Chapter 34:Choices and Limits
For centuries, they have stayed. For centuries, they have worshipped the resident deity, the one who was the source of their mutation, the source of their strength, the source of their… shine. For centuries, they have stood guard, ensuring that nothing, and no one, ever interrupted the Great One as he slumbered beneath the crust, in his own dimensional mesh, insulated by the Unown.
For centuries, they did his bidding, as they stood in wait, for the day the Electric Tamer would come to pass by their abode. After all, who would n0t want the opportunity to be blessed by the companionship of the one to whom the lightning dragon would swear its allegiance?
And so they waited.
The mindless beasts on the surface served as a good filter, removing any and all forms of unworthy and unsavoury entities away from their abode. Mindless and berserk they might be, but even the dimmest could comprehend the presence of divinity when it walked in front of them. And the mindless beasts certainly understood who it was, that they served.
And He came.
They were never so disappointed, in centuries. He had to be him, but yet, he was not him. By all probabilities, such a blight should never even have existed. But he walked, and he had several other protectors all around him-
And so, they waited.
And watched.
They watched him evolve that tadpole into his higher form, using an elemental crystal the humans called a water stone. They saw him take care of the void-using dragon like a parent. They saw him take care of each and every one of his teammates, with the same love and affection they expected from the Tamer. And yet, he was not him. He could not be him.
That was when things changed. They saw the rock-head dragon throw a tantrum, and attack him back- they wouldn't admit it but they felt glee at it, feeling that it indicated how he was not worthy to be him. They saw the dragon injure him, and surprisingly (or not), the black creature, the likes of which they had never seen before, stand up to resist the rock-head from attacking him. They witnessed the battle that followed, and the rampage it brought. They were distraught when the vulpine managed to use mystical abilities, and invoke the Void of all things to help salvage the situation.
It was clear why he was not him, especially if he desired the acquaintance and companionship of such… distorted creatures. Freaks.
It was indeed, so clear.
Needless to say, they were clearly smug when the herd of mindless beasts jumped down on them, as they watched from their vantage points, watching the spectacular battle that ensured.
Back to the present.
The first crack created a thin fracture furrowing its way through the upper-left portion of the shell. The next crack was proof that the fracture had shattered through half of the skull. By the time the third crack was heard, the metamorphosing genetic material inside Shelgon's shell had begun to shine—glow radiantly in the dim light beneath the canopy.
And then two large, crimson-red wings tore their way through the shell, which cracked even further, not having power enough to stop the ongoing procedure.
Shelgon screamed.
Two more fractures happened on the lateral sides of his body, as four blue limbs, each of them ending with three shiny claws at the edges—shot out of the ruptured openings, followed by a third splinter at the posterior, out of which, a long draconic tail shot out, blue all over with red on the underside. With a third roar, Shelgon raised his head, which finally ruptured out of whatever remained of the upper shell—as a long necked draconic head shot out, leaving only the lower portion of the original shell—now forming a protection covering for his red underbelly.
Salamence let out a devastating roar.
The silvery shell enclosing the spheroidal draconic being was no more. Instead, the metamorphosis had been completed, hastened by the bubbling, over-indulgently negative and powerful emotions brimming inside the mind and heart of the dragon who had finally revealed himself to the world, his giant red wings, flapping out in the air, as if testing its own strength and durability, his limbs now capable of better locomotion than it had been as Bagon, his powers enhanced and his abilities shining and active.
Almost immediately, the ability known as Intimidate made its presence known, as each and every of the pig monkeys out there, as well as the rest of Ash's team, felt an unnatural feeling of fear weighing them down, reducing their ability to attack at full strength. Poliwrath openly flinched.
Salamence let out another earth-shattering roar.
"Primeee!" The de-facto leader of the herd sneered, as it let out another war cry, as they began to leap towards the new threat in their territory—
Only to receive a blast of scorching heat right in the face.
Salamence lifted his maw and belched out torrential flames, spewing them out towards the herd, scorching and burning anyone and anything that even dared to come close to him. The excess burst of energy supplied by evolution, coupled with the emotions it had been experiencing, along with the somewhat blurry memories of how he had been on his last stand before this untimely evolution-
All of that came out in the form of uncontrollable, undeniably powerful, infernal rage. It needed an outlet, and Salamence gave it one.
The Primeape.
As soon as the blast of concentrated, super-hot flames hit the de-facto leader, it lost consciousness. There was no screeching, no feeling of pain. The sheer power behind it was enough to send the fighting-type into oblivion, irrespective of the fact that half of the fur on its body had been charred to ash.
And that, led to the activation of something ever worse.
There was only one thing that could be more disastrous than dealing with an angry Salamence. It was dealing with an angry Salamence with Moxie.
Moxie, a hidden attribute to Salamence's constitution, is something that doesn't really show itself unless in the direst of situations—an ability that increases its wielder's attack power tremendously should an opponent lose consciousness in battle. Needless to say, in a situation when the ability-wielder is facing multiple opponents, its attack power would keep magnifying with each opponent falling before him. Given Salamence's natural sheer strength, and vast move pool, most Salamence almost never need to activate Moxie, which stays as its hidden ability.
However, the current arrangement had several factors that were not natural. An angry, frustrated Shelgon that had betrayed his own trainer. The application of mystical energies that had rendered its powers near-useless. The acceptance of defeat by a dragon. The sheer fear of seeing his trainer almost die in front of him. The presence of the same nemesis that had caused its trainer to almost die.
It was a situation that would almost, never happen. A probability so, so small that even the Gods could have possibly overlooked it.
Moxie activated.
Salamence felt a frightening amount of power rush through his veins, empowering and agitating him even further. He lifted his maw and belch out dragon breath with a consistency that would surprise him in the future if he chose to introspect himself about it. Right and left, he shot towards the encroaching monkeys, slamming them with his powerful claws, bathing them in dragon fire, or worse, biting them off in a fit of rage. In a matter of minutes, the entire Primeape and Mankey herd were on the floor, burnt, scorching, and-
"Key! Key!" One of the Mankey kept on screeching, despite being burnt and charred.
Salamence raised one of his limbs and slammed it against the pitiful thing's face, smashing it as blood spat out all over the white fur, straight onto the ground.
Silence.
The angry dragon's declaration rumbled like thunder.
With the now subdued attackers (or whatever remained of them anyway), Salamence stared down at the fallen body of Ash, recognition once again flooding his senses as he stopped his rampage, his wings now drooping as he neared Ash's fallen and now unresponsive form, trying to push him awake with his snout.
No reaction.
Salamence tried again.
Still no reaction. What was going on?
This time Salamence pushed with a little more strength, making Ash turn over and fall on his back. A slight tremor on his chest was the only indication that the human was still alive, but only just.
"He won't wake."
Salamence twisted his long neck to stare down at the vulpine pokémon sitting next to Ash. Aoi had managed to pull herself up—her expression vacant as she regarded the powerful dragon. "His consciousness is gone."
Salamence breathed tiny embers off his snout. How dare this creature even suggest that his trainer was-?
"He is alive, but only barely. For all my powers, I cannot heal him. It is beyond me. His spine is broken, and too fractured to heal."
Salamence growled, flapping his wings. Surely the human healers could do something about it? He had wings now! He could take Ash and fly off to those Pokémon centers or whatever they called it! Ash hadn't even seen him evolve and fly yet, damnit! There was no way he would be dead.
"You think that the human healers can help him where I could not?" Aoi snarled. "You think I would be sitting here, watching his soul slowly trickle out and escape his body if I had an alternative?" Aoi's entire frame seemed to be clouded with distortion energy, before she slowly calmed herself, trying to stop her innate madness from taking over. She would not tarnish the invaluable minutes of time she had to be beside her trainer, before he left the world.
Ash Ketchum was dying, and there was nothing she could do about it. She could of course, create another distortion sphere, but even that wouldn't be able to stop the soul if it decided to-
To….
Aoi shuddered, as she tried to supress the innate madness rising within her, all over again. A dull claw pressed against her shoulder, as she twisted her head, finding Magnus, who looked completely forlorn. Even the other teammates were slowly walking towards Ash, their steps faltering every now and then, as they surrounded Ash's fallen body. Even Trevenant seemed to look… jaded. Almost as if, he had come so very close to accomplishing something, only to realize that it had been an illusion.
"I have one last thing to try. But I need to concentrate for that to happen."
Aoi knew, only something… mystical could save her trainer. Something beyond even her own range of mysteries.
And she prayed for such an intervention, no matter the cost. Not to the Gods, but the one being she knew could perhaps aid in such a situation. But for that, she needed to concentrate with everything she had, and be ready for any kind of sacrifice that He desired in return.
Anything.
She regarded everyone around her. "Ensure that I am not distracted."
Almost as in cue, Absol walked up to Ash's fallen form, before taking up a protective stance, glaring out at the forest. Magnus stayed to his position behind Aoi, while the two water-types stayed in the background, looking around for possible threats.
Aoi closed her eyes, as her tails spread out into a corona, turning into their true shades, as they shone with unbridled power, allowing her to try connect herself to His realm. She had never done it before, and she knew very well that the chances of getting it even this time were close to zero. But what did she have to lose anyway? With Ash gone, it was not like she had an alternative reason to exist in this plane. All she needed was a bit of quiet so that she could concentrate and-WHY WAS THE DRAGON ROARING?
Furious, she opened her eyes, ready to give a mouthful to said dragon, only to stop in her tracks. They weren't alone. Surrounding herself and the rest of the team, were several dozens, if not hundreds, of Voltorb and their evolved form, Electrode. Though, the alternate shade of Prussian blue, instead of the bright red on their lower portions signified something very important and… strange.
They were shiny.
Here she was, surrounded by hundreds of shiny Voltorb and Electrode, and from the electricity sizzling all over them, it took no psychic to decipher that these… new elements were irritants at best, and antagonists at worst. It was quite natural that seeing another batch of intruders would send the dragon back into his familiar state of rage.
Just what I needed at this moment. She snarled inwardly.
For Salamence, it was pretty simple. He had almost lost hopes on talking to Ash once again, and if the golden vulpine thought that she had a way, he would be damned if she got interrupted before that happened. Rage clouded his eyes, as his powerful wings began to beat. Salamence went airborne.
The tension was palpable in the air, as the hundreds of electric types surrounding them began to glow brightly before unleashing hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity—towards the group in the center—and Ash in particular. One single bolt of those, and the teen would be scarred beyond the point of recognition, not to mention that his nerves would probably be fried and damaged completely, if he survived the attack in the first place.
Aoi stared at her current predicament in horror. There was no way she would be able to hold her ground against such an attack, not in her current condition either way. Then, her attention fell down on her trainer's form once again. At least, she would be beside him when it happened. It was better than the other option.
This is preferable to losing my sanity once again.
Several bolts of lightning flew towards the population in the center, as Aoi closed her eyes.
At that moment, several things happened.
Salamence and Magnus lifted their maws to eject out enormous blobs of luminescent orange into the air, as the two blobs condensed into a single, larger conglomerate, as it acquired a decent height, before suddenly expanding outwards, forming the most potent draconic attack available to the dragon-kind. Absol slammed her feet down to the ground, raising boulders out of the crust to form a makeshift shield against the oncoming attack. It was rudimentary, and nothing compared to what came next.
Roots, enormous and length and girth, shot out of the grassy floor, intertwining around each other, rose all around them, forming a shield, as Trevenant forced his will over the forest ground. The bolts of lightning hit the roots, burning them at few spots and mostly scarring them, but most of them were discharged down into the ground through them, cancelling out what would have otherwise been a fatal strike.
Aoi blinked owlishly. She certainly hadn't expected such… helpful behaviour from the Elder Tree ghost. Apparently, whatever might have transpired between him and her trainer, must have been significant, for the Tree to actually demonstrate support like that.
She sent another fond gaze at her trainer's form.
And then the Draco meteors fell. Raining down all around the circumference, into the herd of those antagonistic electric types, injuring them gravely, and given the species' proclivity to explode at the simplest things, it was no surprise that the forest exploded with bright, white light.
A lone watcher observed the ongoing proceedings from his own vantage point from a distance, watching his kin take on the imposter and his band of freak creatures. A fire-lizard that had been distorted to the point of becoming more draconic than stay to its true nature? A holy vulpine lost to distortion and capable of evocation? Ghosts and vengeful spirits tailing him? The more he watched, the more it became obvious just how big of a disappointment the human had turned out to be.
He watched as his kin tried to annihilate both the human and his associates, only for the Elder Tree to protect them by forcing its will through the forest ground. The sheer nerve of them—to use the Great One's abode to protect that blight. It was sacrilege as far as he was concerned.
He watched with horror as the draconic meteors showered down upon the ground, causing his kin to explode upon constant, bathing the entire forest with bright white light. He saw the rage in the eyes of the mighty bluish dragon and his compatriots.
Calamity was near, and if nothing intervened, it would mean the end of the Great One's abode as he knew it.
Almost as if in answer to the lone Electrode's question, a single roar reverberated through the entire forest, one that brought the entire forest and its inhabitants down to their knees.
It can't be…
It was no longer an issue of vengeance, or protection. Those… sentiments had long past escaped Salamence's mental constitution. Instead, he was now beginning to enjoy this, bathing the irritant electric types with scorching dragon fire, exploding them right and left with dragon pulse whenever they decided to attack back. One furious fool had even made the attempt to try a Gyro Ball attack on him, only to get a direct slam by a powerful tail swing. Of course, Salamence could hardly wait to learn the infamous dragon tail attack- something that would make his just-used tail swing seem merciful.
He glanced at the fellow black dragon battling by his side—Magnus. Now that he was evolved, he could hardly wait to challenge Magnus to multiple battles. His best friend would make for an acceptable rival to measure his own strengths, of course, if only Magnus would just evolve into his own superior form as well.
He glanced back at the vulpine. Now only if she could just make Ash return to health.
He lifted his maw to throw up another burst of dragon breath, his eyes enraged and ready to bring in the Electrode herd's worst nightmare. Once those pests were taken care of, the vulpine would have the peace and quiet she desired. The dragon breath was just about to escape his maw when-
KOOOOONNN!
The sheer power behind the roar was enough to even deter Salamence, stopping him in his tracks. By the looks of it, the reverberation itself was more than enough to make everyone in the battlefield pause. Even the ruthless shadow seemed to be more… aware of the presence of the apex creature in the vicinity.
KOOOOONNN!
Salamence slowly brought himself down, flapping his wings anxiously. Something in that intimidating voice seemed disarming to him, almost if his very own power did not hold a candle in front of the creature they were about to encounter.
Even the golden vulpine was staring blankly ahead, her eyes filled with genuine fear.
A massive quadrupedal creature, with an icy blue fur on each limb, an enormous and majestic-looking antlers rising out of its head like a crown, before dividing into two branches, flowing down to the back like a white, skeletal ornament, covered with a creamy-white cloudy mane. The creature let out another roar, and this time, even Salamence felt subdued.
Salamence turned to glance back at Aoi, both of them sharing a single thought in their minds.
I knew taking the forest route was an extremely bad idea.
Several hours later…
Ash Ketchum opened his eyes.
At first, it seemed all kind of, blurry and painful, as if even trying to keep his eyes open seemed to hurt his ocular muscles. The constant headache that gave him the impression of someone constantly hitting him with a blunt object didn't help matters either. He closed his eyes, before opening them again.
It was dark, and from what he could understand, he was lying beneath a canopy of trees. He looked aside, only to see a campfire burning beside him. That was when his memories returned to him.
The misunderstanding with Shelgon… Magnus and Shelgon fighting viciously, Aoi doing something… Ash clutched his head once again, something… something, he wasn't sure what it was—his memory of that incident felt all fuzzy.
Angry red eyes flashed in his mind, as the attack made by the Primeape herd came to mind. He had seen Magnus and Aoi fall, and then tried to help Shelgon, before… before it went all black and painful.
Ash blinked. He tried to push himself up, succeeding in the first try, though he could feel some tension in his back, almost like a reminiscent ache left over by a wound treated off completely. He arched his shoulders without fail, feeling no pain at all. Why then, did he have this odd sensation that he should be feeling mind-numbing pain?
He looked towards his feet, only to widen his eyes, as he stared dumbly at the sight of a large, bluish dragon with red coloration in its undersides, with large wings on the back. The magnificent creature was sleeping soundly a feet away from Ash's left thigh, with its left paw on his leg, giving off a feeling of protectiveness.
It didn't take any further for Ash to realize what it was he was staring at.
Shelgon… He Evolved?
He pulled his left hand up, only to feel smooth, golden fur covering it. Turning over as slowly as possible, he observed the golden Ninetales sleeping beside him, her tails covering the better part of his left arm. On closer look, Absol was sleeping on the ground, a little closer to the burning campfire.
He turned back towards Salamence. What exactly had transpired after he fainted? What had he missed? And why did it seem like the entire battle, most of which he remembered so vividly, didn't seem to have taken place at all?
He pushed himself up, taking care not to disturb Aoi's sleep. Upon taking a closer look, he couldn't find a single bruise on his body, despite remembering the feeling of being a big bruise right after Shelgon had…
His expressions shifted into a frown.
Shelgon attacked me.
He glanced back at the sleeping form of Salamence.
Strange.
He found Magnus a little far away from Absol, just bare inches from the flame, his own tail sunk into the campfire to ensure that it kept burning. Poliwrath and Crawdaunt were, as was natural, as far away from the flame as was physically possible, and snoring. He couldn't see the watchful, crimson eyes of Gengar like he had come to expect, nor was Trevenant in the vicinity.
They might have gotten out to hunt, like always. He told himself.
That brought him back to the main question. What exactly happened after he lost consciousness? What made Shelgon evolve, and what made the angry dragon return back to his protective stance when it came to him? And importantly, why did it seem like the battle with the Primeape herd hadn't even happened at all?
It was… frustrating.
He looked around. The entire region seemed to be enveloped by darkness, though the flickering campfire did reveal the presence of what seemed to be… trunks? Yes, they had to be tree trunks, spiralling out of the ground to create a makeshift dome with the top having enough openings for ventilation.
Trevenant's work, he presumed.
A slight chill entered his bones. He froze, remembering the exact situation prior to this when he had felt this… chill. However, unlike the previous two situations, this… feeling, was remarkably different. For one, the original one felt strange, hollow and depressing. This one though, seemed to get his heart at ease, almost like feeling the evening breeze after a hard day of work. Almost automatically, his head twisted towards the north.
And he froze.
Through the openings of the canopy, he could vividly see the outline of a creature standing far away in the middle of the trees, its head lifted upwards towards the full moon shining with all its might. From what Ash could ascertain, it was quadrupedal, with a silvery mane like protrusion coming out of its head, along with what seemed to be horned antlers or something like that. It was almost like the moon was present in the sky, only to illuminate the ethereal thing that bathed in the moonlight.
His mouth gaped open, staring at the mysterious and mystifying thing so near, and yet so far away from him, as an incessant desire to reach the creature filled his heart. Not catch it, but to get closer to it, to touch it, to get to know it. It was as if getting to know this… entity would bring him peace. It was almost like…
Contentment.
He lifted his right hand towards the creature.
Almost instantaneously, the creature seemed to register his presence for the first time, as it let out a soft noise, before leaping away into the depths of the forest, away from Ash's sight. Ash blinked several times, but he could see no glimpse of the creature after that. Feeling the incessant headache clouding his mind, he decided to lie down for the rest of the night, sleep easily coming to him as if…
As if it were waiting for him all along.
The next morning…
The first thing that he registered was the random cacophony of voices all around him—voices belonging to his friends, who by the looks of it, were wide awake. With a suddenness that even left him slightly surprised, Ash opened his eyes, staring up at the sky, and finding the specific lack of tendrils and wooden trunks covering his sight. A single twitch towards the left revealed the lack of the campfire, and bright sunlight all around, which could well mean only one thing.
It was morning, and Trevenant had taken down whatever protections he had raised up for the night.
"Nine!" He heard Aoi whine, as she sensed his senses return, before leaping right onto his chest, licking his face furiously, making him giggle.
"Heh! That tickles!" Ash laughed, though not really trying to push Aoi back.
"Finally! You are awake!" Aoi spoke to mentally. "It's about time."
Ash only arched his eyebrows, but said nothing, only managing to push himself up from the ground, as the golden vulpine pushed herself back. Seeing him get up, the other pokémon quickly encroached him from all sides, with Magnus and Absol leading the crowd-the white-furred dark-type licking his face affectionately as she rubbed the side of her face to his skin. Magnus only let out a soft growl, putting a dull paw against his left shoulder, making sure not to put pressure on his shoulder bone. Even Poliwrath and Crawdaunt seemed... enthusiastic to see him up, and if the suspiciously dark shadow beneath the crustacean's appendages were of any indication, so was Gengar. The dull crimson shade in the middle of the trees, a little far away, told Ash that the Elder tree ghost was there as well.
"All right, seeing all of you get so excited is making me truly believe that my dream of being attacked by a Primeape army actually happened and wasn't a dream?"
Magnus growled at the mention of those infernal creatures, while Aoi's eyes glinted malevolently at the mention.
"So can someone tell me how it seems like I never even got any injuries, when I vividly remember the bones on my back breaking? Not that I am complaining."
Aoi looked distinctly shifty.
"Aoi?"
"Uh… how are you?" Aoi asked in a calculated tone, as if trying to reassess her evaluation of Ash's medical status.
Said teen merely looked back in apprehension. "A little aching all over, but everything else seems fine. Why?"
"Just checking."
"And I see," Ash glanced around, making note of the fact that his newly evolved starter was sitting a few feet away from him, making sure not to look back at him directly from the start. "-that it seems like all of you got yourself magically healed in the meanwhile as well."
Poliwrath gurgled something to the Ninetales, and from the sudden grunt from Magnus, it was understandable that the black dragon was supportive of the tadpole's suggestion as well.
Aoi only snapped something incomprehensible in return.
"To those of us who do not speak Pokémon-tongue, a little translation please?" The teen commented, his tone derisive.
Crawdaunt snorted.
"Look, I woke up last night, and I did see something unusual, which I am likely to believe is quite related to this… supernatural healing that happened to me and to you all, so it would be really helpful if you would-"
"What do you remember?" The Ninetales interrupted his tirade.
The rest of his words dying in his throat, Ash stared squarely at the Ninetales. "I saw the barrier you put up shatter, and I… took up a twig from the ground, to drive them back. Then I saw…" he paused, staring straight at Salamence who was still avoiding his eyes, "—Shelgon being attacked, and I tried to beat those Mankey off too, but, I failed." He shifted his glance back to Aoi- narrowly missing the apprehensive glance that Salamence gave him for an instant before looking away- "and then, something hit him in the back, and I felt pain and then succumbed." He paused, "I think."
"After you passed out," Aoi casually glanced at the bluish dragon who was still looking away, "I believe that the attack on your person was… significant enough for the rock-head to evolve, after which he pretty much burnt out who ever tried to approach us, or well—him."
Ash winced. The sudden surge of energy brought in by evolution was often, more than enough to get pokémon out on a rampage, often ending with destruction and a lot of collateral damage. Usually, the effect was magnified for more powerful and brutish pokémon. His experience with Rhydon was a good enough experience for that. To think that Salamence had even come down from his state of rage would have meant- Ash reconsidered it. He was working under the assumption that Salamence actually calmed down on his own, without any external influence.
"Yes, and it would be better if you just listened instead of going out on another of your mental tangents."
Ash chuckled at that.
Aoi scoffed fondly, before her expressions shifted. "You weren't moving, and I… we thought… we thought that you were almost going to die. To make matters worse, we were attacked by an army of electric types."
"An army of electric types?" Ash stared in confusion. The Primeape attack he could understand- it was possible that the battle between Shelgon and Magnus might have set them off, and Mankey weren't the best ones to reason with. But electric types? Suddenly, he remembered being electrocuted back at the lab—it was almost as if he was in for the trauma—regardless of what he did.
"Why-why did they attack us?"
"We don't know." Aoi scowled at the thought. "They attacked first. Thanks to the Elder tree, we all survived, and the dragons were capable enough to destroy their battlements easily."
Ash felt a surge of pride for the dragons on his team. It was then that he remembered. "Zweilous?"
"The baby dragon was protected by the Elder tree with a barrier. The electric beasts did not deem it necessary to attack it."
"Then how did you-?" Ash tried to emphasis his thoughts through hand-gestures. He well-remembered that Aoi was almost about to succumb to unconsciousness when he had tried to defend her against the fighting types. There was no way she would have-
"No. I did not save your life, and we have got that covered now."
"—Sorry!" Ash raised his hands up in surrender.
Aoi growled. "The rock-head dragon had gone into a rampage and would perhaps have ended the attackers completely, but then… then the North Wind intervened."
That brought a frown to the teen's lips. "The North wind?"
"The north wind. The essence of spring water. The purifier of nature." Aoi spoke with a tone that seemed partly fascinated, and partly afraid. "You humans refer to him as Suicune, the legendary beast."
Ash's eyes widened. Suicune? Could that be the creature he had witnessed when he had woken up earlier? Suicune, one of the beast trio of Johto—he had read about it in the book about Legends that Cynthia had sent him. The information wasn't comprehensive since it focussed more on the myths surrounding the Hoenn and Sinnoh legends. He had done some personal research on the legendary bird trio of Kanto, but Johto? He barely had reliable information on that.
"But Suicune… Suicune is a legendary from the Johto region. Why would it be here near Saffron?"
Aoi chortled at the thought. "It is disappointing that you of all people would consider that the Legends would limit themselves by meaningless things like geographical and man-made boundaries, Ash."
"But-"
"The Hoenn legends are called so, because that is where they are most closely associated with. That, in no way, shape or form, limits their movement or their presence in the other regions."
"I… I suppose that does kind of, make sense." Ash absently rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed. After all the things that he had run into, he should have done better than to take such information at face value, especially when they were mostly observations and theory, with no concrete proof.
That however, opened yet another bag of questions he didn't really want to deal with.
"Then Suicune… stopped Salamence? And it healed me?" He paused for a moment, remembering how he had been thinking about all of his team looking fresh and healed—"it healed all of you?"
"The North wind is the conceptualization of purity. He healed the mindless beasts, he healed away the poisoned, the burned, the injured, and the… nearly dead."
Ash had a sneaking suspicion that Aoi wasn't only talking about the pokémon in the forest.
Suicune healed me? A Legendary? I thought… I thought the legendaries didn't like me or something.
"Irrespective of your personal experience, I can assure you that it did come to pass. The North wind healed everyone- friend and foe alike. The electric types departed soon after, and you—and all of us, were healed."
"I think I saw it—Suicune, I mean. It was standing in the forest—with antlers up and everything, I think, and then it ran away when I looked at it. I think I might have startled it."
Aoi suppressed a snort, at her trainer's confession that he might have startled a Legendary, causing it to run of all things. Ash was still undeniably naïve, but even with his naivety, Aoi knew she couldn't have asked for a better alternative.
"Either way, you are healed, and so are everyone else. There is no point in questioning the why's and the how's of the entire event."
"I guess… you are right." Ash pushed himself up further, so much that he was now sitting completely straight. The slight ache on his back was still there, but it was more than easy to ignore it. "We should make a run for Saffron city then."
Aoi snorted at his comment, before swiftly turning around, speaking to the rest of the team in her native tongue, who seemed to agree with her. From the torn and tattered pieces of cloth fallen on the ground, it was obvious that the tent was completely destroyed, as were the rest of the camping gear. Even from his vantage point, he could clearly see the dents on his backpack, which had been used for a makeshift pillow for him while he had been unconscious.
He turned towards the backpack, suddenly glad to have bought that extra storage contraption back in Mirage Island, which seemed to be perfectly unharmed and usable. With exaggerated slowness, he extracted out every single thing out of the backpack, checking out each and every one of the contents within, analysing what could still be of use and what would not- putting the former away into the smaller contraption. Either way, it would mean a hefty expense for him when he reached Saffron. He would have to get himself an entire set of camping gear, an extra sleeping pad for emergencies and other facilities, and while he was at it, get himself another backpack as well, since the present looked like it wasn't going to be of any use to him ever again. Even minor dents caused those to malfunction at times, and his backpack had two significant ruptures. Folded-space technology was like that.
Great. He sighed. More expenses.
He turned around, glancing at the rest of the team. By the looks of it, they were all collecting whatever remains of the camping gear remained, and serving themselves to what seemed to be raw forest fruit. A little side glance showed a pair of half-eaten dead Rattata further south. Apparently, his team hadn't been at all considerate when it came to food during the previous night.
At least most of the meds and the full-restores are in working order. He mused, before turning back to the job at hand.
He sighed again. As much as he wanted to delay it, it was time to address the elephant in the room. By the looks of it, even his own team wanted him to be done with it.
He turned towards the bluish dragon a little away from himself-said dragon's long neck drooping towards the grassy floor, as he did his best to avoid looking at his trainer.
"So…." Ash muttered. "You evolved."
It felt incredibly odd for the teen, and if he guessed it right, it felt similar for his starter as well. For months, the two had talked about Bagon's—and then Shelg0n's desire to grow wings, evolve and fly in the sky to his fulfilment. He remembered how… amusing and troublesome Bagon had initially been, taking every chance to jump down, either from a sharp cliff or a bridge or anything that looked similar, in hopes to sprout wings mid-trajectory. And now finally, his starter's wish had come true.
The sad fact was that it had taken their relationship to be tainted to reach this stage.
Salamence let out a soft growl.
"And you attacked me."
Salamence met his trainer's gaze.
"I suppose you think I am a bad trainer." Ash replied, his voice eerily calm, surprising himself to an extent. "I can only imagine that I drove you beyond the point of acceptability that you felt compelled to attack me in return."
Salamence widened his eyes, before swiftly shaking his head, groaning out desperately.
"You don't?"
Salamence shook his head again.
"Then why did you attack me?"
Damn. His trainer was asking all the difficult questions. Salamence let out a pitiful whine before his head came close to Ash's hand, but the trainer stood up, avoiding being in contact with him, much to his shock.
"You are my starter. We started our journey together, you and I. You were the one who stayed with me despite my own ignorance in the beginning, despite my recklessness, and despite everything that the two of us encountered. We were a team. I know that I wasn't able to give you all my attention like I did in the beginning, but we talked about this—we talked about how it would be different when more pokémon would join our little group."
Ash looked away. "I can understand that with me choosing others back then at the Battle Tower made you feel… bad, but from what I can understand, this isn't the first time that you have been angry about it all." He paused. "I cannot truly comprehend what it might feel for a dragon, I cannot say that I would perhaps have acted differently had I been in your place, but…."
He turned towards Salamence. "What I do not understand is why you kept it all to yourself, and not bothered talking things out with me? Surely, Metagross could have helped things out."
Salamence let out a tiny growl at that, which Ash translated to be displeasure.
"Oh, so it is about Metagross, is it?"
Salamence looked away.
Ash peered towards the heavens. "Some trainer I am! My own starter is jealous of the attention I am giving to my team member, and I only find out about it just now!" Unceremoniously, he sat down on the ground. "How long have you been feeling like this?"
Salamence let out tiny embers out of his snout, but said nothing.
"I cannot have my own team fighting each other. If you remember, we have a super powerful legendary pokémon gunning for us? The one that has us on a year-limit?"
Salamence growled at that. He had almost forgotten about Mewtwo—that ridiculously powerful psychic who had been able to take down the entire team without any effort back on the island. Now that he thought of it….
"I tried to focus on everyone's training and development. You know what happened at the forest, and what happened at the Island. Magnus evolved, and I had to give him more attention, as well as the new members of the team. Trevenant was being… well himself, Zweilous is a baby, and Dusclops… well, she's a different story altogether. There was Cynthia, and we both know that she was with us for a limited time. I tried to get the maximum out of the time spent together, and tried to ensure that each and every one of you were optimised to be better than what you—what we had been before the Anne." He sighed, pausing his monologue. "I would have thought that if my starter was going through something as simple as team-envy, he should have talked to me about it. So you do not like Metagross, big deal! There was Alakazam, and Aoi has been- or wait, is Aoi also on the same list as Metagross?"
Salamence growled again, demonstrating his own displeasure.
Ash arched an eyebrow. "I cannot have my starter jealous of anyone and everyone I spend time with. Metagross, Aoi, and the others—they are just as part of team, like you, and like me. I am not playing favourites within my own team."
Salamence shook his head towards Aoi, and then gazed back at Ash.
"Oh, so it is about that?" Ash pulled his hands to his waist in typical interrogative fashion. "You know as well as I do just how limited your movement was, as Shelgon. Even then, if you were feeling left out, why didn't you approach me about it? Or is that also completely falling under my own shortcomings?"
Salamence whined. He should have thought things over when Magnus had offered the chance.
"After the Tower, I sent you and everyone back not because I wanted only Aoi beside me, but because that was the rules at the mansion. It would have an adverse impact on you all. The only one who would be immune, beside Aoi, was Pidgeot, but she could do better flying in the wild, than be cooped up inside her pokeball inside the mansion, and so I sent her back as well."
In hindsight, it did make sense, Salamence decided. He had simply taken that as yet another instance of his trainer choosing others over him. He hadn't really considered Ash's perspective about it, or anyone's for that matter.
"So now you are the one who can fly apart from Pidgeot. Should I completely stop bringing Pidgeot out for long flights, because now I have you? Would that be fair to her?"
Salamence whined again, bringing his long neck close to Ash. This time, luckily, Ash didn't move away. Instead, the teen slowly caressed the thick hide that protected the dragon's neck from external damage.
"Shell—Salamence, I can understand what you might have thought, and why you reacted the way you did. I don't have to like it, and to be frank, I don't like it. If you have any more issues that need to be dealt with, I suggest we decide them over right here. You might not like Aoi so if you want, I can call Alakazam back, just so you know."
The dragon shook his head again. He was done with the entire misunderstanding and keeping grievances to himself thing. He wasn't a fan of it any longer.
Ash took a step away, staring at Salamence squarely in the face. "I certainly hope that you weren't foolish like Metang had been, and forced your evolution."
This time, Salamence had the audacity and the intention to stare back, as if in protest. What exactly did his trainer think of him? He would die, but not interfere in his own metamorphosis. After all, it was his lifelong dream to have wings. Of course, his anger and his inner maelstrom might have hastened the process slightly, but that was all there was to it.
Ash sighed. "Good. Nice to know that you are a lesser idiot compared to Metang. He forced his evolution so that he could win the match for me. Idiot. I had to send him with Steven so that he could catch up on what he had missed by his untimely evolution. Even now, Alakazam is having him run through the griller for that."
Salamence decided that from now on, he would stop making any and all kinds of assumptions. He was terrible at those.
Unfortunately, his trainer just had to spot his expression.
Ash groaned. "Please tell me that you didn't think that as me giving him unfair advantage over the rest of you!"
The bluish dragon looked down sheepishly.
Some hours later.
It was finally time to leave for Saffron city. They had spent more than enough time in the forest as it was, and they needed to get supplies soon. Ash and the team had feasted heavily upon whatever food supplies had been retained in the aftermath of the attack, and once everything was done for, it was time for the team to finally return to their pokeballs so that the trip could be continued.
The only difference was—it was going to be completed by flight. Good thing that the saddle he had purchased at Mirage Island had been part of the few items left completely unmarred.
"Are you sure that you can actually take flight with me on your back?" Ash asked for the nth time.
Salamence corrected the promise he had made to himself. Perhaps his trainer did need another attack to his person—a non-lethal one this time, so that he might just shut up and sit on his back. He was a dragon for fuck's sake. He instinctively knew how to fly.
The blue dragon growled in annoyance, flapping his wings, as if to say—just get on with it already.
"If you think so." Ash returned hesitantly, double checking if he had indeed placed the saddle properly. He was too young to die by falling off a dragon's back mid-flight. If said death happened because of a silly thing as improper positioning of the saddle, it would only be more humiliating.
Salamence growled threateningly.
"All right, all right. Stop snapping. Sheesh!" Ash grumbled good-naturedly as he managed to sit with his two legs on the dragon's either side. "Pidgeot had this mane to hold on to. You don't seem to have any-EEEEEE!"
The unmanly shriek was probably because said dragon had decided to flap his wings suddenly, pushing himself off the ground, only to shoot up into the sky, rapidly approaching top speed. He had desired to fly all his life—a desire that had only compounded over the last couple of months. The unmanly screams of his trainer hanging on to him for dear life only made it all the more enjoyable.
Saffron forest. Somewhere beneath the crust.
The tunnels that ran underground vibrated constantly, as several Voltorb and Electrode rolled their way through them, with each of the electric-types now returning to their own devices. It had been a significant occasion, especially since they had gotten out onto the ground after several years now-except the occasional member of their kin rolling out from time to time. There had been anticipation at having a chance to see the one who should have been the Electric-tamer, only to face disappointment. The disappointment had deepened, when they had further failed to eliminate the Blight from the world, but the sudden intervention of the North wind had been… interesting, as well as vexing. Slowly, the electric types vanished into the darkness leaving a lone member, who silently pushed himself into one of their more… reverent spaces, the same one in which the Great One slumbered.
The lone watcher, who had observed the proceedings over the past day, silently positioned himself in wait for the Great One to return back to the land of the living, passing through the dimensional gateway of the Unown. He didn't know how the Great One did so, but he assumed it was simply part of being a Legend. Whenever he needed guidance, the Great One manifested himself through the passage of the Unown.
As if to confirm his own strong belief, the large circular slab in front of him began to glow with a bright jade shade, as three unown began to slowly manifest on the top, causing unearthly energies to manifest and swirl around and on top of the slab. In moments, the jade swirl morphed into what seemed like a dimensional gateway through which the bright blue orb-like entity, with a pitch black umbra in the middle of it began to turn visible. Slowly, the golden armour that enclosed the Great One's form was distinct, enclosing the blue orb on all sides except the front, giving him his proto-star appearance.
A tiny sliver of light in the middle of the black umbra was indication enough that the Great One had awoken.
"The whispers were true… it seems. The new hope turned out to be a disappointment. The prophecy remains unfulfilled."
The aged Electrode couldn't help but share the Great One's disappointment. "We encountered him, and we tried to eliminate him, in hope that another offspring of the First would perhaps, be chosen as his replacement."
"What stopped you?"
"The Northern wind." The Electrode answered grimly.
The jade swirls deepened, as the gateway seemed way too insignificant to contain the Great One's rage. "The Legends have agreed that the prophecy remains unfulfilled. We are to abstain from imparting any and all aid to the failed prospect. For the Northern wind to betray our breathen like this…"
"But the northern wind did not act out of order." The Electrode refuted. "The Northern wind intervened, only to stop the raging dragon that was maiming our kin. As is his nature, he healed everything in his path before his departure."
The Great One stayed silent. The Northern Wind had always been… been the one to play around the loopholes of the very constitution the Legends followed to the Tee. The constitution upon which the entire balance of the multiverse depended upon. With his own essence being one of purification, the Northern wind was always the more… proactive one, choosing to seek what it right and wrong, what is impure and what isn't- according to his own perspective, without ever considering the greater good of all Existence.
Even the Electrode knew it well. As far as Suicune himself was concerned with, the Northern wind purified and healed everything on its way—friends and foes alike. It was simply a matter of coincidence that the Blight, injured and dying, was fallen on the same ground as the others. The Northern winds didn't choose sides or register exceptions. They just blew.
"I… see." The Great One finally commented. "The Northern Wind might have seen it fit to intervene in this situation, but sooner or later, the Blight will have to face judgement. Anything and everything is acceptable damage if it prevents the Dark God's return."
With that ominous remark, the jade swirl began to rush around in reverse direction, as the trans-dimensional gateway began to collapse onto itself, as the Great One began to fade from view. In a matter of seconds, only three Unown remained, which would begin to slowly fade away. Had an archaeologist been able to witness the three Unown, they would have perhaps comprehended the true identity of the Great One, from the message the Unown conveyed. It was a group of three different meanings, when used together, gave out a single, un-ambiguous sentence.
The One that devours the Sun.