Just an FYI- It's now June in this story. I'm trying to keep Ash on track as much as possible but it's difficult given how much happened to him in canon so a lot of what I write in the future for him will mean deviations from the episodes. Cheers all.
This has been made a three-parter due to how much I have written for this particular arc. I should hopefully have part three out today or tomorrow.
Ash
After bashing his way through a crystallised window Ash landed softly in what looked like a hallway.
"Have you been here before?" Pikachu asked.
"Once, when I was eight" Ash replied "it wasn't a fun visit either as both Amanda and Spencer left an hour into our visit because one of their aides rang about a site they were digging up. They left Molly with us without even asking and didn't return until the day after. Neither of them apologised either. They're really shit parents to be honest and far too many people haven't called them on it. Its why mum made it a point to visit as often as she could, that way Molly would have at least one responsible adult looking out for her."
"Speaking of, is your mother here?" Pikachu asked.
Pulsing out his aura he quickly received confirmation that his mother was here, along with two others.
"That's strange" Ash said frowning "I'm getting three human life readings."
"Well Mark did say that Spencer was in here with Molly" Pikachu said.
"No," Ash replied looking around warily "something isn't right here. Anyway, there are also two psychic readings nearby too. One is huge and is centred around the ground floor, the other is on the far side of the mansion along with the humans."
"So where to first?" Pikachu asked.
"We'll head to the main concentration" Ash said as he walked down the crystal hallway "hopefully we get some answers soon, whoa." He finished stopping dead. The hallway that usually led to the grand staircase now led to a set of doors along another crystal hallway. Each door shimmered as though it had a protection field over them and each door had a plate above it with writing on it and looked like they needed a different lock to open them. At the very end of the hallway though was a doorway in which light poured from. walking down the hallway Ash took note of the plaques labelled 'Entrance Hall' 'Office' 'Kitchen' and tried to open each door finally having success on the door labelled 'cellar and Servants quarters'.
"We need to get into the office" Ash said looking back down the corridor "that's where the largest concentration of psychic energy is coming from Pi."
"Can you not smash your way through?" Pikachu asked.
"No" Ash said "I suspect we need to find the keys first. Hopefully they're down here."
Walking down the narrow staircase he walked out and found a room with several beds along the right-hand side of the wall along with various cupboards on the left. At the end was two doors, one labelled 'Head Butler' and just to the right was one labelled 'Cellar'.
"If there's going to be keys to places it makes sense that the butler has them, right?" Ash asked.
"I've no idea" Pikachu said "everything seems to be being made up as we go along. Those doors didn't look real, and those locks certainly weren't real."
"I know" Ash said nodding as he smashed open the door to the butler's room, dropped his bag outside the cellar door and headed to the desk where above it there were seven hooks, only there was only six keys. The 'office' key was conveniently missing "I get the feeling someone is creating scenarios for us to figure out Pi, and the Office key isn't there."
"Convenient" Pikachu said as they made to leave the room before halting as a presence made itself known. Ash could only look on in concern as an Entei walked through a door that rearranged itself to let its huge bulk through.
"You will leave now" Entei said commandingly.
"Not until I get my mother back" Ash said setting himself "get her and I will leave."
"Mollys new mother will not be leaving" Entei said as it opened its mouth. Quickly before it could let an attack loose Ash sprang into action and let loose an Aura Lance which impacted with the move and exploded in its mouth. Grunting in anger it shouted its name and loosed a spew of flames into the room, hoping to fry the interloper. Ash quickly conjured an Aura Ball around him protecting him and Pikachu from the attack but was struggling to contain it. Pikachu however hadn't been idle, he'd been building power up by charging and as soon as he felt the bubble about to burst he launched a huge Thunder at Entei causing it to roar in pain as it was blasted into the doorway. They knew that wouldn't defeat a legendary so they prepared to charge forwards when they had to dive out of the way as it used Extremespeed but something was off about it to Ash. He had no time to ponder though as the room seemed to expand at the whim of Entei and it charged back around again slamming into Ash who grunted at the impact, rolling across the floor to land painfully against the wall. Pikachu had dodged the attack though and rammed into Entei with a Volt Tackle causing it to roar in agony as electricity coursed through its body. By this time Ash had managed to make it to his feet and looked around at the damage that had been done to the Butlers room but immediately focused on Entei when he felt the power buolding up
"Pi, get back here quickly! That's Eruption!" Ash shouted panicked. No sooner had Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms and conjured an aura bubble around him the world turned red, and he was smashed into by the flames. The ceiling started to give way under the heat, and it wasn't long before the roof collapsed inwards on top of Ash and Pikachu burying them under a lot of rubble.
Entei looked at his where he had last seen Ash and growled but after a minute of waiting he chuffed, knowing his opponent was put in his place before turning around and padding off, limping badly as the effects of Pikachus attacks finally registered.
Red
Red was currently sat on the helicopter looking out of the window as they flew over the Tohjo falls, the mountain pass which separated Johto and Kanto, ignoring the conversation that was going on between Sam and Blue. It was only as he registered his name being called that he looked over at the two.
"I was just saying" Blue said, "we're going to drop you off in Azalea Town and the head straight to Greenfield over Ilex Forest."
"That's fine" Red said nodding as he turned back to looking out of the window.
"He'll be fine you know" Blue said to Red gaining his attention again "Ash, I mean, he'll be fine."
"Dee is there too" Red said frowning "whoever took her is going to pay."
"Do we know she's there?" Sam asked, "for certain?"
"No" Red said grudgingly "but it makes the most sense."
"I mean Silver could have taken her for all we know" Blue said gaining a sharp look from Sam "I'm just saying dad, he's been very quiet for over a year now and we know from Ash that he's finally come out of the hidey hole he has, so it could be him."
"It's not him" Sam said shaking his head "Ash knows where his son is and while they have a verbal agreement not to harm each other's families, all bets would be off if Ash found out Silver kidnapped Delia. You know this, there wouldn't be a planet big enough for Silver to hide, especially as we know he's likely in Johto."
"You have a point" Blue said nodding "It's a possibility though."
"It is" Red conceded "but far too many things have been happening concerning the Hales recently and this is too much of a coincidence given Delia has been in contact with them a fair bit lately."
"So, what's the deal with the Unown?" Blue asked.
"Essentially, they ran riot nearly a thousand years ago and destroyed three cities" Red said explaining what he knew "For an entire year the Aura Guardians tried everything to capture them and failed but with each failure they gained more knowledge on how they operated until finally Aramis Dreadfire and the other three Elemental Guardians trapped them in the city known as Alpharia, now known as the Ruins of Alph. They conducted a ritual which drained them of their aura to bind them to tiles, sacrificing their life in the process. Evidently Aramis managed to hold on just long enough afterwards to see the others were buried with a warning and a book detailing what had happened before he too died. It's only because of my curious nature that I even found out about them during my training at Rota as the documents that detailed them were kept in a secure wing of their library and I was a sneaky sod. Anyway, after they sealed the Unown the keepers at Rota at the time swore an oath not to reveal anything to do with the Unown until the years passed and they quickly fell into mythology. That was until a few weeks ago when Ash solved the puzzle at the Ruins and found the first tomb. He quickly sealed it once he realised how dangerous it was but evidently Amanda gave the order to destroy the wall and they found the box.
I've no idea where she is but we do know she was last seen wandering across the site holding the box of tiles and travelling to the ruins on Union Mountain, where I'm going before going to the tomb Ash sealed at the Ruins. Spencers' aide found the box the day after and evidently took the box to Hale mansion for study where for some reason they activated."
"Why did they only activate a week or so after Amanda solved the puzzles?" Blue asked.
"Maybe they took that long because they've been inert for a millennium, maybe they were biding their time until someone correct interacted with them" Sam said shrugging his shoulders "there's very little known about them to be honest. We're flying blind here really."
"Well, the last time it was a young girl called Tabitha that controlled the Unown" Red said bringing out the journal of Aramis "it was only after they separated the Unown and her that their power began to wane and could be contained."
"So that leads me to think it's possibly Molly who activated them" Sam said looking thoughtful "if it was a young girl who did it last time then it stands to reason they're using another young girl this time."
"You could be right" Red said, "which makes it far more dangerous than if it was an adult."
"How so?" Blue asked.
"An adult has the ability to logically think situations through and deduct a rational reason for things" Sam said gaining a nod from Red "whereas a childs imagination is possibly one of the most powerful things in the universe. So, if you combine that with an unlimited power source like the Unown she could believe anything is possible and create impossibilities into realities. You've already seen the crystal structures around the building, a normal adult wouldn't think of doing that but a child whose dreams are becoming reality probably would."
"Sir" the pilots voice said making all three look towards her "we've just received a report of a helicopter being shot down outside Hale Mansion and another one targeted from within the mansion so the Air Traffic Control centre have labelled it a restricted area. I won't be able to drop you directly, but there's been a base of operations set up half a mile away on the hill overlooking the mansion, I'll drop you off there."
"Did anyone survive?" Blue asked concerned.
"Negative" she replied "it happened too fast for them to react in time. The second helicopter moved out of range just in time though but no one is flying over there."
"Those poor souls" Sam said leaning back and closing his eyes.
Half an hour later the pilot came on the radio again "we're just south of Azalea Town, I'll land next to cave near Slowpoke Well before we head to Greenfield."
Dropping Red off was a simple process and soon enough they were on their way over Azalea Town and heading north towards Greenfield. Red watched them go away before calling out Charizard.
"Hey pal, I'm going to go via the caves and make sure nothing was dropped that way, can you rendezvous with the local scouts, they know to expect you. I'll probably be about half an hour or so before I reach the exit to where the ruins are."
Nodding Charizard flared his wings and took flight as Red headed inside the cave. It wasn't long before he came to the water and called out another Pokémon.
"Hey Gyarados, can you give me a lift please?" Red asked. His blue dragon nodded and lowered his head as Red climbed on before they made their way across the water, following the directions Ash had given him. Climbing off on the other side he wandered down the pathway before he came across a cavern with a hole in the far end where light was shining though. Amazingly though the cavern wasn't empty, instead there were several tents pitched and some people milling around in white coats. This must be the research team that was sent a few days ago he thought. Ignoring them he marched straight backed through the camp and headed towards the exit where he saw two people talking in hushed voices. Strangely Red only recognised one of them and as he moved closer to them they turned towards him.
"Pokémon Master Red" Cynthia said "as I live and breathe. It's good to see you again."
"I don't think we've ever actually met, have we?" Red asked curiously.
"No" Cynthia replied shaking her blonde head "but I've watched so many of your matches it feels like I have. I'm Cynthia, the Champion of Sinnoh."
"I know who you are" Red said smirking "You're me only a few years younger. I've seen a few of your matches too, Blue cannot sing your praises enough as to your character and I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed with what I've heard about you. Why are you here?"
"It was Blue who asked me to come here" Cynthia replied causing the other woman to frown and huff "Blue voiced concerns over the Ruins of Alph and what was happening. The board convened last night and decided to send me to get first hand information and not the partial platitudes we've received from the Hale camp and their researchers."
"You have no jurisdiction here" the woman said, "none whatsoever."
"I am the representative for Sinnoh" Cynthia said arching her eyebrow "so actually I do."
"How many of you are there?" Red asked curiously "I've never met the Archaeological board before."
"There's two for each region who collectively make up the board" Cynthia replied "but we rotate every six months. For Kanto it's former Elite Four member Agatha and her deputy a nurse Joy called Jessica."
"Oh, I know of Jessica, Ash is her twins Godfather" Red said interrupting.
"She's lovely" Cynthia said before carrying on ticking them off on her fingers as she did so "for Johto it's Amanda Hale and the deputy is a man named Thomas Kagari, for Hoenn it's Pyramid King Brandon and his deputy is Champion Steven Stone, Sinnoh it's myself and my first Gym Leader Roark, Unova it's a lady called Francesca and her deputy Bianca, and we don't have one for Kalos yet as they both went missing a few months ago."
"As I said" the woman said, "you have no say in Johto."
"And as I said before Shelia, yes, I do" Cythia replied "the board has collectively suspended Amanda and Thomas until they can provide an accurate description of what their role has been with the Unown fiasco that's currently happening, meaning your expedition is also suspended. So why are you here Red?"
"My son sent me here to see if there's a failsafe hidden in the ruins that can put a stop to what they're doing in Greenfield" Red said "his Charizard recently became Alpha here and included the ruins as part of his new territory, my own Charizard is a former Alpha here, so I was best placed to come and investigate."
"That explains the reaction we've received from the locals" Cynthia murmured "we've not been outright attacked just yet, but I suspect it's close to happening. My Garchomp isn't happy about it."
"We've been attacked several times by the Charizard" Shelia said angrily "we knew your son had something to do with it."
"Actually, Ash didn't" Red replied arching his eyebrow "you'll find that once a Charizard becomes an Alpha in this Valley their mindset changes instantly. When they were once loyal to just you as their trainer you quickly fall down the pecking order as their priorities change to focusing on those they lead rather than those they once followed. The role demands and commands respect from the Charizard that inhabit the valley and the people around the area and any slight they feel is done to them will often be dealt with harshly. They're not feral but they're pretty close to being so due to their natures."
"That explains the reception" Cynthia said nodding to just outside "what guarantee do we have we won't be attacked?"
"My son has guaranteed it" Red said "also my own Charizard is a former Alpha, one who wasn't deposed so he still holds some of their loyalty too and they will do his bidding as long as his orders don't clash with the Alphas."
"Brilliant" Cynthia said walking to the exit "let's see if we can find that failsafe. You will wait here Shelia, your team has already caused enough damage, we don't need you getting in the way." Without waiting for an answer Cynthia and Red walked out of the cave, blinking rapidly as their eyes adjusted to the light and they made their way along the short path where they saw a huge Charizard that was littered with battle scars pinning another to the ground with his foot on its neck, growling at it. They also noticed another perched on the hilltop watching on. Cynthia expecting a battle called out her Garchomp who appeared and growled at the scene, taking a sideways step to partially cover her trainer.
"What's going on Charizard?" Red asked seeing his starter standing on another Charizards neck. Charizard growled his response before looking down at the other one who whimpered slightly.
Red walked up to the Charizard that was pinned and shook his head "My son's Charizard gave clear instructions that we were allowed to be here. I know this because my son told me himself. My own Charizard is a former Alpha here and I know they can travel around these lands with impunity, especially given his relationship to the new Alpha, that being through me. Let him up Charizard, we don't have time for this nonsense."
Charizard growled before removing his foot before stopping as he saw the huge Garchomp and narrowed his eyes at the huge dragon. The Charizard quickly got up and stretched its neck before looking on warily.
"None of that either" Red said to Charizard regaining his focus "I'm sure if you ask nicely, you can have a battle with Garchomp but at the moment we have more pressing matters."
Charizard looked at Red with narrowed eyes, clawing his feet into the ground as he processed the denial of a battle. After a few moments though he snorted and turned to the watching Charizard and growled a command, which the other two Charizard obeyed, and they flew off back towards their perch that overlooked the ruins. Red nodded and motioned for Cynthia to follow before stopping at the entrance of one of the ruins.
"Now," Red said with authority "normally I would cede to you in this situation as I know you have a lot of experience dealing with tombs, but we have no idea what we'll find down here, this will probably be unlike any other dig site you've been to. Inside is a Pokémon that will try and take over your mind using psychic energy, you must fight it Cynthia."
"Don't worry" Cynthia said smiling grimly "I've been training my mind for over a year now ever since your son's book came out. It's been incredibly helpful, especially training with my own Lucario. I can use basic Aura Spheres but not much else."
"That's still very impressive for someone who isn't training to be a guardian" Red said nodding but keeping his own council on her statement "my opinion of you rises with each passing minute. Anyway, shall we go?"
Turning to Garchomp she said, "can you follow underground, I'll shout for you if I need you and I'll call out for any direction changes."
Nodding Garchomp leaped into the air before diving into the ground and tunnelling underneath the ruins.
"That's very convenient" Red said laughing as he recalled Charizard "your Lucario could come in handy here too."
"She's not with me at the moment" Cynthia said "she was called away a few weeks ago. She's making the pilgrimage to Rota and hasn't returned. It happens a lot due to her status as a Champion Pokémon, only it's usually the Lucario Kingdom she visits but it's not something I'm worried about."
"Damn" Red said before steeling himself and heading down the tunnel towards the puzzle room. As they got closer to the entrance the pressure started building until they were halted by a purple forcefield over the entranceway.
Cynthia reached out and tried to touch it, instantly recoiling her hand as it sizzled. Red acted instantly and pulled her back wondering how idiotic someone could be.
"Ouch" she exclaimed looking at her hand that had a slightly red hue on it that faded away as quickly as it came. "That stung."
"Why would you touch it?" Red asked her looking confused.
"Well, what else could we do?" Cynthia asked looking around seeing nothing but the tunnel leading back up to the surface.
"Not touch a mysterious forcefield that could burn you?" Red replied sounding amused before walking up to the entranceway. "Damn, we need aura."
Before he could turn around, he moved his head out of the way on instinct as an Aura Sphere smashed into the purple forcefield making it ripple before it pushed its way through and flew through impacting the wall.
"You're correct" Cynthia said grinning as she walked forward and coating her hand in a film of aura before touching the forcefield again which gave way slightly. "Ok, I have an idea."
Moving back she beckoned Red to move also before enlarging a Pokéball and calling out a Pokémon.
"Togekiss" Cynthia asked stroking her fairy type on the chin making her melt and coo in happiness "we need you to pepper that doorway with Aura Spheres. We need to break that forcefield down as soon as we can."
Nodding Togekiss charged up her attacks before twirling in mid-air and launching them one after another impacting the forcefield in different areas creating ripple after ripple before finally a minute later the psychic barrier exploded outwards washing through them but otherwise doing no harm. Without waiting Red ran through the opening and stopped as in front of him was the puzzle pedestal, only there were no tiles on them. Beyond that though was the room to the tomb which was wide open.
"Where have the tiles gone?" he asked aloud.
Before Cynthia could answer the doorway expanded until it reached gargantuan size, something which the room did also to accommodate it and a call was heard coming from within the tomb. Then came the heat as it grew hotter than it should be before that too dissipated. Looking at each other they were about to ask what was going on when the call came again, this time sounding horrible and screechy. They could only look on in horror as out of the doorway walked a huge bird, one they instantly recognised but this one was different than what it normally looked like as it had undercurrents of purple lashing across its magnificent rainbow covered body.
"Oh shit" Cynthia exclaimed, something Red heartily agreed with as he called out Charizard "Garchomp, I need you!"
Rota
For the last few weeks Rota had been in uproar and a hive of activity. Since the birth of the new heir to the Kingdom in late April the people in Rota had been buzzing with newfound energy. It was always nice to know Rota would carry on beyond them, hopefully the new heir would be as just as the Queens that preceded her. Amazingly though that wasn't the biggest news to hit Rota, no, that would be the discovery of the four Elemental Guardians, once thought to be lost for all time.
Sir Riley had taken over running of Rota for the time being while Ilene was on maternity, something which Ilene's husband had kicked up a fuss about, but the guardians had remained resolute, there would never be a King ruling Rota, even temporarily and as First Knight Riley was the best placed to run Rota until Ilene was able enough to return. Ilene did her best to soothe her husband, but she was far too concerned with looking after Amara to really care about his gripes.
"It's the law, dear" Ilene told him shaking her head at him.
"But you make the laws, can you not change it?" he asked sulking.
"No" Ilene replied "and even if I could, I wouldn't. There's a reason there hasn't been a King in nearly a millennium, and I won't be the one to change that."
"Easy for you to say" he grumbled "you're not the one who gets relegated to being pointless in this marriage."
"You knew full well what marrying me meant!" Ilene said looking furious "You knew that I am the ruler of this Queendom and that you would never rule in my stead. You've known this since we were matched so why all of a sudden are you kicking up a fuss?"
"Because it's ridiculous!" Roland exclaimed startling the baby awake "I am your husband! We should have equal say in things, but we don't."
"Of course we don't!" Ilene picking up her daughter and attempting to soothe her "as I stated, it's the law."
"I bet you'd change the law if I was Red" he mumbled as he left the room in a huff leaving Ilene bewildered. Quickly putting Amara back down and nodding to the maid she rushed after him "And what is that supposed to mean?" she asked walking after him not caring who heard their argument. The guards for their part ignored it as it was quite commonplace lately and as long as it didn't get out of hand they let them argue.
"Oh please" he replied turning around to face her "ever since you found out that man was still alive you've done nothing but pine after him. Do you think I didn't know you ordering your knights to look into his situation? That I didn't know you were trying to see if a guardian could retire without your say so. I may play the idiot Ilene but I am far from stupid."
"I..." she stuttered shocked by his statement.
"Do not even try to deny it Ilene" Roland said shaking his head in disgust "but the worst one was you wanting to name our daughter Ilena."
"Why?" she asked confused.
"That's Reds mothers name!" he shouted "everything revolves back around to that man where you're concerned. I'm fed up with playing second fiddle to an already married man Ilene, and I won't put up with it any longer." Pushing past her he walked back into their room and walked over to the cupboard where he pulled out a suitcase. Taking one last longing glance at his daughter he pushed past a shocked Ilene and left the palace, ordering a servant to drive him to Saffron City where he would catch the next available flight to Unova. Ilene for her part just stood there shell-shocked at her husband's decision, to already have a bag packed meant it hadn't been a spur of the moment thing either. Looking at her maid who was still soothing Amara she walked over and gave a small smile before sitting down heavily. She'd been married less than a year, in fact her anniversary was in a few weeks in June, and it looked like she was now a single mother to a one-month-old baby.
For the rest of Rota, who had no idea of the goings on in the royal family they were extremely excited at the news that had reached them. The guardians were constantly seen to be chatting to each other about the discovery of three of the four Elemental Guardians and had already made plans to relocate their tombs to Rota. It was a long process as there was a lot of red tape to go through, not to mention the number of people that would have to be involved to get it finalised. It was also very concerning to the guardians as the story of the Unown was well known to them, that had come out a week ago when Ash emailed Rota to warn them of what he had discovered. While they didn't get along, they were still grateful Ash had sealed them back up.
A few weeks before Sir Riley had just finished dealing with the final decision when he felt a great disturbance to the West and rushed out of the throne room to stand alongside his fellow guardians and Lucarios.
"I fear I'm needed elsewhere" Sir Aarons Lucario said gaining Sir Riley's attention "I will need you to let Lady Ilene know that something has happened that I believe I am needed for. Someone has disturbed a great evil."
"Very well" Sir Riley said as he looked West "go do what you can. Take help though. The last time it took the sacrifice of four of our best to contain them."
A few other Lucario came to join them, including the one who belonged to Cynthia, named by her trainer as Lucy. She had been closed off since she made the pilgrimage to Rota a few days ago but he felt her help would be invaluable dealing with whatever was happening, maybe she would open up more on the journey. During the training sessions they had over the past few days she had proved her worth in the battle arena, easily beating the Lucarios that Sir Aarons had begun to train just over a year ago. For once though there was no shame attached to being beaten by a fellow Lucario, especially when you considered who that Lucario trained with daily. Lucy had yet to face Sir Aarons in combat, content to watch him spar and observe the difference in how they lived compared to those at the Lucario Kingdom in Sinnoh, although there were several issues she had noted of concern to her.
It was very fortunate that Lucario's had traversed the entire Johto and Kanto region over the centuries so they knew shortcuts very few others knew and what normally would have been a few weeks travel to Johto only took a week through the mountains arriving North of Olivine City.
Lucario decided to make a quick detour to Loreleis house to check on Hailee, resting for a few days before moving Eastward to where they felt the centre of the disturbance was. It was as he ran Hailee through the assault course one last time that the great green wave passed through them knocking them out. As he came to he looked around and found he was lying on the grass along with the two other Lucarios that had joined him. Stumbling over to them he gently woke them and wandered into the house where Lorelei made them all sit and rest. Hearing that Ash had likely caused them to be knocked out didn't really surprise them much.
"He's as reckless as he's always been" Cynthias Lucario Lucy stated firmly.
"Ash isn't reckless" Bruno replied as he stroked Hailees hair "you heard him, he didn't know what that would do. As far as he knew he was placing an offering in the Ilex Shrine, something countless others have done, myself included."
"He's always been reckless" she replied stubbornly "ever since I first met him, he's always been contrary."
"What do you mean?" Sir Aarons Lucario asked.
"The first thing he did when he met me was insult me, my lady's companion and our Queen" she said sounding irritated "To deny your obligations is an affront to guardians everywhere and while I wasn't particularly happy to be around Will he is still my lady's lead Elite Four member."
"He deserves no respect" Lucario interjected gaining a nod from the other Lucario who was listening keenly "the abominations must always be treated with contempt. To do otherwise makes me question your loyalties."
"My loyalties are to my lady Cynthia and to the Lucario Kingdom" she replied affronted.
"And yet you suffer an abomination to be in close proximity to yourself, on an almost daily basis and do nothing about it" the other Lucario stated making her close her mouth.
"Anyway, we were talking about Ash" Sir Aarons Lucario said "Ash has been instrumental for aura guardians everywhere and if I wasn't required at Rota, I would likely be travelling with him. Your Queen isn't my Queen, so am I contrary too?"
"Yes" she replied, "why do you not serve your Queen as is your role?"
"Careful how you talk" the other Lucario stated stepping forwards "he is the Lucario of Rota and commands the respect of Lucario worldwide for his services to Rota and us all."
"Peace Lucas" Lucario said holding out his paw to stop any confrontation "she has been a trainers Pokémon her entire life and doesn't know the full story. No doubt on our journey I will get her up to speed. But just know, my role is one of great importance, far greater than serving the current Queen. The only one who may command me, other than my original master is Ash as he has earned that right."
"Speaking of masters" Lucy said after a few seconds to process and looking over to Hailee on the couch "why does the young aura user not have one? She is nearly the right age, is she not?"
"She has one" Lorelei said feeding her baby as she listened into the debate "in fact she has two."
"Two?" she exclaimed sounding surprised "who?"
"Ash and I" Lucario said walking over to Hailee and resting his paw on her which glowed briefly "she'll be ok after a good night's rest. Anyway, if you come with me, I will inform you of the situation and why things are the way they are. Come. Lorelei and Bruno, we thank you for your hospitality, but I fear our original mission cannot wait any longer. I shall be back in a few months' time, Ash should be here then too, and we can see her progress. Congratulations again on your new offspring."
Nodding the three Lucario left heading Eastwards, talking as they travelled. A few days later they were near their destination when they felt a seismic shift in the worlds psychic field and paused concerned.
"What on Earth was that?" Lucas asked.
"The Unown" Lucario said sounding fearful as he quickly rushed off followed by the other two as they sped across the water at Goldenrod City kicking up spray ignoring the exclaims of nearby people having a morning stroll along the beach. Half an hour later they came to a crest of a hill that overlooked and stopped panting as they took in the scene below them.
"What have they done?" Lucy asked gasping in shock as she saw the crystal formations followed by another exclaim of shock as she saw a Fire Blast impact a helicopter. As one they rushed down ignoring the crystals that disintegrated and reappeared behind them as they ran, and they quickly arrived at the crash site. Shaking their heads as one they realised that the flames were too hot to be able to help anyone, not that there was anyone alive anymore to help. Looking around Lucario wondered what to do next when he felt another spike of aura come from within the mansion and started walking forwards as carefully as he could before running at a sprint when a faint explosion came from within the mansion. Picking up on Ash's aura trail he raced to the little stream that passed through the mansion and found himself in an underground cellar, made his way up the steps carefully noting that the psychic presence that was strong a minute ago was moving away from him. Signalling to the others they silently padded along the corridor that was expanding and contracting as they walked along it until they came to a doorway that he felt Ash was behind. Opening up the doorway he made his way down the steps and came to a halt as the next room had two doors, only one doorway was blocked with rubble.
Ash
As soon as he felt the rumbles overhead Ash immediately conjured a bubble around himself and Pikachu but as the pressure increased from the weight it gradually became smaller and smaller until all he could do was coat them both in an aura film and hope they survived. He was very thankful that one of the benefits of being a master of aura was the ability to regulate your own heartbeat, so he didn't need to breathe in as much as normal. It came with a massive drawback though in that when he returned his heartbeat back to normal the rush of blood throughout his body made him extremely nauseous and dizzy for a while and he had to rest. At the minute though that was looking like an impossibility due to him not being able to move.
Amazingly though he felt the pressure above him lessen over the next ten minutes but due to the focus needed to keep himself and Pikachu unharmed he couldn't find out who it was. As more rubble was moved though he began to release his bubble gradually, hoping to stave off the dizziness and failing miserably. As he was hauled out and leaned against a wall he groaned and toppled over, throwing up as he did so.
"My bag" he said weakly pointing to the locked Cellar doorway "water".
Lucas walked over and grabbed the bag. Looking inside for the water and pulling out a canteen before walking over to Ash and carefully helping him drink.
"Thanks" Ash said weakly opening his eyes and taking in his rescuers. "I vaguely know you" he said as he took in the Lucario.
"Yes, you do" Lucas said "I was the guard that tried to stop you from entering the Cameron Palace banquet room. You caused us a lot of trouble that day, not least my own embarrassment at being beaten so easily."
"Ah" Ash said nodding in remembrance "I would say sorry, but I wouldn't mean it given what happened that day." Looking around he spotted Sir Aarons Lucario attempting to heal Pikachu whose own eyes fluttered open.
"What was the name of that truck?" Pikachu asked.
"It was a psychically enhanced Entei" Ash said making Pikachu turn his head to the side to observe Ash.
"Whatever it was is going to pay for messing up my fur" Pikachu said looking at a few bare patches on his arms "I've not felt this dirty since we battled Mewtwo."
"What about Shamouti?" Ash asked chuckling.
"Even then I didn't really get dirty, just hurt" Pikachu said sitting up and looking around. "Oh, hello Lucario, why are you here?"
"We felt a disturbance" Lucario said gaining Ash's attention "a few weeks ago something happened to the psychic energy in the world, it gained traction somewhere and it disturbed us all. Normally we would put this down to a Legendary fighting but as there are only a few Psychic Legendaries in the world, and none in Johto we felt it necessary to inspect the site of the issue. We sadly don't have a great presence in Johto so we were blind and deaf to the issue, however your report of the Unown being re-sealed was of great concern, so much so that we instantly knew someone had obviously undone your work."
"It was the excavation team at the Ruins" Ash said sighing and groaning as he pulled himelf into a more comfortable seating position "they blasted through the doorway I sealed and removed the box from its resting place. The lead scientist Amanda went missing a day later and the box was moved here for further study. I suspect the Unown are the cause for all this, but I cannot gain entry to their lair, I suspect it's the office in the hallway, but the psychic power is too much for even me to overcome alone which is why I'm here, searching for the key."
"You are here alone?" Lucy said making Ash look over in confusion as he hadn't felt her in the room.
"Yes" Ash said slowly as he looked at her "I've met you before too, haven't I? But I don't think it was in Rota."
"And you told me he wasn't reckless" she said smugly looking at Lucario.
"Ok" Ash said heaving himself to his feet and pausing to catch his breath as the room span "who are you and what have I done to offend you?"
"You offended me by denying your destiny, and when I told you as much you insulted me" Lucy said stoutly, "I was with my mistress at the time along with her friend and you were unnecessarily rude."
"She's Cynthias Lucario" Pikachu supplied helpfully making Ash 'Ahh' in recognition as he remembered their meeting.
"Well in my defence we'd just stopped a Spiritomb from controlling the minds of the people in Lavender Town using a psychically enhanced transmitter, alone I might add and then when we finished that I left the tower only to find a Lucario who not only insulted me but also had the gall to be standing next to an abomination" Ash said looking at her "and was OK with that. I will never be OK with that."
"Nor are we" Lucas said looking at her "however that does not help the situation at hand. What are we going to do to stop the Unown?"
"I have my father heading to the ruins to try and see if the guardians left a failsafe there" Ash said "my role here is mainly to stall the Unown and keep them contained here until I gain more information. All I know at the minute is that there are three responses from above us along with four lots of psychic energy, two unknowns, one being the Entei and the biggest being the Unown themselves."
"Yes" Lucario said looking upwards "I myself can only get two lifeform readings though. Is your aura reading off?"
"No" Ash said pulsing again and grimacing from the effort "I am still getting three responses. That's very strange. Anyway, we need to confront the Unown but I suspect we need to deal with the other psychic presences first."
"Lead the way" Lucas said as Ash nodded and groaned as he picked up his bag.
"Perhaps I should leave this here" he muttered as he dropped it onto one of the beds and pulled out a few items.
Ash then led the way slowly up the stairs and into the hallway. Walking over to the office door he placed his hand on it and grimaced as it stung him again. "This is beyond all of us" Lucy said walking forwards and getting the same reaction "even if we pooled our aura I suspect we'd fail to open this doorway and survive the encounter afterwards."
"I fear you're correct" Ash said as he looked back down the hallway to the end where light was streaming through "I suspect we'll find Entei that way."
Walking down the hallway towards the glowing light they exited and stopped dead.
"I don't think we're in Johto anymore Pi" Ash said bewildered as in front of them all lay an expanse of grass, as far as the eye could see but in the centre was a tower, reaching into the sky and going past the clouds. Off to the side lay a huge spiral staircase that led into the tower but the gap between each step was at least five feet. Luckily the steps, which should have been called platforms really were quite wide themselves.
"Lucky that whoever created that wanted it to be a nice day" Pikachu commented making Ash chuckle.
"I suspect that's the real weather above Greenfield and this tower has been created just for this environment." Ash said "if you focus hard enough you can still feel the true walls of the mansion surrounding us."
"It's as if this is the inside of a child's mind" Lucas said touching the grass and feeling nothing but hard floor "It's an illusion but an extremely powerful one at that."
"Oh, I hope not" Ash said sighing "If it is this means that Molly has created this and the Unown are using her as a conduit. The last time the Unown were around they used another young girl, Tabitha and it took separating her from the Unown for them to lose their power. The aftermath was horrific for Tabitha as the psychic power still inside her exploded, killing her and it was only through the Unown going dormant that the guardians were able to seal them in their tiles, at the expense of their own lives. They literally sacrificed their aura to contain them."
"How do you know this?" Lucario asked concerned "not even Rota have these details."
"I found a diary that Aramis kept, written in Ancient next to his tomb" Ash said as they began to walk towards the stairs and began to jump upwards "I'm unable to read Ancient but my father is, and he translated it. We'll probably send the diary to Rota once we've dealt with them here but it's very detailed in how the guardians at the time dealt with the Unown."
"That would be an interesting read" Lucario said nodding as they continued their climb. Twenty minutes later they looked back and found they were only halfway up. "This may take a while."
Molly
Molly was having the time of her life playing with her new friends and her father. She was very much unaware of what had happened in the basement and therefore unaware of who was headed her way which was why everyone was so surprised to hear voices from the other side of the door.
"That was a bloody long climb" a mans voice said.
"Daddy" Molly said standing up looking concerned "who is that?"
"I don't know" Entei said standing up and moving in front of her as the doorknob slowly turned and opened. Molly curiously peered around the huge bulk of the legendary and gasped as the sunlight that shone through cast a silhouette in the doorway. It was only when Ash walked through that she felt great relief, although she did wonder why he was dirty.
"Ash?" a voice came from the side causing him to pause and narrow his eyes at the person. Delia though walked forwards, holding her hands to her chest as she took in her son "is that you?"
"Hello mum" Ash said smiling "I've come to take you home."
"Why?" Molly asked "Aunt Deedee is here to play with me until mum comes home."
"Your mother has disappeared Molly" Ash said causing her to tear up "where is your father?" he asked looking around and frowning. He knew his aural radar wasn't off as he felt three presences in this room.
"Well, he's here silly" Molly said looking confused as she tugged on Enteis flank.
"Entei is your father?" he asked confused "No Molly, where is Spencer? Your real father."
"Entei is my father" she said stubbornly stamping her foot.
"No, no Molly, he isn't" Ash said looking at her "Entei isn't real."
Ash immediately knew it was the wrong thing to say as all around them the furniture began to rise, and the wind began to pick up and swirl around them all.
"Molly" Ash shouted "you need to stop this! Entei isn't real, he is not your father."
"Yes, he is!" she screamed as the furniture began launching itself at Ash who ducked out of the way. Delia immediately ducked for cover and hid behind a dressing screen, Entei launched himself forwards and engaged Ash while Raikou and Suicune did the same, quickly turning the tables on Ash. That was before three Lucario entered the room and began battling them all. Debris was flying around everywhere as holes were created in the side of the tower from attacks created by the Legendary beasts and Aura Spheres blasting away parts of the masonry. Molly though was still standing in the centre of the room, protected by an invisible purple bubble as her rage grew. When she saw her father go crashing into a wall and become limp, she screamed as the bubble burst outwards sending everything and everyone flying. Delia couldn't see any of this but heard something impact the screen and a tinkling sound on the floor drew her attention. Hitting the corner of the room where she was hiding was a key on a necklace, Mollys key. Quickly she picked it up and looked out from behind the screen only to scream in fear as she saw Ash push a Lucario out of the way, get hit with a point blank Hydro Pump and go hurtling out of the window and for the second time in less than an hour she felt pain rip through her heart as the thought of her son dying impacted her.