The Blue Spirit

by silentplayermc03

A vision has been seen by Arceus; a world covered in darkness, corrupting both humans & pokemon alike but it also showed two heroes fighting against it. Plans are formed, old & new friends meet, relationships are made, emotions run high, secrets are revealed & an inevitable world war engulfs them all against the darkness…

41. Chapter 40 - The Search

THE BLUE SPIRIT

CHAPTER 40 – THE SEARCH

A raven haired young boy, a little over nine years old, was lying in his bed in his own bedroom. It was around 11pm and his bedtime was at 930pm but he just couldn't sleep. He had his bedside lamp on and was reading a comic book while sitting up in bed, leaning against the headboard with the covers drawn up to his stomach. He had waited for his mom to go to sleep and when she did, he had turned on the light and took out the comic book from his bedside drawers. He was about to turn the page when there was a sharp tapping on his bedroom window. The boy looked at his window with slight fear at first, before it went away and he smiled. He got out of bed and went to the window and opened it. A young girl with brunette hair dressed in her blue and green pajamas climbed through the window at once and the boy closed the window.

"About time Ashy. I thought I was going to freeze," whined the girl.

"Sorry but don't be such a crybaby Leaf," replied back Ash jokingly. The girl crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. Ash rubbed the back of his head, mumbling out an apology before going to continue reading the comic book as he sat on his bed again.

Leaf sighed, relaxing a bit before she followed after her friend and sat next to him. She looked at the comic book he was reading. "Did you finish it yet? Did you see how Captain Alakazam fought off the evil Gengar, found the treasure and then took it to the museum?" asked Leaf.

"No point reading that anymore," replied Ash as he closed the comic book and placed it on the bedside drawers before looking at Leaf, who had a sheepish look on her face. "You always spoil it for me Leaf."

"Hehe. Bad habit. Sorry," she said but Ash just shook his head and chuckled.

"It's alright I guess. But try to stop yea?" he asked her and she shrugged, saying she's not promising anything. They went quiet for a moment before Ash talked again. "So…I'm guessing again?" he asked her and Leaf had a sad look before she turned away.

"Yea…another one…I don't know why she's doing this. Another guy she brought home and then they went to her room and closed the door. I don't know what she does with all these guys she brings home with her and I don't know if I can stand it anymore. She never cares what I do or what happens to me or if I'm hungry or not. All she cares about is herself and what other people can get for her. She's always on the phone and always saying she wants shoes or dresses or rings or necklaces and then she'll say something like 'you do that for me and I'll show you a good time'. I don't even know what that means. Why won't she show me a good time? Why won't she have fun with me? Why does she always leave me alone? Why doesn't she love me or want to take care of me Ashy?" asked Leaf sadly. She wasn't able to hold it back anymore so she started crying.

"Hey, it's okay Leaf. I don't know why she does it either but we'll be going on our journeys soon and you'll be able to get away from all that. And you can come here whenever you want, anytime you want, just like always. And…and...we can go on our pokémon journeys t-together so you're never alone again. We'll have so much fun together that you won't remember about that at all. So don't feel bad okay?" he told her, completely nervous over what he said. She slowly stopped her crying.

"Thanks Ashy. You're always helping me," said Leaf as she hugged him suddenly, making Ash blush as he awkwardly patted her back. "You know, about today. With the other kids…It was just a joke right? A harmless prank. You're not mad right? I…I just don't want to lose my new friends," she told him.

"Of…of c-course Leaf. And it's okay. You're my f-friend. I c-care about my f-friends and I understand," said Ash with some stuttering and Leaf gave him a smile in response at being friendly and kind. He was the only one that she could be herself around.

"Do you promise to always be my friend no matter what?" she asked him, separating from him and looking at him.

Ash nodded. "I promise Leaf. I promise that I will always be your friend, that I will always help you if you need me and I promise to go with you on the journey," said Ash who gained some courage from her asking him that question.

Leaf hugged him again smiling, making Ash go crimson and unable to speak, his arms hanging loosely by his side. "I promise that too Ashy. We'll go together on our pokémon journey and together, we'll become the best. We'll have the bestest match at the tournament. Right?"

"You bet!" replied Ash and they both smiled.

Ash got up and took out a sleeping bag and extra pillow from his closet and spread it out onto the floor. He then climbed into it and lied down on the floor and asked Leaf to turn off the light after she gets comfortable in the bed. He always had her sleep in the bed whenever she came to spend the night at his house when her mom would bring someone home. The first time her mom did that she was afraid because of the noises that were coming from her mom's bedroom late at night. It scared her so much that she wasn't able to sleep at all that night. She asked her mom what those noises were from in the morning but her mom just told her that she was busy exercising with her friends when they would come over and to never bother them when they were doing that. The second time it happened, Leaf couldn't take it and had snuck out. She went to the only person's house who she was close to at the time and asked if she could stay the night after climbing through his window when he opened it for her. After that first time, she would always come to Ash's house to spend the night whenever her mom would bring someone home.

"Ashy?" asked Leaf.

"Yea Leaf?" he said as he raised his head to look at her from the floor.

"I'm…scared."

"Why?"

"I'm scared because…even though my mom isn't nice to me…I don't want to lose my mom!" said Leaf before she started crying again. Ash felt bad for her and got up from his sleeping bag and went to her and hugged her. He was blushing like mad because he liked her and was embarrassed over what he just did. But he knew she needed a friend right now. His mom had taught him much, even though he was still just a kid. But he still did miss things from time to time...

"Hey, don't c-cry Leaf. Maybe she's just confused but she'll be alright s-soon. And even if not…I'll…I'll be right here and my mom can take care of us both. O-Okay?" he told her and Leaf nodded. Ash thought for a moment before he told her to hold on. He went to his closet again and took out a small blue box. He then went back to Leaf and gave her the box and she gave him a confused look making him redden. "I-I was going to save this for your b-birthday but you should have it now." Leaf gave a big smile and started ripping off the wrapping paper. She opened the box and took out the gift. It was a blue baseball style cap with a black poke ball symbol on it. She let out a happy squeal before she put it on her head but it was a little big on her and so it dropped down and covered her eyes. "Sorry if it's a little big but that was the only official Pokémon League cap that was blue that I could find for you since I know you like that color," said Ash as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's okay Ashy. I love it! I promise I'll use it when I'm older and it doesn't hide half my face," replied Leaf, the large smile still on her before taking off the hat. She then hugged Ash who once again went crimson. "Thanks Ashy. You're always so nice to me," she said quietly.

"No p-problem Leaf. I'm happy that you l-like it," replied Ash. The two separated and Ash went back to his sleeping bag and got in while Leaf put the blue hat on the bedside drawer before she turned off the lamp on it. They told each other goodnight and went to sleep.

A little over a decade after that night, Ash was once again looking at the blue cap he had bought for Leaf. It had three claw marks on its side with some blood and dirt on it. He clutched it to his chest and lowered his head as he remembered that night. He had promised her that no matter what he would be there for her if she needed him and be her friend. Even if she did make mistakes, losing her way, hurting him in the process and did what she did, he couldn't break that promise. Not now. Not ever. He looked up at his friends and family, seeing them concerned and worried. He looked at Richie, seeing the furious look on his face. He looked at his pokémon who were waiting for his command. He glanced back at the hat. No, he couldn't. Richie was right. The girls were right. His friends were right. It doesn't matter at all what she did. It's not like she killed someone or had sex with someone else to get back at him. And she is his childhood friend. She is someone he cares about…and has feelings for. If he could give rotten criminals a second chance, then his friends deserved to get more chances then them. But these heartless bastards…when he got his hands on them…they will not be getting any more chances at all…and would feel his wrath before being wiped from existence…

"MEWTWO!" roared Ash all of sudden, catching everyone off guard and not even a second later, a large blue glowing sphere appeared in front of them all. The most powerful psychic to ever exist, Mewtwo emerged from it, making Clair, Liza, Shauna, Lizabeth and Giselle gasp at the sight of the legendary.

"Tell me you've changed your….wait, what's wrong Ash?" asked Mewtwo, sensing his friend's distress. The raven haired guardian looked his friend in the eye before answering him.

"Later. I need my pokémon."

"Who do you want me to bring?"

"Everyone," answered Ash and Mewtwo's eyes widened in response. That would mean something serious must have happened. His eyes glowed blue in response as he contacted each of Ash's pokémon that he was going to bring and let them know that they were going to be teleported. Even though he helped him develop some mental defenses, the psychic feline could have easily read his friend's mind to know what happened. But he respected him and wouldn't do that to him. He would wait to learn what occurred. As Mewtwo contacted the pokémon and got them prepared to be teleported, Ash turned his gaze to his almost twin Richie. "I swear on my life Richie; I will find them and will make the Skull Brothers pay," promised Ash.

"I don't care what you do or how you do it Ash. But I'm going with you. I am not going to just sit around waiting to find out what happened. And if anything happens to Joy…" replied Richie, not finishing but Ash understood and he nodded.

"Ash," started Delia and the raven haired trainer looked at his mom. "I think you might need him," she said and took out the Ultra ball that contained Chesnaught. He went to his mom, took the ball and opened it, letting out his Chesnaught who instantly had a serious face appear as he could tell something was up.

"Ash, take them too," said Misty as she held out Vaporeon's Luxury Ball and so did May, Dawn and Serena with the pokémon that Ash gave them before. He nodded at the four and retook the four Luxury Balls before opening them up. The four Eevee evolutions took up a straight sitting position immediately with no sounds made, also sensing that something had happened.

Ash moved to the edge of the balcony, standing near the railings. Pikachu jumped to Ash's shoulder and Lucario and Gardevoir went to stand beside him. Ash's group looked on in silence at what he was doing, wondering what he was waiting for. But when numerous blue spheres appeared all over the large balcony and in the air courtesy of Mewtwo, they gasped at what purple feline had done. He had teleported Ash's pokémon to them and they got their first glimpse at all of his pokémon.

Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Pidgeot, Ninetales, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Golduck, Primeape, Arcanine, Alakazam, Machamp, Gengar, Steelix, Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Muk, Blissey, Kingler, Scizor, Electivire, Magmortar, Gyarados, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Sylveon, Lapras, Kabutops, all of his Tauros, Snorlax, Dragonite, Meganium, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Noctowl, Ampharos, Yanmega, Gliscor, Heracross, Weavile, Skarmory, Houndoom, Donphan, Tyranitar, Sceptile, Blaziken, Swampert, Swellow, Gallade, Breloom, Ninjask, Floatzel, Torkoal, Sableye, Aggron, Manectric, Flygon, Crawdaunt, Absol, Glalie, Froslass, Altaria, Salamence, Metagross, Torterra, Infernape, Empoleon, Staraptor, Luxray, Lopunny, Garchomp, Toxicroak, Serperior, Emboar, Samurott, Unfezant, Liepard, Leavanny, Gigalith, Excadrill, Seismitoad, Scoliopede, Lilligant, Krookodile, Scrafty, Zoroark, Reuniclus, Swanna, Eelektross, Chandelure, Haxorus, Mienshao, Golurk, Braviary, Hydreigon, Volcarona, Chesnaught, Delphox, Greninja, Talonflame, Pyroar, Florges, Gogoat, Pangoro, Meowstic, Dragalge, Heliolisk, Goodra, Tyrantrum, Aurorus, Hawlucha and Noivern appeared.

Everyone was flabbergasted to the amount of pokémon that Ash had captured and trained as they saw them all clearly for the first time. They knew from his memories that he had caught many pokémon, seeing him train with them. Yet seeing them in person, right in front of them, still surprised them. Some were standing near them on the balcony. Some were hovering by themselves in the air while others who were too large or heavy to be on the balcony were being levitated in the air by Mewtwo's powers, outlined with a purple glow. They couldn't believe it. He not only has an actual army of pokémon, but each of his pokémon also looked incredibly strong.

"Look at all the dragons!" whispered Iris, her eyes darting to and fro to all the dragon type pokémon.

"What beautiful water pokémon!" exclaimed Misty, unable to control herself at seeing them all, becoming starry eyed.

"He has all the starters?!" asked Gary in disbelief, seeing the powerful pokémon that were very rare and usually only available as starting pokémon for beginning trainers in each region.

"He has all the Eevee evolutions?!" asked an astonished Brock, looking at all the pure type evolution pokémon.

"Mewtwo, bring the others as well please if they don't mind," requested Ash and Mewtwo nodded. A moment later and nine more blue spheres appeared before fading away to reveal the pokémon he teleported to them.

Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Entei, Suicune, Raikou, Lugia, Ho-Oh and Victini appeared.

The raven haired guardian's friends and family were speechless. There were nine legendary pokémon, not counting Mewtwo, right in front of them and that's nine more than what ninety-nine percent of the population has seen. It was quiet as they kept moving their gaze from one pokémon to the next. Some of Ash's pokémon talked to one another in their own poke speech. The conversations had serious tones among their poke speech but the second Ash stepped forward, his pokémon instantly went quiet and composed themselves into attention and that impressed everyone.

"His pokémon are extremely well trained," remarked Giselle in aw after seeing that happen and everyone murmured their agreements with her.

"I have brought you all here for something important!" Ash's voice caught the group's attention and they all turned their gazes on him now though they would glance back at the powerful pokémon in front of them every few seconds. All of his pokémon, even the legendary pokémon, were giving him their full attention. "A group of men, calling themselves the Skull Brothers, have hurt me and my friends!" Ho-Oh let out a screech of fury as she remembered the earlier altercation with them. She was in no matter what. Many of them started growling and snarling in addition after hearing that first sentence. Some from his group took a step back without realizing they did. "I gave them a chance to change their ways but they decided to keep doing wrong. This will be a personal mission. So I must warn you now that there will be no mercy shown or given to them at all! They have attacked the girls once before, and they have now attacked Richie, Joy and Leaf. They kidnapped Joy and Leaf while leaving a hurt Richie behind. He pushed through the pain so he can get here and tell us what happened! There will be no holding back! If you are uneasy about that, I don't blame you and if you don't want to be a part of it, you may sit this out and you will not be judged. Not be me, nor by anyone else in our family or any of our friends. So whoever wants out, say so now." None of the pokémon made a sound at all or showed any indication that they wanted out. Each of them had sworn loyalty to each other and to Ash. If one of them was in it, so were the rest. No ifs, ands or buts. They had trained together to fight against the darkness and this was no different. They would not let evil people get away with their wrong doings. "Very well then. Mewtwo, show them pictures of Leaf, Joy and of the Skull Brothers from my memories." A large blue sphere appeared with an image of Leaf, a second one appeared of Joy and another appeared that showed the five Skull Brothers. Each of his pokémon looked carefully at the images until it was saved in their minds. Ash turned his attention to the view over the railing before giving out his commands after the images faded away, stretching out his arm in front of him. "Fan out in groups of three on the ground and two in the air! Find them! Check everywhere! You find anything suspicious, noteworthy, Leaf, Joy or the Skull Brothers, send message to Mewtwo immediately. Do not engage them in battle until I get there unless it's absolutely necessary! Now go! Find them and don't let anyone or anything stand in your way!" All of his pokémon, except for one, immediately moved. The flying and levitating pokémon flew out into the distance in different directions in groups of two as they looked for their targets. The other pokémon Mewtwo teleported quickly down to the ground in front of the hotel and the instant that they touched the ground, they fanned out in groups of three into the vast Indigo Plateau forest, moving to the nearby rivers, the mountainous regions and towards other areas as well. Ash had his Blissey stay behind, since he had other plans for her.

"Lucario, heal Richie and Gary," said Ash. Lucario nodded and first healed Richie with Heal Pulse before he went to Gary who had a look of confusion on his face. "You're ribs are cracked," explained Ash, keeping his gaze over the horizon. Lucario had sensed the injury and relayed the information to his Master mentally after Ash's orders. Gary had his eyes widen and so did everyone else but for different reasons. The ones who knew what happened couldn't believe that Ash was able to damage someone so much with just a single punch without using his aura. The others were shocked and wondered how he became hurt so badly.

"Gary, how'd you crack your ribs?" asked Professor Oak in concern, moving closer to his grandson while Lucario healed him with Heal Pulse.

The young pokémon researcher thought for a quick second before answering his grandfather. "Eh, I did something stupid as always Gramps. It's no big deal," replied back Gary with a few grunts as the healing process hurt, the bones fixing themselves. He was going to tell the truth, but stopped himself. He didn't want to start more crap with his rival. He just wanted it over and done with now so he could focus on getting Ilene back. When Lucario finished up, Gary thanked him. Ash glanced back at his old rival, surprised he didn't say anything. Gary looked at Ash, locking eyes with his childhood rival for a moment before giving him a curt nod. Ash returned the gesture with a nod of his own before facing forward again. Ilene glanced at Gary, not believing he didn't throw Ash under the bus, thinking she may have judged him too harshly before. The Queen quickly looked away so nobody can catch her looking at him.

"Pikachu…" The yellow mouse looked at his best friend. "Start charging."

"PIKA!" Pikachu jumped onto a thicker part of the railing and landed on all fours. His lightning shaped tail stood up straight as his cheeks started sparking. He drew in energy from the electrical currents in the air, absorbing it using his electric sacks in his cheeks and into his body using his tail.

"Ash? What's Pikachu doing?" asked Dawn in concern.

"He's getting ready for battle. He's absorbing the electrical energy in the air to give him a boost…to use his full power," he replied simply. Dawn nodded in understanding and so did several others as they too were wondering why the yellow mouse was doing that.

"Allow us to help," said Serena but Ash shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry Serena. The gloves are off and I don't want any of you in the cross fire. When I said no mercy and no holding back, I meant it. This is something I have to do, to atone for my mistakes. My pokémon are going to fight viciously now with no remorse just like they did when the stadium was attacked…and so will I," explained Ash, his last words scaring some of his friends.

The oldest Sensational Sister moved closer to him. "Aren't you going too far?" asked Daisy Waterflower with worry making Ash look at her. She didn't want him to do something rash that could cause something bad for him in the future.

The raven haired guardian looked into her eyes, seeing the concern in them for him. He didn't want to upset her but he had to do this. "No Daisy. I gave them a chance. I warned them after they attacked and hurt your sister Misty, May, Dawn, Serena, Anabel, Sarah and…Leaf…and now they've kidnapped her and Joy after attacking them and Richie and hurt him. A man needs to keep his word. And as an Aura Guardian, it's my duty and job as one to keep the balance and punish those who have wronged others. There will be absolutely no mercy shown or given to them after they decided to not heed my warning. Even if they beg for their lives…" trailed off Ash. He kept his gaze on Daisy for a moment until she nodded in understanding and he dropped his gaze, looking at the blue cap again.

Everyone was at a loss of words on how to respond to that. No one had ever seen this side of Ash before. Even his angered and drunken outbursts from last night seemed to be nothing compared to his serious yet calm attitude towards what he was going to do. Delia was scared at what she heard her son say and she was about to go to him and talk some sense into him. She took a step to him but was then held back by Oak. She looked at him with a confused expression but Oak just sighed sadly before speaking.

"You know this Delia," started Oak and everyone besides Ash and his pokémon turned their attention to them. "Some people…are just evil. And no matter how many chances you give them or all the things you do to try and help them…they won't ever change. They either need to be locked up for good or if they insist on it, end their pitiful lives," explained Oak. Delia gasped at what he said and it took a good while before she understood. She nodded sadly as she knew it was true.

Some people were in disbelief that they heard such words from the world famous Pokémon Professor. They had always envisioned him as a kind person and one who would always use words to settle conflicts. Dawn was especially surprised as she looked up to the kind professor because of his wisdom, poetry works and gentle nature. But now, he was justifying what Ash was going to do. She understood the reasons why and believed it as well but it still shocked her. Nobody knew what to do or what to say and so they just stood there in silence for a few minutes. But then Delia remembered something that Richie said and needed to know what happened.

"Ash?" asked Delia and her son turned to face his mother. "What happened between you and Leaf? Richie said she confessed her feelings and kissed you? That you fought? What's been going on?" Her questions made Ash sigh heavily and Richie grimaced a bit. He didn't mean to spill all that out in his anger but it was too late now. Everyone turned their attention to the raven haired guardian waiting for him to answer with some worried, some curious and others were pissed. The families of the girls had their eyes narrowed at him.

"I don't know if this is the right time or not but looks like I have no choice. Leaf confessed to me a couple things after I beat the Skull Brothers the first time," started Ash. He told them what she told him, making them stunned over what they found out. "I didn't know about that and when she told me I became angry that she had betrayed my and the girls' trust, that she took advantage of me. That's why I left yesterday without a word." Several people had comprehending looks form their faces as they now understood why he left without saying anything. Daisy Waterflower felt both angry over what Leaf did and sad that Ash was hurt. She glanced at Misty and saw her with watery eyes but she wasn't crying. She turned back to look at the guardian when he spoke again. "I needed time alone to think and I ended up going to Club Indigo. I ran into some old friends…" He gestured towards Clair, Liza, Shauna, Lizabeth, Sabrina and Giselle. "And many from our group came when they found out I was there. We danced and drank, having a good time. Then…" Ash sighed and shook his head. Now that he had to explain what had happened, he felt like a total asshole and a damn prick for behaving so rottenly. The parents became angered, hearing that they had been drinking, glancing at their children and the others before looking at Ash again. He continued and told them everything that happened until he left the club. "She chased after me. We argued and fought again outside before our friends got involved as well. I didn't listen to anyone, hurting Gary and Clair. I even hurt and scared Queen Ilene." When he said that last statement, everyone glanced at the three mentioned. They saw them staring at Ash with their eyes wide in surprise that he admitted that before snapping their attention back to Ash when he spoke again. "I'm so sorry for that. I understand if you don't forgive me," apologized Ash to the three, looking at them with a sorrow filled face. They were frozen still from his apology in front of everyone. "At the end of the night I told everyone I wanted to be alone as I was tired of everything and left after promising I'll come back in the morning. I came back to get the girls and leave the tournament, to go back to the island I've been staying at. Well, that was the plan at first, but not anymore…" Ash finished explaining and looked away back towards the horizon, hanging his head, ashamed of what he did now.

The group of people were silent, half of them processing the new information and the other half waiting anxiously for their reaction. Misty, Dawn, Serena and May were scared as they didn't know how their families would respond. Cynthia, Sarah and Anabel were giving Ash looks of sadness, both at what he had done and that he had to deal with realizing how he made terrible mistakes. Sabrina became teary eyed, not liking one bit that he was feeling so many mixed emotions. Clair was dumbstruck that he confessed his mistakes in front of the whole group. Liza was also surprised at him revealing what he had done, but it also made her believe more in the fact that he was a real man since he was owning up to his mistakes. Shauna, Lizabeth and Giselle were feeling horrible for what he was going through but also had their respect for him grow since he had admitted to doing wrong, making them feel something strongly inside. Daisy Waterflower felt absolutely horrible seeing him so depressed. Ilene felt badly in seeing her Knight in so much grief.

Nobody moved or made a sound for a while until Delia walked towards her son with a determined look on her face. When she reached him, she grabbed his shoulder, whirled him around and did something she had never done before. She slapped him hard across the face, making the raven haired guardian stumble back without a sound. He was expecting someone to hit him, yell at him or do something but wasn't expecting it to be his own mother. The entire group, from his friends, to the parents, even his pokémon, was speechless at what she just did. Ash balanced himself out and stood up again yet he kept his gaze towards the floor. He knew he deserved that and perhaps more.

"Look at me," she said in a dangerously calm voice. He slowly raised his head to look into his mother's eyes. "Remember the promise you made to me? Don't let the bad things keep you down and to not let it control you? To not leave anyone behind? Remember?" she asked. After a few seconds, Ash slowly nodded his head. "Are you sorry for you did?"

"I am Mom. I feel horrible about everything. I'm so sorry for what I did," responded Ash as he looked down again.

"I believe you," said Delia. She turned to the others. "We will not bring this up for any reason. Ash, the girls and Leaf will handle this between themselves in a civilized manner afterwards. Am I understood?" asked Delia in a calm voice but the way she was looking at them all made them not even dare to not agree, not even the girls' parents and sisters. She faced her son again. "Now, you'll make it up to Clair, Gary and Ilene after this is all done. Did I make myself clear?" Ash agreed without hesitation and promised he will make it up to them. "Good. Now, what is the plan?" she asked him.

"I'm working on it. But, Mewtwo, can you please get one of the potion kits from home?" he asked the legendary psychic and he nodded. A second later, a box appeared in front of Ash. He opened it and took out several medicine bottles. He then went to Richie and handed him five of them. "Use these full restores on your pokémon." Richie was at first stupefied from receiving the very expensive medicine but then he got out of his stupor. He brought out his pokémon and started applying the restorative potions onto his pokémon. His Raichu was quickly defrosted and he along with his other pokémon were soon back to full strength, looking even better than before. As Richie did that, Ash closed the box, picked it up and walked over to his purple haired friend and handed it to her who tilted her head. "I owed you for when you healed Lucario with your potion remember?"

"But this is too much Ash and I only used one. I can't accept this," replied back Iris, trying to give the expensive and rare potions back to him but Ash just shook his head.

"It's alright Iris. You keep it. It may come in handy one day. There are five more in here and I have more back home," he said, making her and several others eyes widen that he had more. They were very costly and that was why very few places sold them since they were the pinnacle of medicine technology for healing pokémon on the go.

"You should send a message Ash," suggested Mewtwo after a moment of silence to his friend who thought about it before he agreed. "Do you know what you're going to say?" The raven haired guardian said he did and he returned to the railings. The purple feline lowered himself and stood beside his friend. He placed his three digit hand on Ash's shoulder before his eyes glowed blue. What happened next made them all cry out in shock as a thundering voice echoed across the sky as if spoken from the heavens above…

The tall and well built Champion of Kanto was sitting on his couch in the living room, enjoying his breakfast as he watched the morning news on the flat screen TV that was hung on the wall in front of him. The same old stuff was being said as the anchor gave out the news; the stadium attack, Ash Ketchum being an Aura Guardian, the tournament results so far with some replays shown, etc. Lance became bored and was about to change the channel when his door bell was rang. He got up and went to see who it was. When he opened it, he saw it was the Champion of Kalos. "Good morning Diantha. Come in," he said, moving aside to allow her in.

"Morning Lance and thanks," she replied, walking in. "How are you doing?" she asked him.

He closed the door and gestured to the couches and breakfast on the table. She reached over and took a biscuit. "Alright I guess. Thank you," he replied, sitting down and so did she. "And yourself? What brings you here? Not that I'm complaining of course," he said with a small smile.

She smiled a bit. "Doing well, thanks. Well the board meeting is still going on but during their break, one of the members sent me a message. It looks like…" A breaking new report was mentioned on the news suddenly, catching their attention, making both of them turn to look at it.

"THIS JUST IN. WE'VE JUST BEEN INFORMED THAT ASH KETCHUM, AKA THE BLUE SPIRIT, WAS SEEN INSIDE CLUB INDIGO LAST NIGHT AND WAS CAUSING QUITE A SCENE. THAT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE NEWS BUT LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT HIM; FROM EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS WHO CALLED IN, THEY SAID THAT HE DANCED WITH OVER TEN GIRLS, SEVERAL OF WHICH ARE FAMOUS AND WELL KNOWN IN THE WORLD, DRANK HEAVILY, STARTED A FIGHT IN THE CLUB BEFORE FINALLY LEAVING AFTER MAKING HIS FIFTH ROUND MATCH UP OPPONENT, LEAF GREEN, CRY AND CHASE AFTER HIM WHEN HE LEFT. STAY TUNED TO HEAR MORE ONCE WE GET AN UPDATE AND CONFIRM ALL OF THIS. CONTINUING ON TO SPORTS, WE HAVE-"

Lance turned off the TV. He and Diantha looked at one another. The information surprised them both. They couldn't believe what they just heard. There's no way Ash would've done that…could he? Lance and Diantha were lost in thought when his Poketch rang. He didn't hear it until the third ring and hurriedly picked it up. "This is Lance…Yes I just saw it too…I don't know…alright, I'll meet you there as I'm going to fly there." Lance turned to Diantha after he hung up. "That was Steven. He was asking if I saw the news. He said to meet him at Ash's hotel. We need to see if this is true and do some damage control if it is," he told her, standing up.

Diantha was surprised at what he was saying and what he had agreed to. "Lance, I'm impressed. Have you finally started moving on enough to actually go out of your way to help him?" she asked him, making him go red but he didn't respond. "Silent as always when you're embarrassed," she remarked, letting out a giggle. He gave her a curious look, wondering how she knew that about him. She stood up. "C'mon. Let's go help out our fellow Champion's boyfriend," she said with a smile.

It took a few seconds for Lance to snap out of his thoughts and he nodded. He led her to the balcony and tossed out his Dragonite's poke ball and his friend greeted him. "Dragonite; we have some business to attend to at the Hotel." Dragonite allowed Lance and Diantha to climb onto his back before shooting into the air. The Kalos Champion had pink circles on her cheeks, but was feeling good at having him sit behind her and press up against her since there wasn't much room on his pokémon. As they flew, Lance was heating up from feeling her against him as well. Why am I feeling like this? And how does she know that thing about me? Both stayed silent as his pokémon flew towards their destination. With Dragonite's impressive speed, they were already covered half the distance when a loud booming voice was heard from the sky itself. That made Dragonite stop and hover in his spot in the air with both Lance and Diantha listening with widened eyes since they knew who that voice belonged to…

"I feel better now." That was the only thing that Edmond said after he finished violating Natasha and buttoned up his pants as he glanced at her. She was on the floor, barely breathing. She was groaning and whizzing in pain with many cuts along with black and blue bruises all over her body. His brothers had cut her and beaten her to within an inch of her life as he raped her. "By the way whore, I have a message from Giovanni for you." She couldn't make a sound but opened her eye. "He says you're done and he has no room for weak people like you. " He laughed, seeing her close her eye again and let out tears. "Make sure she's comfy," said Edmond after spitting on her, prior to disappearing up the stairs. His brothers quickly tied her up again before leaving her on the cold floor.

When Edmond reached upstairs, he noticed a glow in the corner. He glanced towards the area and saw the red head's poke balls disappear. He smirked, knowing what had happened. Giovanni must have had them be recalled. Looks like the bitch has been completely cut off like he said. He laughed a bit. As soon as Edwin and Edward reached upstairs to join their boss, the cabin's front door opened. Ed and Eddie walked in with Ed carrying a beautiful brunette girl over his shoulder while Eddie carried a beautiful pink haired girl. They dropped the two girls onto the floor without care and the impact woke them up.

"Ugh…" groaned Joy. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. She then noticed who was around her and she became immobilized with fear.

"What…" muttered Leaf, opening her eyes and slowly raised her head. She looked around and then became rigid like a board, noticing who was standing in front of her.

"Hello girls," said Edward with an evil grin. Both Leaf and Joy yelped, moved toward each other and hugged one another, making the five bald men laugh at them.

"Hey there gorgeous," said Edmond as he locked his eyes with Leaf. "Looks like I do get to show you a good time," he said, his words coated with lust, making Leaf shudder. "And hello to you too sexy," he added, turning to the other girl. "I'm sure we'll get to know each other well," he told Joy who shivered. "We'll have some fun soon enough but first my brothers and I need to discuss something. Edwin, Edward; take these two to the basement to be with our other guest."

Edwin grabbed Leaf while Edward grabbed Joy and both girls immediately started to struggle against their grip while shouting at them to let them go. But then Edmond punched both Leaf and Joy in the stomach hard, making them stop instantly as it was so painful and took their breath away. The two brothers took the now stilled girls down to the basement. Edwin flung Leaf onto the wood table making the brunette cry out in pain. The Skull Brother quickly tied her hands and feet with durable rope, tightening it so much that it dug into her skin, making her grit her teeth as her eyes began to water. He picked her up again and then dropped her onto the ground without care. Edward did the same to Joy. He tied up her hands and feet before dropping her onto the floor as well.

"Enjoy the floor until it's time for your welcome party," laughed Edwin before heading back upstairs with Edward leaving Leaf and Joy to wallow in sadness and fear before they started to cry.

"Richie…where are you?" whispered Joy as she let out silent tears.

"Ash…please find us," whispered Leaf with tears going down her cheeks

"Save…your breath." Leaf and Joy stopped crying abruptly and looked around frantically for the hoarse voice that said that. Both of them struggled a bit before they were able to turn their bodies to the other side and what they saw made them let out a startled cry. A red headed woman was tied up on the floor naked and was covered with many injuries and wounds all over her body. Her nose was broken and her left eye was swollen shut. There was dried blood all over her. The right eye was barely open and was locked onto Leaf and Joy.

"Oh my god!" cried out Joy.

"What…happened…to you?" gasped Leaf.

"Them," said the woman hoarsely. Leaf and Joy had to strain their ears to be able to hear her as her voice was so low. Each time the poor red head spoke, she felt sharp sting like pain in her throat. "Raped me…beat…me…same…to...you…" That revelation shocked and scared the two girls before everything just hit them at once. That was when they realized that they too were going to be raped and beaten, possibly even killed. That nobody knew where they were taken to. That they were never going to see their friends and family again. Joy was never going to see Richie again and she wondered how he would feel once he realized that he had failed them. Leaf thought how she would never again see Ash and would never be able to fix things between them. Both the pink haired girl and the brunette started sobbing, realizing that everything that they loved, liked or even took for granted…was now out of their reach forever.

Back upstairs in the living room, the five brothers were talking. "So what do you think boss? Both girls have amazing bodies huh?" asked Ed as he gleefully rubbed his hands together. He and his four brothers grinned darkly, standing in the living room.

"Yes, good going Ed. I'm going to enjoy my time with the brunette since she belongs to the Guardian. Revenge is going to be sweet. And the other one ain't bad either," laughed Edmond. "But we must be careful. I'm surprised you were even able to take them."

"They weren't with the Guardian at the time. They were with another punk kid who tried to hold us up as they ran for it but it was nothing we couldn't handle. The pink haired girl looks like the local Nurse Joy," explained Eddie.

"I see. Hmmm. Nurse Joy you say? She will definitely be fun. Slutty nurse fantasy anyone?" he joked, laughing with his brothers before becoming serious again. "But how I'm going to enjoy ravaging the brunette, knowing she's the Guardian's. Oh, I have many plans set in store to make him suffer. But we must be careful now. He's probably looking for her as we speak. He is stronger than what we first believed and witnessed. We need to prepare," remarked Edmond and his brothers agreed. Before any of them could say anything else however, they all heard a powerful voice that seemed to come from the sky itself through the open windows. They were frozen by it and could do nothing but listen to it.

"THIS IS AURA GUARDIAN ASH KETCHUM SPEAKING TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE WHO CAN HEAR THIS MESSAGE. TWO GIRLS, WHOSE NAMES ARE LEAF AND JOY, HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED BY THE VILE GROUP THAT CALL THEMSELVES THE SKULL BROTHERS. MY POKÉMON ARE SEARCHING FOR THEM RIGHT NOW AND ARE AUTHORIZED TO USE FORCE IF NECESSARY. DO NOT GET IN THEIR WAY. IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT MAY HELP ME FIND THEM, PLEASE COME TO THE INDIGO PLATEAU HOTEL AND SPEAK WITH MY FRIENDS IN THE LOBBY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION."

There was silence for a moment before Ash's manifested voice was heard speaking again.

"THESE NEXT WORDS ARE FOR THE SKULL BROTHERS. LISTEN CAREFULLY. I WARNED YOU BEFORE AND GAVE YOU A CHANCE. YOU HAVE DECIDED TO NOT CHANGE YOUR WAYS AND HAVE CROSSED THE LINE. I WARNED YOU OF WHAT WILL COME IF YOU CONTINUE DOWN THIS PATH. IF YOU DON'T RELEASE THEM BY THE TIME I FIND WHERE YOU'RE HIDING, THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY. ABSOLUTELY NO MERCY WILL BE SHOWN OR GIVEN IF EITHER OF THEM HAS EVEN THE SLIGHTEST SCRATCH ON THEM. IF THEY ARE HURT IN ANY WAY OR FORM, I WILL USE MY FULL POWER ON YOU AND NOT EVEN ARCEUS HIMSELF WILL BE ABLE TO PROTECT YOU."

Ash's voice faded away once more before his voice was heard for the last time.

"LEAF…JOY…IF YOU CAN HEAR THIS…STAY STRONG…I'M COMING FOR YOU."

After that last message, the thundering voice faded away for good. A little while later and many different things occurred at once. Lance, Diantha and his Dragonite were stupefied in the air for a couple moments from hearing Ash's message before recomposing themselves and continued towards the hotel. Alder and Steven were frozen in the middle of the road that led to the hotel. They quickly recovered after it finished and ran to the hotel. Officer Jenny, who was enjoying her day off from patrolling Indigo Lake, was driving to the market when she heard the message. She quickly changed her course without hesitation and sped up to the hotel. The Kanto reporter Britney Snow heard the message and quickly packed up her stuff and had her camera man drive their van to the hotel as fast as possible from Victory Road as they were there for a story about new pokémon appearing in the area.

Many people who heard the message were calling news channels and newspaper companies from all over. Several were making their way to the hotel. Many others who decided to not get involved were shocked to see powerful pokémon combing through the Indigo Plateau forest, the nearby rivers, lakes, caves and many others were seen flying through the sky. The Skull Brothers glanced at one another with shock in their eyes before Edmond quickly gave them orders.

"Ed, board up the windows! Eddie, get our equipment ready and get the traps set! Edwin, make sure the pokémon are healed and ready to go! Edward, move the brunette and nurse to the upstairs bedrooms and make sure they can't move! I'm going to get our weapons ready!"

Ed went to the large walk in closet that was filled with supplies. He took out a hammer, a box of nails and several thin but large planks of wood before heading out and started hammering away to board up the windows. Eddie went to the den where their duffel bags were. He opened them up and took out several high grade military equipment; thermal goggles, binoculars, some small explosives, several bulletproof vests and military grade protective clothing. He made sure none of the explosives were damaged so he could set them up properly. Edwin went to the dining room and pushed the table to one side and placed all of their pokémon's poke balls onto the table. Then, one by one, he called them out and looked them over for any injuries. Whether he found any or not, he still applied potions on them and gave each of them an energy boosting pill that heightened their strengths to make sure they were in fighting shape. Edward went downstairs to get the two girls and take them upstairs to separate them.

Edmond went to several cases that were piled up against the living room wall. He opened up the top one and took out several large and sharp machetes that were inside their sheaths that had a belt strap on it. He placed them on the small coffee table after inspecting each one for sharpness. He then opened another case and pulled out an automatic rifle and checked over the scope, the trigger, the magazine and laser sight. Seeing everything was in order, he went to another box, opened it and took out a smaller box of ammunition. He ejected the empty magazine and started placing the bullets into it. When finished, he attached the magazine to the rifle and then lowered the small lever on the side to put the rifle's safety on. He then did the same thing four more times with four more rifles that he pulled out of the cases.

Leaf, Joy and the red head were in the basement in silence. They weren't able to hear Ash's message from the sky since they were in the basement, the door was closed and the only window that let in some light was shut. It was a pretty thick window too, since the original owners of the cabin had upgraded it to prevent pokémon from easily breaking and entering the place. The two girls were whimpering, lying on the cold hard floor of the basement. They had no idea where they were but knew what was coming for them. They were scared out of their minds and didn't know what to do or think. After a moment, they both glanced at one another and thought the same thing; they had to find a way out and they couldn't give up yet. They looked around the basement with blurred visions, the water in their eyes not helping them, hoping to find something they could use.

"No…use…tried…" came the hoarse and weak voice of the red headed woman when she noticed the two girls looking around for something to help them out. Leaf and Joy focused their attention back onto her.

"There has to be a way out," replied Leaf, her voice slightly high pitched because of her fear but the red head barely shook her head.

"What's your name?" asked Joy and the red head looked at them for a moment before answering.

"Na…tash…a."

"Natasha?" asked Joy and she nodded very slowly.

"Natasha, I'm Leaf and that's Joy. Just hang on okay? We'll find a way out." Leaf told the red head trying to give her hope but the woman didn't respond back. She merely closed her one good eye, letting out a single tear and took a deep rattling breath before coughing out a little bit of blood. She was in so much pain because she was suffering from numerous injuries and wounds. Leaf looked at her with concern and so did Joy as she looked to be in very bad shape. Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs that made all three girls hold their breath with their hearts beating wildly. Next thing that she knew, Leaf was picked up off the basement floor and flung over someone's shoulder. "LET ME GO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" shouted Leaf but Edward paid her no mind and took her upstairs.

"LEEAAAFFFF!" screamed Joy but didn't hear anything in return as the two disappeared upstairs and the basement door closed. Joy began crying again and the red head closed her eye and remained quiet, thinking that the brunette would soon go through what she had…

"LET ME GO! STOP!" shouted Leaf but Edward ignored her. He moved through the cabin towards the second floor. Leaf saw something from the corner of her eyes and glanced in that direction, becoming frozen in horror as a result.

She saw one of them with a bulletproof vest on, looking over some bombs. She knew what they were, having played enough video games to know how they looked and what they are. She then saw another one placing bullets into a magazine. The sight of them preparing their weapons and equipment made Leaf widen her eyes and become deathly silent, startled from the shock of seeing them with dangerous things. Edward continued upstairs and entered one of the bedrooms. He flung Leaf onto the bed, who let out a cry of pain as her head hit the headboard. Edward quickly took out some rope and his switchblade. He cut the binds on her hands and while she was dazed from her head injury, he tied one end of the rope around her wrist and the other he tied to the bed post in the corner. He repeated this three more times with her other hand and feet. He then gagged her mouth with a cloth and tightly tied it behind her head. Leaf felt like her mouth was being stretched from the tight binding. He also blindfolded her and tied that tightly behind her head as well.

"That ought to keep you from causing trouble," commented Edward when he finished. He looked at the defenseless girl in front of him and smirked, taking in her looks. He grabbed her breasts, making Leaf scream out against the unwanted touching but the gag kept her from making any loud sounds. Edward slapped her to shut her up and laughed. He then pulled out a knife and applied it against her right cheek. Leaf stopped moving immediately the instant she felt the cold metal against her face. He slowly grazed the knife against her soft cheek and a small cut was made, bleeding a bit. Leaf kept silent and still, even though it hurt, scared that if she did anything he might do something worse. "That's a good slut. Don't worry my pet. You'll get much more soon enough. After we kill your boyfriend who's looking for you as we speak. Hehehe. He'll never see it coming. But perhaps we should get you a little ready for the party later on," said Edward. He lowered his knife and began cutting straight down her top and skirt, before tearing them off, revealing her black undergarments. He licked his lips and caressed her body again, making the brunette girl whimper and struggle a bit more. He snickered and slapped her again. "I know you want it, but you must be patient bitch." This time he punched her in the stomach, making her take in a sharp breath. He then left the room to deal with the nurse as well.

Leaf was completely lost in fear and hopelessness. When he mentioned that they were going to kill Ash when he came for her, it made her mind race a mile a minute. Her heart began beating like mad, worried about her situation but also at the fact that her nightmare might come true. The nightmare she saw where the Skull Brothers killed the love of her life right in front of her. She couldn't do anything about it and didn't know what to do. But then she thought that Ash doesn't know where she is and how could he even find her? Or was the evil man just toying with her? And they were going to abuse her and violate her. She didn't know what to think or believe. She felt extremely cold all of sudden, both inside from all she was dreading that might happen to them all and outside since he had torn most of her clothes off. All of her anxiety, hopelessness and fear led her to do the only thing she could do; she cried.

Back at the hotel, when the raven haired guardian finished his sky message, Mewtwo's eyes stopped glowing blue and Ash stumbled backwards a bit before finding his balance. He took several deep breaths before facing his friends who were looking at him with awe. "I need your help," he told them and they quickly gathered around him.

"Anything you need buddy," said Brock and the others agreed.

Ash nodded and stood up straight. "Brock, Lucy, Cilan, Iris, Cress, Lily, Chili and Violet; I need you in the lobby to check who comes and who knows what. Gardevoir will go with you to bring up anyone who seems to have information and also to let me know if you need back up if people get rowdy." His friends agreed and they quickly got their pokémon before the psychic fairy teleported them to the lobby of the hotel. He then turned to his mother. "Mom, can you set up one of the empty rooms to be ready in case there are injuries? I don't want anyone at the infirmary downstairs or at the hospital if they need help and if it's not too severe. I'd rather they be here where they'll have people around all the time just in case," he told her.

"I think I can. I'll need some help though, some supplies and equipment," said Delia and Ash turned to his Blissey.

"Blissey, help my mom here with whatever she needs alright?" he told his pokémon who agreed with a cry of her name. "Mewtwo, can you teleport the medical supplies and equipment I have from back home to the room she chooses?" Mewtwo nodded and Caroline, Joana and Grace offered to help her with that as well since they had some experience in that area too. The four mothers, Blissey and Mewtwo moved to one of the empty rooms. He then turned to face two of his friends.

"Richie, Gary; Lucario may have healed your injuries but you're probably not back to a hundred percent. Please go sit or lie down and relax a bit," he requested but Richie and Gary glared at him. "Gary, just do it. And Richie, I won't leave without you so just try to relax until we find them." The two of them were about to argue back when they got glares from the others, they reluctantly agreed. Richie returned his pokémon after telling them to be ready to dish out some payback before heading into the living room with Gary so they could try to rest a little. Ash then turned to the rest. "I know you can take care of yourselves but I want you to stay here no matter what unless you wish to go home." His request made them scowl at him. "Please do this for me. I cannot focus on the task at hand if I'm worrying if you are alright while searching. And I cannot guarantee your safety when I cannot use my aura for the time being and I have no idea what the Skull Brothers have planned," he admitted and the group became worried.

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Shauna.

"Why can't you use your aura?" asked Lizabeth.

Ash sighed. "Remember how I drank so much last night? Well, alcohol and poisons in great amounts can overwhelm aura and suppress it until my body expels it out naturally. That's why I had Mewtwo teleport my pokémon here instead of calling them with my aura," explained Ash.

"But this would mean that you would be vulnerable and unable to fight," remarked Max, making Bonnie have a fearful look on her face.

"That's right. You can't go in that condition," said Clemont and several people agreed with him.

"No, I have to. And I can still fight and defend myself. I just won't be able to use aura to make a shield or anything like that," clarified Ash.

"I don't know Ash. Even when you could use your aura to do incredible things, I still worried about you. But now that you can't use it for who knows how long, it's just going to make me worry even more," said May with a fearful tone in her voice with the girls voicing the same thing.

Ash shook his head. "I get it. I really do, But please understand and there's no need to worry. I am still an accomplished fighter and I have my pokémon with me. I'll be fine. I just won't be able to both watch out for you and fight them at the same time," he said. Some of his friends understood what he was saying but the rest didn't want him to go alone, especially when unable to use his aura. They didn't want him to go in such a weakened state. The four girls hugged him, fearing for him.

"Please don't go alone Ash," pleaded Daisy Waterflower but Ash just shook his head while in the hug after looking at her.

"Let me at least come with you," stated Sabrina making everyone look at her. "My pokémon may not be Champion level," she started, glancing at Cynthia who also looked at her. "But they're strong and I can take care of myself with my psychic powers. I can help," she told Ash after looking at him again.

Before he could reply back, Cynthia spoke up. "She's right Ash," making him look at her. "No one can touch her if she doesn't want them to. She can help."

Ash sighed but again shook his head. "No." He and the four girls separated and they were giving him looks that said he should let her go with him. "I understand what they're saying," he told them. "But I still wouldn't be able to." He faced the psychic prodigy. "I would still worry about you Sabrina. As I said before, I don't want anyone in the cross fire. Even you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anything happened to the people I care about, especially if it was because of me." The dark haired girl had her heart beat quickly at what he just said.

The girls started talking at once. Telling him to rethink his decision before the Petalburg Gym Leader intervened. "Stop." The girls turned to him and he locked eyes with the brunette. "Didn't you use to tell me that if there's ever one person to believe in, it would be Ash?" asked Norman to his daughter. May nodded, red in the face at what her father just revealed in front of everyone. Ash smiled a bit when she turned to look at him. "Then believe in him now."

Riley stepped forward. "Your father is right. And this is what he has decided to do and if he says that's what needs to be done, then we need to trust him," stated Riley, backing up Norman. Ash gave him a respectful look and Riley returned it. Some in the group were still unconvinced though.

"They're both right and all of you should listen to them," said Clair suddenly and they all turned to her who had a serious look on her face even though her cheeks were slightly pink. "No one has ever been able to surprise me and dismiss me as a challenge in a physical confrontation. I'm a black belt in several forms of hand to hand combat and Ash just completely dominated me in just a few seconds. No one, not even Bruno, was able to do that to me. I don't think you need to worry about him." Hearing Clair admit that Ash is better than her in martial arts made several people gasp who knew her and heard her tournament wins in hand to hand combat. That was one thing that she prided herself on. That almost none could match or actually beat her in a fist fight. Liza, Sabrina and Cynthia were the ones who knew her best and that admittance showed that the gym leader had much respect towards the raven haired guardian. The others nodded once they understood that she was right.

"Thank you Clair. And again I'm truly sorry for what I did last night. I promise to make it up to you. Anything you want after this ordeal and you got it," promised Ash.

Clair went pink, her imagination about to go into overdrive but then she stopped it and took back control, not allowing her mind to start daydreaming. She smiled a bit and just waved her hand. "It's alright. I should've known better than to try and reason with a drunk and angry person who was also a strong fighter. I mean that was kind of foolish of me, especially after seeing what you did at the stadium attack. Just teach me some of your stuff and we'll call it even," replied Clair, keeping cool even though she was feeling hot all of a sudden.

Ash agreed saying he'll show her what he knows before he faced them all. "I'll show all of you too. You need to learn to defend yourselves." His group of friends agreed and Ash smiled a bit before it went away. "If any of you want to go home, you're more than free to do so and I will have Mewtwo teleport you there. But if you go please stay there until I say it's alright and bring you back if you want to come back." He was mostly directing this towards Shauna, Lizabeth, Giselle, Sabrina, Clair and Liza since they weren't really staying with them. However, they and everyone else shook their heads and said that they were staying. A large Dragonite landed on the balcony suddenly. Lance and Diantha jumped down from his pokémon.

"What the hell is going on Ash?" asked Lance, while he and Diantha approached them.

"We would like to know what's going on as well." Everyone turned to the people entering the balcony. It was Alder and Steven who spoke. His friends met them in the lobby and had Gardevoir teleport them to the living room.

"Just like you heard," started Ash. "Leaf and Joy have been kidnapped by a group called the Skull Brothers and my pokémon are out searching for her."

Lance's eyes went wide. He couldn't believe it. He wanted to do something, like call the G-Men and the local police. But then he stopped himself when he saw Diantha looking at him. The way she was looking at him made him rethink what he wanted to do. After a moment, he made up his mind. He looked at Ash, seeing him give him a serious look. "I see. Alright. What do you need from us?" asked Lance without hesitation.

Ash was momentarily stunned and so was everyone else. Lance was asking him what he wanted to do. That was a first. Cynthia gave Lance a look of disbelief while Diantha was smiling at her fellow Champion She thought that he was beginning to realize that he doesn't have all the answers all the time and should follow instead of leading sometimes. She saw a hint of his past self in that instant and she also noticed how he was struggling within himself. Ash thought about what they could to do help. At that moment, Mewtwo teleported beside him after helping the mothers get the room ready in case it was required. He barely acknowledged the new arrivals. "Alright. Lance could you…"

"ASH!" shouted Gardevoir as she teleported to him and they faced her. "There's a news reporter by the name of Britney Snow along with an Officer Jenny here wanting to talk to you."

"Damn it…I don't want to deal with that now…" sighed Ash.

"We'll handle it," said Diantha, stepping forward and looked at Lance who caught her gaze. He agreed.

"Thanks you two. Gardevoir, can you take them with you please?" he asked her and the three of them vanished after Lance returned Dragonite. "Alder, Steven; could one of you check the stadium and the other check the club?" asked Ash. The two Champions answered by bringing out their pokémon. Steven brought out his Metagross and Alder brought out his Braviary and the two climbed onto their pokémon before flying to their destinations.

"What should we do?" asked Giselle, wanting to help Ash in some way and so did everyone else who stepped forward to show that.

"I don't know…I can't think of anything else that we should do at the moment…And I only had the Champions help in the search because I don't need to worry about them," replied Ash and they understood.

"I do Master," remarked Lucario and they turned to him. He moved away from Pikachu who was still absorbing the electricity from the air. He had a faint glowing yellow outline around him right now. "I can try expelling out the alcohol from your body so you can have use of your aura."

"No Lucario. That would leave both of us at less than hundred percent. I'd rather you be at full strength," replied Ash but then Riley cut in saying he'll do it but again Ash denied the offer. "No Riley; you can't do that. Your priority is to protect Queen Ilene at all times and in case something happens."

Riley sighed but nodded and Ilene felt guilty at that moment. She had insulted him last night, calling him many names, saying he was immature but he was still making sure that she was protected. He had admitted in front of everyone what he did and apologized for it. She felt like such an idiot. She didn't think she deserved to be a Queen at that moment since she felt sullen over what she did. She wanted to apologize for her actions so badly that she didn't even realize what she was moving. The raven haired guardian turned to face the Queen of Rota in time for her to wrap him up into a deep hug. "I'm so sorry Ash!" cried Ilene, with everyone watching. "You don't have to do anything to make it up to me! I forgive you even though you're not fully at fault! I'm so sorry for insulting you and slapping you last night! I'm sorry for taking your title away! Please forgive me but if you don't, I understand! You just wanted the best for me and I ended up hurting you! I'm so sorry! I should've listened to you! I shouldn't have said the things I said! Please be my Knight of my kingdom again!" she cried, letting tears out.

Ilene's admittance made all the ones there stare open mouthed at her, not believing what just happened. Some smiled a bit, including the four girls. They were glad to see that she was owning up to her own mistakes too and forgiving Ash as well. Others were neutral while a handful was a little ticked off. Some of the girls who had feelings for Ash were pissed at Ilene suddenly, remembering how she hurt him. Daisy Waterflower however, was beyond angry. Ash told everyone what he did and said, but he had his reasons and he was drunk. She couldn't believe how a queen of all people could've done something like that and could hurt him like that at all. She narrowed her eyes on the young queen. They kept silent though, not saying anything.

Ash was stunned at her apology and grief. After her words, he reciprocated her hug and rubbed her back a bit before separating. He looked at her and gave a small smile. "It's alright Queen Ilene. Don't worry about it. I will be your Knight again, but only if I'm able to do what I need to do now first," he told her.

Ilene didn't say a word but nodded slightly with tears going down her cheeks. Riley went up to her. "Come my Queen. You should sit down and relax a bit," he suggested and she allowed him to move her to one of the lounge chairs before sitting down. Ash went to the rails while the group waited patiently and quietly for Mewtwo to tell them of any update. The raven haired guardian kept his gaze over the horizon, the blue cap still in his hands.

A lone person went back inside but went to his bedroom. He plopped down onto his bed. He placed his head into his hands and let out a sigh, trying to calm down since he was shivering. Gary had seen the entire event occur between Ilene and Ash. He felt his heart beating like crazy, fear engulfing him. He saw the way she hugged him, they way she spoke to him, how she was crying and revealing her emotions to him. At that moment he had realized that she might be harboring feelings for him. He let out some involuntary tears. He raised his head, surprised at himself, seeing the tear marks on his palms. I'm…I'm crying? He couldn't believe it. More tears escaped from his eyes and slid down his cheeks. That's when he understood. He was upset and afraid that he may lose the only girl he had ever fallen in love with. He hung his head, slouching over while sitting on his bed and just allowed the tears to come out. Please Ilene, don't pick him. Don't pick Ash. Please give me a chance. Please…pick me.

Ash's pokémon were all over the place, doing their absolute best to not let down their trainer and best friend. Two of those pokémon, Charizard and Garchomp, were flying through the air over the edge of the forest that was next to the mountainous areas. There were some small cabins along that area since people liked the fresh air, views and closeness to different habits for training and to actually live there. Both of them flew down and landed on the ground. They spotted a few trainers who were in the middle of their training sessions. Ignoring their interested looks, Charizard and Garchomp moved through the area as they checked every single inch of the place. They peered through the windows of the cabins and saw either nothing or a few people watching TV or having breakfast.

"Charizard! Garchomp! I challenge you to a battle!" said one of the trainers who was a young male in his teens dressed like a traveler while his pokémon, a Dewgong and Bastiodon, took up battle positions in front of them. Charizard and Garchomp ignored the challenge as they kept up their search, angering the young trainer. "Don't ignore me! Ice Beam and Ancient Power!"

Dewgong fired a bluish white beam of icy energy at Garchomp while Bastiodon had boulders materialize out of nowhere and launched them at Charizard. Both attacks hit the two dragons and brought up smoke from the attacks making contact. The smoke soon cleared to show two very pissed off dragons who were now snarling at the young trainer and his two pokémon who took a couple steps back in fear.

"Ah…hehe. Sorry?" said the teenaged trainer timidly. Both Charizard and Garchomp stomped towards the two pokémon and right when they were in front of them, they each let out a point blank roar that was so loud and terrifying that it caused the Dewgong and Bastiodon to faint from fright and the young trainer to back away. Seeing how the three acted, the two dragons scoffed and shook their heads before going back to their search. They looked around a bit more before deciding that the area had nothing and took off into the sky again. Both Charizard and Garchomp sent a mental message to the legendary purple pokémon to update Ash on what they've been doing.

Jolteon, Espeon and Leafeon were sprinting through the main paved roads around the Indigo Plateau. They were looking for any weird behavior or out of place things. They passed several travelers on the road and they quickly checked on them but saw that they were nothing at all similar to the images they were shown from their Ash's memories. Even if they were in disguise, Espeon was quickly scanning their minds to see if they knew anything or were hiding something. The three pokémon kept going, following the modern path.

"Hey!" The three stopped, turning their gaze to the right and saw a boy and girl with blue hair. A Typhlosion and Feraligatr were standing beside the two. "Are you Ash's pokémon?" asked the girl. The three glanced at one another before they looked at the two again. Espeon nodded. The girl turned to the boy. "See, I told you," said the blunette and the boy just shrugged before he spoke.

"You guys need any help?" asked the boy. Espeon shook her head before glancing at Jolteon and Leafeon beside her. The three Eevee evolutions nodded at one another before they continued down the path. "Good luck!" called out the two. The boy turned to the girl. "We should hurry to the hotel."

The blunette nodded. "You're right. The hotel is still far away but hopefully we'll get there in time to be able to help out," she said. The two trainers and their pokémon hurried down the paved road towards the hotel.

Steelix and Serperior were slithering through a mostly open path that was in between the forest and the river that flowed from the top of the nearby mountain down all the way through Victory Road. Gyarados was swimming through the river next to them. The three of them were looking around as they made their way down their chosen direction. They kept their eyes peeled for anything that could give them a clue. Steelix was feeling the vibrations through the ground as he made his way. He had come to recognize his comrades each individual vibration causing frequencies as they moved over and under land and knew that they were searching a little away from them. He used their known frequencies to check if there were any differences in the vibrations he felt in the ground. No two pokémon had the same ones even if from the same species as every single one moved differently in way or another, no matter how slight it was. Serperior was using her incredibly flexible body to curl around and underneath all the trees and bushes in case something was hidden. Gyarados was looking for anything that seemed out of the ordinary in the river and along the banks. The three of them saw smoke in the distance and quickened their pace to it.

They came across a small camp that consisted of two female trainers and two male trainers who were lounging around with a couple of their pokémon out among them. Seeing the three powerful snake like pokémon appear made the four trainers and their pokémon jump to their feet, expecting a fight. However what happened next made them furrow their brows in confusion and stay rooted to their spots. Gyarados stopped in the river right in front of them, glaring at them. Steelix encircled their camp with his long steel hard body. They thought that they would be attacked but then they saw Serperior slither closer and peer into their tents, making them tilt their heads. They saw her check both of their tents before facing the other two pokémon and shook her head. Steelix moved back to the path between the forest and river. Gyarados lined up with the river, ready to go while Serperior moved closer to the four trainers and their pokémon. She raised her head a bit and then nodded at them before heading towards the tree line.

"Wait!" shouted one of the girls and the three pokémon glanced back at her. "You're Ash Ketchum's pokémon right and you're looking for his friends?" she asked them and the three pokémon nodded their heads. "How can we help?" she asked them. Serperior raised her tail and shook it before pointing at herself, her comrades, then at their pokémon before drawing it across her neck and then slamming her tail against the ground hard. The four trainers and their pokémon gulped, understanding the grass snake. "I see. An ugly fight will most likely happen. I wish you luck in finding them." The three pokémon didn't reply but continued on their search. Serperior disappeared into the edge of the tree line, Steelix continued down the open path and Gyarados swam through the river. The three pokémon sent mental messages to Mewtwo of their status and what they encountered so far.

"How did you know they belonged to the Guardian?" asked one of the guys as the four of them sat back down. "They could have been wild."

"No way," she commented back. "Who else would have such powerful pokémon working together so effectively? Did you see how they each knew their place and how they should act? Gyarados kept our attention on it, Steelix trapped us, preventing us from fleeing or help reaching us easily and Serperior quickly checked through our stuff."

"It's a good thing we didn't over react and they left after checking for his friends," commented the second girl. Three of them nodded in agreement but the fourth, the second guy didn't agree.

"I don't feel right about it. I mean who is he to just send his pokémon out like that and check on us? We've done nothing wrong and isn't that just irresponsible and disrespectful of him to just do that? I don't care what happened, he has no right to intrude on our privacy like that," stated the fourth guy. His comments made the other three think a bit.

"You have a point but to a certain degree," said the first girl and he gave her a look that said she was crazy. "He is an Aura Guardian. They have every right and he's doing everything he can to find the people he cares about. I'm sure you would do the same. And we're kind of in a public place, out in the forest. Not much privacy guaranteed here. And his pokémon acted professionally and effectively. They didn't attack nor did they damage any of our belongings. All they did was check. Nothing wrong with that. I think you're just jealous that his pokémon are well trained and gave off a powerful vibe."

The first girl's explanation and subtle jab at the fourth guy made three of them chuckle and the fourth guy grudgingly agreed that she had a good point too but that he wasn't jealous, but that just made them laugh. They continued what they were doing before the three pokémon arrived. They decided that since they were let in that a huge battle might take place that they would just stay out of the way since that would be the best thing for them to do. They were nowhere close to the Aura Guardian's level of strength and that they had no information or way to help them anyway,

A large blue bird who was with a small red and orange rabbit looking pokémon were soaring through the sky. Articuno and Victini were flying over the forest at the western edge and soon came upon a small town. The flying titan of ice enjoyed spending time with the small fire and psychic pokémon. He was very energetic and enthusiastic about almost everything and was much more fun to hang around with than her fellow winged elemental titans. Victini also enjoyed her company since she was very relaxed, calm and could explain things to him without getting annoyed. He had a slight attention problem at times and a little trouble understanding some things. Right now however, both of them were focused on the task at hand. When it came to battles, training and other situations that required their entire full attention, they were just like their comrades. Focused. Strong. Patient. And they never quit.

The two legendary pokémon landed in the middle of a small town and looked around. Victini sat on top of Articuno's head, who didn't mind. They made their way quickly and quietly through the area. Articuno was walking along the town's paths. Though she was taking up the entire path because of her size, there was no awkwardness in her movements with her wings closed. Ash had taught all of his flying pokémon to be able to move on the ground in case they were ever grounded. The people in the town were amazed at seeing two legendary pokémon just appear out of nowhere and go through town like it was an ordinary thing for them to do. It froze them in their spots but the two legends ignored them as they searched. Articuno was keeping an eye out for anything suspicious or noteworthy while Victini was using his psychic powers to check inside every building they went past for the girls.

"Articuno! I challenge you to a battle!" shouted out a female trainer who had her Magmar and Arcanine out in battle stances. The large ice titan barely glanced at her before letting out an annoyed chirp and looked away, which clearly meant she wasn't interested. When Victini signaled that he was done checking the house, the blue bird made to continue down the path but a large stream of flames was shot out that blocked her path. The ice titan snapped her gaze to the female trainer. "It's rude to ignore a challenge!"

"FOOL!" said Articuno with her telepathic powers, startling the female trainer and the others who were around them. They didn't know that all legendary pokémon could speak with telepathy. "I am on an important mission for the Aura Guardian! I don't have time for your arrogance! But I will make this quick as you will learn to show respect for the Legendaries of the world!" Articuno opened her mighty and beautiful blue wings and with just a single flap of them, she rose high into the sky. Her gaze was twisted with fury over the disrespect and that this random nobody was preventing her from helping the Chosen One in his mission. The girl's Arcanine and Magmar gulped as they saw the blue legendary bird getting ready to strike.

"Flamethrower!" ordered the female trainer, having recovered from being startled and both of her fire pokémon spewed out large flames at the ice titan.

"Is that it?" asked Articuno, seeing the flames travel up to her. She shook her head and quickly let out a full power Aqua Pulse. The pulse of water was so powerful that it completely overwhelmed both streams of flames. The attack kept going and struck both fire pokémon, sending them flying back. The female trainer saw that her pokémon were out for the count by a single attack and it shook her to the core. She felt a large being land behind her and she slowly turned around to see Articuno behind her. "I hope you learned a valuable lesson. When someone is not interested in a battle and is busy with something else, do not force them to," lectured the ice titan and the girl nodded slowly. Victini appeared out of nowhere and sat on the blue bird's head again. "We still have a few more areas to check," remarked the blue bird and the small psychic nodded. The duo checked around the town with ease now that they others saw just how powerful Articuno is and nobody dared interrupt their search now. After coming up with nothing, they left the area by flying up into the sky before continuing on in their search.

"I wonder if the others have had any luck," thought Victini out loud with telepathy as they flew and looked for other places to search. "We should check in with Mewtwo and Ash and let them know of what's been going on," advised Victini and Articuno agreed. Both of them sent a mental message to the psychic feline with a report on what's been happening.

Back at the hotel, the purple psychic turned to the guardian. "Ash, we have a problem," said Mewtwo suddenly making Ash snap his attention to his friend. Mewtwo was getting updated reports from all of the pokémon on what they've been encountering. "Some of the pokémon are being slowed down in their search as many trainers are attempting to battle and perhaps catch them not knowing that they are with you. They easily beat them all but it's slowing them down and may complicate things. Also, the legendary pokémon are being hunted by several trainers as they each want to capture them."

"One problem after another…damn it," said Ash. "Mewtwo, time for another message." Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue after placing his hand on his shoulder again and Ash's voice was once again heard booming from the heavens above.

"MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN ATTEMPTING TO CAPTURE POWERFUL POKÉMON. THEY ARE WITH ME. DO NOT HINDER THEIR SEARCH. ANY POKÉMON THAT YOU SEE THAT IS NOT INTERESTED IN A BATTLE, LEAVE THEM ALONE. ESPECIALLY IF YOU SEE A GLOWING BLUE OUTLINE AROUND THEM AS THOSE POKÉMON ARE WITH ME. DO NOT MAKE ME GET INVOLVED PERSONALLY."

After making his speech, Ash turned to his legendary friend and nodded. Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue once more but now there was a blue outline around him. He was connecting with each of Ash's pokémon using his incredible psychic powers.

"What's he doing?" asked Clair.

"Mewtwo is connecting with Ash's pokémon with his powers so they can be marked by him so others will leave them alone," explained Sabrina and they understood.

"Is it working?" asked Liza.

"Yes," replied Mewtwo in an echoing voice, surprising them. "I have connected with all of his pokémon but must stay like this until we find them. Ash would've been able to do it but cannot use his Aura for now." The remaining people looked at him for a few minutes before they decided they should do something productive at least. Ash's group of friends quickly went inside and prepared themselves in case they were needed. They clipped their pokémon's poke balls to their belts and some of them even changed the clothing they were wearing. After that, some of them looked at the maps they had with them as they tried to figure out where they could be hiding. The others looked at some of their equipment, checking them and seeing if any would be of use.

Absol, Reuniclus and Krookodile were searching near the base of a nearby mountain. They had already checked inside the nearby cave that they had exited from a few minutes ago. They found nothing in there except for a hiker who interrupted their search and wouldn't let them go without battling him. Instead of battling him, Reuniclus used his psychic powers to make the hiker go to sleep and then teleported him to the closest pokémon center. The disaster pokémon was jumping from one jagged rock on the mountain's side to another. The red crocodile was following after the green floating pokémon, covering his back while also looking around. The three came across a narrow river with a man fishing.

The man sensed that he was being watched and turned his gaze to the right and found three powerful pokémon looking at him. "Hey there," he said, standing up and unclipping a poke ball. "Do you want to battle?" he asked them. Right when he finished asking that, a loud booming voice was heard through the sky. "Again?" he asked, looking up towards the sky, listening to it. When he looked back down at the three pokémon, he saw they had blue glowing outlines appear on them. "Should've known," he said, clipping his poke ball back onto his belt. He sat down and went back to fishing. "I have no quarrel with you and I don't have that which you seek. Sorry I'm not much help," he said.

Reuniclus, Absol and Krookodile didn't reply but continued forward, leaving the fisherman alone. He watched the three pokémon continue down that way. He sighed. "Hope they find those girls. I've heard about the Skull Brothers. One of the most wanted criminal groups in the world." He thought a bit more, wondering if he should try to help. He shook his head. "No. I'd get in the way. And I'm too old to get caught up in things like this again." He looked up at the sky again. "Good luck Aura Guardian. And please…make sure they're never able to hurt anyone again." The man focused onto his fishing after saying his prayer out loud.

The trainers who were trying to capture some of Ash's powerful pokémon, especially the legendaries, didn't know that they were already owned until Ash's message was heard from the sky and the pokémon they were after started having glowing blue outlines around them courtesy of Mewtwo. That made them stop dead in their tracks. They didn't want to anger the Aura Guardian who could talk through the sky like a god, especially since they had heard and seen of his power from the news.

Free from interference, Ash's pokémon were able to focus entirely on finding Leaf and Joy. They were pushed on to keep searching for them through their fury that someone would dare hurt their friend, their trainer and that they were trying to hurt his friends that he cares for. Ash had helped many of them when nobody would and it was that kindness, that compassion that made them pledge their unwavering loyalty to him and him alone. They also wanted to protect their family and friends as well from the coming darkness and all evils in the world. They would not fail each other. As they traveled in groups of three on the ground and two in the air, they made sure to scan every inch that they traveled through, worrying only about their own specific path as the others did the same. None of them would stop until they found them. They would keep going even if their bodies screamed for them to stop until they were completely overwhelmed like how some of them did already during the stadium attack.

Three speedy pokémon were quickly moving through the woods. Sceptile and Greninja were dashing down a certain path while Infernape swung from tree branch to tree branch above them as their eyes and senses scanned everything, not missing even a pebble underneath a bush. They were held up once earlier on in their search by an over eager trainer who wanted to capture them but was left in the dust. They just sped past him after completely annihilating his pokémon with ease while giving him menacing glares. After Mewtwo connected with them and the blue glowing outlines around them marking them as Ash's pokemon, they shouldn't have to worry about that anymore. And it worked as they moved past several other trainers who at first wanted to catch them but when they noticed their blue glowing outlines, they sighed and moved away as they had heard the last message.

The three pokémon continued their search through the forest for quite a while until they stopped in a clearing as Greninja picked up something and signaled for the others to wait. He was looking at a small branch that hung lowly from its parent tree. It seemed to have been broken not too long ago and there were some marks on it. He looked at it carefully before slowly running his hand over it allowing his acute senses to take over. He was trying to distinguish what could leave behind such marks. As he did so, Infernape walked around the perimeter after dropping down from a tree, quietly triple checking everything. While Infernape did that, Sceptile stood silently in the middle of the clearing with the twig in his mouth being moved from side to side with his eyes darting everywhere as he too checked. Greninja felt something all of a sudden and his eyes widened. He sent a mental message immediately to Mewtwo.

"Ash, Greninja just sent word saying he picked up on something. He, Infernape and Sceptile are going to follow it and see what comes of it. He also requested to have the blue glows around them to be gone in case they need to sneak in closer," explained the purple feline.

"Good. Tell him it will be done, to continue and to update ASAP," replied Ash. Mewtwo relayed the reply back while Ash thought that they were onto something. Please hang on. Please be alright Joy…Leaf…we're getting close…I hope…

Greninja got the reply back and motioned for his comrades to follow him after their blue glows went away. They quickly went down the path that the water starter felt they should go. They kept going with their eyes scanning everything. After a little bit of time, they noticed the density of the trees began getting thinner. They slowed down and hid behind the trees when they reached the edge of the woods. Peering out from behind their cover, they saw a cabin and lake in the large clearing in front of them. The lights were on and shining through the boarded up windows in the cabin even though it was daylight. They could make out a few figures that were moving around inside through some of the openings between the wood that was nailed over the windows. They looked around and saw that the cabin was closer to the woods from the other side and would be ideal to sneak up to it from there. Greninja glanced at Infernape and Sceptile who glanced back at him. The three nodded at one another before they quickly but silently moved around in the cover of the trees to the other side.

When they reached the other side under the cover of the trees, they again peered out and looked around the cabin and its surrounding area. Since Greninja had experience in stealth missions like this and Ash had trained him and several others for it specifically, he was the one who broke out of the cover of the trees. Nobody saw him as he vanished from his spot before reappearing suddenly with him pressed against the cabins outside wall. He used his webbed hands and feet to quietly move and saw a small window near the ground that was also boarded up but left a small space of window open on the top. He carefully and silently moved towards it before peering through the small crack.

Using his incredible eyesight, he saw that it was a basement with a wooden table, some shelves along the walls, some metal cages, a staircase in the corner and there were some torn clothes that were thrown onto the floor along with some dried red marks here and there. What he saw next made him widen his eyes. He saw a red headed female tied up on the floor. He noticed the bruises and cuts on her and that she was not clothed. Greninja felt bad for the woman, becoming angry and knew she needed to be helped. But first he had to complete his reconnaissance. It wouldn't do anyone any good to burst right in with no plan or information.

He moved away from the small window near the ground. He heard noises that felt like they came from upstairs. He looked up and saw two windows that had wooden boards over them as well. He placed his hands on the cabin wall and lifted himself up. His palms and soles of his webbed hands and feet could secrete a special substance that allowed him to cling to most surfaces. He slowly and quietly climbed up to the boarded windows and peered through a space underneath the board on the right window. He saw a pink haired girl struggling against her binds that were tied from her wrists to the bedposts. She was gagged and blindfolded. Greninja's eyes lit up as he found one of the girls. He quickly scanned the room and saw she was in a bedroom alone and the noises were coming from the squeaky springs from the bed as she struggled to get free. The door opened and the frog pokémon saw one of the Skull Brothers come into the room and slapped the girl hard.

"Stop making so much noise you slut! It's damn annoying! Keep this up and you'll experience pain as you never did before!" promised the bald man, leaving the now quietly sobbing girl in the room, closing the door behind him.

Greninja felt himself becoming angrier. How dare he strike her! He wanted to burst in there when he saw the strike but knew better. He controlled his temper for the time being and moved to the window on the left. He peered through the space between the boards and found another similar bedroom. In this one however there was a brunette girl who was tied up in the same manner as the pink haired girl. He found the second girl! He noticed that she was mostly exposed except for two pieces of clothing and she had a cut on her cheek. That made his blood boil. He looked around and saw nothing much different to the other room. He moved back down towards the ground without a sound and the instant he touched the ground, he vanished from sight and reappeared next to his brothers. Sceptile and Infernape saw the furious look on his face and knew they had found the girls…

As Ash waited for an update from Greninja and his other pokémon if they found anything, his friends slowly came back into the balcony and soon everyone was there except for the ones who stayed in the lobby. Alder and Steven had returned with nothing to report. A couple minutes after their arrival, Lance, Diantha, Officer Jenny, Britney Snow and her camera man appeared along with Gardevoir.

"Why did you bring them here?" asked Bonnie.

"Because they should be here," replied Diantha. "They can help quiet down the rumors the media has spread."

"What rumors?" asked Max.

"About what happened at Club Indigo last night," stated Lance and the ones who were there groaned. "It's on the news because several people called and told the local news stations and papers."

"Ah we don't need this headache right now," grumbled Cynthia as she massaged her temple with her hands.

"No we don't, but we can start doing some damage control early," advised Lance as he pointed at Officer Jenny and Britney Snow. "Britney can show the world how much Ash cares by broadcasting the attack on the Skull Brothers hide out when we find it. That will show he cares and will fight for everyone. Officer Jenny can take in the Skull Brothers and credit the arrest to Ash."

"That's if there is anything left of them to arrest," commented Mewtwo even through his trance making them all look at him. Britney, her cameraman and Jenny gasped at seeing the legendary pokémon as they just noticed him at the edge of the balcony.

"We cannot just kill them. We have laws Mewtwo," replied Lance.

"I know of your human laws. They are corrupt, leave loopholes, are bent to allow certain things to pass and sometimes are completely ignored before they are finally followed when it makes sense to follow it," shot Mewtwo and Lance scowled as the psychic legendary had a point but didn't want to admit it.

"Even so, we must give a good example. One's to follow," remarked Diantha and several people agreed with her.

"That's right! As officer of the law, I cannot just let you do as you please so there will be no killing. I will not allow it," stated Officer Jenny.

"Your laws mean little to me human and you cannot control me," stated Mewtwo in a cold voice, installing fear in her and several others. Ash stayed out of the discussion. It didn't matter to him what they talked about. He knew what he was going to do. "The ancient laws of nature, life and balance are what matters even in this modern world. As Aura Guardian, it is Ash's duty to smite the darkness. A duty given to him by the Alpha Pokémon Arceus. Evil cannot be allowed to live, to spread. Or are you saying your laws have higher power or mean more than those of a God? What of all those who would be saved by such an act?" asked Mewtwo and the people there were silenced, unable to respond. "Your so called justice system is broken and not capable of dealing with the problems of today. You are too focused on being politically correct than actually doing something to fix problems, even when you have irrefutable proof on them." Nobody could argue with him on that either, knowing it was true. But before anyone could even think of commenting back with something reasonable, Mewtwo's eyes widened, losing the blue glow and snapped his gaze onto Ash. "They found them!"

"Finally!" exclaimed Ash, everyone feeling relieved and hopeful. "Where are they?!"

"They found Leaf and Joy along with another girl being held in a cabin in the deep part of the woods next to a small lake. They are tied up and gagged in separate rooms of the cabin. Greninja also said he saw Joy get slapped and Leaf barely has any clothes on. And the other woman has been beaten and left naked," informed Mewtwo sadly, making many become worried but also angry.

"THOSE FUCKING BASTARDS!" cursed out Ash suddenly. He whirled around and struck the stone patio wall hard, making cracks form from his strength, startling everyone. Before anyone could calm him down, the raven haired guardian let loose a flurry of rapid punches against the stone wall, losing himself to his anger. "AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He launched one more strike at the stone wall and punched clear through it. His arm had gone through the wall and he pulled it out afterwards. Most of his friends and family became frightened, thinking he had gone mad and could have hurt himself. Clair had her heart skip a beat too but she also became turned on by his show of strength. When she realized what she felt, she became embarrassed, her cheeks flushing with color and did her best to not show it. She moved to stand behind Liza and Shauna, who were also in the same state as her. Ash's face was contorting with fury as his hands clenched into fists, shaking with pure rage. He tried to force his aura out but was unsuccessful in the attempt. His anger was not enough and he hadn't recovered yet. His back was to the group, breathing heavily. "Damn them! Damn them to hell! They're going to pay for this! Send word to everyone Mewtwo! Get them prepared to be teleported! We are getting them out right now!" commanded Ash and Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue, communicating with his comrades and teleporting them to positions surrounding the cabin. Richie came running outside after hearing Ash's shouting.

"What happened?!" asked Richie with a worried look. Ash turned around and locked eyes with him.

"We found them Richie," said Ash, his face still covered in anger. "They're in a cabin hidden in the woods and have been left tied up. There's also another girl who looks to have been beaten. We are going to leave immediately as soon as my pokémon are in position. Are you coming?" he asked him and Richie nodded after checking to make sure his poke balls were clipped to his belt. Ash turned his furious gaze to Officer Jenny, Lance, Britney and her camera man who took a step back automatically out of fear. "You will stay here. Only Richie is going to come with me. I don't want you in the cross fire and you will not stop me from giving them their judgment! Understand?!" The four of them gulped, looking at everyone around them but nobody said a word. Seeing him taking command and being so assertive made many in the group to look at him with mesmerized gazes. Misty, May, Dawn and Serena went to Ash and hugged him, to try to calm him down.

"Please be careful Ash," pleaded Misty.

"Don't be ashamed to call for help if you need it," advised Serena.

"I know you'll bring them back safely," said Dawn.

"Give them hell. Make sure they will never hurt anyone ever again," requested May.

He took a deep breath to calm down, hugging the girls back. "I promise. I will bring Leaf and Joy back along with that poor girl safe and sound. And the Skull Brothers will feel my wrath before I send them to Hell," swore Ash.

The four let go of him and Ash glanced at Cynthia, who gave him an encouraging look. Even though she was part of the group now, she didn't want to cause more trouble for him right now with the girls' families. She thought that Delia could only keep them at bay for so long. He moved his gaze over everyone, each one giving him a supportive and concerned look. He sent a mental message to Gardevoir that they found the girls and to bring them back up. They soon teleported to the balcony and his friends were happy that they found them but were a little peeved that he wasn't allowing them to go with him. They wanted to go with him but they understood.

"They're in position Ash," informed the psychic legendary.

"Good. Let's go," replied Ash. Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue and he, Ash, Richie, Pikachu, Lucario and Gardevoir vanished in blue glows.