Happy Easter everyone, time for another chapter.
Chapter 36
History of War
Ash dove to the ground as the shuriken whizzed through the space he'd been in seconds before. A second volley followed as he started to get to his feet, causing him to drop again and cover himself with an Aura Shield. Ash heard the sounds of metal hitting metal and looking up he saw Pikachu and Lucario standing at his sides, Iron Tail and Metal Claw powered up ready to be used again.
"Thanks, now go find May and Leaf." Ash said, getting to his feet as he encased his hands and forearms in a thick coating of Aura.
Master./"Pikapi." Lucario and Pikachu started.
"I can handle whoever this is, go and make sure the girls are safe. Protect them, now go!" The Pokémon hesitated for a moment before nodding and disappearing into the trees to find Leaf and May.
"That was stupid Guardian, your friends are of no concern to me. You are the target of my vendetta and by sending your Pokémon away you have just made it easier for me to kill you." The voice from earlier said, Ash tried to pinpoint where the voice was coming from but it seemed to be echoing and coming from everywhere at once. He activated his Aura Sight again but still couldn't see where his opponent was hiding.
"Stop being a coward and face me." Ash replied as he scanned the forest around him, the voice chuckled.
"And why should I do that? Why should I honour you by letting the last thing you see be my face?"
"You must be really ugly if you're this set on staying hidden." Ash smirked as he slowly turned in a circle, watching his surroundings for the slightest movement. Another barrage of shuriken spun out of the trees at the same time Ash heard a growl of irritation, he covered himself in an Aura Shield letting the shuriken fall to the ground before grinning and dashing towards a particular tree. He collected his Aura into his fist and spun around launching an Aura Sphere at a tree on the opposite side of the clearing. He heard a startled yelp and saw branches ruffle as his opponent left the tree just before the Aura Sphere blew a hole through the trunk and caused the tree to sway dangerously. Ash funnelled Aura into his legs and dashed at full speed towards the tree his opponent had just moved too, placing his foot on the trunk and keeping his speed up Ash ran up the tree trunk and made a grab for his opponent who just slipped out of range as they leapt into the clearing. Ash pushed off the tree trunk and spun in midair to land facing his attacker, his opponent was wearing the garb of a Ninja, covered head to toe in black and other dark colour tones. A tanto tied diagonally across their back so the hilt was over their right shoulder, a shuriken holster attached to both thighs, a black pouch on the small of their back and a mask that his their face
"Guardian, you are guilty of trespassing into Ninja territory without stating your intent or seeking permission. The sentence is death." The Ninja sped forward, lashing out at Ash's ribs with a round kick. Dropping his arm on reflex to block Ash was caught off guard when the Ninja redirected the kick to catch him in the side of the head, he staggered back and took a thrust kick to the stomach. Ash managed to regain his wits just in time to parry a punch that would've broken his nose, grab the Ninja's upper arm and pull them into a knee to their stomach.
"I don't know what you're talking about, I've been through this area before and never had to ask permission." Ash said, feinting with a jab before coming in with a reverse punch to the solar plexus. The Ninja spun away from the punch and swept at Ash's legs, Ash jumped to avoid the sweep and barely got his arms into a cross block to avoid another kick in the head. The Ninja didn't give Ash time to recover as he came down from his jump, running forward and reaching for their tanto. Ash ran to meet his opponent and as the tanto came out of its sheath, slashing downwards, Ash dropped and skidded along the grass knocking the Ninja's legs out from under them. As Ash pushed himself backup he spared a glance at his attacker who was midway through a roll to lessen the impact of the fall, Ash made a quick sprint to his backpack and pulled out Sir Aaron's staff, turning just in time to block another slash from the tanto. They battled back an froth but Ash wasn't skilled enough to land a hit on his opponent, he was barely able to block or parry the attacks that came at him. After a minute Ash's clothes were cut and his skin sporting multiple scratches where he'd barely been able to deflect the tanto.
"Accept your defeat Guardian and I will make your death swift." The Ninja growled at Ash as they both fought for the upper hand, tanto and staff grinding against each other.
"I'm not dying today." Ash said as his eyes filled with Aura and his whole body started to glow, pushing the Ninja away quickly. Sir Aaron's staff was glowing now too and an Aura Sphere formed around the crystal. "Tell me who you are." The Ninja stayed silent, throwing a single shuriken at the Aura Sphere and charging forward again. Ash took one hand off the staff and fired a small Aura Sphere to block the shuriken, as they made contact the shuriken disintegrated releasing a thick cloud of black smoke. Ash's eyes flicked from place to place to try and locate his opponent but the Ninja knew how to hide their presence, even his Aura Sight couldn't pick them up. A minute passed with nothing happening, no movement, no sound, nothing, just as Ash was starting to think his attacker had left he heard movement to his right. He spun quickly to face it when he heard a soft chuckle from behind him, looking over his shoulder Ash saw the Ninja leaping out of the smoke and ready to take his head off of his shoulder with one swing. Ash acted without thinking and pouring even more Aura into the Aura Sphere surrounding the staff's crystal before slamming it into the ground, continuing to funnel Aura into it. This caused an explosion of Aura to rip out from Ash's position in the clearing, throwing the Ninja back as it they'd been hit by a cannon ball, the Ninja flew through the air losing their tanto and crashing into a tree ten feet away from Ash before sliding to the ground. Ash was still standing at the epicentre of the explosion, panting heavily as he turned to face his attacker and walking forward slowly. "I want some answers, who are you?"
The Ninja slowly stood holding their side, noticeably injured from hitting the tree and the concussive force of the explosion. They pulled a small black ball, about the size of a ping pong ball, from their pouch and threw it at the ground. A blinding light shone from the ball causing Ash to cover his eyes, when he was finally able to see again the Ninja had disappeared and so had all of their equipment that had been scattered around the clearing. Ash sighed and dropped back so he was sat on the ground, he took some deep breaths and heard May shouting his name looking around he saw her break through the tree line with Glaceon and Pikachu following close behind her, Lucario and Leaf appeared a few seconds after them.
"Ash! What happened? We heard an explosion." May dropped to her knees next to Ash and started to look him over for any serious injuries.
"I'm not sure, once you two had gone I was attacked by a Ninja." He replied. "Don't worry May, I'm alright just a little tired."
"You need to take a look at yourself Ash." Leaf said.
"What do you mean?"
"You look like you've just gone a few rounds with a Scyther." Looking down Ash saw that his clothes were in tatters, his t-shirt was caked in dust, covered in small cuts from the Ninja's tanto and even a few scorch marks from the explosion of Aura, his jeans were in a similar condition. "What the hell happened to you?"
"I..er..kind of blew myself up." There was a minute of silence as both girls just stared at the young Aura Guardian.
"Blew yourself up." Leaf repeated slowly. Ash nodded and received a harsh slap across the back of his head from May.
"What did I tell you at the Power Plant?!" She shouted.
"That I need to think about the people I care about before I do something dangerous." Ash replied quietly. "But I needed to act fast and that was the only thing I could think of." May smacked him again.
"You should've thought of something else!" She yelled, "I told you how much you mean to all of us, especially how much you mean to me."
"I had to do it if I wanted to keep my head!" Ash shouted back before his eyes widened when he realised what he'd said.
"You mean…." Leaf trailed off and Ash nodded.
"That explosion was the only thing I could do to keep my head on my shoulders." He said quietly, May gave him a hug.
"You should've kept Lucario and Pikachu with you." She said.
"I wanted to make sure you and Leaf were okay and I didn't want to risk my Pokémon getting hurt."
They stayed where they were for a few minutes before Ash stood up with a groan and went over to his bag, putting Sir Aaron's staff away and taking out a fresh set of clothes. He pulled off his t-shirt there in the clearing and started brushing himself off with a damp cloth to get rid of the dirt that was clinging to him. Leaf was surprised by the physical condition Ash was in, seeing that he had gained a muscular physique a big difference from the way he used to look. A sly smirk crossed her lips when she caught May staring at him, seemingly forgetting the meaning of decency due to the shameless nature of her stare.
"Do you see what I see?" Leaf sang teasingly, snapping May out of her trance and making her blush. "It's alright, if I didn't think of Ash like a brother I'd probably be staring just as much as you." May turned a slightly darker red. "We've got to stop you blushing so much, there's still a few days before we get to Fuchsia so I'm going to try and get you out of the habit."
"How are you going to do that?" May asked warily, trying to keep her focus on Leaf and not Ash's chest as he slipped on a fresh t-shirt.
"By building up your tolerance. I'm going to keep making comments and making you blush until you're used to the teasing." Leaf grinned and May groaned.
"It's going to be a long few days." May muttered as she turned back towards the trees. "I'm going get the firewood, I dropped it on the way back." Lucario immediately followed May into the trees as Leaf took some water canteens off her shoulder.
"This is going to be so much fun." Leaf smirked to herself and she unrolled her sleeping bag, sitting on it as she took off her shoes. She sighed happily as she put her feet flat into the grass.
"You haven't changed have you?" Ash said, as he made a small fire-pit. "Still loving the feeling of grass on your feet."
"Why should I change?" Leaf laughed, "I'm fabulous." Ash chuckled as he started to build the tents. "You do need to think more though, May gets really worried about you. It looks like you two have been through some pretty bad stuff."
"You have no idea." Ash laughed dryly. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you half the things I've been through."
"I know you've been in some big events like stopping Team Rocket, Pamela told me a little about it this morning. Try me."
"I've travelled back in time."
"You're right," Leaf said, "I don't believe you, next you'll be telling me you've met Arceus." Ash didn't answer, just turned away and smiled as he fed a pole through the tent. May and Lucario returned a few minutes later with the firewood and put it into the fire-pit. Ash let his Pokémon out of their Pokéballs with Leaf and May following his example seconds later.
"Bagon, can you light the fire for me please?" Ash asked the dragon type, with a shy nod Bagon spat out a small Ember which quickly caught the branches and kindling. Within a minute they had a nice fire flickering away as May started to make some food.
"Ash, you never told us why that Ninja attacked you." Leaf said as she groomed her Sawbuck.
"They said something about trespassing. Ow!" Ash replied as he tried to sew up the holes in his t-shirt, pricking his finger again. "This shouldn't be this hard." He muttered.
"You keep saying 'they' or 'the Ninja', don't you know if it was a man or woman?" Ash shook his head.
"No, everything happened too quickly. It sounded like it could've been a man but they looked too short, Ow!, it might've been a guy in his early teens though." Ash pricked his finger again and threw his t-shirt to the side. "That's it, I give up. I'll just buy a new one."
"Switch with me." May said walking over. "I'll sew, you cook."
"Deal." Ash stood up and went over to the fire, tending to the food.
"Ash…, do you think that Ninja will come back tonight?"
"I don't think so but I've got a plan just in case." Ash returned Krookodile and called Professor Oak on his X-Transceiver.
"Ash, my boy. How can I help you?" The Professor asked but before Ash could answer Leaf pulled on his arm.
"Hi Professor." She said with a grin as she waved.
"Leaf, dear girl. It's been a long time, how have you been?"
"I've been good Professor, I'm just travelling with Ash and May till we get to Fuchsia."
"That's nice, what business do you have in Fuchsia?"
"I'm making a delivery for Miss Erika, I'm working as the Head Gym Assistant at the Celadon City Gym and she asked me to take a package to Fuchsia as well as collecting some herb samples."
"Well, I must say it's nice to hear you're finding a place for yourself."
"How are things with you Professor?"
"Hectic as always but with Tracey's help I'm managing. Have you heard from Gary recently? I've been telling him to get back in contact to try and work out whatever happened between the two of you, how long has it been since you last spoke?"
"Eleven years give or take a couple months." Leaf's tone darkened and her eyes lost some of their brightness at the mention of the younger Oak.
"I see." After hearing Leaf's voice change the Professor knew he'd stepped into delicate territory.
A groan of pain interrupted the conversation, when Leaf had pulled on Ash's arm to talk to Professor Oak she also pushed a hand into his face effectively putting him into an arm bar. Every time Ash had tried to get out of it without hurting Leaf she just pulled his arm further and pushed against his face harder. Realising what she'd been doing Leaf let go of Ash's arm and took her hand off of his face.
"Sorry Ash."
"It's alright, just don't grab me if this happens again." Ash replied, shaking his arm out and rolling his shoulder to try and ease the pain from it.
"This is a little nauseating." Professor Oak said from Ash's wrist. "I never expected to have motion sickness from a phone call."
"Sorry Professor." Ash apologised, looking at his X-Transceiver. "I need to exchange a Pokémon really quickly, it's just for tonight."
"Of course you can, which Pokémon would you like?"
"Noctowl."
"Just give me a few minutes and I'll go get him." Professor Oak stood from this chair and disappeared from the screen.
"How are you going to switch Pokémon out here?" Leaf asked. Ash froze, he'd forgotten the Transfer Capsule was meant to be a secret.
"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone else. Not Erika, not your parents, no-one understand?" Leaf was a little taken aback by how secretive Ash's voice had gone.
"Yeah, I understand but why's it got to be so hush hush?"
"I've got a prototype of a Pokéball transporter, I'm putting it through real world condition." Ash explained, remembering how Meowth had phrased it.
"Cool, but I still don't see why it's so secret."
"It's because of how it works." May said, "It's all wireless and if someone managed to intercept the signal…"
"They could steal your Pokémon." Leaf finished. "I get it now. Who built it?"
"A friend, that's all we're going to say."
"Fine." Leaf pouted, "Can I see it?" Ash turned and lifted the back of his jacket to show the Transfer Capsule attached to the back of his belt. "How does it work?"
"Same as a normal transporter. Put a Pokéball in at either end and press a button."
"Ash, are you ready?" Professor Oak asked when he returned with Noctowl's Pokéball.
"Yes." Ash opened the small door of the TC and put the shrunken Pokéball inside. Just as Professor Oak was about to initiate the transfer Meowth's sleepy voice was heard.
"Wait! You need to shrink the Pokéball first Professor."
"Of course!" Professor Oak said taking the Pokéball off the teleport pad and shrinking it with a push of a button before replacing it in the transporter. "Who know what would've happened if a full size Pokéball had gone through the transfer."
"The TC would've exploded and I don't know what would've happened to Noctowl, best case scenario his Pokéball would've broken and he would've been released. I don't want to think about the worst case scenario, none of us do." There were a few moments of silence before Leaf spoke.
"Professor, who's there with you?"
"Who wants to know?" Meowth replied, staying out of sight.
"Ash's friend."
"Twe..er..Ash?"
"She's a friend you can trust her." Ash said, Meowth moved so the camera of the Professor's Vid-Phone could see him.
"Is he going to show himself?" Leaf asked.
"I already have." Meowth said with a wave to get Leaf's attention.
"Oh cool, he's a ventriloquist."
"No, I can actually talk."
"It's true." May said, "Meowth taught himself to talk like a person years ago."
"And he made the transporter thingie?"
"Yes, I did." Meowth grinned and puffed his chest out in pride.
"But he's a Pokémon." Meowth's chest deflated.
"Your powers of observation are staggering." The Scratch Cat Pokémon deadpanned. "Yes, I'm a Pokémon. Yes, I created the Transfer Capsule, is that so hard to understand?"
"Kind of, yeah." Meowth shook his head.
"Ready to transfer?" He said looking straight at Ash, effectively ending the conversation with Leaf.
"Hey, I have more questions." Leaf said.
"I don't care, it's late and I want to sleep. Ash?"
"Ready here." The raven haired trainer replied as he pressed the small button on the TC. Meowth walked forward and hit the button at the Lab, the TC hummed for a minute before a small ding was heard.
"There done, anything else you need? Everything working okay with the TC?"
"No, just needed Noctowl for a little while. When it's working the TC can get hot, it's not that bad but.."
"Continued use will just make it hotter, especially if you want to swap your whole team in a hurry. It could fry some circuits and maybe burn the user." Meowth finished as he rubbed his chin. "I'll see what I can come up with but right now I want to go back to sleep." Meowth turned and walked out of the room waving over his shoulder.
"Well since that's all been sorted out, I think Meowth has the right idea. Good night everyone."
"Night, Professor." Leaf, Ash and May said before ending the call.
"Come on out Noctowl." Ash said tossing the Pokéball into the air. The Owl Pokémon appeared in a flash of light with a secondary sparkle due to his Shiny nature, he flew in a couple of slow circles before landing on Ash's shoulder. "Do you mind keeping an eye out for tonight? We got attacked a little while ago and…" Ash didn't get any further as Noctowl hooted in agreement. "Thanks Noctowl, I'll be sure to tell the Professor to give you something special when you get back to the Lab."
Noctowl flapped his wings a couple of times and flew to a tree where he could be hidden from sight while still having a overview of the clearing. Ash, May and Leaf then quickly ate some food and went to sleep, still a little fearful of another attack but comforted that Noctowl was keeping watch.
The next morning after a less than restful night the trio woke up, Ash returned Noctowl to the Lab after thanking the Owl Pokémon for his help. They all then got ready for the day ahead and after a quick breakfast made their way to Fuchsia as swiftly as they could. The journey should've taken them a couple of days normally but due to fear of being attacked again, Ash, May and Leaf didn't stop for more then a couple of minutes at a time and eating while they moved at a fast pace. Ash had his Aura Senses at full power to try and pick up any sign of attack, the trio had released a few more of their Pokémon as well. Krookodile, Blaziken, Altaria, Breloom and Shiftry joined Lucario, Pikachu and Glaceon surrounding the trio, May also had Litwick out of her Pokéball and carried the Candle Pokémon in her arms asking that if she felt anyone nearby that might want to hurt them to let tell her.
After a couple of close calls and apologises to overzealous trainers wanting to battle the group arrived in Fuchsia just as night was falling, they booked themselves into the Pokémon Centre and handed their Pokémon to Nurse Joy before getting a hot meal and going straight to bed. They'd all had a long and stressful day so as soon as their heads hit the pillows they were out cold until late the next morning, Ash was the first to wake up and get ready for the day. He changed into his exercise clothes and went to knock on the door of the room May and Leaf were sharing, there was a muffled curse from Leaf before a bleary eyed May opened the door. She stared at Ash for a minute before she fully registered who he was, looking him up and down told her why he was there.
"Just give me a minute to get changed." May yawned as she stretched, the white vest top she was wearing rising to show her flat, toned stomach. Ash's eyes flicked down to the exposed flesh and it was a few seconds before he caught himself and returned his gaze to May's face, due to her sleepiness May didn't notice Ash's blatant appreciation of her body.
"If you're tired you don't have to exercise with me." Ash said, May shook her head.
"No, I'll come just let me get ready." A pillow thump against the wall by May.
"People are trying to sleep." Leaf mumbled as Ash heard her moving under her bed-sheets. "Make up your mind and go away."
"Two minutes." May said closing the door. "I'll meet you outside." Ash nodded and walked out to the Pokémon Centre's training grounds with Pikachu and Lucario following him. Ash was just starting to stretch out when May came jogging out of the Pokémon Centre with Glaceon at her heels and Litwick in her arms. The Pokémon stayed near a bench as they exercised a little while keeping an eye on Litwick as she sat on the bench. Ash and May went through their usual routine, running a few circuits around the training grounds doing some exercises at certain points until May stumbles and hopped to the side.
"Ah! Cramp, cramp, cramp." She hissed as she bent to massage her calf, Ash quickly jogged over to her and knelt down. May put a hand on Ash's shoulder to steady herself as her face scrunched up in pain.
"Here let me." He said gently taking hold of her leg and massaging her calf to work out the cramp. Ash focussed his attention on what he was doing while trying to avoid thinking about the fact he was massaging a beautiful girl's leg and not just any beautiful girl's leg, May's leg. He could feel his face heating up as May groaned every time he managed to loosen the muscle a little. "It's probably because of yesterday, you mustn't have had enough to drink or not stretched enough. How bad is it?"
"On a scale of one to ten? About a 7, maybe 8." May hissed as Ash hit a particularly knotted part of the muscle.
"Lucario, can you get May a bottle of water?" Ash asked and the Aura Pokémon nodded once before jogging into the Pokémon Centre.
"GET A ROOM!" They heard a familiar voice shout, looking up they saw Leaf grinning at the from the window of her room. Both Ash and May went a deep red as Leaf's cackling laugh reached them.
"Give me your shoe." May said to Ash.
"Why?" He asked.
"I want to throw something at her."
"Why does it have to be my shoe?"
"I don't want to throw mine, I might lose it."
"But losing mine is fine?"
"Exactly, now can I have your shoe please?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to lose my shoe either."
"Well, want can we throw at her?" Ash looked around before noticing that Lucario was coming back towards them. "How fast can you drink that water?"
"Not fast enough." May said taking the bottle from the Steel and Fighting type. "But I don't need to." She then threw the full bottle towards Leaf, the bottle missed her going too high but Ash and May got the last laugh as the bottle hit the wall, burst open and the water fell soaking Leaf.
"I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT MAPLE!" Leaf screamed, as the cold water soaked through her pyjamas.
"SERVES YOU RIGHT!" May shouted back, she turned her head to look at Ash with a triumphant grin. "What?" She asked when she saw the appraising look on his face.
"Good throw." He replied, nodding. Ash sent a small pulse of Aura into May's calf, soothing the pain more and causing May to groan appreciatively once again. "Are you alright now?"
"I think so." May moved her leg out of Ash's grasp and put it on the ground, testing her weight on it. "I probably just need to walk for a while to work it out properly." May took a few steps, limping as she went. "I'll be fine, let's carry on." Ash shook his head.
"If you exercise on that you're just going to do more damage." Ash gently took May's arm and guided her over to a bench. "Just sit here and stretch your leg out gently, move your foot around a little and flex your toes. It'll make it easier but you'll probably still be limping for the rest of the day." May pouted but nodded, knowing he was right. She watched as Ash went through the rest of his exercises and paused when she saw someone walking towards them. It was a man around 20 years old wearing a black shirt, red vest and blue pants.
"Hey Ash." May said, "Isn't that…" She pointed to the man approaching them.
"Mike?" Ash called.
"Hey Ash, May. How have you been?"
"We've been good, I've got another Contest Ribbon and Ash got his fifth badge. What about you?" May asked.
"Can't complain, congrats on the Ribbon and Badges. I've got four at the minute, I won the Soul Badge earlier this morning." Mike pulled the small pink heart shaped badge out of his pocket. "Houndoom's getting treated by Nurse Joy, so's Lucario she got poisoned quite badly."
"Poisoned?" Ash questioned. "Steel type's can't be poisoned."
"That's what I thought but somehow it happened. I still can't figure it out." Mike looked around the training ground. "I heard someone scream, that's actually why I came back here did something happen?" May chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head.
"Yeah, that was kind of my fault. We're travelling with a friend and she was teasing us so I threw a bottle of water at her, it missed but the water still soaked her."
"Well, it sounds like it was her own fault." Mike leaned towards Ash and muttered. "Remind me to never upset May."
"Where are you going next?" Ash asked with a smile.
"I was thinking I might make my way up to Celadon for my next badge and after that, I don't know, maybe Saffron and Pewter. What about you?"
"After I get this Gym Badge it's Cinnabar then Viridian. We need to get May two more Ribbons as well."
"Mind if I stick around and watch your battle? I want to see if I can work out how Lucario got poisoned."
"Sure, I don't mind. Do you want to join us for lunch? Well, technically this will be our breakfast we've had a hectic couple of days."
"What happened? If you don't mind me asking."
"Ash got attacked by a Ninja." May answered, "We basically ran here yesterday and passed out as soon as we got into our rooms."
"A Ninja? So you came to a place known for its Ninja history and school of Ninja training to be safe?"
"Well, when you put it like that it.." May started before getting interrupted.
"Alright, Maple. Let's sort this thing out right here, right now." Mike, Ash and May turned to look at the new speaker, seeing Leaf marching towards them. "You should know better than anyone, you never mess with a girl's hair!" Leaf was wearing a pair of running shorts and a white vest top, with her hair tied in a ponytail, she stopped in front of May and put her fists up. "Come on, let's fight this out." May backed up with her hands up in surrender.
"I'm not going to fight you Leaf, it was an accident. I was trying to hit you with the bottle, not soak your hair." May put her hands over her mouth when she realised what she'd said.
"Oh really? Well that changes things." Leaf threw a punch out, May squeaked in surprise and jumped back. Ash put a hand on Leaf's shoulder to try and stop her but got an elbow to the nose instead. "Stay out of this Hubby, I need a word with the mistress." Leaf advanced on May attacking as Ash stumbled back holding his nose.
"Interesting friends you have." Mike commented, "Want me to step in?" Ash shook his head and pointed to May, Mike turned his attention back to the girls and understood what Ash was saying. Leaf kept attacking and attacking but May hadn't been hit yet, she kept dodging or parrying Leaf's punches and kicks slowly wearing Leaf out. Despite having a slightly bad leg May was still moving well enough to outpace Leaf. Mike nodded as he watched the girls fight then looked at Ash. "So, you going to explain the 'Hubby' thing or do I have to work it out myself?" Ash sighed and gave him a quick explanation.
A few minutes later Leaf stopped, bending over and resting her hands on her knees, panting for breath.
"Why,…Why won't you stay still?" Leaf said, trying to get her breath back.
"Do I really need to answer that?" May replied a couple of feet away. "Look, Leaf, I'm sorry about the water and trying to hit you with the bottle but it was your own fault. You shouldn't have tease me and Ash like that though."
"I know, I know but you'd be the same if I ruined your hair." Leaf straightened up as her breath came back to her.
"Well, you did say you wanted to wash your hair last night." May grinned before squealing and running as Leaf chased her around the training field, catching her quickly due to her slight limp. The pair were soon laughing together and rolling around on the ground
"I will never understand women." Mike said as he watched them. A low growl filled the air around them as both Ash and May blushed. "I take it you're both hungry, come on let's go get something to eat." He walked over to Leaf as May leapt to her feet. "May I offer you a hand?" He asked holding a hand out to the Pallet Town brunette.
"Thank you." Leaf replied, taking the outstretched hand and getting up from the ground. "I'm Leaf."
"Mike. Nice to meet you."
"You too." Leaf let go of Mike's hand. "If you're flirting I should tell you I kind of have my eye on someone else but I'm really flattered."
"That's alright, it was only a bit of harmless flirting to try be nice. I have a girlfriend back in Sinnoh, she's the Gym Leader of Veilstone City." There was a bit of awkward silence before Ash's stomach growled again. "I think that's our cue." The four of them plus Pikachu, Lucario, Litwick and Glaceon walked back into the Pokémon Centre and got some food, sharing some stories about how they each met. After eating Ash, May and Leaf went back to their rooms to get showered and changed. Once they were ready Mike collected his Pokémon from Nurse Joy and let Houndoom out of his ball, giving him a quick scratch on the head, they all walked out of the Pokémon Centre and started walking down the street.
"I have to go and make the delivery and pickup for Miss Erika. I'll catch up with you guys later, hopefully I'll make it in time to see your Gym Battle." Leaf said before waving and strolling off in a different direction.
"And then there were three." Mike said. "Come on we're wasting daylight and I want to see how Lucario got poisoned."
"I'm not going to use Lucario for this battle, I'm using some of my newer Pokémon and I've got Krookodile as back up, I am using a Steel type though. What happened in your battle anyway? Maybe we can work it out." Ash replied. They spent the rest of the journey to the Gym going over Mike's battle, after about twenty minutes of walking they arrived at the Gym. Ash raised his hand to knock on the door when a deep baritone echoed around the group.
"There is no reason to knock Ash Ketchum, I know it is you and what business you have here." Ash, Mike and May formed a circle with their Pokémon as they all looked around to try and pinpoint where the voice was coming from but found nothing. The voice chuckled, "You will not find me unless I wish you too, that is a matter of pride for those trained in the art of the Ninja." The doors of the Gym slowly creaked open. "Please enter." The group all stiffened as the voice was heard behind them, they looked over their shoulders to see Koga standing in the centre of their circle, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes closed and his head tilted down slightly. As far as Ash could tell Koga hadn't aged a day since they'd last met, his hair was still dark blue and his face was free of any marks of age. His clothes were the same style except for being a darker shade of blue that was almost black and his scarf was a brighter shade of red..
"Oh, you need to teach me that trick." Mike said in awe. Koga slowly raised his head and opened his eyes as his mouth formed a small smirk.
"If you can tell me how I did it, I would consider teaching you." He replied, "Now shall we go inside or do you wish to stay out here?" They all walked into the Gym with the doors closing themselves once they were inside. They all followed the etiquette that the Gym's atmosphere almost demanded and took off their shoes by the entrance before Koga lead them to a small room, a low table sat in the middle of the room with cushions positioned on the floor around it. "Please, sit down." Koga gestured to the cushion, they all sat down and a wooden panel slide to the side as Aya, Koga's younger sister, entered the room carrying a tray with a teapot and small cups before sliding the panel closed again. "Thank you Aya." Koga said as she poured the tea into the cups and handed them out. Ash took a minute to look at Aya, she hadn't changed much since he had last visited the Gym either. She still had long dark green hair tied up in a high ponytail, slim figure, pale skin and blue/grey eyes, now however instead of the short pink uniform she wore originally she was now in a dark red suit like Koga's completed with a dark green scarf. "Aya, would you mind taking young Ash's friends on a tour of the Gym's facilities? I would like to have a word in private with him, if that's okay with him."
"Yes brother." Aya said respectfully, standing and sliding a different panel open and looking at Mike and May. Ash and May shared a look, after the attack May didn't like the idea of Ash being alone with a Ninja seeing as the one that attacked him had specifically singled Ash out. Ash gave her hand a comforting squeeze and a nod, May pecked Ash on the lips before standing up and joining Mike and Aya outside the room. The Pokémon left the room too though Pikachu, Lucario and Glaceon were hesitant to leave him alone it was only a confident look from Ash that made them leave. A minute of silence followed between Koga and Ash before either said anything.
"That is a very beautiful girl you are travelling with Guardian, I must say I did expect you to be in a relationship with Misty given how close the two of you were." Koga said sipping his tea.
"Me and Misty? We're just….." Ash's voice trailed off as memories flashed through his mind, moment that he and Misty had shared, dancing at Maiden's Peak, how she had acted around Melody when they first got to Shamouti, a faint recollection of her disbelief on New Island and many more. "I…How did I…." Ash stared into space in disbelief, "I'm blind." Koga chuckled softly.
"Even the wisest men can miss that which is directly in front of their eyes, especially when it come to the matter of women. If I remember correctly you were focussed on winning the Indigo League and nothing else really mattered to you apart from your Pokémon. It is understandable given that self-imposed mission and your age at the time. If it is any comfort I do believe that had your Charizard listened to you then there was a very good chance of you winning." Koga put his cup down and looked at Ash seriously. "That is not the reason I wished to talk with you in private young Guardian." It was only at that point that Ash realised that Koga had called him Guardian twice.
"So you know I'm an Aura Guardian, can I ask how you found out?" Ash asked, letting Aura slowly move through his body so that he could react quickly if he needed too.
"I make it a point to learn as much about a person as I can from the first time I lay eyes on them." Koga poured himself some more tea. "When we first met years ago, I could sense something powerful in you. At first I dismissed it as your youthful energy and strong will but when I saw your performance during the Pokémon League I began to suspect there was more to you than I originally thought. It was a few years before I started to piece my suspicions together and realise exactly what you were. Hearing about the events that took place in Rota was the confirmation that I needed to prove my conclusion, that you had the power of Aura inside you." Koga reached into his suit and Ash tensed, his hands coming forward with an Aura Sphere ready. Koga simply raised an eyebrow in amusement and was about to speak when the wood panel was throw open with a bang.
"Father, there is…" A girl's voice started urgently but stopped when she took in the scene in front of her. Ash's head snapped to the side to look at the girl, she was a similar age to him, maybe a couple of years older, she had purple hair tied up in a spiky bun with a yellow band, purple eyes and pale skin. She had a slim athletic build and wore a black suit like Koga and Aya but there were differences, the arms were orange and skin tight, purple bracers covered her wrists, a pink belt around her waist and a scarf of the same colour draped around her throat. "Guardian." She growled viciously, quickly drawing a kunai from a hidden pocket and throwing it at Ash. On reflect Ash spun and expanded his Aura Sphere into an Aura Shield, just before the kunai could make contact with the Aura Shield a second kunai flew into view and intercepted the first one. Looking to see where the kunai had come from all he saw was Koga once again calmly drinking his tea.
"Janine, do not attack my guest." He said in a low, even voice. Ash quickly turned his attention back to his attacker and was surprised to see her bowing stiffly and saying something to Koga in a language that Ash couldn't understand. "In English daughter, it is rude to speak about my guest when he is in our presence and can not understand. He has no way of defending himself against your accusations." Koga's eyes left his cup and flicked to Ash. "You can lower your shield, it wouldn't have done you much good anyway. The metal those kunai are made from can pass through Aura as smoothly as a hot knife through butter." Ash's eyes widened, if anyone else had said it Ash would've thought they were joking but the tone of Koga's voice was more then enough to convince Ash it was the truth. He slowly let his shield fade away but kept his Aura ready for use any second. "You have nothing to fear, you will not be harmed while in Fuchsia City." Koga let his gaze move to Janine as she sat on a cushion next to her father. "Now, daughter please explain what was so urgent that you deemed it worthy enough to interrupt me while with a guest?"
"Father, this 'Guardian," Janine said 'Guardian' as if it was the worst insult she could think of, "Trespassed in our territory, I found him during my training two days ago and acted accordingly."
"You announced yourself and demanded an explanation for why he was in our domain?" Koga interrupted, Janine didn't answer. "I take your silence to mean you did not announce yourself and struck first?" Janine's head barely twitched as she nodded in confirmation. Koga sighed and rolled his hand. "Continue."
"We fought and this 'Guardian'.." Janine started when Koga interrupted again, his voice stern and disapproving.
"You will show him proper respect, he is an innocent party in this situation, you attacked him with intent to kill without warning when you should have sought explanation for his presence here. This young man has save the world more time than you would think and will probably continue to do so until the day he dies. You have two choices, call him Guardian with the respect that comes with the title or use his given name of Ash and give him the respect you would give any challenger for the Soul Badge." Janine's eyes widened at the same time as Ash's.
"He's a challenger?/She's the Gym Leader?" They said at the same time.
"That is correct, Ash is here to battle for his next Gym Badge and Janine is now the Leader of the Fuchsia City Gym. Lance recruited me for the Johto Elite Four not too long after you first visited the Gym Ash, I briefly acted as both Gym Leader and Elite Four until Janine was old enough and skilled enough to take over leadership. As much as I would like to battle you again with the Soul Badge at stake Ash, it is not my place to do so." Koga sipped his tea again calmly under the stares of Ash and Janine. "Daughter?" Janine nodded and continued her account.
"We fought and…Ash only survived because he blew himself up." Koga's eyebrow rose slightly, "The shockwave threw me into a tree and may have cracked a couple of my ribs, I had to retreat and see to my injuries which took some time so I made camp. Once I was ready to confront him again, he had already left his campsite with his female companions. I spent a few hours trying to find him before having to treat my injuries again, after that it was late so I set up camp once again and returned here to inform you of what had happened. You have witnessed what has happened since then." Koga looked at Ash to see if he had anything to add, Ash just nodded to confirm what Janine had said. Silence filled the room for a few minutes.
"I'm sorry I hurt you." Koga and Janine looked at Ash, Koga in amusement and Janine in a mixture of confusion, shock and anger. "I don't have much skill in healing specific injuries but I can use my Aura to speed up your recovery if you want, I can see you're in pain."
"What makes you think my injuries still bother me?" Janine bit, anger starting to fill her voice.
"You're holding your side." Ash said plainly, looking down Janine noticed that her hand had unconsciously moved from resting on her knee to lightly pressing on her ribs.
"Your assistance is greatly appreciated Ash, I would be honoured if you helped in my daughter's recovery. I will admit that I am tempted to let her heal on her own in the hope it will encourage her to think before she acts in future." Koga nodded, Janine stood stiffly and bowed to her father.
"If you will excuse me father, I need to go and prepare for the upcoming Gym Battle." She then turned and left the room before Ash could do anything to try and help her. Koga let a tired sigh escape his mouth as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"She is too much like her mother, so prideful. I apologise on her behalf and would like to offer you the Soul Badge in compensation of what you have had to endure over the past two days, it isn't much so if there is anything else you wish I will do what I can to make amends for what has happened to you."
"Thank you for the offer." Ash said after taking a minute to process what Koga had said. "I don't want to get my Gym Badge like this, the first time I travelled through Kanto some of my badges were given to me because of things I did, not how I battled. I want to get them the right way, I want to battle your daughter for the Gym Badge." Koga smiled.
"Somehow I knew that would be your choice. Is there anything I can offer you to apologise for Janine's actions?"
"Could you tell me why she hates me so much?"
"It is not you specifically, it is more to do with what you represent. Your tutor in Rota didn't tell you of how the pasts of Aura Guardians and Psychics intertwine with that of the Ninja did they?" Ash shook his head. "And I presume Sabrina didn't mention anything either." Ash shook his head again. "I suppose it is not that surprising given how twisted the tales have gotten over the centuries, Aura Guardians raised to untouchable heights, Psychics retreating to their mental fortresses and Ninja fading into shadows of their own making. Allow me to tell you the history of our predecessors." Koga took a breath before he started speaking again. "After generations of witnessing the destruction that was caused by the wars waged between Aura Guardians and Psychics the citizens of that time had had enough and decided it was time for them to make a stand against the two armies, taking up anything they could use as a weapon, farm equipment, general tools, even thick branches they marched out onto the field of battle…they were slaughtered almost as soon as they entered the battle. It was only afterwards that both the Aura Guardians and Psychics realised the citizens weren't under the command of the other, they did their best to transfer the blame to their enemy but as it always does, the truth somehow became known and that inspired the people to rise up again only this time they took time to prepare. Unlike Aura Guardians and Psychics the people had no special power to aid them in battle so they trained, they copied the movements of Pokémon and crafted themselves weapons before teaching themselves to wield them." Koga paused to take a sip of his tea and letting Ash process the information up to this point, once he thought Ash was ready Koga continued.
"The next time the people tried to end the fighting they decided to change their tactics, instead of charging into battle they split up into smaller groups of three or four and tried to assassinate the leaders before the night of the battle. They failed again as they became impatient, running into patrol sentries at both of the armies camps. This made the ones who had stayed behind from the assassination attempts rethink their plans once more. They needed more training and skills, they needed to fight in a way that Aura Guardians and Psychics had never encountered before so in their groups they split up, recruiting people to their cause and gathering teachers as they went, sometimes staying in one place for months or years to master a skill due to a teacher refusing to leave their home. They trained with martial arts masters, acrobats, thieves, dancers, courtesans, anyone that could offer them some skill that may come in handy, no matter how slight the advantage it may have provided. After years of preparation they had learnt how to move silently, to hide in a room filled with people without being detected, to steal the most guarded items with ease, they knew which plants could kill singularly or in combination and how quickly, how to paralyse or kill a person with a single strike and discovered materials that could pass through Aura, render them invisible to Psychics they found ways to give themselves advantages they needed to battle on even ground." Ash lifted his cup and downed the contents in a single gulp before asking for a refill, Koga patiently paused his historical account to pour more tea into the cup and took a drink himself before he started on the next part.
"The first one of the people to be called Ninja was a circus performer, an acrobat to be exact, named Temugin. He gained access to an Aura Guardian stronghold, secreted himself into a General's bedchambers, while the General was there sleeping, coated his staff with a poison that would kill within a few minutes and left without any alarms being raised. Temugin had the first confirmed kill through this new training and if my research is correct, he is an ancestor of mine." A small note of pride could be heard in Koga's voice. "The death of the General was covered up, I believe the story given was that he was stricken with a sudden and fatal illness. The same thing happened to a Psychic figurehead named Harib except it was a poisoned hairbrush instead of a staff.."
"You're talking about General Tagar." Ash said quietly, remembering the history lessons Riley had given him about prominent figures from the past.
"I could never find information as to the General's name, thank you for providing it. Sabrina supplied me with the name of the Psychic's figurehead" Koga replied before carrying on from where he had left off. "After the death of General Tagar both Aura Guardians and Psychics realised just how committed and dangerous the people had gotten during the course of their wars. Skirmishes constantly broke out, Ninja catching Guardians or Psychics unaware and fighting from the shadows. As in all battles there were losses on both sides but once the war had ended the leaders of the Psychics, Aura Guardians and Ninja came together forging a treaty Aura Guardians and Psychics, should they ever go to war against each other again they would try and keep the battle away from the civilians on the terms that the Ninja would not give their secrets to either side. All the parties agreed and for a while there was peace but as you are probably aware war once more broke out, this time the Psychics and Aura Guardians kept to their promises and battled away from populated areas of the kingdom when possible and on the occasion they happened to be close to such an area be it city, town or village they fought hand to hand with minimal use of their powers. The Ninja had to step in a few times but only to protect civilians caught in the crossfire, both sides came to the Ninja asking for them to share their skills but the Ninja denied them such." Koga paused to collect his thought for a few seconds.
"It was a Psychic Captain called Dlanga, I believe that found a loophole in the treaty. The Ninja could not give their skills to either side but their skills could be…" Koga paused again to think of the appropriate word. "…purchased. She reasoned that because Ninja were civilians due to the war and general state of the lands they would be hard pressed to make ends meet."
"So the Ninja started working as mercenaries." Ash interrupted, Koga frowned and turned up his nose at the accusation.
"Mercenaries are unskilled barbarians." Koga said indignantly. "The way of the Ninja is an art from unto itself. Yes, Ninja worked for money but that was only so they could support their families and have the resources to rebuild when the war ended. And don't try to take the higher road young Guardian, your predecessors also hired the Ninja for certain tasks. It could've been something as simple as spying, stealing a weapon, freeing Pokémon under the enemies control or something more sinister, poisoning a garrison so they would not be able to fight or just to kill them outright and assassinations. This happened throughout the war until the Ninja became tired of being the weapons of their enemies, so they hatched their own plans. They started to feed false information to the side that had hired them, assassinated Officers and figureheads making it look like the opposing side had committed the attack, some Ninja would complete their contracted assassination and then kill the one who had hired them, making it look like a revenge attack from their opponent." Koga's face grew solemn as he stopped again, finishing his tea. "Eventually both Psychics and Aura Guardians figured out what the Ninja were doing and for generations after that both sides made examples of any Ninja they managed to capture, dead or alive. I can understand why neither your teacher or Sabrina mentioned this, it is not a part of their history that they can be proud of. The hatred that Aura Guardians, Psychics and Ninja have has between each other has been carried through the generations, I can see you don't carry it in your heart, Sabrina's family and I put aside our differences years ago when they took over the Saffron City Gym, I also refuse to let the past guide me into the future but my daughter," Koga sighed, "She hold onto that anger, she lets it fester in her heart, some of our ancestors were amongst those used as examples. I fear for what she may do, it is fortunate you are not a conventional fighter and caught her off guard otherwise we may not be having this conversation." Koga stood up. "Come, Janine should be ready for your battle and Aya will be taking your friends to the battlefield to wait for us."
Ash stood up and followed Koga through a maze of corridors and secret passages until they walked out of a hidden panel into the Gym's battlefield. May, Mike and the Pokémon jerked in surprise as the wall next to them opened suddenly while Aya simply turned her head to look as Koga walked out with Ash behind him, Ash turned to them and smiled.
"Hey guys." He said before asking Mike a question, "What happened to your nose?" Mike's eyes flicked to the side as his hand came up to rub him reddened nose.
"He walked into one of the invisible walls just like he did earlier this morning." Aya said, "I believe it was the same wall." May giggled and Mike just grumbled under his breath. Koga nodded and moved to stand in the referee's position on the battlefield.
"Janine, it is time for battle." He said and Janine dropped silently from the ceiling, landing without a sound on her side of the battlefield. "Ash, if you are ready then we can…" Koga was interrupted as the sliding panel to the room slammed open.
"I'm not late am I?" Leaf asked as she ran into the room. She looked around and took everything in. "Good, you haven't started yet. Hey Janine!" She waved, Janine gave the briefest of smiles and nodded in Leaf's direction.
"Miss Green, as much it is a pleasure to see you may I ask why you are here?" Koga questioned.
"I'm here to see my friends battle."
"You know her/him?" Ash and Janine asked at the same time, Leaf nodded.
"Yeah, I've known Ash since we were kids and Janine has been my friend for about 5 years now. Why, is that a problem?"
"She tried to kill me." Ash replied.
"What did you do to her?"
"Nothing! She's the Ninja that tried to kill me the other night." Ash explained, anger edging into his voice. Leaf looked at Janine confirmation, her friend nodded again. Aya raised an eyebrow and made a note to investigate the issue later on.
"Oh." Leaf said in a quiet voice before sitting at the side of the battlefield next to May.
"We can postpone the battle until tomorrow if you wish it." Koga said
"No," Ash took a breath to calm himself down. "I'm alright, let's do this."
"Very well, this will be a four against four battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Fuchsia City Gym Leader Janine. The first trainer to have all their Pokémon defeated will lose, the challenger is allowed to swap Pokémon. Release your first Pokémon and let the battle begin."
Ash took a Pokéball from his belt, enlarged it and threw it into the air releasing his first Pokémon. In a flash of light accompanied by a second swirl of light Ash's Shiny Beldum floated above the battlefield and was ready to battle, on Janine's side her Pokémon dropped from the rafter landing with a low thump and settled into a fighting stance. Janine had called on her Croagunk for this fight but before either challenger or Gym Leader could order an attack Koga spoke up.
"I see that Mr Shamrock told you how his Lucario was poisoned earlier today, choosing Beldum is a wise decision."
"Er..I don't actually know how that happened, I was hoping to learn it by watching this battle." Mike said.
"In that case I will say no more on the topic." Koga replied, Ash and Janine looked at each other and there was a minute of silence before Janine acted.
"Croagunk, Brick Break."
That's all I've got for now
Hope you liked it
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer