AN: Hello one and all to the next Rise of a Legend chapter. As usual this chapter took much longer than I hoped it would, but I am still doing my best to get through and every one. I have other stories typed up if you guys ever decide to give those a chance (shameless plug inserted). I have other stories in the work, that way my mind doesn't go to rot on this one. Either way, back to my point! I am not stopping this story, despite a few negatives that goes with the story considering of the flaws. I am happy with how it's coming out overall. Without further ado, onto the story!
Chapter 33
Ash sat on the bench while he waited inside the Pokémon Center, his Pokémon getting taken care of by Nurse Joy. Pikachu was curled up in his lap, resting while he rubbed his loyal partners back.
Soon he heard the familiar ping of the Pokémon alert, letting him know that some Pokémon have been finished healing which caused him to look up. Nurse Joy walked out with a set of Pokéballs on two different trays. Behind her, holding a second tray with another set of Pokéballs, was Blissey who had Ash's Greninja next to her with a lazy look on his face.
"Mr. Ketchum and Ms. Elesa, your Pokémon are all healed up," Nurse Joy called out getting their attention. Ash got up as Pikachu woke up and climbed onto his left shoulder.
Greninja walked over and handed Ash his now healed Pokémon. He turned in time to see the beautiful Nimbasa City Gym Leader collect her own set of Pokéballs.
After thanking the pink haired nurse, Elesa turned to Ash and gave him a wide smile. It's good to see you Ash," she said happily. "It's nice to see you still dazzling."
Ash chuckled as she seems to love greeting him this way. "It's good to see you too Elesa. How did your battle go?"
"Me and my team took them down," Elesa replied with her hands on her thin hip. "We hut them with the ol' razzle dazzle and it simply blinded them to the point that they couldn't fully keep up. How about yourself?"
"We may not have used the razzle dazzle that you have," Ash teased with a smirk at her. "My team still did an amazing job out there with getting us to the next round. The one who clenched my victory was Greninja here. You should have seen it. He was amazing out on that field but I expected nothing less from him."
The Dark/Water typed crossed his arms and puffed out his chest, proud at how strong he has become after all this time. He may not be Ash's strongest Pokémon yet, he is still on the upper totem of strength and closing in to the top.
The Electric type specialist nodded, before getting an idea that gave her a light blush. "Well if you have some spare time, I plan on going to a restaurant for a bite to eat. Would you like to accompany me?"
Ash was shocked by the offer as Elesa was a gorgeous super model and was actually happy for the offer. "Sure, I could go for a bite to eat myself. Would you be ok if we made a quick stop first?"
"That is fine with me Ash," Elesa replied happily. "That should give me enough time to change into some better clothing."
Ash looked confused as he looked at her outfit, which was her attire when he first battled her. She had her red, white, and blue headphones with long cords on the sides on top of her short blonde hair. She wore a yellow sleeveless top over a black top that exposed her stomach in two separate sections. She wore thick opaque black tights and bright yellow stiletto high heels. Her almond shaped, blue eyes were truly captivating.
In short, the Kanto native could easily tell why she was one of the most desired women in the world. She was absolutely gorgeous in every way and her bright personality only added to that.
"Why would you need to change?" Ash asked gaining her confusion of the question. "I mean, you already look amazing as you are right now. To be fair, your always beautiful though. Dazzling as your would always say."
Elesa gained a dark blush at Ash's honest compliment, suddenly finding the floor quite interesting. "Um, I mean if your so sure Ash," Elesa replied nervously, not entirely knowing what to reply with. Being a model, hearing such compliments like that were all too common. But most of those comments never really meant as much to her as it did coming from Ash. The only compliments that were pure and genuine like that usually came from family or close friends.
Hearing this come from Ash with so much sincerity, really caught her off guard. When she looked back up at Ash, he gave her a warm smile that made her blush harder.
"Hey, what I have to do should not take me too long to do," Ash said in thought. "Why not just come with me? It's just a simple switch of the guards if you catch my drift." He pointed to his Greninja who held up a thumbs up in acknowledgement."
Elesa nodded agreeing to go with him, as that meant they could spend more time together. The two trainers left the Pokémon Center and they made their way through town side-by-side, talking.
They talked about how they has been up to over the years: like how Elesa's super model career has been booming lately with the last crowd filling an entire stadium. Ash was surprised but impressed by that development. She also brought up about her travels to other regions that were for off from her usual show locations.
They even learned that they were both in the Alola region around the same time, but on separate islands before she left due to a Gym challenger reaching her Gym soon.
That little tidbit of information actually annoyed her as she could have spent so much time on the beautiful beaches of Alola with Ash. Could have made him a blushing mess with her new bikini she had bought while there, or at the very least gotten a few dates with him at some of the many local restaurants there!
Oh well, she has him now and she will take what she can get to be with the man that has truly captivated her.
She also got to learn he has been to most of the known League's throughout the different regions and a few minor ones such as the Orre region. He gained quite a reputation as he traveled under his alias as Satoshi, with only his close friends knowing his real name. He has gained all sorts of new Pokémon and she was really interested in the kind of Pokémon he has caught before and after his trip to Unova.
As they entered the woods, Elesa smiled at the light shining through the shades of the trees. It actually made for a beautiful picture, especially when it shined on Ash which made him look simply dazzling.
Ash saw Greninja pick up the pace, signifying they were closer to the clearing. " Greninja," he said through their aura bond. " Would you mind going on ahead a d alert the Legendaries to stay hidden. We should not be long so they don't have to hide for long.".
The Kalos starter nodded before he took to the trees in blurring speeds before he vanished amongst the foliage. Only ones that were able to track his speedy movements were Ash and Pikachu, while Elesa looked dumbfounded at its sudden burst of speed. She even began looking around, unable to comprehend that Greninja moved so fast it looked like it vanished.
"Don't worry Elesa," Ash said to calm down his surprised friend. "I just sent Greninja on ahead aa to let my other Pokémon know that I will be arriving with a friend. A lot of my Pokémon have been hurt one way or another by a human, so they tend to distrust new people. I didn't want to surprise with a sudden new fave and spook them."
The Electric type Gym Leader nodded, understanding where Ash was comg from as there were some really terrible people out there who treat their Pokémon like they were just means to an end.
The now trio continued their walk, Ash doing his best to avoid any parts of the forest damaged by the fight with Shadow. Feeling that Greninja gave the 'ok' through their bond, Ash ked Elesa to the clearing in a slightly faster pace.
At entrance of it, Ash paused and gave the blonde a bright smile that held tons of pride that she honestly found attractive. "Are you ready to meet my family?" He asked her as she smiled nervously but also excited to do so.
They walked into the field as all of Ash's Pokémon stopped what they were doing and looked in Ash's direction. Many of his Pokémon happily greeted him but others remained distant as they spotted Elesa, giving her a wary glance.
Elesa's eyes widened at all of the different types of Pokémon all throughout the area, Pokémon of all shapes and sizes. She looked around the field as some Pokémon hid from her view as best they could. She did take notice as near the lake sat some Pokémon that she felt tingle her spine, as if warning her at how powerful they were.
Taking out four Pokéballs, Ash released the Pokémon from their confines as they stretched out. Elesa noted that a Lucario with beautiful silver fur unlike normal shiny Lucario's walked up to them. She remembered Ash using this Lucario in his battle against Gary Oak and how powerful it was.
"I hope everything was alright while I was gone," Ash addressed the Aura Pokémon, getting a smile and nod in return. Seeing Elesa, Lucario gave both her and Ash a curious glance "Oh yeah, I forgot you were not with me during my travels in the Unova region. Everyone listen up! This women beside me is named Elesa and she runs the Electric type Gym back in the Unova region! She is a real good friend of mine and a really strong Gym Leader. Elesa, these wonderful Pokémon are members of my family."
The Pokémon greeted Elesa in their various ways, some happy to see a new friend and to see Ash happy with a new friend. Though some of them moved away from Glaceon as she gave the Gym Leader a hard glare, knowing how she could be.
"Ash, I had no idea that you had so many (kinds of Pokémon," Elesa breathed out in awe. "They all look so well taken care of too."
"Yeah they are all amazing, " he replied with pride at their accomplishment though his expression turned serious which got his family's attention. "We have made it into the next rounds thanks to the combined efforts of Crawdaunt, Greninja, and Swellow. We battled Diantha, who was the previous Champion of Kalos as most of you are aware of who was definitely a lot stronger than our last battle together. In the end, we all fought our hardest and everyone did am amazing job to advance us forward."
His Pokémon cheered loudly which caused Crawdaunt and Swellow to look down in embarrassment. Some of them were curious if they had jumped from Elite level to Champion level. Greninja simply leaned on a tree by the lake with Sceptile and Charizard who fist bumped the Ninja Pokémon for a job well done.
"Now I am going to go out to eat with Elesa here," Ash continued m, ignoring some of the teasing smirks some of his Pokémon gave him. "I was wondering who wanted to join me on my trip."
Before anyone could say anything, Glaceon appeared in front which caused all the Pokémon to chuckle as they expected that. The next one to walk up was his Scizor who shrugged. The shadows underneath Scizor stretched outward before his Gengar slowly rose from it with a chuckle.
Feeling danger, Ash braced himself as his Meganium crashed into him excitedly, nuzzling into his cheek. Ash chuckled happily as he rubbed her head filled with affection, which caused to nuzzle more in joy. "Ok, so we have Glaceon, Scizor, Gengar, Meganium, and looks like Feraligatr," he said as he saw the Water Johto starter walk next to Scizor happily.
He took out a Pokeball and returned each of the chosen Pokémon, except for Glaceon who dodged the red beam in time. Ash was confused by the Ice type's refusal to go in her ball.
" I want to go, but I wish to actually walk with you," she said, though only Ash understood her. " I could use the time to take a break and enjoy more of the scenery with my own eyes." ' And I can make sure that human girl doesn't do anything to hurt you.' With that final thought, the Fresh Snow Pokémon stood by Ash while sending discreet glares towards Elesa who was too busy smiling at Ash to notice.
Lucario and Gardevoir sent Pikachu a subtle look of their own, which the Electric Mouse Pokémon nodded to, confirming that he will keep and eye on Glaceon to make sure that she didn't do anything reckless or too far with her overprotective attitude.
Last thing they all needed was a frozen Gym Leader because she accidentally held Ash's hand too tightly.
"I don't mind it Ash," Elesa said with a smile, finding it cute how Glaceon wanted to be by Ash. 'He's always so close with his Pokémon, it's so sweet to watch.'
"Well we should get going," Ash said to her, getting a nod in reply. "Need to make sure we get a table wherever we decide to eat. Lucario, can you and Gardevoir keep an eye on everyone like usual."
Lucario and Gardevoir nodded before turning back to their family whole Ash and Elesa walked the opposite direction, Glaceon stubbornly walking between them.
The two trainers talked the entire time, all the way up till they made it to a restaurant that they mutually agreed to try. In less than a minute, they were seated and ordered their drinks.
As they enjoyed each other's company, they blocked out the world. They only saw each other as they joked with each other and even the menu, not noticing the looks they were getting.
Glaceon and Pikachu watched this go on with differing opinions; Pikachu enjoying the smile ok Ash's face at getting closer with Elesa, but Glaceon was worried she would use Ash and hurt him.
Elesa was delighted, no she was more than that. She was over the moon right now! She loved every moment she has had with Ash thus far as they have not stopped speaking with one another. Ash had accomplished so much since the Unova League, it truly amazed her. He even showed her that he had the ability to use aura which she found to be beautiful as he subtly demonstrated for her by gathering aura to his eyes.
"So enough on my stuff," Ash said as he cut off his aura flow and his dyes returned to their usual auburn color. "Tell me about your career a bit more. What have you crested, as you know or tell that I am not much for fashion." Ash chuckled as he said that.
Elesa happily explained about the upcoming clothing line she is working on, woke based on Pokémon found throughout the world. She talked about how she had discovered all kinds of inspiration, especially in Alola and Orre region that she thought would look nice but she was hesitant to release them.
"Why Elesa?" Ash questioned. Elesa has always been confident, especially in her appearance. So why hesitate now?
"Well it's kind of hard to explain," Elesa began. "I have had my style for so long as it was what helped me be discovered along with a few outfits others have designed for me over the time. My agent is finicky with my appearance that way."
"Elesa, if I may say my view on this," Ash began replying, pausing to make sure he had the beautiful blonde's attention before continuing. "You are well beloved by your fans, as I remember the audience we had during our Gym Battle. No matter how much you change your looks, you will always be the beautiful women that they all have come to adore and look up to."
As Ash spoke, Elesa cheeks when from its light complexion to a bright pink as she blushed at the honesty, before trying to hide it by looking away from the handsome man. She had never been so thankful for the arrival of the food.
"Enjoy your meal you two," their waiter said as he placed their food on the table. "I'll be back with your refills." He quickly left to fulfill his duties.
As soon as the waiter left, the Kalos Champion and Unova Gym Leader began eating their meal in a moment of comfortable silence before continuing their talk. Both were enjoying themselves so much that neither of them noticed the glare coming Glaceon towards Elesa, ignoring the food in front of her.
As she watched the two talk, only glancing at Pikachu who was enjoying his lunch, before she sensed a familiar presence enter the building.
She turned to see Paul and Anabel walk into the restaurant with the couple, Jacob and Erika. Behind them was that strange human named Mike who had the most carefree grin that she wondered if anything was going through his head. Next to Jacob was that off color Vaporeon, who looked happy to just be walking around.
The Ice type saw them talking as they were greeted by the restaurant's hostess who guided them to their seats, a booth that was only about three tables away passed their own.
As they got near, Anabel took notice of Ash and smiled widely at him which made Glaceon stiffen up slightly.
"Hey Ash!" Anabel greeted getting said trainer's, along with the others, attention. "How are you doing?"
"Hm, oh hey there Anabel," Ash greeted his violet haired friend happily. "Hey everyone, it's great to see you all. I guess you guys are to enjoy a meal."
"No Ash," Paul replied with a sarcastic eyeball. "We are here to enjoy the scenery and inspect the floorboards. Why else would someone go into a restaurant."
The others chuckle as Ash pouts at his Sinnoh rival. Anabel takes better note of Ash and blushes at his cute pouty face, finding it adorable. She also noted the glare sent her way by his Glaceon but decided to ignore it in favor of the person Ash was eating with.
She paused and suddenly felt inferior when she was that Ash was not only eating with a girl, but it was Elesa the supermodel!
'Why is he here with her?!' She mentally yelled. 'It looks like they are on a date or something!'
Elesa returned the look towards Anabel, seeing the blush and the way she looked at Ash. 'What is the relationship between this girl and Ash?!
Erika, seeing the challenging look the two girls gave each other, sighed as she could tell this may lead to some serious fireworks. 'Two girls who really like Ash under the same roof, not even three tables away from each other. While said oblivious boy seems to be on a date with one of the girls. Yeah, this will go over well.'
30 Minutes earlier with Zipher
As Zipher walked, he had May to his right and Wolfe to his left. He was listening to Wolfe tell him about the different caves hidden in the Galar region.
Everyone, besides Zipher, we're enthralled by the many stories as they had never even heard of the region before. Apparently the region had kept itself independent from the main League Association, hence why it was never invited to join due to new it technically was.
It even had its own League and Champion who was as powerful as Cynthia herself was! That threw them for a loop as Cynthia was widely considered the strongest trainer and Champion in history with only one being above her that is no longer around. She even battled Tobias and his many legendary Pokémon and easily won while only losing three of her own. That battle was years ago and she has only gotten stronger since then.
Currently the hardest League's from the polls have been Sinnoh and Kalos, with Kalos being the hardest, but the Champion being another story. Cynthia was said to be the number one Champion, bar none. Its just hard to wrap their heads around anyone being close to her power.
Wolfe was confused by their reaction as she tilted her head. "I don't know why your all so shocked. Leon is not the only Champion out there that is at the level of Cynthia as Ash is also considered to be in the same ballpark as both of them too."
This completely caught Delia by surprise, along with everyone else. Ash was considered to be amongst the strongest Champions in all of history!? They knew Ash was definitely powerful and after seeing his battle against Gary, could tell that he has yet to show his full power.
"She is not wrong," Zipher said as he looked inside a busy restaurant as he continued on. "Ash has already had an unofficial battle with Leon years ago and won. Though at the time, neither was using their Pokémon's full power."
"Leon has trained hard since then and is looking forward to a full official match against Ash," Wolfe said. "In fact, I was to ask Mr. Goodshow if it's possible for him to join or at least have an official exhibition match against the other Champions. They plan on joining the PLA at long last now that some issues have been settled over there and some agreements have been made."
"That's great to hear!" Zipher replied as he looked at Molly. "You will like Leon as he is really powerful. His Pokémon are on another level when compared to most trainers. Not to mention the Gym Leaders are all very powerful. His Pokémon are on another level when compared to most other trainers. Not to mention the Gym Leaders are all very powerful, despite their more noticeable quirks."
Mat looked to Zipher questioningly. "What of his Elite Four? What are they all like?"
"That's the thing," the black haired guardian replied as he sighed at seeing another full restraint. "Galar doesn't have an Elite Four. They simply put the trainers that were personally invited into the League Challamhe against one another and the last one standing will be the one to go on to directly challenge the Champion for the title. It's quite fun to watch actually as the energy for them feels more like a sport than a normal challenge."
Max and Molly became excited to join the Galar League or at the very least visit it. It sounded like an awesome adventure. Though Max blushed as the thought of traveling the new region with Molly.
"Looks like there aren't any open restaurants that have spots," Wolfe groaned as she saw another full restaurant with a long wait. "We may have to head to a place to cook up something instead."
"I don't mind too much," Delia chimed in. "I would be more than happy to cook us something to eat. We could head to the camp or my hotel room or even the Pokémon Center."
Max looked around but eventually saw a restaurant that looked like it had some open spots. "There is an open restaurant over there!" Everyone smiled at the chance to finally sit down and have a place to eat with Wolfe and Delia shrugging as they didn't mind cooking if it came to it.
"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Wolfe said. "I'm hungry, so let's get going! I don't even care about its ratings!"
They all made their way to the restaurant, no one knowing it was the same one that Ash had been eating in.
As they entered the place, they saw that most of the seats were full. Thankfully there were enough booths to fit all of them. As they looked around, Zipher froze as he saw Ash sitting at a table with what seemed to be the Nimbasa City Gym Leader.
He turned to the group to try and convince the group to leave, knowing Ash would not be happy to see May and Max being there with them. This did not go as planned unfortunately for the aura apprentice.
"Hey look it's Ash and Elesa!" Max said loudly, getting Ash's and Elesa's attention.
'Why?!' Zipher angrily yelled in his mind. 'Why call out to the guy who is still furious with you?! I don't get the thought process of humans sometimes!' He took notice that as Ash saw him and Wolfe, he looked delighted but that changed quickly when he saw the Maple siblings.
Ash scowled at the sight of the traitorous siblings, his amber eyes darkening until they turned to a pitch black. His aura follow this as it too was darkening by the minute as a low growl escaped from his lips.
Elesa looked at Ash in shock and worry, ignoring the young man that called out to them. She saw that even Ash's Pikachu and Glaceon were looking between agitated at the arrivals and worried for their slowly angering trainer. "Ash, what's wrong? Are you alright?" she asked her crush who didn't seem to acknowledge her concern in the slightest.
Anabel stood up, along with both Jacob and Matthew as they all recognized the signs of Ash about to lash out like he did not too long ago. While the boys expression held caution, Anabel was filled with worry as she was the first one at moment to feel the darkness and hatred in Ash's heart begin to spread. This was also followed by Zipher, who took a step ahead of the group to react if he needed to.
"The hell you backstabbing bastards want now?!" Ash grounded through his clenched teeth as he balled up his hands shaking fists. "I was having a good day until you all are around, like usual!" The more Ash spoke, the more his tone darkened.
Ash himself felt his body was increasingly getting hard to control, his anger rising to the point that he actually started feeling hot. He closed his eyes in an attempt to focus his mind and gain control of his emotions.
" Don't hide away from me," a voice echoed in the guardians thoughts , dark and powerful voice that caused Ash's eyes to snap open.
The Kalos Champion found he was no longer in the restaurant and that he suddenly alone. The place he now found himself in was strange to say the least as the sky was gone, from what he could see anyway. The space was filled with thick, black mist too the point that he had trouble just seeing ahead of himself. There was just barely enough lamination too allow him to make out the shape of his own body and the flow of the mist. What Ash could see was that the space beyond the black mist never stayed one color for long, a couple seconds at most.
It took him a moment to realize he wasn't standing on solid ground, but floating in place. "Where the hell am I right not?" Ash questioned as he looked around. "Glaceon, Pikachu! Zipher! Anyone!"
" Why must you continue to deny me? To deny us? " The dark voice Ash heard earlier vibrated throughout the area, making Ash spin around in as he tried to pinpoint where it was coming from. " So much of our potential, our POWER, wasted as you continue to keep us held back and hidden away. And for what? Those that caused us such pain and grief ."
Ash suddenly felt a shift above his position as the black mist swirled and encrusted itself before an image began to show, revealing the restaurant! Ash took note that the patrons had backed away in fear. He noticed that his Pokémon were trying to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.
Ash tried to call out to them, but it became obvious they could not hear him even Elesa was ignored as Ash could tell that his body was locked onto Max.
" Remember, they have hurt us badly ," the voice spoke again. " They and all those that support them, must feel our pain. We gave that women Delia a chance and now look at her! She is back with those traitors! And what of Zipher and Wolfe too? I bet they are planning to betray us too. Strike them before they can strike out against us! "
Ash saw that his body was yelling at Zipher's group, but could not make out shat was being said. He saw everyone but Zipher and Wolfe look down in shame and sadness, which hurt Ash to see that on Molly's face.
Max looked up and saw that Molly was sad, which made him look back and yell something at Ash that the floating guardian could only assume was in Molly's defense. Ash may not have liked Max but he had to at least send him a word of thanks for defending his sister-figure
" Look at them come together for each other, but what about us? Where was all this loyalty when we needed them?! Don't hold back and let's make them pay !"
Ash didn't like the way that sounded as he felt a pull on his aura. He looked back to the image above and his eyes widened in fear as 'he' raised his hand formed a black Aura Sphere. It looked unstable but he could that there was enough condensed aura to essentially erase its target.
In fact, it was strong enough to destroy the entire damn restaurant!
"Stop!" Ash yelled out as he saw Zipher and Wolfe take a defensive stance, though Zipher had the best chance to deal with it thanks to his own abilities. "I don't want this! Stop it!" Ash tried to call back his aura but realized he barely pulled anything as the Aura Sphere just got stronger.
" And why should we? " was the response Ash got. " They hurt us and deserve to hurt in return. We fell into a pit of self loathing and depression because of them! No more of them mocking us! This one blast will end all of this and free us! "
As the voice spoke , Ash could feel and now see the darkness spread faster in the area. The light show began to be covered and blocked out by the black mist. The pitch black continued to get thicker and much denser.
"What is going on?!" Ash yelled as he felt pain rake across his body from within. He looked down to find that literal darkness was spreading up his legs.
" Just give in ," the voice said in a more gentle tone, but it was far from comforting. " Don't let foolish hesitation stop us from getting the revenge we deserve! Let our power flow freely and we will remove all that causes us pain. We will be unstoppable! "
Ash started trembling as fear overtook took, watching the dark shadows now engulf him up to his waist. His fingers were also beginning to be covered in darkness as well before they begin encroaching to his chest. The Aura Guardian then felt a presence behind him and turned his head to find that the black mist had begun to merge together, forming into a black blob of mist. What really got Ash was the slanted red dots that appeared which he assumed were eyes.
Eyes filled with mirth and hatred that made Ash freeze in place. The eyes looked back to the image portraying the restaurant which prompted Ash to do the same and missed the eyes glow with pure sadism.
Ash recognized the signs of him about to fire the Aura Sphere and wanted to do anything to stop it!
" Do it! Force them to leave us be for all eternity! Fire the attack! '
'No!' Ash yelled as tears from his eyes as he saw that the attack was about to released. 'Please stop now! Please!'
Suddenly a flash of warmth filled Ash as a light shined brightly from the portal. The blob grunted in pain as the lightning touched him, causing him to retreat back. As the light glowed brighter, the black mist in the room began to change into a blue color. It began to feel familiar to Ash, making him realize that all of this mist was actually aura! He watched as the shadows that were covering him broke off his body before evaporating into thin air.
The room began to regain its color as the space they were in turned into a myriad of warm and inviting colors. The light then suddenly grew brighter and more powerful as this time the blob cried out in pain.
As it vanished, it gave Ash one final glare. " We will return! We will have our revenge one way or the other!" In a moment, the creature was gone as the space not only felt warm but Ash felt his body move at his command again. He was in control again!
Remember what's going on outside, Ash retook control of his aura and saw that the Aura Sphere had changed from back to blue. He released a sigh of relief as he was blinded by a flash of light and felt a shift again.
When Ash opened his eyes again, he saw he was back in the restaurant. He saw everyone looking at him in either concern or fear. He felt arms wrapped around him and found that he was being hugged by two people.
The two people being Elesa and Anabel. Both girls held him tightly, both begging him to calm down. Seeing them so desperate caused heart to break as the Aura Sphere slowly vanished.
Tears began to fall from the guardians eyes, both from the situation and the terror he was feeling moments ago.
Who or what was that? What did he just experience?
Anabel and Elesa both realized that Ash had not only calmed down, but was now crying himself. They held the boy more tenderly, hoping to convey as much comfort to the object of their affection as possible. Anabel had read his heart and saw that the dark feeling had receded back again as it had previously done.
No one else dared move, all in too much shock at the events that have just transpired. The ones who already knew about Aura were in shock at the power gathered by Ash and the color that the aura took.
Jacob and Zipher made eye contact and nodded, confirming they had the same thought. Whatever happened to Ash is definitely getting worse as before the aura was just a darker color but it was now pitch black and much angrier.
Zipher turned his look to Wolfe who was comforting a crying Molly. The pink haired women looked at Zipher with confusion. "What just happened?" she asked him. "That was NOT Ash, not at all. He would never call Molly a traitor or a leech in any way. He adores that girl above even himself."
"I don't know," he replied sadly at seeing the young girl's crying state. "I have a lot to fill you in on, but the answer to what that was is not one of them. All I know for sure is that it messes with his mind something bad."
"We should probably get going," Wolfe said as sure Molly had calmed down. "I am not sure bout you guys, but you guys, but I lost my appetite. Plus, we need to talk." She sent a discreet look to not only the group she's with, but also the other one that obviously knew Ash. " All of us."
Zipher nodded, agreeing with her. Not that she would listen anyway, as she was hard-headed like that. They would be doing this her way one way or the other.
Connecting his aura to Jacob, who as shocked that how easy the apprentice forced a link onto him, told him that they will all be heading to Ash's clearing. Jacob nodded and told his group what the change of plans were who were both happy and slightly annoyed that they had yet to order.
Zipher walked up to Ash, happy to see that he began to calm down despite the tears in his till falling. "Master, I understand that nothing of what just transpired was your fault," his words surprising Ash. "Wolfe and I believe it would be best we all head to the clearing to discuss everything. And we meant everyone that this incident involves.":
Ash's eyes widened as that meant May and Max would be involved in this talk. It was bad enough May knew, but now Max too! He was about to protest but one look from Zipher told him that he would not budge on this, master or not.
Ash sighed as he nodded at Zipher, the argument dying in his throat. He could argue but felt that he shouldn't with how that feeling is most likely still there and he didn't want to push his emotions.
Zipher sighed in relief, glad that Ash is going to listen despite his misgivings and feelings on this. He turned his head to find Wolfe explaining things to the waiter and paying for the meals and tipping for wasting his time. He looked back to Ash to find him being comforted by Pikachu and Glaceon.
Not liking seeing his master so down and knew talking to a certain someone else who needed comfort would help so he knelt next to the raven haired boy. "Master, while Wolfe takes care of things with the waiter, I will explain things to Jacob and his group. Right now, why don't you go talk to Molly. She needs to know that her big brother did not mean his words and actions and that you love her dearly."
Ash perked up and saw that Molly indeed was looking to the floor in sadness, Delia hugging her tightly and whispering in her ear. Max too was trying to think of something to say to help, but couldn't as May kept Ash in her sad gaze.
The guardian stood up, giving the girls and Pokémon a grateful yet sad smile. "Thank you all but I need to see Molly and fix this mess. I have a lot of making up to do as I was a terrible sibling. Glaceon, I know your going to follow anyways, so do you and Pikachu mind helping me?"
The two Pokémon nodded, Glaceon walking to Ash's left and Pikachu on his right shoulder. The trio walked up to Molly who flinched at seeing him, the flinch breaking Ash's heart.
Max was, again, about to say something but the ice cold glare from Glaceon shut him up. He could see the promise of pain in the Ice type's eyes if he made a single step towards Ash or spoke a word at the moment.
May also wanted to say something, but more in worry that Ash would say something worse to hurt Delia and Molly more. But she chose not to when she saw the pain in the raven haired boys eyes when Molly flinched at him. The absolute self loathing and heart break almost made her want to cry for Ash.
She had those same eyes when she and the others betrayed Ash and he vanished because of them.
"Molly," Ash called out softly, his voice just barely kept from choking up due to his sadness. "Molly, I am so sorry. I don't know what happened. I never meant to call you any of those hurtful things. I am so sorry, please. I don't know what is going on with me but I swear I never meant it. I am so sorry!" At the end, Ash could not keep it in and he burst into tears. So many in the crowd watching in sadness and shock.
He lunges forward, not caring that Delia was holding her, and hugged both of them tightly. He felt terrible for the things he said since it was enough to make Molly, even if he personally had no clue about what he said.
"I just don't want to hurry you," Molly whispered into his shoulder. "I love you don't want to ever hurt you." Ash could practically taste the sadness in the poor distraught girl's voice.
"I love you too Molly," Ash whispered back. It was true; Molly was his precious little sister much like Alex and Bonnie were. "You may not share my blood, but that doesn't matter to me. You are my sister in all-but-blood and my precious family forever."
Molly cried happily and wrapped her arms around Ash, happy that the guy she looked up to still loves her. She doesn't care about what he said, just that she was still his little sister.
Wolfe walked up to the group, the other group behind, smiling at the scene. She looked to the side and locked eyes with Zipher before smirking and winking at him. Zipher chuckled as he shook his head.
"Master, not that I want to break this up," Zipher said getting Ash's attention. "But we should move all this to camp so we can explain what's going on."
"Your right," Ash replied as he got up, but found that Molly held his hand and would not let go. He smiled warmly at her and used his other hand to pat her head. "Let's get going, though it will be a long walk so let me get us a ride." With that he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Feeling Ash' aura reaching out far, Zipher realized he was most likely reaching out to Lucario. 'So he's going to have either Mewtwo or Gardevoir teleport us over there. Though he is putting a strain onto himself since it's a pretty far distance.'
Max and May along with Anabel and Elesa were the only ones looking at in confusing on what he was doing. Paul just crossed his arms, not really caring while Mike and Jacob just waited patiently.
When it almost reached a minute, Ash's eyes opened wide as his eyes had gained a blue tint to them. "Ok everyone, either grab onto me or someone who is already touching me. We are taking an express trip to our meeting place."
Everyone followed directions, though Molly tightened her grip on Ash' hand. Anabel held onto Ash's other hand, not wanting to waste a chance to do so. Elesa narrowed her eyes at her due to not only being jealous of her chance to hold her crush's hand but the suspicion of Anabel liking Ash being confirmed. Especially from the blush on her face.
Refusing to lose put though, Elesa wrapped her arms around Ash's chest and pressed her body into his back. This action her the reward of a bright red blush on Ash's cheeks and a surprised look from Delia and Anabel.
Forest Clearing
They all reappeared in a bright burst of light and everyone found themselves in a clearing full of different Pokémon. Max and May were the only ones surprised by the amount of Pokémon around them, causing them to slightly tense up.
Ash's Gardevoir walked up to them, a smile on her face, Lucario and Sceptile on either side of her.
" Good to see you back Ash," Gardevoir greeted with a light bow. " And with a lot of company too. Been getting a lot of new visitors lately, it's nice."
Lucario bowed lightly to his trainer and his friends, greeting them. " Glad to see that you are back, Master. Though I do wish it was on better circumstances."
Still holding hands with Molly and Anabel while Elesa held him, Ash gave his aura partner a sad smile. "Yeah, so do I but it's still good to be back with you all. Do you mind getting everyone? We have a lot to talk about."
Lucario nodded as he flared his aura throughout the area, getting everyone's attention, even the non-aura sensitive people. Some of the Pok undivided émon recognized May and Max, causing them to send the duo a harsh glare, wondering why they were there.
Other Pokémon saw Ash being held by the two human girls outside of Molly and gained a teasing smirk, excited to see how that would progress.
"Hey, what's going on?" a familiar girls voice rang from a slight crowd of Pokémon laying by the shrubs which got the other humans attention. "What's with the sudden silence and chill?"
The trainers and Pokémon looked towards the voice, surprised at the sight of three girls. They were Serena, Miette, and Korrina!
"What are those three doing here?" Ash questioned, surprised but not angry. "Not that am I upset by it or anything, just confused."
" To make a long story short," Lucario chuckled. " Greninja and Sceptile attracted them over here by accident during a sparring session. I recognized their signatures and allowed them to stay as they recognized me as one of your Pokémon from our battle against Gary."
Ash shrugged as he smiled at three additions, causing them to smile and blush which gained narrowed eyes from Elesa and Anabel.
"Can we start this damn meeting already?!" Paul yelled in irritation. "I am getting bored here."
"Calm down Grape Head," Wolfe replied with a roll of her eyes. This caused Paul to glare intensely at the rock music lover which made her smirk and glare back. "I am so scared Shinji. Turn that glare down a notch before I remove those eyes of yours."
This made Paul growl at her as he grabbed one of his Pokéballs. "Do you want a go?! Because I will crush you her and now, girl!"
Wolfe's smirk widened as she too grabbed a Pokéball, this one from her belt, and was ready to put Paul down.
Ash sighed before he looked to his Lucario and Gardevoir, who both nodded at his silent request. Gardevoir used Psychic to restrict the movements of both Paul and Wolfe while Lucario appeared between the two arguing trainers, leaking his aura as the winds began to blow more violently.
"You two can have your battle later if we have the time as we could all use a good battle as a distraction," Ash said with a head shake, having gotten free from the girl's grip as he walked next to his aura partner. "We do need to get this talk over with first though."
The two trainers gave each other one final glare before looking away and giving Ash the ok. Once he was sure that they were done, he had Gardevoir released them from her power grip. Paul sent a discreet glare towards Wolfe who gave Paul a vicious grin as she noticed the look before turning away and walking up to Zipher who shook his head at her.
"Delia, Wolfe do you guys mind cooking us something to eat?" Ash asked the girls. "None of us get to really eat due to all of this. Ingredients are in my bags over by the tree. I would, but I have to get the Pokémon food ready."
The girls nodded and were joined by Miette, Serena, Erika, and Mike. Ash had help from Jacob and Molly; Max offered but was swiftly turned down by Ash.
"By the way " Ash said out loud to everyone as he grabbed his Ingredients. "You guys can let out your Pokémon to hang or train with my Pokémon if you want to."
Everyone nodded and decided to take Ash up on his offer and released their Pokémon too. This did cause most of Ash's Pokémon to tense up , not because od the appearance of a bunch of new Pokémon, but the appearance of Pokémon owned by the ones that hurt Ash.
Seeing this and knowing what was going through most of his Pokémon's minds, Ash connected his aura to them and told his Pokémon that everything was alright. They were all here for a reason and have his permission to join them. While they didn't like it, they all understood and respected his decision.
As the trainers got to work, the Pokémon went to mingle with the new Pokémon or relax.
Right now, out of the group, we're Delphox (belonging to Serena) and Blaziken were looking around hopeful. Soon enough their gazes locked on the Pokémon they were looking for, Greninja and Sceptile respectively.
The two starters of Ash were conversing with other of Ash's Pokémon, leaning against a tree. The two fire starters quickly made their way to them, blushes on their cheeks.
" HI Sceptile/Greninja!" Delphox and Blaziken greeted, getting the groups attention. Greninja happily greeted his fire type counterpart. Sceptile gave a lazy wave while the others, gave a hard stare.
" Do you guys know what's going on?" Delphox asked. " No offense to you Blaziken, but I was pretty sure Ash would not let any traitor near him or us. His mother was one thing, this is another."
Greninja shrugged. " Not entirely sure myself to be honest," he replied as he looked at, in his opinion, beautiful Delphox. " I have an idea, but I could be wrong." Delphox nodded in understanding.
" So you two going to introduce the ladies," the Milotic coiled up in the shade of the tree asked.
" This is Blaziken from our travels in the Hoenn region," Sceptile said after Greninja introduced Delphox. " These are Milotic, Zoroark, Espeon, and Golisopod."
They all greeted Blaziken and Delphox, though they were ready to act should they need to. Except for Golisopod who smirked at them and walked up.
" Hello~ beautiful," he greeted Blaziken as he held her hand, confusing her. " I must say you are an absolutely gorgeous sight for my battle hardened eyes. Would you like to join me for a small talk with just us?"
Everyone rolled their eyes, since Golisopod was a bit of a flirt. Sceptile was actually irritated and that became evident by the small pulse of killer intent that they felt, mostly focused on the Bug/Water type who was sweating heavily. He even let go of Blaziken's hand in his fear.
Blaziken blushed at the fact that Sceptile was so powerful, and she liked strong Pokémon, but also having the Pokémon she has liked for so long a ting protective of her.
" Ok,ok," Golisopod replied as he raised his arms and backed away with pure terror on his face. " I will back off, my bad."
This continued on for a few more minutes before Ash called out to everyone that the food was ready. Many Pokémon plates floated throughout the air and towards all of the Pokémon thanks to the help of Psychic. Ash thanked his Psychic type Pokémon for the help.
Soon everyone was served, though Ash kept his distance from the silent May and Max. As they sat and ate, Ash looked around nervous about how to start explaining things.
"I guess now would be the best time to explain things to you all," Ash said as he drank some water to cool his nerves. Everyone gave Ash their full attention, while they ate of course. "It goes like this."
Ash went into a full explanation of the betrayal and his pain, to his training. He avoided mentioning visiting the Legendaries but did mention his unlocking and training of his aura. He mentioned his arrival, up to the threat of Shadow, with Jacob confirming Shadow's existence and threat level.
"I can understand your anger," Paul surprisingly spoke up. "I can respect you wanting nothing to do with your old friends. But don't you think attacking them like you did earlier was going too far."
Ash sighed as he went on to explain his mindset, what had been happening to him during those attacks, even mentioning his dreams but not going into detail. He even explained the last incident in full detail. This shocked everyone, even Zipher, that Ash seemed to have been made a prisoner in his own mind. It was strange enough that his aura was essentially black, but now he seems to have something within him that's making his emotions darker.
"So far it seems to only come out when I'm around those that betrayed me," Ash continued, making May, Max, and Delia look down. "I can control myself to an extent but this darkness is always there, even now it is."
"Do you think it's your aura absorbing your emotions?" Jacob asked. He knew aura can be sentient sometimes, acting on its own to warn or even guide its guardian user. There have been plenty of times where aura seemed to mutate a d become something entirely different due to another influence.
Ash nodded as he put his finished bowl to the side. "Yes," he replied. "I believe it most likely happened in a similar way to that. I'm still not entirely sure myself to be honest. I tried to search it out, but can't seem to pinpoint it." Ash sighed as he took another sip of his drink, not seeing the saddened looks by the girls crushing on him or his mother and Molly.
"Goodness, even after all this time and your accomplishments, you are still so pathetic," Paul said his usual phrase with his arms crossed and a hard state at Ash. Paul wasn't being malicious in his words and Ash knew that, it's just how Paul is. Before Ash could say anything in response to the jab, Wolfe laughed which got everyone's attention.
"The guy who got his butt kicked and hasn't become a Champion is calling the Champion of one of the strongest leagues pathetic, that's funny," Wolfe mocked which got a glare from Paul. "If you tried to go against Ash with him going all out, he would mop the floor with you without using his strongest team. You wouldn't even be a match for Alex, the first Elite Four member of Kalos nor could you go against the revised Gym Leaders probably. You are the pathetic one here, Grape Head."
"I don't want to hear that from a girl who wasn't even invites to participate in this tournament in the first place," Paul rebutted with a dark glare. "Talk about truly pathetic."
"I don't have a reason to be recognized by the League as I enjoy doing my own thing. But why don't you put your money where your mouth is, Grape Head. A battle between you and me right here, right now."
"Fine!" Paul accepted as he stood up roughly which caused the table to shake. "ILL take you on and crush you!"
The two going back and forth arguing made Ash start to chuckle before he just burst out laughing, getting everyone's attention. "Seriously, how did we go from me explaining my issues to you two wanting to battle each other?" he said as he tried to get his laughing under control.
This caused the other to think over his point and began to laugh as well, helping relieving the tension in the area. The only ones not really laughing were Paul and Wolfe who were still glaring and grinning respectively.
"We aren't going to he able to resolve this words it seems," Ash said as he got control of himself. "Honestly, I need more time to explain a few things more clearly so a break for a battle sounds good. Let's have this after dinner entertainment."
"Let's get going to battle then," Wolfe replied. "Prepare to get knocked down hard Grape Head." She got up and went a little bit away, so not to cause too much damage to the resting area.
Paul growled as he followed after her, calling out to his Pokémon to follow which was mirrored by Wolfe. Ash let his Pokémon know the situation, getting nods and cries in response.
Once they got to a small clearing, a sight caught everyone besides Ash's main group off guard, though Ash slapped a hand into his forehead as he should have thought better about going into this specific area but he didn't think too much of it. 'I really should have used my Aura Sense to check the area. I am so stupid.' The Kalos Champion thought to himself.
The sight that had so many in the group shocked was that of Latias, a Meloetta, and Diancie playing with one another. Towards the tree line, laying the shade, was Darkrai.
Four Legendary Pokémon just here, all from different regions!
Ash sighed before he called out to the current Legendarys, happy that the others in his possession weren't here at the moment. They all looked to Ash, happy to hear him back but they paused when they saw all of the other people.
Meloetta and Latias turned invisible while Darkrai phased into the floor and Diancie tried to hide behind a tree.
"Everyone, there is no point in trying to hide now. They all saw you already, so might as well join us. Latias, do you mind creating a barrier so we may contain the damage caused by an upcoming battle. Paul and Wolfe are going to go at it."
The Psychic/Dragon type nodded as her eyes glowed and a clear barrier formed around all of them.
"Now that the stage is set, you and Paul can get yourselves settled. Paul, you head over to the far left side and Wolfe, you take the far right. I will referred the match. Does a two-on-two sound good to you both?"
Both trainers nodded and went to the respective sides of the battlefield.
"This will be a two-on-two battle between Paul and Wolfe," Ash announced as the little audience got excited for the battle. "Substitutions will be allowed by both trainers. The battle will end when either I see fit or the Pokémon is unable to battle anymore. The victor is decided if either both Pokémon on either side is unable to battle or surrenders. Is that understood?"
Both trainers nodded as Ash smirked. "Trainers, please send out your first Pokémon."
Paul looked to his current Pokémon options and thought over his first choice, the same as Wolfe before making his final decision.
"Aggron, get in there and standby!" The Steel/Rock type cried out as a small shockwave rocked the area, showing the everyone its power as it walked in front its trainer.
Wolfe smirked as she finished looking over own Pokémon and made her choice "Time to rock the battlefield! Go Bewear!"
Other than Ash, Paul, and Zipher looked on in confusion as a blur jumped above the small crowd and landed in front of Wolfe.
May, Molly, and Delia couldn't stop the squeal at how cute the Bewear was. It's beady eyes was just too much for them to hold in. Jacob, Erika, and Mike could tell that the Pokémon was a lot stronger than it seemed. Max though, was completely lost.
"I have never seen such a Pokémon before," Max whispered as he took out his old model Pokédex.
He was left shocked when the Pokédex stated that it had no data on the Pokémon.
Hearing this, Ash sent a slight glance towards the bespectacled boy which made him jump. "Bewear is a Pokémon native to the Alola region," he said in a monotone voice. "Its called the Strong Arm Pokémon and is a Normal/Fighting type."
Max thanked him, to which Ash just nodded in response and turned his attention back to the coming battle. Ash raised his arms before swiping them downward.
"Match start!"
AN: My god, this chapter is finally done! I had a lot I wanted to get out this chapter, hence why the word count is so big (I think it's my biggest yet) and my other responsibilities with work and my family has made it difficult to find time to type this up. I hope this chapter was at least enjoyable, as I am happy with how this came out. Either way, as always: Please Follow, Favorite, and Comment! Until next time!
Dragon Soul94 is outA