Pi pi pi pi pi pi pi…"

The soles of his sneakers were clomping loudly on the cave floor. Ash held the mini aura sphere steady. Goh was right behind him, puffing as he moved. Pikachu and Riolu were a few steps ahead. The yellow mouse like Pokémon's cheeks giving tiny sparks, forming crackling light in the shadows of the cavern.

"Do you even know where your going?" Goh panted.

"We'll have to run into something eventually," Ash answered.

They made a turn in the cavern and entered a corridor. Ash immediately noticed something different, while there were still electric lines and currently dark lights on the ceilings there were also little metallic things sticking out of one side of the cave wall in an even spaced pattern. Ash slowed to a stop and took a curious look at the unfamiliar object.

It was old, that was for sure. A little metal cone, turned upside down with the tip chopped off, made of metal netting. Like thick prison bars looping in a circle, around tilted metal posts that flourished into spikes at the top. The metal itself was long rusted, almost looking like the dirt and stone it was embedded in. Ash reached a handout to touch the object and a spark of static jolted up his spine as his finger lightly traced the rust.

"Whoa," Ash breathed, blinking in surprise.

"What?" Goh said, walking up after catching his breath.

"You know that feeling you get when you touch something and get zapped?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," Goh said.

"Imagine that, except it doesn't fade away and you now feel the entire mountain buzzing through your skin."

Goh raised a very confused brow, "Yeah, I don't know that."

"Well, that's what I just got."

"From touching a hunk of metal in the wall?"

"Another weird aura thing…Goh does this thing look old to you?"

"It's a rusted torch holder of course it looks old. Useless too with all the lights that were put up."

"So, then this came before the lights?"

"Probably?"

Ash patted his friend on the back at started to run again, "C'mon we're close."

The dark-haired trainer was soon proven right, the cave corridor gave way to only what could be described as that of a prison block. The cave rock was carved into a more rectangular shape, more like a hallway and not a tunnel. On the right side was a wall of doors. Their metal gleamed with fresh polish every time the glow of the mini aura sphere hit them. The bolts around their edges were uniform, clearly machine made. These things were like the lights on the ceiling; brand new.

Ash felt a buzz in the back of his head, and his mouth was suddenly dry. Something was clawing at the edges of his mind, begging to be let in. The young aura user had never felt it before, but he knew what it was instantly.

Riley.

"He's here, help me find him," Ash said, not looking at Goh.

Over the recent events, Ash had gotten used to the little pulls or subtle links between his soul and Sir Aaron's. It was a natural thing that happened between aura users who were either family and living close together. With them being both things, those links forged strongly and quickly. Amanda's weren't as strong, hell they were barely there, but that was because she never reached out and shut down and attempts Ash made. Riley's…even an amateur like Ash could tell it was weak. Really weak.

Each door had a very small, barred window in them, no bigger than a mail slot. They were near the top of the very tall metallic doors and Ash had to bounce on his tip toes to peek through. He had managed to check three of them when Riolu began to bark.

"Ri Ri!"

Ash looked to the baby pokemon, finding Riolu pawing and scratching at a door near the end of the cell block. The pup barking and growling. Red eyes looked at Ash and the trainer knew what was behind that door.

"Over here!" Ash called, catching Goh's attention.

The two boys ran over to the door. Ash gripped the bars over the window and shook the door. The heavy thing barely shifted. With furrowed brows Ash looked over the rest of the door.

"Here," Goh said, pointing at a keypad, "Lock's electrical. We're not getting in there with the power out."

Ash let out a very quiet growl. He was getting in that door, black out or not, and in the most serious tone he had used in a long time, Ash said, "Goh, back up."

The blue-eyed trainer, thankfully, listened taking a few slow steps back. Probably stunned by his usually laid-back research partner suddenly getting antsy.

Ash looked at Pikachu, the mouse Pokémon stood at his side ears perched high and ready for a command, "Iron Tail."

With a mighty cry Pikachu leaped from where he stood, tail gleaming with silvery light. The attack slammed into metal barrier, smashing the lock and shoved the door open with a loud bang and screech. New as they may be no one took care to grease the hinges.

Ash darted into the room and swallowed down bile at the sight inside. Riley was in there alright, but he was far from okay. His cousin (his family, how dare anyone do this too…) was strung up like a water-type. Riley hung limply from the shackles on his wrists, his eyes closed and face pale. The chains holding him were taunt as they shown in the glow of the mini aura sphere

"Riley," Ash whispered.

"Pikapi Pika!"

Ash looked at his partner's call. Pikachu was dashing deeper into the room. Peeking behind Riley, to Ash's ever-growing horror, he found a still lump of blue and black fur inside of a cage at the back of the cell. Riley's Lucario.

"Pikachu get him out there, Goh help me," Ash said.

Ash grabbed the shackles with one hand, holding the aura sphere close with the other. He quickly found what looked like a keyhole.

He glanced to Goh, "Look around there's got to be something to open this."

Goh gave a quick nod and left with a queasy expression on his face. Ash couldn't blame his friend, if Riley looked bad from far off, he looked almost dead up close. His skin was paper pale, and painted on it was a cavass filled with purple blooming bruises and rusty colored scabs, along with a heavy dusting of dirt. Rubble was stuck in the nest of wild black hair, even more unruly than usual. His hat and coat were missing, while his pants and turtleneck were dirty and covered in rips. The only reasons that Ash knew his cousin was alive was the presence of Riley's soul and the sound of shallow breaths.

The dark-haired trainer, began to gently pat Riley's on the least bruised cheek, "Riley? Riley?"

There was a crash from the other side of the prison cell, and Ash spared enough of a glance to see Pikachu and Riolu to break through the cage, freeing Riley's Lucario. The aura Pokémon stirred as the Rioly began to paw at him.

Riley let out a groan, and Ash sighed in relief as the lagoon blue eyes began to flicker open.

"Riley? Riley!"

The elder user shivered and opened his eyes, while they were hazy they still locked on to Ash if the glimmer of surprise was anything to go by. Riley let out a noise of confusion and drew in a sharp breath.

"Hey it's okay. It's me. It's Ash."

"Ash…?" Riley rasped. Oh, Ash really wished he had a water bottle on him.

"Yep, that's right."

Riley coughed, "You got taller."

Ash snorted, "Well, it's been over a year. Don't worry we're getting you out of here."

Riley shook his head visibly swallowing, "No," he croaked, "No you need to get out of here. They're looking for you."

"I know. They tried, I got away. We need to get you down. Did they leave a key anywhere?" Ash started to examine the shackles more.

"No," Riley swallowed, "Ash, is there anyone else here?"

"Don't worry, that's just Goh he's my friend-"

"No. My sister, the woman who put in here said they were going after her."

"Don't worry, Amanda is fine."

"You found her?"

"She's here, man. We wouldn't have found you without her. She's a badass."

"Crazy you mean," Goh cut in.

"Hey, she saved your life," Ash said.

"And while I'm forever grateful, I still think she's a little crazy. She must be if she's related to you. She broke into a terrorist base. Twice," Goh said.

"She also jumped into a raging river, temporally going deaf, to save you," Ash said.

"I like said I'm grateful-"

"Deaf?" Riley said with a confused and concerned tone.

"Don't worry her hearing aids just got waterlogged," Ash comforted.

Riley shook his head, "Mandy isn't deaf. She doesn't use hearing aids."


She was trapped. The black shadows were swirling around her. They slipped down her throat and into her lungs choking her with sobs. Voices, familiar and painful, were wailing all around her. Their accusations bashed her brain around the inside of her skull. She wanted to rip her skin off. She wanted to crash her head in. Free herself from everything.

But most of all, she wanted to see.

She can still smell the sterile air, feel the rough sheets of cot, taste the bile in her throat as the Doctor told her parents her fate as a useless sack of flesh. It wasn't enough to take her ears away, no life had to pull a cruel trick and make her eyes doomed to one day fail as well.

Amanda thought she'd have more time. More time in the light, more time to prove that she'd be worth caring for once she was useless. That she wasn't damaged. That she wasn't going to hurt her brothers.

She had clearly failed. Her eyes were gone, and no doubt mother would cut her off from insurance and then she'd be without hearing aids. Now she was worthless and alone. Amanda never wanted to be alone. She was just always left alone and became used to solitude. First it was her brother, then her friends, then her father. Mother was one slip up away from leaving and then taking the twins with her.

A choking sob erupted from her throat and hot tears dripped down her cheeks. Amanda never wanted to be alone.

Something touched her. Not physically. No, she'd have slapped them if someone did that. This was a different type of touch. A soft flutter in the back of her mind, like a phantom running their fingers through her hair. It was comforting, pulling her out of her spiral. Still her nerves remained frayed, she felt herself shaking. Something inside was screaming at her to reach out in turn. Let the phantom pass the gate.

Amanda tried to resist, Arceus did she try. Any time she reached out before her hand had always been bitten. Forced away.

"Amanda?"

The voice echoed throughout her mind silencing all the others. A hand reaching out to her, but something held her back from taking.

"Amanda? Please."

She took it. Metaphorical hand gripped metaphorical hand and suddenly her cold soul was enveloped with warm embrace. A feeling of foreign safety washed over her. Amanda never thought she'd feel something like it again.

"Uncle Aaron?" She thought.

"Yes. Amanda it's me. Are you hurt?"

"No…just just bumps and bruises."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm not injured…"

"You know that's not what I meant."

Amanda bit her lip, letting blood coat her tongue as another tear trickled down her cheek.

"Amanda please, let me help you."

Her chest spasmed with a another sob, "I-I can't see….It's dark and I-I lost my glasses."

"Alright, it's going to be alright, Amanda. Lucario and Umbreon are trying to get to you. In the meantime I need you too listen to me."

"Why?"

"I have a way to help you see, but you need to do exactly as I say, alright?"

Amanda took a shuttering breath, sending her agreement through the newly forged mental link.

"You're going to be alright. Now I need you to close your eyes."

"Are you nuts, the problem is I can't see! Closing my eyes is counterproductive don't you think?"

"I need you to trust me Amanda, it's going to be alright. Now close your eyes."

Amanda took a deep breath, letting her heavy lids fall, thickening the darkness around her. Fear spiked her heart rate, but the warm blanket around her soul squeezed her tenderly in response.

"You're alright. You need to breathe, Amanda."

Her lungs opened, pulling a cold gasp inside of them. The drum in her chest eased in pace.

"That's it, you're alright. Calm down. Now reach out with your mind. Feel the ground."

The dusty gravel of the rough cave floor rested beneath her fingertips.

"Feel the pulse of your heart."

The thumbing in her chest is growing steady.

"Hear the cavern's echoes."

The subtle hum slipped from her throat before she could stop it. It was quiet, and weak. The melody shattered a glass case inside of her heart that she swore never to open. It had been far too long since she touched a song. It was a useless talent, and what talent could she have now that her ears were shot.

Still, it worked, her panic was settled, and the soft song echoed off the cave walls and rubble.

"Now see."

As if a switch was flicked, and the world of darkness bloomed into a fantasy of blue shades. She could see. Her eyes might have been closed but the vision in front of her was clearer than a scene in the brightest daylight. The walls gleamed, revealing every crevasse and dent in the stone. The rubble on the floor down to the smallest pebble was screaming in front of her face. Looking down at herself, she found a body of flaring blue, the hue brighter then the still stone around her. Okay that was a little weirder to look at then the rocks.

Out of the corner of her sight was a thinner shape. Two sticks attached to a pair of thin hollow squares. The gleam of hope in her soul was visible now, but Amanda paid no mind to it as she reached out and pluck her glasses from the cave floor. She took great comfort in the light weight of the frames resting on her nose and ears.

From there she found her backpack. One of the straps had been ripped but it was still intact. It wasn't until the grip of a flashlight was in her palm did she pull from the blue world back into the physical one. Flicking on the torch as she opened her eyes.

"Are you alright?"

Amanda smiled, "Yes."

"BREE!"

"Umbreon? I'm over here!"

Umbreon was in her arms, licking her face. She was alright. She could see.


Sir Aaron sighed in relief once he felt Amanda's panic calm. The links between their souls and minds were made stronger that day. Not that he expected her to open up completely. She did with draw again once she calmed down. However, the walls that she had so heavily re-enforced hadn't been restored to their full strength. This was a step forward, as terrifying as it was for her. Sir Aaron was perfectly fine with going at her pace.

Meaning, the knight certainly didn't expect the sudden and quick embrace that she gave once they were re-united. While Ash was always open to physical contact, Amanda had avoided it. Yet, upon reuniting she hugged him.

"Thank you," she whispered before pulling back and her focus was once more on the mission at hand, "Any idea where the boys landed."

Sir Aaron shook his head, "Not a clue. And the mountain stone is too charged for us to find them."

"Do we have signal down here?" Amanda said.

"Signal?"

"Oh, wait you don't have a phone right," Amanda said, pulling her little device out of her damaged satchel, "C'mon c'mon pick up."

"Hello? Amanda? Please tell me your not dead."

"We're not dead, Goh."

Alright, now Sir Aaron was beginning to see just how useful these devices were. Not that he doubted their use, it's was just he didn't understand how attached the children (Not Ash) were of them.

"We're alright," Sir Aaron said.

"Oh, good you're both together. Don't worry Ash is with me…Wait why didn't you call him?"

"He never gave me his number," Amanda said.

"He never gave you-? Ash! Why didn't you give Amanda your phone number?" "I don't know my phone number!" "Well, that answers that."

"Where are you?" Amanda said.

"We kind of wandered aimlessly, and stumbled on the prison block. We found Riley."

"You found him," Amanda murmured, almost in disbelief.

"Is he alright?" Sir Aaron asked.

"Uhm…I don't think he's hurt bad, but he's kind of in a half-asleep state. Like if we talk to him, he's engaging but otherwise he's out. Pikachu broke the chains on him, but we can't get the cuffs off."

"Wait, Goh," Sir Aaron said with an urgent tone, "The cuffs on Riley do they have carvings on them?"

"Uh L-let me check…" There was a muffled sound of movement and murmurs, "Yeah, it looks like some of them are swirly marks, others are just a bunch of slashes, and an Arceus' Ring."

Sir Aaron closed his eyes in a regretful wince. He knew exactly what was causing his nephew's suffering.

"What is it?" Amanda questioned.

"The cuffs are likely aura drainers. The Guild made them weaken and imprison traitors or rogue users. They cut the user off from outer sources of aura and slowly drain their own."

"How does something like a set of shiny metal bracelets do all that?"

"I don't know the metal smiths, kept their secrets underneath lock and key," Sir Aaron shook his head, "You need to get the cuffs off of him."

"We tried. Searched the whole cell, we can't find any type of Key."

"We're wasting time," Amanda cut in, "Goh do you have any tracking on your phone? If we can link up, we can find each other."


Goh kept his eyes firmly, focused on the phone in his hand. Getting out of this stupid tunnel was the most important thing. Still, that didn't mean every now and again his attention wavered over towards the party just behind him.

Riley's Lucario seemed alright. A little unsteady on his paws. His fur dirty, and body littered with half-healed wounds. Exhaustion pulling on the Pokémon's limbs. However, he was able to walk and seemed to be well aware of his surroundings.

The same couldn't be said of his trainer. Riley was on his feet, but Ash was the only thing keeping him there. The young man was one strong breeze from collapsing. Goh didn't want to think about what had happened to Riley during the weeks of imprisonment. For some reason he was certain that Team Rocket weren't very good hosts. The blue-eyed trainer bit his lip and looked back to his phone, intent on getting to the surface and freedom.

"How did you learn to do that?" Riley croaked after a while.

Goh didn't look back, but he kept his ears open, if Riley was talking, he was becoming more aware. Which was a good thing.

"Oh this," Ash said, Goh fairly certain that his friend and his cousin were talking about the tiny aura sphere Ash was using as a flashlight.

"Well, it took me a while. This was actually the first time I did without blowing something up. Only took me a few weeks."

Riley let out an amused giggle, "That's impressive. I still can't make a stable one."

"You can't?"

"It's not for a lack of trying. How did you learn?"

"Found a teacher."

"…that's…that's not possible. I searched for a decade. There's nothing left other than some old legends and pottery."

"Well, hate to tell you this Riley, but you missed something."

Goh huffed a laugh at Ash's blunt statement. Yeah, Riley missed something. A whole fucking guy and a majestic, abandoned temple. Not that Goh would say such a thing out loud while Riley was almost half-dead.

His phone vibrated in his hand, and a large smile grew on Goh's face as he focused on the screen. The others were just ahead of them! Yes!

"C'mon we're almost there!" Goh said, starting to pick up the pace.

"Goh wait look out!" Ash suddenly said.

"SAUR!"

There was a sudden shock wave. And Goh was sent tumbling to the floor. His head was smacked with something hard, ringing his brain and making his mouth taste like blood. With hazy vision, the blue-eye trainer looked up to find a Venusaur standing in the middle of. At first, he was confused. They weren't a cave dwelling Pokémon. He raised his flashlight, the white glow hit the grass type, and it did nothing. A dark shadowy smog was surrounding the Grass type. In fact, the Pokémon themselves looked to be in a daze. Their eyes blacked out with whitened pupils. What on earth?

"Goh!" Someone called, his shoulders were gripped and his was gently pulled back to his feet.

He glanced back, finding Amanda pulling up. Oh, they found the others he'd be more excited if he was freaked out and probably concussed.

"What is that?" Amanda said.

"A Venusuar?" Ash suggested from the back of the group, though he sounded unsure.

"No, it's not," Sir Aaron said right behind him and Amanda.

A chilling smooth cackle filled the room. A shiver ran up Goh's spine. He knew that laugh. He didn't like that laugh.

"Well, well brother. You're not as ignorant as I believed you to be," A white haired human creeped out from behind the corrupted grass type, and Goh swallowed bile.

"Anwir what have you done?" Sir Aaron said.

"Oh this?" Anwir caressed the Venusaur's face, making the Pokémon shiver, "This is just a little something I learned during my travels. Taking full control of a living being's will. Very useful tool. Doesn't work on humans as well as it works on Pokémon sadly. Our niece is a shining example of that."

"What are you doing here?" Ash said.

"Oh well, in case you haven't noticed, there is a horrid band of thieves on the loose. As an enforcer it's my job to stop them," Anwir purred, "You can imagine my shock, to learn that such thieves were my own flesh and blood."

"We aren't family if that's what's you implying," Amanda said.

"Oh, you wound me, dear niece," Anwir said.

"That's the point, now if you're not going to kill us, we ought to be going," Amanda said.

"About that, I can't let you leave, I'm afraid," Anwir said, "We still need you after all."

"Yeah, that's not happening," Ash said.

"Must you make it difficult?" Anwir said, "Oh no matter. You can kill the boy, but leave users alive," Anwir snapped his fingers, and the Venusaur lunged.

Goh felt himself jerked behind Amanda and a crash echoed through out the cavern. Only it wasn't on their side. Goh looked passed Amanda's shoulders; his eyes widened at the sight of the corrupted grass type lying limp on the other side of the cave.

In the center of the standoff, floated a Pokémon of pale purple, his long tail thrashed with anger. His eyes were glowing a bright white. Goh choked.

"Threatening these humans, was a bad play."


A/N:

Okay, so I'm sorry about the late upload, family came over last weekend for my High School graduation. That on top of summer courses and a new job, I just didn't have the time. Also, this was a bit of a rush, so there might be a few grammar issues' I'll fix them later.

Anyway! Riley's Back!