aaron's mastery over Aura and Yasuhira's expertise in Secret Power.
As it turns out there were people who arrived earlier than he and Aline did, one of which was very happy to see him.
"Aaron!" The hooded figure waved happily at him from where she was seated atop a large boulder right beside the legendary Emperor of Tarot. The fabled immortal merely cracked his eyes open to verify Aaron's identity, gave a small nod of acknowledgement, before closing his eyes and returning to his false rest.
There's also no way Aaron would not recognise the other younger immortal seated beside Emperor and who had greeted him. He would recognise her anywhere despite the large and baggy hooded cloak obscuring her figure and visage.
"Sephira? Why are you here?"
"Mum made me come here," Sephira crossed her arms and despite having her face obscured by the hood Aaron could already imagine the cute pout on her face. He let out a boisterous laugh, his large hand resting on her head and did a ruffling motion in fond tenderness similar to how he always did to her when she was very much younger.
"Nobody will be interrupting your duel, so do not worry about anything else and do your best," Emperor gave his promise in a slow and deep voice, his eyes still closed and legs crossed on his seat atop the boulder. Fool sent him here to ensure that everything will go as planned. As the figure whose presence could guarantee the success of any task that Tarot embarked on, he will only make a move if the situation requires him to do so, such is the weight and power a fabled figure like him holds.
Unless an emergency happens, he's content to just sit here and wait until everyone is done with their respective jobs.
"Can I join the fight too? Please?"
"Young lady," Aline's voice reminded Sephira of her presence too, "this is far too dangerous. Please let Aaron handle this, it was originally his task anyway."
"Aline-" Sephira wanted to protest but a firm grip rested on Sephira's shoulder and she looked back, recognising that the wrinkled hand belonged to Emperor. Emperor slowly shook his head and she visibly deflated. What's the point of calling her over to Unova if nobody allows her to do anything?!
"They are here," Emperor opened his eyes and his words had everyone on high alert. True enough, three figures landed in front of them in a large cloud of smoke that was quickly dispersed with an unnatural gust of wind. The Swords of Justice had returned.
'What's this? More evildoers?'
"Esteemed Swords," Aaron stood forward, his back ramrod straight and did a motion of greeting with his right hand clenched into a fist and placed over the left side of his chest where his heart was at and did a forty-five degree bow. After which, he swiftly cut his right hand down at an angle and straightened his back once more. Such a custom is a forgotten one, one that could only be observed centuries ago when the ancient order of the Aura Guardians was still around.
'That gesture and aura… an Aura Guardian? No, two of them,' Colbalion's gaze turned to Sephira at the last part of his comment before affixing them onto Aaron once more. The Swords are legendary pokemon and masterful users of Aura themselves, they could easily determine if these people held actual malicious thoughts.
They had sensed nothing of that sort so far. It was why they were willing to enter a conversation with them instead of flying into a righteous rage.
"My name is Aaron Luzel, disciple of Yasui Kenta and the last Aura Guardian," Aaron introduced himself, the look in his eyes very uncharacteristically serious. "On my honour and sword, I wish to challenge the three of you to a duel."
That caught the Swords' attention immediately.
'Kenta's disciple? Ah, I remember now, no wonder your aura felt similar to his, I was wondering why this was so. It would make sense if he taught you his techniques to harness aura,' Colbalion had a look of pleasant surprise on his face at the mention of his old acquaintance and turned to Sephira. 'Are you Kenta's disciple too? Your aura highly resembles Kenta's, even more so than his.'
"I'm not an Aura Guardian but I did learn Aura techniques from Aaron," Sephira explained. "As to why my aura resembles Kenta's more so than Aaron, it's because he is my father."
'Kenta had a daughter?' Terrakion looked puzzled and tilted his head in thought. 'Huh, wait a minute, he found himself a partner?'
'No clue, it's been too long.'
"My father got married after you last met him, or so I was told by my mother."
'I see,' Virizion nodded in understanding, 'but your aura, it's far more sinister than Kenta's despite feeling similar.'
"I get that a lot," Sephira agreed as she manipulated the aura to gather on the opened palm of her right hand, just enough to let it manifest as a glowing orb. "It's due to the circumstances of my birth but we digress. Today is not about me, Aaron is here to challenge the three of you to a duel."
"I'm very sorry," Aaron bowed his head respectfully in the direction of the Swords of Justice, who all sported visible wounds on their bodies that they sustained in the battle at Castelia which they just returned from. "Under usual circumstances I would wish to challenge the three of you to a fair fight where we can duel in our peak condition, but today's the only chance where we can have our duel without the Unova League interfering."
'Let's not worry about that. A true warrior is one who is able to fight no matter the time and place, there's no excuse for weakness. Your master was certainly one that could match us as our equal no matter which time of the day we had our duel,' Cobalion dismissed Aaron's concern. 'You challenged us to a duel, what shall be the stake for this challenge?'
"Be my swords," Aaron answered steadfastly. "The fate of this world is extremely unstable right now despite the fact that we just averted a possible fate of certain doom. I wish to be able to fight alongside you and call upon your power when we finally have to act."
'A bold demand to make,' Terrakion took one step forward and shook the ground along with it. 'You do know that everyone who made such demands from us all fell under our blade, do you?'
"I'm very well aware. I'm prepared for the consequences should I lose."
'Very well,' Colbalion had a look of admiration for the disciple of Yasui Kenta as the pressure the Swords were exuding started to truly weigh down on everyone present. 'Disciple of Kenta, we accept your challenge. Come with us.'
"He will be fine," Emperor put his hand on Sephira's shoulder once more when the girl wanted to follow after Aaron in concern, preventing her from tailing them. "Have faith in your father's last disciple and in the strength of Aaron's beliefs. He is a true Aura Guardian."
"I know, but-"
"Our job here is to ensure that Aaron and Aline will not be interrupted when executing their tasks, remember that," Emperor patiently reminded the girl who was cursed since birth. Most immortals like them were only immortals because they were cursed, immortality really is not as perfect as mortals hype them up to be. Curses can come in various forms and manners and trying to undo them is a task that nobody had succeeded before.
Not even him.
"I will get going as well," Aline bowed her head respectfully at Emperor and Sephira. Like Aaron, she has a similar task to complete too.
"Will you be okay on your own?"
"Please do not worry about me, young lady," Aline assured before departing on her volcarona's back, leaving her young lady together with Emperor.
"You do not need to fret. Besides, we will have to start work very soon," Emperor calmed the girl down and glanced at a specific direction.
"Sensed him coming from miles away," Sephira punched her right fist into her left palm while grumbling. The anxiety she's experiencing for having nothing to do but to wait until Aaron returns from his duel is making her already short temper even shorter and somebody just has to offer himself on a silver platter as her punching bag.
"I will handle him," Sephira turned on her heels and walked away to intercept whoever was coming over to check on the Swords of Justice. Emperor closed his eyes back shut once more, more than content to simply wait until his fellow Cards return with news of their individual success.
None of them are weak. They will be fine.
When Drayden woke up in the ICU the first news he received was that Unova was falling apart.
Further details that he was told about allowed him to learn that there's a huge battle taking place at Castelia that would most likely decide the fate of the region. He dragged his battered and injured body out of the hospital despite the well-intentioned protests of the doctors and nurses. He is a Gym Leader, a Pillar, and now is not the time for him to be lying on the bed while everybody else is out there risking their lives and doing their best to protect their homeland.
His plan to head over to Castelia ultimately did not go through because he was alerted of unknown disturbances at the Challenger's Cave, a national secret that concerns the Swords of Justice. He assumed that it must be the work of Team Plasma and immediately headed there despite the fact that his body would most likely give up on him very soon. Thankfully, the wounds suffered by his pokemon have mostly healed and they are in fighting condition despite not being at their best, so they could still contribute to the defence of Unova.
He was intercepted halfway through his journey to the Challenger's Cave. A hooded figure stood in the middle of the path that one would have to take to access the Challenger's Cave. The hooded cloak did a good job of covering the figure's entire body and face, but it was obvious that the figure was a woman.
"Drayden? Aren't you supposed to be lying in the hospital right now?"
"What did you do to the Swords of Justice?" Drayden demanded through gritted teeth, doing his best to ignore the pain he's experiencing for straining his body so soon after his awakening. His dragons growled and coiled themselves protectively around him despite not being in the best condition themselves. The Kyurem Cannon had done a number on them and inflicted wounds that could not be fully healed in a short timeframe.
"We had a friendly talk," Sephira answered truthfully but it's obvious that Drayden didn't believe any of that. Fine, she's not feeling particularly chatty today anyway.
"Plasma scum," Drayden bit out through clenched teeth and waved his hand forward, signalling his dragons to start the offensive. His dragons charged and his druddigon raised its giant claw to cleave her apart. The woman was only average in size at best, looking a little tiny compared to the dragon that was about to take her life.
Drayden's eyes widened in surprise when the woman directed a punch at druddigon, and his eyes widened further when druddigon was knocked back in a violent crash from the punch when druddigon should have reduced her into a gory mess of blood and flesh. His haxorus swung its bladed tusks with a furious roar but the woman stood her ground, not budging an inch as she grabbed onto haxorus' sharp tusks with her bare hand and easily flipped it over her shoulder before sending it flying at salamence with a roundhouse kick.
An Ability Holder, an aura user. No, not just any ordinary aura user, but an aura master.
"Is that it? Is that all, strongest Gym Leader of Unova?"
Drayden's dragons answered on behalf of their trainer with ferocious blasts of Dragon Pulse which the woman clapped her hands together before spreading them out to erect an aura infused barrier that looked similar to Quick Guard. That shield held against his dragons' combined attack and Drayden was simply stunned to witness how a human had not only just competed against pokemon without the aid of any pokemon, but held their own against the pokemon trained by the strongest Gym Leader of a region. Granted, he and his pokemon are not at their peak now due to their injuries, but this is still a very frightening scene to behold.
"Salamence!" Drayden decided to not take any chances as he immediately invoked Mega Evolution with salamence. The woman simply manipulated a massive amount of aura to gather around her right hand until the energy was visible to the naked eye, shaping and manipulating it to take on the form of a sword.
Sacred Sword is a very rare move to witness but Drayden had seen it in person before. What the unknown woman was doing with her aura looked a lot like the pokemon move, Sacred Sword, but her version had a presence that felt very oppressive and awe-inspiring at the same time, one that he did not experience from any other pokemon capable of using this exact same move. It almost felt like-
The woman swung her sword in a wide arc just as Drayden's salamence mega evolved and charged at their enemy with the intent to kill. The resulting clash in power shook the entire forest and created a deep split in the ground.
"Done?" Emperor opened his eyes once more when he heard Sephira's approaching footsteps and she retook her seat next to him. She did not look any different before she went to intercept the unknown bogey.
"Hmph, it was barely a fight," Sephira muttered her complaint just loud enough for Emperor to hear. There was no way Drayden could defeat her when he's already so weakened, not like he had a chance to begin with even if he was at his best. She hadn't even started on calling upon her own pokemon in their earlier fight and she still trounced him with ease. Hopefully someone would pick him up soon enough because he might really die if left unattended for too long. Drayden's tenacity was a trait that she could admire and acknowledge.
"I would be worried if you had to fight in earnest," Emperor jested, knowing full well of Sephira's true strength as she is the child who inherited the best qualities of both her parents.
"You think Aaron would let me play with the Swords after he captured them?" Sephira idly wondered aloud with her hands supporting her chin, acting very much like the young teenager that she looked to be.
The aged Emperor gave a fond sigh, knowing what she meant by "playing" with the Swords of Justice.
"I think it would be in everyone's best interests if there isn't a situation where the true Sacred Swords have to cross blades with one another."
A powerful swing flung Aaron backwards, forcing him to cough up blood when he crashed through the stony walls of the cave. He quickly got to his feet to avoid the next blow, manipulating his aura to enhance his body and leapt over Terrakion to avoid its charge before smashing it into the ground with a dropkick. Terrakion was barely fazed by Aaron's attack, the only indication that he felt that blow was the taunting smirk on its face before Aaron quickly retreated to avoid the sharp rocks that shot out from the ground that might have impaled him if he was any slower.
"Aura Sphere!"
His lucario fired an Aura Sphere to defend themselves from Colbalion's Metal Burst. Aaron wanted to make this a fair fight, so he only sent out two other pokemon to assist him to make this a fair three-on-three duel. He enjoyed the process of training pokemon. The process of training a pokemon from scratch until they reached the power to be able to challenge Pillars and Champions gave him a sense of satisfaction that cannot be found elsewhere and it also serves as a great way to pass time meaningfully in his long life. It was why he tended to have a bigger team of pokemon as compared to his fellow immortal peers who tend to prefer having a smaller team, mostly to spare themselves the misery of outliving their pokemon companions as much as possible.
However, out of the many pokemon that he had trained and who had come and gone in his long life, only four ever surpassed the physical limits of their species to possess the power to give them a fighting chance to go against myths and legends. Lucario is one, togekiss is another. The third one-
Virizion vanished in a blur, the sharp whistling sound of its Leaf Blade cutting through air the only warning of the incoming attack. A blue blur intercepted the attack and deflected virizion's Leaf Blade, the samurott wielded its seamitars with incredible finesse and began slashing at Virizion in a masterful display of bladework, pushing a legendary pokemon back with nothing but the skills it painstakingly honed and the blade in its hand.
Aaron flickered with a powerful dash, bodily stopping Terrakion from going to Virizion's aid by grabbing onto Terrakion's horns and using his sheer strength to wrestle and grapple against the legendary pokemon. Aaron's feet dug deeper into the ground the greater Terrakion pushed and both of them were forced to separate when the collateral blast of Colbalion's and lucario's attacks were about to hit them both.
'That was a nice warmup!' Terrakion heartily laughed with a resounding bellow that shook the cave. 'You are no doubt his disciple, I will acknowledge that! The justice in your heart is steadfast and unwavering, a very admirable trait that is rare to come across these days!'
"Protect the innocent who cannot protect themselves, uphold justice for those who were wronged, persevere against impossible odds; those were the three commandments of the Order," Aaron recited with some difficulty due to how heavy he was breathing from the exertion he was subjected to in this battle and also due to the internal injuries that he had suffered till now. It's been a long time since he was pushed this far. "These were what my teacher and seniors upheld and believed in till the very end. I will not dishonour their memory."
A powerful surge of aura exploded out from Aaron's body and his wounds started to visibly heal at a rapid rate. That surge of aura quickly calmed and concentrated around his right hand when Aaron took a stance just like his samurott did.
'Kenta taught you Sacred Sword? Very well, let us be the judge of how much you had mastered the technique we imparted to him,' Colbalion accepted Aaron's unspoken challenge to let their next exchange of blows be the one to decide the outcome of this duel. A bright rainbow glow covered lucario as it emerged as a Mega Lucario in a determined howl, eager to fight alongside its trainer to the very end despite being unable to learn Sacred Sword.
'If you wish to wield us, prove to us that you are worthy to do so!' Terrakion declared as the earth rumbled. Three huge blasts of aura burst forth and surged to the skies in a rising blast, taking on the form of three distinct swords that represented their respective wielders. The Challenger's Cave started to rumble as huge rocks started to fall from the collapse of the cave. Yet, neither side had the intention to escape despite being situated in a dangerous location.
'Aura Guardian Aaron Luzel, this shall be your final test,' Virizion agreed as it took one step forward and the leaves whistled as though the power of mother nature is Virizion's to wield.
'Come, show us your resolve,' Colbalion stared down with a steely look as it pushed its power to its limit. If Aaron truly wished to wield their power, if he truly wished to change the world like how the Swords are aware his master is trying to do; he needs to have both the power, courage, and unwavering belief to have them willingly submit to him. Prove that, and he shall wield the Swords of Justice.
At the end of the day a sword, no matter how great or legendary it is, is ultimately a tool. However, a legendary sword could only display its greatest might if they could find themselves an equally compatible wielder. The Swords of Justice are not disagreeable to the idea of following after a trainer who had proven themselves worthy of wielding them but they were unable to do so due to a concern which they once had.
Previously, the legendary dragons of Unova were all in slumber and the Forces of Nature could not be counted upon to protect the region in its greatest time of need. As such, they were the region's only true protectors and the only ones to oversee Unova. The Swords had sworn an oath to protect this land and they will not renege on it, but it's also true that this oath had bound them to Unova and made it impossible for them to leave it for extended periods of time.
But things had finally changed. Reshiram and Zekrom had finally awoken from their slumber and they now have a new Sword in their midst that is ready to undertake that same oath the three of them did. Now, their only concern about their departure should they follow after Aaron is no longer a concern since they had trained a dependable warrior in Keldeo. As long as Keldeo is present Unova will be in safe hands, they will not need to worry about Unova if they were absent for prolonged periods of time.
They now have the freedom to choose and follow after a worthy wielder of their swords.
Aaron shouted a warcry as his aura shone like a towering beacon, rising just as high as the aura swords created by the trio as it took its own unique form that represents the user's beliefs. Samurott followed suit while Mega Lucario simply charged up a massive Aura Sphere that was ready to be fired at any time. The congregation of power being released was powerful enough to clear the skies and shake the earth, the last warning to every and any living beings to steer clear of the vicinity of the Challenger's Cave if they value their lives.
On an unspoken signal, the swords were swung.
And a victor was born.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 14, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Member of the International Police
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Clefairy (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male