Chapter 51
Ash had absolutely no recollection of how he got back to his home as rage still consumed him. He had no idea that he had attached his Pokéball belt and walked outside to recall his strongest team either and he had no idea that everyone around the world had felt and was still feeling his rage. He had quickly climbed onto Queenie and ordered her to head to the Tree of Beginning, he had no idea why he knew or how he knew that was where he needed to go but Queenie was too worried to argue and they quickly started flying in the direction of Rota. Red watched in frustration as he saw the huge blue Dragon take off just seconds before he could get to the front door of Ash's house. Releasing Charizard he saw his Pokémon immediately look up to where he knew Ash to be flying and narrowed his eyes.
"Who has hurt your egg?" Charizard asked his trainer.
While Red had never been able to fully communicate with his Pokémon the way Ash could he knew enough to be able to understand them, but this was his starter and most beloved of his Pokémon who he had never any issues communicating with.
"I've no idea," Red said sending Delia a message about what was happening, "but we need to follow him, to protect him from himself."
Charizard nodded and lowered his head so Red could climb on and soon they were following Ash, not able to keep up with Queenies speed but they kept her in view as much as they could and had quickly left Viridian City and it's forest behind them, not stopping to see that the Royal Pidgeot was hovering above his domain watching with concern as Ash sped past, followed a minute later by his father.
"He's heading for Rota," Red said, "why would he be heading there?"
"I thought he'd stopped hating Rota," Charizard growled.
"He's never hated Rota" Red said "He's hated what they stood for and the damage they've done to aura users worldwide in letting the scum bring their number up. He disliked Ilene for what she put Delia through but he's never hated Rota. I do wonder what they've done this time though to make him angry."
"He's an angry young man," Charizard said, snorting, "he reminds me of your mother a lot."
"She wasn't that angry" Red said laughing as he knew immediately what his starter was referencing "she just didn't appreciate you setting fire to the spare bedding."
"I was cold," he growled "and having water thrown on me while I was sleeping wasn't fun."
"It was the bedding she was aiming for" Red said still laughing "you just happened to be in the way. Anyway Ash is very rarely angry, he gets irritated but I think that's because of his upbringing as he was a very lonely boy, by design Delia says and isolation does that to people. He has no idea how to function properly around people and makes it quite clear if he doesn't like someone which doesn't endear him to everyone but it's who he is. He isn't headed to Rota…where on earth is he going?"
They could barely see Ash now so Red was relying on his aura to locate him which was nowhere near the level Ash could do but he tried his best. Looking down he nudged Charizard and they flew over and past Rota and were a bit surprised to see three Lucario sprinting in Ash's direction directly below them. Looking up he quickly saw where Ash was heading as a very familiar rock formation loomed out of the slightly foggy area.
"Why is he heading to the Tree of Beginning?" Red asked aloud.
Twenty minutes later they landed just outside where he knew the entrance to be as it had not shut itself since Ash had first been here and was shocked to find a knocked out and very heavily damaged Regirock lying over to the side. Concerned he rushed over, being wary to keep his distance in case the Legendary Golem awoke but upon seeing the Pokémon he knew it wouldn't be getting up anytime soon as its right arm was lying just beyond it resting against a boulder.
"Ouch" Red said, something which his Charizard agreed with. Before they could continue on though they heard movement from down the path and looked up to see the three Lucario appear leaving dust behind them.
"Master Red" the lead Lucario said, stopping in front of him, panting slightly as he bowed.
"Sir Lucario," Red said, bowing back to him before he nodded to the other two.
"What has happened to Sir Ash?" he asked concerned "we all felt his rage, which is still ongoing…what happened to Regirock?"
"Ash happened" Red said grimly as he looked into the entrance and frowned "And I don't know what happened to him but it cannot be anything good. Come on, we need to catch up with him before any other Pokémon end up like the Golem."
Recalling Charizard he walked into the entrance followed by the Rota contingent and headed down the tunnels. He had only been down here once since he had come back into Delias life, he had of course travelled here during his time as a Guardian but the way into the Heart of the Tree was always closed off. Ash opening it had done something he probably didn't know which was to open it up to everybody so there had been so many people visiting it over the last few years to do more in depth research on the tree. Rota had permanently stationed four Lucario to keep the peace and to make sure the habitats of Pokémon and Mews home were undisturbed.
Coming to the end of the long tunnel they quickly rushed forward as those four Lucario were lying unconscious on the field in front of them. Looking around he couldn't see Ash anywhere though so it seemed his son had demolished the guardians before moving on. Just what the hell was going on?
"Sir Ash did this" one of the Lucario said as he tried to wake his comrade up "this cannot be let slide."
"And what do you think you'll be able to do?" Sir Lucario asked sarcastically "he walked through these four after dismembering a Regirock so tell me youngling what you think you can do."
"The Queen..:"
"Will be more worried about what caused Ash's rage and led him to the Tree than anything else." Sir Lucario said "for the problem to be so close to Rota and her daughter without us knowing will be the more pressing concern. These four will be fine after a short rest, I suspect whatever lies before us will not be."
"Then let's chase my wayward Son shall we?" Red said "but be on guard, we could very well walk into a battle and I have no idea if he's brought his Pokémon with him or not but mine will protect you as much as possible."
Releasing a Jolteon Red warned him to be wary which was unnecessary as Jolteon immediately looked to where he felt Ash was.
"Jolt" he barked as he ran forwards with Red and the others following quickly behind him as he led them across a field and into another tunnel, across a gorge, into yet another tunnel and then out into another field that was near the very bottom of the area.
Stalking forwards Jolteon warily walked up to a huge hulking Pokémon that was lying on its side not moving.
"That's two of the three" Red said as he checked over the unconscious Registeel. Looking around he saw scuff marks from what were clearly Hyper Beams along the floor but not much else "I expected this one to put up more of a fight if I'm honest but only three Hyper Beams before it was beaten?"
"Maybe it was caught unawares?" The young Lucario said "after all our kin up top wouldn't have expected to have to fight Sir Ash."
"No" Sir Lucario said dismissing the statement "we all felt Ash's rage from hundreds of miles away. Regirock felt it as soon as Ash landed outside the entrance and confronted him so the Lucario would definitely have been aware that Ash was hostile. I'm actually very disappointed that they were beaten so easily as we were only minutes behind him."
"His rage is amplifying his already formidable abilities" Red said "so we need to find whatever he is after first before he does something he regrets."
Jolteon led the way again down the sloped crystal path and through another tunnel that led out to an absolutely otherworldly scene of what could easily be described as one of the most beautiful places on earth. Everywhere around were fields with babbling brooks that led into a huge lake, with trees filled with Pokémon but at the very centre where all the brooks started was a huge tree with a part that was missing, leading inside to the Heart. To get there there was a small wooden bridge and as they got closer they saw the last Golem lying on its side with burn marks all over it. Standing guard, on the other side of the bridge was Ash's Salamence who looked up sharply as they all drew near. Cautiously Red started to cross before he ducked a Hydro Pump which sailed over his head and ploughed through the field.
"Hey" Red shouted outraged at being attacked "We're not the enemy here Queenie. I want to see my Son."
Instead of answering she lay down, blocking the other side of the bridge and the Heart from view and just stared at him.
"Queenie" Sir Lucario said joining Red "we need to get to Ash to ensure his safety."
"Ash had no problem laying waste to the Golems and your kin, what makes you think he's in any danger now?" she replied.
"I was thinking he's more of a danger to himself to be honest" Sir Lucario said. "It was my understanding he should be limiting his aura usage and this is the complete opposite. Why is he here?"
"He's here" a voice said as Ash emerged from the Hearts entrance, looking very pissed off, dragging a very familiar purple Pokémon by their tail and throwing it against a nearby Rock, causing the Lucario to gasp when they recognised the very beaten body of Mew "because someone decided it would be a great idea to desecrate the grave of my Typhlosion and replace her resting place with the body of my cousin. She is currently learning the error of her ways as her brother teleported away like an absolute coward when he felt me draw near leaving her to take the punishment she deserves, aren't you Mew?"
"We didn't know it was her grave," Mew said weakly.
"Bullshit" Ash said "there's a bloody cross there, or there was one surrounded by Orchids and I know you know what that means. Now seeing as the coward has fled, maybe you can answer me why you planted him on my land."
"I cannot tell you that" she said weakly rising in the air and glowing slightly as she used Recover.
"She is not wrong" another voice said as Mewtwo popped into view, ten feet away. "We were asked to secure his body and hide it and I couldn't think of another place."
"Bullshit" Ash said again furiously as he walked towards Mewtwo stopping a foot away from him, "New Island, Mt Quena or, and here's a novel idea, how about a bloody graveyard? No, instead you buried him on my land, in Typhlosions grave and you did it for a reason. I want to know why."
"It's not something we can explain Ash" Mewtwo said unconcerned "it simply is something we were driven to do, for reasons not given to us."
"That's not good enough Mewtwo" Ash said, going to grab him before he popped out of existence and reappeared ten feet away.
"I am not your enemy Ash" Mewtwo said growling "but I can be if you want me to be."
"I already know you're planning to be," Ash said, snarling and turning to face him. "I've heard a lot of whispers since we last spoke. I even went to find you the day before the battle at Goldenrod and I found Mt Quena empty of your presence along with the barrier you had placed around it. Not only that but the abominations were conveniently missing from the battle and then all of a sudden you two pop up, kidnap both me and Silver and then disappear again, leaving me in Saffron and that BASTARD IN MY POKEMONS GRAVE!." He finished shouting sending a huge Aura Sphere at Mewtwo who created a barrier and struggled to keep it away as he had to mix in Miracle Eye and Protect just to keep it at bay. He found though that was harder than he thought and he popped away as the attack continued, going straight through where he had been.
Ash snarled again as he turned to face Mewtwo who was hovering next to his sister. Looking at her he noticed something very strange about her aura and narrowed his eyes. Concentrating on his own aura he reigned it in and noticed a thin strand coming from himself to Mew and instinctively 'grasped' it causing her to cry out in pain, panicking as she struggled to breathe. Ash let it get to the point where she was about to pass out from the pain before he released it and she dropped onto the boulder Ash had originally thrown her against.
"Very interesting" Ash said "so it seems that giving you part of my soul has its uses. That, Mew, was the feeling I had when I realised you had betrayed me and desecrated my Pokémons grave. I gave you life again after Arceus abandoned you and this is how you repay me? Make no mistake until you both come to me with an explanation about why you would do such a thing we are no longer allies. That nonsense about not knowing why won't wash with me as I know you are keeping something from me, something very important but mark my words, and hear them well. If we find each other on the battlefield when it finally kicks off I won't hesitate to plough through you to get to whoever is behind all these attacks on me. And if you know who it is, give him that warning. I will stop at nothing to see him or her erased from existence and if you should stand in my way you'll go the same way."
Turning around he recalled Queenie, turned to face the Rota contingent and simply said "I have an abomination to question, lead the way."
He didn't even acknowledge his father who sighed, took one last look at the injured Mew and floating Mewtwo.
"If you know something, I'd advise you to tell him soon before it's too late. He's hurting from what you did, he trusted you both and you did something very nearly unforgivable." Red said.
"As I stated" Mewtwo said "we cannot explain it. It's a feeling we had, almost like an order we could not refuse even if we tried."
Nodding Red sighed and rushed away, catching up and followed his son out of the Tree of Beginning. Ash took not one bit of notice to the Pokémon he had battered along the way as they were still knocked out and an hour later he exited the Tree of Beginning and released Queenie.
"I'll meet you at the courtyard in Rota" Ash said to the Lucario before finally seeming to notice his dad there as they left. "Why are you here?"
"I followed you from Pallet Town when I felt your rage from our house" Red said, grabbing his son and hugging him, feeling their auras clash and ignoring it as he knew Ash wouldn't harm him. Pulling away he held his son's face and shook his head with worry "what happened? Why did you attack Mew?"
"They buried Silver in Typhlosions grave" Ash said as if it explained everything.
"That doesn't explain why you felt such rage at the action Ash." Red said not letting go of his son.
"They tried to create a psychic block over it" Ash said "they deliberately interfered with the protections on my land to try and cover their own actions. Not only that but they refused to tell me why. I'm done being nice to Legendaries who believe that because they are powerful they're untouchable. Well they're not, and now they know. I'm sick of them interfering in my life and burying that man on my land was the final straw dad. Come on,. You can help me interrogate Will."
"Will?" he asked "as in Elite Four Will?"
"The very same" Ash said as he climbed onto Queenie and offered his hand to his father who ignored it and released Charizard who immediately looked at Ash with narrowed eyes.
"Are you in control Egg of my trainer?" Charizard asked sharply. "Or do I need to contain you?"
"I am in control" Ash said ignoring the growl coming from Queenie and pressing his knees into her neck and she took off, quickly being followed by Charizard who kept up with them as they were not in as big of a hurry. Landing in the courtyard an hour later they were met with the three from before along with Queen Ilene and her new First Knight Francesca standing just behind her.
"Greetings Sir Ash" Ilene said bowing slightly. "Former Guardian Red."
"Ilene" Ash said, nodding to her before turning to Francesca. "Greetings to you too, First Knight Francesca. How are you finding the role?"
"Busy" she said nodding and smiling "but very rewarding. How is your family Former Guardian Red?"
"Just Red" Ash's father said grimacing "I never realised how much of a mouthful and how pompous that was."
"It's why I don't bother after the first time," Ash said, shrugging "we all know who we are."
"True" Red said nodding before addressing Francesca "They're well, Delia and Flora are very well. How is Amara?"
"She's wonderful" Ilene said smiling happily when she thought of her daughter "it's a shame we cannot have a more meaningful conversation but I believe you're here for a reason?"
"We are," Ash said, "lead the way."
Ash and Red followed slightly behind the contingent as they were led down several hallways and down a steep staircase that finished in a short tunnel. At the end was a doorway made of a very familiar material.
"Very interesting," Ash said, touching the door, ignoring the alarmed gasps from the rest of them. "It's the same material that was discovered just outside of Ecruteak City, is it not? One that required a blending of psychic and aural abilities to create. How did this doorway come to exist?"
"Not much is known about it" Ilene said, grabbing a pair of steel gauntlets from the wall that were on a hook. "They have been here for centuries. The first actual record of them being here was a few centuries after Rins rule, however they were likely installed long before then. They were kept as a relic of the ancients and utilised during the Great War to interrogate prisoners or to eliminate those who betrayed the royal family. Other than that it's a mystery. It has a twin though on the other side of the castle that houses the Room of Unbinding, where our great and celebrated guardians go to leave this plane."
"So why do you need gauntlets?" Ash asked "as far as I'm aware you have neither aura or psychic abilities."
"It leaves me with a feeling of disgust should I touch them with my bare hands" Ilene said "it feels like my hands are rotting for weeks afterwards. The guardians cannot touch them without having an extreme reaction, their aura actually harms them hence the gloves."
"I wonder why I'm ok then," Ash said, grabbing the handle and turning it. It was a vault handle so it required turning in a big circle but when it opened Ash immediately felt the oppressive nature of the tunnel that lay beyond. He felt the others near him stirring, clearly uncomfortable with being around such a horrible place.
"You will not be looked upon badly should you not wish to go with us" Ash said looking at them "You have no need to venture further should you not wish to. This is not a place where egos have a place."
"I go where my Queen goes," Francesca said, her voice slightly quivering but resolute in her stance.
"We will not abandon the Queen" Sir Lucario said as his other two kin did the same.
Nodding Ash grabbed a torch from the wall and led them down the tunnel which thankfully only had one way to travel and that was downwards. Eventually it led out to an open area, a huge room that had several sets of stocks and handcuffs against the wall, along with a small observation room but in the corner there were four smaller rooms, with metal bars in place of doors. Curious Ash walked up to them and saw that two of them were occupied.
"Who's the other one?" Ash asked when he saw the second one was his intended quarry, who looked up at Ash's voice and sneered at him behind lank dirty hair.
"Her name is Elvira Natsume. She is Sabrina's younger sister"
"How old is she?" Ash asked, seeing the young girl lying shivering on the bed. Pressing a button on the wall the bars which disappeared into the ground letting Ash walk in. immediately he felt there was something wrong with her. "Why is she in here? She doesn't have any aura or psychic abilities."
"We thought we could use her to get Sabrina to come out of hiding because the abominations kidnapped one of our guardians a few weeks before the Goldenrod situation" Francesca said as if that made everything ok. "Sabrina never showed herself for the exchange so we placed her in here."
Ash shook his head and bent down to scoop her up and left the small room, making sure the blanket was wrapped around her. "This girl has not yet chosen a side, she doesn't even have aural abilities, never mind psychic ones" Ash said in disgust. "And she's been in here over a month now?"
"You're Aura users, not savages" Ilene said sharply to Francesca who looked down at the rebuke. Looking over to one of the three Lucario she said "take the girl upstairs to the hospital wing and make sure she's treated for her malnourishment."
After the young girl had left Ash looked in disgust at Francesca before shaking his head and focusing on why he was here. Will wasn't looking too well as he lay on a small cot observing what went on. Ash saw he had a bruise on his cheek and a small cut on his lip but otherwise seems healthy.
"I might have known you'd be behind this Ketchum" Will sneered. "I should have guessed when I saw you at the Plateau that you would order my kidnapping."
"Actually it wasn't me" Ash said smiling "but I'm quite willing to take the blame for it. Anyway, we're here to see if we can get answers from you."
"The others have tried and failed" Will said sneering "I have come to terms with my impending death but you will get nothing from me."
"We'll see," Ash said, pressing the button and lowering the bars. Walking in he grabbed Will by the hair eliciting a cry and dragged him out of the room and threw him against the wall where he hit with a hard thud. "I'd advise you get behind the door" Ash said to Ilene who nodded as she and Francesca walked into the room and watched from the glass partition.
Red walked over to where the tools were on the far side of the room and began rummaging around for a particular weapon to use, keeping an ear out for what his son was saying when he heard Will scream and looked up sharply. Ash it seems had decided to forgo physical torture and decided Aura was the best tool to use.
"I was unaware guardians could do that" Francesca murmured to Ilene as they watched Ash and Red begin to extract every bit of information they could from him. It was a rather brutal watch as in between Ash cutting off Will psychic abilities Red would break a finger, or a limb if the answer wasn't to their satisfaction. It was much harsher than anything they had done to Will in the few weeks since his capture and made the two feel rather queasy. Ilene's last straw was when Red cut off Wills finger using a pair of tin-snips and casually threw it to the side and she made use of the bin near the door, losing what was a very nice lunch in the process. Francesca wasn't far behind her either.
"Ok" Will said weakly after losing his third finger "I'll talk, just promise to end this."
"If I like the information I will do" Ash said nodding as he crouched next to Wills head and grabbed his chin "talk."
"Our master keeps himself hidden and is known to only a few, I am not one of them but you will know him when you see him. He has intensely purple eyes. He ordered the kidnap of Lorelei to have a bargaining chip when meeting you in the form of your apprentice, Lorelei and her son would likely have been spared but I am unsure. He wanted to ensure he had a failsafe for when you met only it didn't go to plan. I have been unable to know anything more than that. All I know is that my Master will avenge me and our brothers."
"And what role does Mew and Mewtwo play in this master plan of his?" Ash asked.
"They are the keys" Will said coughing and wincing as he held his ribs "and they will follow or die. We thought that using Silver as a puppet, to enforce their obedience would suffice only he was weak and given you're here now I'm guessing he is not, which only furthers that fact. Mistakes were made a decade ago, they are not tolerated any longer. That is all I will say." Indeed it was all he would say as he passed out from the pain. Grimly Ash formed an Aura lance, taking note of how painful it was now that his rage had abated and ended the former Elite Fours life.
"Well that told us nothing we didn't already know," Red said .
"Not quite" Ash said looking at his father whose hands were covered in blood. Looking around they saw a sink off to the side that was evidently being fed with constantly running water and they walked over to clean themselves up a bit. "The last thing he said…'mistakes were made a decade ago'. I suspect we now know who ordered the hit on you. We assumed it was Silver but this mysterious person with purple eyes may be the mastermind behind the whole thing and may have orchestrated the attack on Viridian Gym. don' forget, at the time Mewtwo had already rebelled against Fuji and Silver, so why did he appear voluntarily less than a few weeks after gaining his freedom?"
"I did wonder that" Red said "didn't Fuji leave behind his files?"
"He did," Ash said, nodding, "maybe we should go over them to see if there's anything we have missed. Fuji remained that he had absolute control over Mewtwo but I know that to be false given how often he disappeared and did his own bidding or Silvers bidding. Perhaps he was actually serving a higher master and doing his bidding instead."
"Why me though?" Red asked, confused "I was an Aura Guardian but nothing major."
"You are also a former Pokémon Master, a title which never leaves you" Ash said pointing that out "with that role you had the power to unite the regions should war happen and given the ability everyone said you had you would have done so. I'm unsure why they are targeting me at the minute as I'm just a Champion of a single region, why not target Cynthia?"
"Likely because at the time she was a relative unknown and now her power base is solidified, coupled with her ties to the Lucario Kingdom and her power is absolute." Red said cleaning his hands "she's too prominent a target as she is now, but you were targeted the moment you cleansed Saffron City. This master of theirs must have known what happened and given you're my son realised that you were someone to be accounted for."
"There's also the fact you're the last living descendants of Sir Aaron" Sir Lucario said having been listening in. "From what I was told there were several threats on your life Master Red while you were an Aura Guardian that went beyond normal attacks and had you been alone would have cost you your life."
"That's true" Red said mulling it over "so are we running with that theory then? That it has something to do with our ancestry? Did Malokei have children?"
"We do not speak his name," Francesca said, sounding angry.
"Yes well my father did" Ash said irritated "we have more pressing matters to deal with than fear of a name. So, did he have children?"
"Yes," Ilene said, coming out of her room looking very green. "But they died on the battlefield during the final push."
"Malokei did not though" Ash said pointing that out "he died over a decade later after Aaron sacrificed his life to end the main battle on the Plains of Liberty. He was rescued by what remained of his warriors to survive for another day, severely injured but alive nonetheless. Nobody saw him again until the battle of the Ancients a decade later where he actually died at the hands of Sylvia Nightingale."
"But his mate died during the Great Battle," Ilene said, confused.
"He corrupted his aura Ilene" Red said "and it's been well documented that the abominations can have multiple partners, after all it was one of their main foci was it not? To spread their abilities around as much as possible by mating with everyone they could."
"So he could well have had a child or multiple children" Francesca said.
"It's the best idea we have," Ash said, shrugging his shoulders, "but we cannot do anything but speculate at this point. We may need to check the archives for anything that survived about Malokei but I doubt anything like that would have survived."
"Not in our archives, certainly," Sir Lucario said.
Ash and Red looked at each other before seemingly having the same idea "They would certainly have archival knowledge though" Ash said slowly.
"Yes" Red said, nodding "but we don't know where their headquarters are and we would be detected immediately."
"Not if you can control your aura to a degree that it's undetectable," Ash said, getting a narrowed look from his father.
"No, absolutely not," Red said, shaking his head and pointing his finger at his son, "you will not put yourself in danger needlessly for information we don't even know where it's located in their headquarters or if it is there. Your mother would kill me if she found out I went along with this and didn't at least warn you against it."
"I have been sufficiently warned" Ash said laughing "but as Lucario says we have no idea where their HQ is located. That'll be the first thing we need to find but it has to be near here somewhere."
"Why?" Lucario asked.
"The battle was held forty miles from here on the plains and they didn't choose the place at random nor did they camp out there before the battle" Ash said "so it stands to reason the abominations camp was close by too."
"But not their HQ" Red countered "don't forget they can teleport to anywhere they want to."
"Shit, I forgot about that" Ash said "it has to be in Kanto though as their ability was in its infancy and I cannot see them moving everything from where Malokei settled after his banishment. Maybe there's something in the archives about Malokeis youth and training and a place that he held dear."
"You may be on to something" Sir Lucario said "After all Aaron and I often trained near the Tree of Beginning as it was the place we felt most comfortable to let loose without interference. It's how I knew where to head him off when I confronted him."
"Are you able to contact him?" Ash asked Lucario curiously "I mean in the tree, his essence is still at the heart as I felt it when I confronted Mew."
"No," Red said, surprising him as a vague memory came to his head of conversations he had while he was lost "I don't know how I know but Aaron's aura has settled into the tree. I can feel it."
Ash just looked at him confused before nodding and accepting the answer.
"We can look though Sir Ash" Ilene said as she looked at the dead body of Will and sighing "I trust that will be taken care of?"
"Yes my lady" the remaining Lucario said looking at Francesca who nodded and moved towards it.
Ilene led the procession away before heading down a corridor to where the hospital wing was and spoke briefly to the nurse who murmured back quietly. Ash and Red stood off to the side feeling very conspicuous as the beds that were filled had people looking at them curiously, after all it was well known Ash's disdain for Rota and Red had long since retired from active duty.
Red and Ash had a quiet conversation going on when Ilene walked back over and informed them the young girl would be ok. Ash nodded, not really concerned with the issue, he was concerned though that her new First Knight seemed to be ok with kidnapping an innocent but it wasn't his business so he brushed it off.
A few minutes Later Ash and Red walked back out to the courtyard and released their respective flying types.
"Lucario" Ash said to his friend "Hailee will be joining me from February at my home until mid April, you're more than welcome to come and visit so you know where she's up to before I leave for Hoenn in May. I'll be away for ten months as it's a bloody trek from Hoenn so there will be very few times I come home before their victory tournament."
"Very well" Lucario said, nodding and bowing briefly, something Ash and Red mirrored before they climbed onto Salamence and Charizard and took off back home at a more sedate pace. It was around three hours later they both landed in Pallet Towns communal garden and walked the few minutes to Reds house. As soon as Red opened the door they heard the rush of feet as a frantic Delia rushed forwards and gripped onto Ash who instinctively stooped down to receive the hug. When did he become so much taller than her he wondered. Pulling back she looked at him with tears in her eyes, grabbing his face before searching his face as if looking for an explanation.
"Mew and Mewtwo buried Silver in Typhlosions grave" Ash said quietly, tearing up as he did so. "They desecrated her grave mum, I couldn't let that slide and I made sure they knew."
"Ash, the entire world felt what happened" she said, pulling him into the living room where the TV was on reporting what they speculated to have happened. "Every single being in the world felt what happened, the Legendaries have abandoned their posts, the Pokémon of the world have refused to move from where they are, there's reports of psychic users passing out worldwide, there's even talk of them being in comas. Whatever you did seriously hurt them."
"I seriously hurt myself" Ash said, wincing as he held up his arm and saw that the cast that was on his arm had slightly split. "I suspect I've set my recovery back several months. I need to go, I need to ring the police to collect Silver's body, I don't want him on my land."
He arrived back at his home twenty minutes later and was greeted with a concerned Pikachu. Ash informed him what happened as he rang the Viridian City police station who immediately sent a whole host of officers and a helicopter with the Chief of Police to his home. The next few days were extremely busy for Ash as he had to answer so many questions about where he was, how he found Silver and what happened afterwards. Ash though had an alibi for when Silver was buried as he was in hospital and the fact it was documented where Ash had been staying in the meantime meant he wouldn't have had the time to bury Silver.
"Can anyone else identify him?" Chief Jenny asked when he showed her where he was buried.
"Yes," Ash said, nodding "Giovanni is his father."
"League President Giovanni?" Jenny asked shocked "he's the father of the head of Team Rocket?"
"Yeah" Ash said "it's not something he's particularly proud of as he didn't know about him until he was 17 and then he disappeared when my father did in Viridian. He thought he'd died until last year. I'd suggest contacting him as he's living with Silvers mother too who can also identify him."
"Ok" she said, shaking her head as she walked away. Ash didn't know why he'd thrown Giovanni a bone but they must be hurting given their son was now confirmed as dead.
He had to take a trip to and from Viridian hospital to get the cast put back on and received a lecture on what 'absolutely minimal use of aura' meant, much to his chagrin.
"It's not like I planned on finding the dead body of my uncle on my land" Ash said gritting his teeth as his arm was strapped back into a straight line and then plastered with a new cast. "I had no control over it."
"I know for a fact this is not the first time you've used aura since you had that cast put on" the nurse said flicking him on the head "I know you Ash, I have since you were brought in here at 6 years old so I know this is unlikely to have been the first time you've used it."
"Of course it's not" Ash said glaring at her "you can't actually switch aura off, just regulate it which I have been doing. This time was different."
"Yes well," she said, smoothing down the cast, "try to be more careful this time. You're good to go."
The day after the Mew incident Ash received a surprise when he walked to his lake and found all three Legendary Birds hovering and perching on his house.
"Er, hi" Ash said perplexed as he looked up at them "what's going on?"
"We felt your sadness, Chosen One," Moltres said as she looked down at him.
"We felt your rage, Chosen One," Articuno said after her sister.
"We felt your despair, Chosen One" Zapdos said seriously.
"What happened?" they chorused as one.
Ash spent the next few hours informing them what had happened in Johto over the last year and how it culminated in his confrontation of Mew and Mewtwo at the Tree of Beginning. When he was done there was silence as he saw the three look at each other holding a silent conversation with each other.
"It seems our sister needs a reminder of her role in this world," Zapdos said.
"Yes," Articuno replied, "but will she listen?"
"Unlikely" Moltres countered "for her to do this…"
"Why would she stray from her birthplace?"
"And actively go against the Chosen One after what he did for her?"
"My father told me she had flights of whimsy."
"Yes but never strayed from her purpose, is the youngest influencing her?"
"Unlikely" Ash put in gaining their attention "if anything I'd say he follows her orders despite what he might claim. What troubles me is that they were both taking orders from someone else which means they likely have a master or mistress."
"Impossible" Moltres said "we serve no one."
"And yet Mew and Mewtwo all but confirmed it when they were confronted with the Chosen Ones rage" Articuno retorted "you know the rules sister, as do we all. Lady Ho-oH informed us Chosen One of your claims of an All-Maker and while we have our doubts you have never lied to us."
"My father thought highly of you" Zapdos said "he would not have sacrificed his life lightly for someone who made unfounded claims. If you say there is an All-Maker then we trust your judgement."
"Speak to Celebi" Ash said shaking his head "she's one of the few that knows who she is."
"She will tell us nothing" Moltres said "she thinks too highly of herself."
"She always has done" Articuno agreed "but maybe Lord Lugia can find out. Very well Chosen One, we will find out what we can."
"I'll be at Shamouti for the festival" Ash said "hopefully we all have more information then. I'll be speaking to the leaders of the Pokémon world in the next few days so we'll see what happens. Thank you all for your concern."
They all nodded as one before taking off before Ash remembered something and shouted up "ARTICUNO!"
Hovering, she looked at him and waited.
"Tell your daughter's egg to stop using my lake as a stop off point until she gets a handle on her Snow Cloak ability, my Pokémon and the inhabitants have informed me that if she freezes the lake once more they will treat her as hostile and attack her. She nearly killed several Pokémon because she cannot control her abilities. I don't mind her resting here, you are all more than welcome to do so but she needs to be mindful."
Ash didn't receive a reply but she looked at her kin before she winged away from the others and headed towards the nearby mountains as Zapdos and Moltres winged South back towards Shamouti.
Thursday 29th November
There were still forensics and police milling about three days later when he finally had the talk with his Pokémon. He had followed Venusaur into a little grove he had created well over a year ago now and listened as Pidgeot, Venusaur and the Scyther pair who let him know what they'd overheard and what their descriptions were. He talked to the inhabitants of the lake, led by Blastoise who did the same thing.
"Have you spoken to Articuno yet?" he asked, receiving a nod "good."
Hours later he had collated all of his notes and was sitting with Zoe looking through pictures of all the researchers to try and find who the culprits were.
"So from the description we've found it to be possibly these three" Zoe said, having separated them and handing Ash the pictures.
"And none of them from Silph" Ash said, breathing out a sigh of relief, "at least Hatori will have peace of mind."
"Have you been to visit Nia yet?" Zoe asked half an hour later as they were eating at the counter top.
"I've been messaging her but not received a reply" Ash said looking worried "it's not like her. I was planning on seeing her Saturday afternoon, but I've not received a reply from her to confirm it yet."
"Ash she's in hospital" Zoe said, pausing eating "she has been since Monday."
"What?" Ash yelped standing up and grabbed his cloak "why?"
"I've no idea" Zoe said "all her mum has told me was she passed out, gripping her chest around midday Monday and hasn't woken up since."
"Why wasn't I told?" Ash asked as he dialled a number "Hello, yes, this is Kanto Champion Ash Ketchum, Pokédex number AK191298. Yes, I need an Alakazam sent to my home a.s.a.p. Yes, transporter number 240601. Thank you."
"I'm not sure why you weren't told" Zoe said looking puzzled "it was Sarah who rang me to tell me."
That didn't make Ash feel any better that his future mother in law had not got in touch with him to inform him. Walking over to his Pokéball receiver he picked up the Alakazam.
"Oh wait a minute" Zoe said as she walked over to her bag and pulled out a brown envelope. Looking at it she sighed and then walked back to Ash. "This is for you, just open it when you're with Nia."
"Ok" Ash said looking puzzled before running upstairs and grabbed the bag that was inside his closet, heading back downstairs to clean away his bowl. Releasing the Alakazam he did his best to hold back his shudder. "Saffron City please Alakazam."
Zoe saw him wink out of existence and shook her head and sat back down to continue eating.
Appearing at the Pokémon Centre he thanked the Alakazam and recalled him before heading quickly to the hospital. Giving his name he was told where Nias ward was and headed straight there. Opening the door his heart skipped a beat when he saw her lying on her bed, asleep but the rise and fall of her chest made his heart continue again in relief. Sitting at her side he placed the envelope on the side table, grabbed her hand and looked at her confused. A few minutes later a doctor came in and seeing Ash let him know what had happened.
"So it was my fault" Ash said, putting his hand on her heart and ignoring the doctors orders from Tuesday he pulsed his aura into her making her gasp for breath, opening her eyes and looking around wildly. Seeing Ash she panicked for a second before calming down and looking at where she was.
"What happened?" she managed to breath out looking wide-eyed at Ash.
"I'll let you know once the nurses have checked you over" Ash said sitting back down with tears in his eyes as several nurses rushed in. Half an hour later once they had all gone Ash started talking, letting her know what had happened over the past four days both to him and to the world at large.
"So your rage caused this?" she asked, confused.
"I don't know" Ash said morosely "I only found out you were in here an hour ago when Zoe told me. I've been messaging you but I thought you were just busy and I've had the police around my home for the last few days so every time my head has hit the pillow I've been out like a light."
"Is this going to happen a lot?" Nia asked him concerned.
"I've no idea" Ash said "this is the first time isn't it that I've lost control like that since New Island and I wasn't with you then. I'll have to speak to mum and dad, or you might be better doing so but otherwise I'm not sure. I normally have a good handle on my aura but the last month has been extremely testing for me, coupled with not being allowed to use aura to regulate it…I'm not sure Nia to be honest."
"I don't like it Ash" she said looking at him and groaning as she sat up, Ash immediately moved her pillows to make her comfortable.
"No, neither do I" Ash said, stroking her head.
They spent the next ten minutes in comfortable silence until Nia spotted the envelope. "What's that?" she asked.
"I'm not sure" Ash said picking it up "Zoe handed it to me just as I was leaving informing me not to open it without you." Handing it to her she opened it, wincing slightly as she did and looked at the leaflet in confusion before laughing as she read the note attached to it and handing it to Ash.
Ash, I was handed this by Jennifer yesterday who finalised the deal on the house you have bought in Saffron City. Congratulations on owning a home there, and thank you for making me $375,000 richer :D
Ash took a few moments to process it before looking over at Nia in confusion.
"As soon as we pulled up to the address I knew whose house it was," Nia said, smiling "and I was desperate to tell you all the time we were looking around it. I even rang her to tell her and she just laughed before getting in touch with the estate agents and authorising the sale for whatever you offered."
"Oh wow" Ash said, leaning back and looking at the forms which had him as the primary owner of the house. "Is she really ok with me buying her house, knowing you're gutting it?"
"Yeah" Nia said nodding "she's even agreed to help me out with the redecorating as soon as it's empty."
"I'll get in touch with the people today then" Ash said, shaking his head at Zoe's audacity. "I do love that woman" he finished laughing.
"She's one of a kind, that's for sure" Nia agreed. "So what's your plans for today?"
"Well I may as well go and see Hatori once visiting hours are up but I need to go home tonight as I have that big meeting tomorrow with all the leaders at 6pm. Unova is eight hours behind so we had to accommodate them, which I'm fine with. I'm still debating on what to say because I know some of the abominations will be present."
"You'll have to give them full disclosure, or at least the Champions anyway and let them decide on what to tell their Elite Four" Nia said "Cynthia will need everything though Ash, she is the Pokémon Master and she does have power of veto over you."
"Not quite," Ash said, smiling slightly "out of the two of us I'm still the one with all the information and the one with the links to every Legendary in Kanto and Johto and have them follow me. That's a pretty big deal because she's not even met one from Sinnoh yet so they'll follow my lead regardless of what she decides. You are right though that she'll lead the armies when it comes to it unless I'm also master by that time, then we'll split the duties. I did plan on giving Cynthia full access to everything I have anyway but she's the one I'm most wary of given her lead Elite Four is Lucian."
"She will still need the information," Nia said, getting a nod from Ash.
"I know," he said.
"So why do you need to see Hatori?" she asked.
Grimacing Ash pulled out the remains of the Master-ball from the bag and placed them on her lap.
"John or Ashley?" she asked picking them up.
"I suspect Ashley" Ash said thankful that Nia at least remembered her name "John moved his Dragonite to his and kept it on a necklace. You obviously have yours at home as do I so Ashley was the only one I didn't know about. I'm hoping no others were handed out or we could be in trouble given Team Rocket had this. This ball was possessed by the Assassin, the man in the metal suit." he said getting an 'ah' of realisation "It housed the younger Entei Charizard was hunting until it was destroyed during their chase, I suspect on purpose by Entei who is currently hiding inside Mt Mortar, or he was when I spoke to Charizard last week."
"That poor girl," Nia said, letting a tear fall. "I hope she's ok."
"Me too," Ash said, taking it back and placing it in his bag.
"What else is in there?" she asked curiously.
"Ah" he said, taking out another item much to her confusion. When he explained what it was though Nia just smiled and shook her head.
Half an hour later visiting time was over and he kissed her goodbye and left heading to Silph Towers. Asking the receptionist when Hatori was available he received a negative as he wouldn't be free for another two hours. Nodding he went to leave before getting an idea. Asking for their costume department he was directed to the fourth floor. Walking in he saw the area was very open plan and had many seamstresses working and chatting away. When they saw who walked in though they greeted him before carrying on.
"Is Maria or Daisy in please?" he asked.
"They're over there lovey," a nice lady said pointing to the back.
Nodding Ash walked over and knocked on their door. Walking in they shot out of their chairs and sandwiched him in a hug, much to his delight. Usually he hated being touched but these two ladies had performed miracles for him over the last few years and he had kept in touch with them regularly to just see how they were, how their families were doing and what new items they were working on.
"What brings you here?" Daisy asked him sitting back down.
"Actually I need your help," Ash said, pulling out two shirts from his bag. One was the one he wore in his match against Blue and the other for the Johto Final versus Harrison. "I need them altered slightly to include this." Writing down a few words they nodded and Maria pulled it into a machine and started stitching away while they chatted amiably about different subjects. These ladies were genuinely some of the loveliest people he had ever met and he was glad they were practically his personal stylists.
"It's Maria's 60th next year," Daisy said, getting a playful scowl from her best friend. "We were just wondering what she could do."
"Well you live here in Saffron City right?" Ash said, getting a nod, "when is it?"
"May 22nd" she said, getting a surprised look from Ash.
"That's my birthday too!" he said "anyway I've bought a house in Saffron City so I could put on a party for you if you like? Or I could easily organise the ballroom here to throw a party."
"No," Maria said immediately, shaking her head.
"Ah ah ah" Daisy said looking at Maria before looking back at Ash "she's not part of this conversation. So you think you could swing that? A party in the ballroom that is."
"Easily" Ash said, nodding and ignoring the gasp of outrage from Maria at being excluded. "And I could get a band to play, put on some food, wear your best dresses that I'll pay for etc etc" Ash said thinking out loud, "yeah that seems like a good plan to me. Send me some of the things you know Maria likes and I'll sort it out."
"I am right here you know," Maria said, narrowing her eyes.
"Oh good" Ash said, taking out his phone and looking at her "list some of the things you like."
Daisy laughed so hard she fell out of her chair at the expression Maia gave them both before she started back on Ash's request. Five minutes later she looked up to see her best friend chatting happily with Ash and smiled before she started to tell him some of the things she liked.
"This is your party too though!" she said pointing at him before finishing the stitching.
"I know," Ash said, "but it's mainly yours."
Ten minutes later Maria had finished and held it up for Ash "all done."
"Thank you ladies," Ash said, putting it into his bag and hugging them both before leaving them.
Ash walked out and wandered around Saffron for a bit, nodding and smiling at various people who greeted him, signed a few autographs and took a few photos before he entered a certain shop. Talking to the sales assistant he found the task to be easier than he previously thought and was done inside half an hour before he walked into Brian's shop.
"Hello Ash" Brian said looking confused at seeing him with two huge parcels under his arm. "What can I do for you?"
"I brought this for here" he said smiling, looking at the label on them and handing one of the parcels over.
Curious Brian opened it and found it was a large frame with a shirt in it. Only it wasn't just any shirt, it was one of Ash's shirts that had been signed by Ash. Looking up confused he struggled to get his words out.
"Well I saw that you collect things" Ash said smiling and waving a hand to the shop in general, "and I saw you have memorabilia from other Champions on the wall over there so I thought I'd add to it. That's the shirt I used when I fought Blue last year for my Kanto Championship match. I even had it embroidered with the date, time and who was involved and then signed it for good measure."
"Is that the actual shirt?" a voice asked from behind him. Turning they saw a rather large man in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, wearing sunglasses and looking speculative at Ash and the shirt.
"Yes," Ash said, wondering who the man was.
"Oh I apologise" he said "the name is Scott, Scott Enishida."
"Oh I know who you are" Ash said shaking his hand "Nice to finally put a face to the name. You're creating the Battle Frontier in Kanto aren't you? Giovanni told me a few months ago you were nearly ready to launch them. Seven Gym leaders but no victory tournament?"
"Frontier Brains" Scott said, correcting him gently as he took his glasses off, "and no, we don't have a stadium we can use for one as we don't have a set time frame to complete the challenge. It's a very flexible system, much like the Orange Islands, only it's based in Kanto. I already have one on an island I own just off the coast of the Hoenn region that has seven facilities and challenges that's been a major success and I had hoped to spread it to Kanto but there's been a few issues over the last year that have only just been cleared up by the Kanto Board and Pokémon League board too. We've been given a starting date of January 2003 so I have a year to get everything in place by then."
"It sounds very exciting actually" Ash said "I've seen some of the descriptions for the challenges and it made me giddy."
"Really?" Scott asked shrewdly, striking his chin "would you be interested in doing the challenge?"
"Normally I would yes but I've got my own challenge to complete" Ash said "I've been given my own deadline to complete my Mastery in the next four years before I take over fully as Champion. I have an idea though, it's not been decided on if the League will start up again in the new year after what happened a month ago, however I wouldn't be against showcasing your Brains talents to trainers in exhibitions to run alongside the Showcases. They were a major success this year and we're trying to make them an annual thing."
"That could work," Scott said, nodding "it would also give people an opportunity to train for my challenges and promote the Frontier at the same time."
"Email Blue Oak" Ash said writing down their email addresses, "or myself and we'll try and get the ball rolling."
"Thank you" Scott said happily "I will."
"Are you sure you're ok giving this to me?" Brian asked, seeing the conversation had come to a close, "after all it's the only one right?"
"It is," Ash said, nodding, "but it's fine. Better up here on display than rotting away in my cupboard."
"Very well" Brian said happily, picking it up and looking at it "I know just the place. Have you been to see Nia? Sarah and I are very worried that she's not woken up yet."
"I woke her up" Ash said, shocking him "technically I shouldn't have done what I did but I'll damned if she has to stay in hospital another day longer than she needs to."
"How?" Brian asked, confused.
"I filled her with aura," Ash said, confusing him before pulling him off to the side and giving him a basic breakdown of what happened. "She was subconsciously supplementing my aura in my anger. I didn't know it could do that but my rage was too much for her to sustain and she passed out. She would have woken up over the next few days but still…I feel so bad."
"Maybe stay out of Sarah's way for a while then" Brian said wisely "if she finds out you've caused this she'll go spare."
"She'll find out anyway" Ash said chuckling. "Nia is like her in nearly every way and she has a knack for knowing when I'm hiding something."
"Oh yeah" Brian said lamely, getting a chuckle from Ash as they walked back to the counter where Scott had left and a customer was looking upside down at Ash's shirt.
"Is that real?" the young lady asked before her eyes widened when she saw Ash standing there and her jaw dropped.
"Yes" Ash said nodding "it is. Listen, I have to get going Brian, I need to speak to Hatori about something and then I have a conference call tomorrow."
"See you later Ash" Brian said before turning to the customer and smiling, "How can I help you?"
Heading to the Post office he mailed the second parcel and left to head back to Silph Towers, hopefully for a very insightful conversation.