Chapter 18:VI. Setting the stage: Through hell and back
Three weeks after Ash's 'death', the training began. And the training was truly ruthless. Whole ten hours of each day were dedicated towards the training with some breaks to eat and drink. With only a Sunday to be a day without a training. Thankfully, all of Ash's Pokemon were doing it even though it was exhausting for them each day. All of them now knew why they were doing it and why they had to do it like this. And the fact that none of Ash's Pokemon wants to be the first one to drop down from exhaustion kept them on their feet too. These 'sparrings' weren't really sparrings. They were full-fledged battles. And you can bet that these battles were intense. Most brutal battles were between 3 strongest Pokemon in the cave. Charizard with Pikachu teamed up to trade blows with Mewtwo. Poor Charizard. And he thought that he'll be able to take it easy during those 3 years. It was only wishful dreaming on Charizard's side.
Others were training hard too. Not just that, but Ash sometimes took a break with Lucario from his Aura training and both of them were overlooking the weaker ones to make sure that they'll be able to at least gave a decent fight against his Charizard or Pikachu after those 3 years of relentless training. And some got visibly stronger already. Right after Riolu and Gible evolved, Totodile evolved into Croconaw during the first day of training. After losing constantly against Corpfish that day, he found the strength he needed to evolve and was finally able to keep up the pace with Corpfish. Eleven days later another Pokemon evolved. This time it was Bayleef that turned into Meganium. And it was a similar scenario to Totodile's one. This time, however, Bayleef was fighting against Torterra. And even though she was trying her hardest, she was just no match for the Continent Pokemon. And as Totodile, she found a strength to evolve and she was finally able to land some solid hits on the giant grass turtle.
And as for Ash's Aura training, he was finally able to 'see' all the Pokemon in the cave through his Aura Sense in a meditative state. Next thing he was trying to accomplish was the ability to sense them when he isn't so concentrated. So he wasn't meditating and only was trying this with closed eyes. And for some reason it was much harder then he thought. The meditative state had just something which made that much easier.
However, this wasn't his primary training. When the true training started, Lucario began teaching Ash some basic battle stances and he was teaching him to punch something else than the air when doing a pose too. This exercise Ash enjoyed much more than the Aura Sense one. Even though Lucario was strict and ruthless trainer during the spars between him and Lucario. Pokemon is a trainer of a human. Who would've thought?
But what did Gardevoir trained when she didn't attack during this time? Well. She was deflecting attacks with Light Screen, Teleporting out of the attacks and all in all training her moves to be in a top condition too. Her training routine was much longer though. At the and of each day she had to heal the others from their own training. And it was very awkward between her and Lucario since she let her tongue slip. So seeing him each day before her on that towel was uncomfortable for both of them. At least he didn't ask her anything when she was healing him. And that they didn't saw each other during those training sessions is a plus too.
This whole process was going on for 3 weeks now. And right now Ash was near his Gabite and Metang to overlook their training. These two were pretty equal in power so he paired them up. However, due to Metang being still clumsy, even though Torterra gave him some tips, he was still receiving a good beating from Gabite. But then out of nowhere Metang finally landed a hit. And what a powerful hit it was. Metang sent Gabite flying through the cave with a Meteor Mash attack right into Ash's room. But when Gabite hit the wall there, Gabite's flight didn't stop. The force of the impact destroyed the wall in Ash's room revealing a new cave right behind Ash's room.
"Great Meteor Mash, Metang. But... You're gonna repair the wall Metang. Is that clear?" said Ash to the Iron Claw Pokemon.
"Tang, Tang!" Metang nodded furiously and apologized to Ash.
As Ash was trying to calm down Metang, neither of them realized that Gabite was still inside the hole in the wall. And he wasn't coming back. They waited for a few minutes but he still wasn't coming out of there. After about ten minutes Ash and Metang ran out of patience. Yes that Meteor Mash was strong and the impact destroyed the wall, but Gabite is tough Pokemon. He should be here by now. It takes much more than one hit to knock Gabite out. When they were nearing the hole in the wall, Gabite finally came out. With a small Pokemon in his claws. And Ash immediately felt the connection again. This time to this little fella.
"I see you found yourself a new friend Gabite." said Ash to Gabite.
"Ga Bite!" roared a Gabite. He found this little fella when he heard someone calling for help. When he found him, he was sleeping on the floor. So he picked him up and brought him back. However, Gabite's roar caused a little Pokemon to wake up and start crying, unfortunately.
"Shhhh... Shhhh... It's okay. It's okay. Gabite didn't want to scare you. Everything is okay. Nobody is going to hurt you little guy." said Ash to little Aron in Gabite's claws when he took him and cradle him trying to stop the crying. But Aron didn't stop crying, unfortunately.
"Ehm... What now..." thought Ash. This was probably some baby Pokemon who hatched a few minutes or hours ago. Everybody would think that Ash has a lot of experience with taking care of the baby Pokemon. But unfortunately, it isn't like that. Ash always had a major help from Brock. Brock is the Pokemon breeder after all so he was usually the one who calmed the baby Pokemon down or was nursing them. But Brock isn't here. If only Ash had someone like Brock here... Wait. He HAS someone like Brock here.
"Lucario! Bring Bulbasaur over here!" said Ash to Lucario as he was still trying to soothe little Aron but to no avail.
Lucario then walked off to find Bulbasaur and bring him to Ash. After few minutes of Aron's crying and Ash's attempts to calm down little Aron, Bulbasaur with Lucario finally came back.
"Hi, Bulbasaur. I need your help. We found this little fella and Gabite scared him accidentally. And we can't soothe him, unfortunately. You have some experience with this right?" asked Ash hopefully.
"Bulba!" nodded Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur took care of younglings in the hidden Pokemon sanctuary in the Kanto region. And there were plenty of younglings in Oak's lab too. So taking care of them is no problem for him.
"Great! Can you soothe Aron? I tried but... I'm not good at this." answered Ash sheepishly to Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur then looked at the Pokemon at Ash's hand. He was crying but he wasn't trashing himself. That means Aron isn't probably scared and trying to free himself as Ash and the others thought. No. Aron was sad. He had to hatch minutes ago. Without mother or father nearby. That has to be a sad experience for a Pokemon just a few minutes old.
Bulbasaur then took that little guy with his vines and placed him in front of him as Aron was still crying. When Aron felt something around him, he was terrified even more. But still, he wasn't trashing with himself probably due to the shock how the events turned out. When he was face to face with Bulbasaur Aron began crying even more. Bulbasaur then took one of his vines and petted Aron on the head and said something in pokespeech to Aron. He repeated this several times until Aron finally stopped crying. When Aron stopped and looked at Bulbasaur who was still petting him on the head, relief washed over Aron. Aron then made his way to Bulbasaur and nuzzled Bulbasaur and lied down next to Bulbasaur quickly falling asleep.
"Great job Bulbasaur." whispered Ash to Bulbasaur trying not to wake Aron up.
"Bulbasaur. Take him to the new cave in my room for now. He shouldn't be disturbed there by the fighting here. Stay with him until he'll wake up. When Aron'll be ready come back here and we'll sort it out." whispered Ash to Bulbasaur quietly. Bulbasaur then carefully wrapped his vines around Aron lying next to him and placed Aron on top of his bulb and made his way into the new cave.
"Great thinking Ash." Lucario praised Ash through the Aura Link. Ash came up with a solution pretty quickly. It's probably his ability to think things on his feet and put them to use. Just like his battle strategies. Ash may not be the smartest person on Earth, but he surely has one of the sharpest minds of all the people in the Pokemon world.
"Thanks." said Ash. But there is still one thing that bothers him.
"But how did I not register him earlier? He had to wander through the cave for some time and I sensed him through aura only when Gabite brought him to us. And how did he appeared here out of all places? There are no Pokemon in the top half of this mountain from what I heard. Yet here is one. And a baby nonetheless." asked Ash.
"It's due to the fact that the Aura energy takes it's time to manifest in Pokemon after Pokemon hatches. And as for his appearance here. Most likely it was caused by the incident with Team Galactic you told me about. Pokemon left these places in a hurry. It is possible that someone left an egg here due to the chaos and because of the cold environment, it took some time for the egg to hatch. To be honest, it's a miracle that Aron hatched in these conditions without mother. That's my theory. It could be something else too though." explained Lucario to Ash via their link.
"You have answers for everything don't you?" asked Ash communicating with Lucario through Aura link.
"No. Only for things that have some logical and plausible explanation for them. This is one of them." replied Lucario.
"Of course. However, then there are other things you have no clue about. Am I right, Romeo?" asked Ash teasingly through the link.
"... Yeah. And will you finally tell me why are you calling me Romeo? I still didn't get any explanation for that." asked irritated Lucario.
"Give me a second. Gabite and Metang." said Ash to his two Pokemon who were watching the Aron incident whole time. They turned to Ash as soon as they heard their names.
"Go back to training. Gabite you are doing great. Metang you're doing great too. You finally hit Gabite. That counts. Keep it up and you'll be able to beat him in no time." said Ash to his two Pokemon as they cheered for Ash and got back to training.
"Now, Romeo. Let's go back to sparing." said Ash via Aura Link to Lucario.
"For the love of God! Will I finally find out why you are calling me Romeo?!" asked Lucario. It was getting more annoying each time Ash called him like that.
"Perhaps." said Ash as they were going to their usual place for sparring in the cave.
At the end of the day, Aron with Bulbasaur came up from the cave. Aron was still shaken a little by the vents that unfold but thanks to Bulbasaur he managed to keep it together. Ash then got a little closer with Aron but still, he had a long road ahead of himself. He assigned Bulbasaur to nurture Aron for first two to three weeks and then get back to training. This should give Aron enough time to mature a little and get used to the environment where he'll be growing up. And this is how Ash got the last Pokemon for his mission.
4 months later
Ash and his Pokemon had a day off in the cave and everybody was enjoying it. And by enjoying I mean they were all sleeping and trying to regain energy for the next 'sparring' sessions. Only Pikachu, Lucario and Mewtwo were on their feet. All four of them were now in the pond Ash's water Pokemon made. Shame it isn't a hot spring. The water is fairly cold there. But it is something at least. And Ash was beginning to notice some changes on his body already when he looked at his reflection on the water.
First of all his Z marks on his cheeks were fading slowly. They were barely visible right now. Second of all his skin was looking a little paler. "Probably from the lack of sun. Damn. I am beginning to forget how that ball on the sky looks like already." thought Ash. And that wasn't everything. His eyes were narrowing down slowly too. That is probably due to the fact his vision and Aura vision is sharpening so his eyes are sharpening too. Then there was the obvious thing like his hair were a little longer. They still held their shape but they grew a little. And the most notable thing was his entire body. The sparring with Lucario was showing results as his muscles were slowly forming everywhere.
Then there were his adolescent changes. And Ash quickly found out that wielding the gift of being a natural Aura user sped things in this department too. Apart from the pleasant changes between his legs, there were the other ones too. Let's say that it wasn't only on his head where the hair was starting to grow. Legs, armpits, crotch area had some hair there already too. And his chin was starting to itch too. All in all, Arceus was right when he said that Ash'll be indistinguishable 3 years from his death. At least if this process will continue for the other 32 months.
"How are you holding up Ash?" asked Mewtwo.
"Huh? What do you mean?" replied Ash.
"You are locked in here for 4 months already." said Mewtwo.
"Yeah... It's hard. But I'm slowly getting used to this." replied Ash. And he truly was. But the fact that he was missing his friends and mother and all the people was still there.
"Just hang in there." said Pikachu in his pokespeech as Ash just smiled.
Ash already began trying to understand the pokespeech of the Pokemon. And since he already understood Pikachu somehow, he started with him. And it took only a few days and he was already able to understand every word Pikachu was saying. Even though he hasn't started to manifest the link between them. Ash needs to be able to control the Aura for this a little better then he can right now. His training was progressing slowly, but steadily so far. His fighting skills weren't something to great, but Lucario taught him some tricks. He trained his sensing most of the time when he wasn't sparring. And he was getting great at it. He could sense life hundreds of meters from his original spot if he meditates. Not so much when he casually closes his eyes, but at least he can scan his cave with only eyes closed. But when he meditates. Phew. A single stem of grass inside the cave tunnels in Mount Coronet hundreds of meters away from the spot he is doesn't escape his sight. Ash was beginning to love the meditation. That was the place where all of his worries just doesn't exist. That's the place where he can relax from the burden he bears. It feels great. Even though he is slowly mastering the art of Aura Sensing, he still doesn't know what purpose does the tattoo on his body serve. Since his "dream" the tattoo didn't glow. And he didn't have a similar dream too which saddened Ash slightly. Which teenager wouldn't want to see naked Sinnoh champion? But what can you do when the Aura powers are old God knows how long and there is basically zero information about what it can do.
"So Ash. What kind of cake would you like Mewtwo to steal?" asked Pikachu after slight pause.
"What? What do you mean by this." asked Ash.
"Why should I be stealing a cake?" asked through telepathy Mewtwo.
"Come on Ash. You thought that your best buddy would forget your birthday? I'm hurt." said Pikachu in his pokespeech.
"Wau. I completely forgot about that." said Ash as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well I didn't." said Pikachu.
"When does he have birthday?" asked Lucario in his pokespeech. Lucario was the 2nd one who Ash learned to understand without telepathy or the link right now.
"One week from now." replied Pikachu.
"Mewtwo. You don't need to steal anything. I'll give all of us a day off and we can celebrate by playing some games and just enjoy the day here. We stole enough things already." said Ash to the Pokemon trio.
"It's 'Mewtwo stole enough things already'." said Mewtwo.
"Mewtwo. We are in this together. If you steal for us, we all steal." replied Ash.
"Nicely said. So what cake WE'LL steal." said Pikachu.
"Hmm... I like strawberry one. Kellyn gave me this one one time and it was delicious." said Lucario.
"Meh. I like the chocolate one is better." said Pikachu.
"Guys! Nobody is stealing anything. We don't need a cake." said Ash.
"Ash. We don't want to steal balloons, gifts or any of that stuff. I know you don't like the fact we are stealing. But. It's just one simple cake. I know birthdays are important for humans. And birthday cake belongs on birthday parties. If we are going to be locked here for the next 32 months training like maniacs and going through hell and back every single training day, I think we all deserve a proper birthday party with a birthday cake. Especially you." said Pikachu.
"... How long did you train that speech?" asked Ash.
"Long enough to ensure that we have a proper birthday party." said Pikachu.
"... Ok then. ONE cake. Nothing else. Nothing more. I don't need to increase the debt I have already."
"You mean the debt WE have." said Lucario.
"Okay. Okay. Debt WE have." said Ash chuckling slightly.
"I'm going to look for that cake tomorrow. Let's just relax a little for now." said Mewtwo telepathically. He was so exhausted from the training against Pikachu and Charizard. Those two were truly monsters. Mewtwo's stomach still hurts from the Iron Tail he received from Pikachu. Even when Gardevoir healed him. Damn that yellow mouse and orange dragon.
1 months later
"You want me to fight with a stick?" asked Ash as he examined the stick Lucario gave him.
"It's not a stick. It's called Bo. And yes I want to teach you how to fight with it." replied Lucario in pokespeech
"... Interesting. And how do you know how to fight with it? I don't recall seeing you fight with... Bo." asked Ash.
"I didn't fight with a Bo. However..." said Lucario as he formed bone like staff between his paws.
"Ohhhh. I see. So. Is this the end of my hand to hand fight training?" asked Ash.
"No. But we'll add this to the mix. I think mastering at least one weapon be useful for you." replied Lucario.
"Speaking of this weapon. How did you get it?" asked Ash. He had a suspicion. But he hoped that they made at least this. It's a wooden stick after all.
"...That's not important." answered Lucario.
"Lucario! I thought you would hate stealing as much as I do. You know. You being honorable and all." said Ash.
"Ash. I hate stealing too. But what can we do? We have to survive and prepare for the battle somehow. This is our only option. Everything we do is for a greater good. My honor has to take a backseat for the time we are here." replied Lucario.
"... You really have answers for everything." said Ash with a chuckle at the end.
"Most of the time. So grab that Bo and let's get started!" said Lucario.
7 months later
"Lucario. We have to talk." said Ash.
"Yes?" asked Lucario.
"How and why did you do it?" asked Ash.
"I... I don't know what you are talking about..." said nervous Lucario.
"Lucario... out with it. What happened?" asked Ash.
"..." Lucario didn't answer.
"Is it about her again?" asked Ash. This time Lucario got visibly nervous. He hit the nerve.
"..." Lucario was still quiet. He doesn't want to talk about it.
"Come on Lucario. What did he do to your precious Gardevoir that you beat him up like that?" asked Ash.
"..." again Lucario didn't say anything.
"Ok then. Maybe I should ask her." said Ash as he was making his way to the Gardevoir. But Lucario jumped in front of him and stopped Ash.
"No Please. It's just. Infernape said some things to her that you should not say to a lady. We got into a fight over that. It was just a verbal one in the beginning. But it escalated quickly into a battle. I got carried away a little. Just don't tell her about this. She doesn't know I beat him up. And we still don't talk to each other much." said Lucario in pokespeech ashamed of himself.
"You know. Infernape is one of the strongest Pokemon here. And you've got him on that medic towel of ours. I am actually proud of you. But you should really do something about you and Gardevoir. It's a year already. Why are you so afraid? She finds you hot. That's a good thing. Right?" asked Ash.
During the days off, Lucario spent his time with Ash rather than the others. All of them formed groups and were enjoying their days off and chatting with each other. But Lucario was still training or mentoring Ash. Closest friends he had here were Pikachu and Mewtwo. And even those two spent their time with Charizard most of the time. It made sense. They trained with each other after all. He was a lone wolf in a group. Similiar to Ash's Noctowl. With the difference that Lucario is with Ash most of the time.
"We don't have time for this kind of stuff right now Ash. And on top of that. I'm afraid. I still don't know anything about these sort of things. When this whole Team Rocket thing will be over, I'll do something about it. Until then. I'll just make sure that everyone treats her like they should. With respect. She is too kind to smack them in the face. Someone has to do that instead of her." answered Lucario.
"That'll be at least two years of just starring at her from the distance." said Ash.
"I don't mind that. I am a patient Pokemon. And...How do you humans say it? Some things are worth waiting for?" said Lucario.
"Yeah... Some things are worth waiting for indeed." said Ash.
That sentence captures even Ash's thoughts right now. He was here a whole year now. And he just can't wait to get back home. Meet mom again. Eat her delicious food. Man. Just thinking about her cooking makes Ash hungry. Meet his friends again. Especially Brock. His brother in everything just not in blood. Watch him trying to impress every girl he meets. Hear Gary's witty remarks. Listen to wise words of professor Oak. Even being yelled at by Paul and Cynthia. All these small things Ash missed the most. He hopes that the wait will be worth it when he'll see those people again.
There is one thing that'll make things a little harder for every single one of them though. Ash changed. He is still his sarcastic witty self but his body is completely different now. And it is still changing. His hair was no longer in his usual messy state. They were long, reaching his shoulders now. He even has a full-fledged bristle on his face now. And not only that but his eyes were now much sharper than before. His big oval eyes changed into the much sharper look. To top it all of he now could see a tint of blue in his eyes. Lucario said that constant using of Aura can cause this change in human eyes. But Lucario was never certain of that. Now it looked like he was right. And with this constant training, his muscles were forming at slow, but consistent rate. And puberty was hitting him from every direction too. There was his height for example. He didn't register this at first, but he was getting taller. Much taller then he expected. He had over 165 cm already. And he was still growing. And on the subject of things growing. That thing between his legs was getting still bigger and bigger too. And at a much faster rate than he anticipated.
But one thing that was getting more and more annoying were his hair on the other places of his body. His arms start to form some hair by now but it wasn't even visible. His legs, on the other hand, were already covered in small strings of hair. But the most irritating hair was on his armpits and crotch area. Not long, but long enough to irritate his skin. His chest was starting to grow some too. If it'll go like this, he'll become a true cave man.
And his voice was getting an interesting makeover too. His usually happy voice was fading. Right now his voice in what he calls 'troll mode'. Sometimes he has his usual voice, but then his voice jumps into a territory of deep harsh voice that would terrify some little kids. This is puberty enforced by Aura ladies and gentleman.
"Let's get to sparring Ash." said Lucario. Both of them can let go of these thoughts there.
"With or without a Bo?" asked Ash as his voice was jumping from one tone to another.
"Let's go without a Bo this time." said Lucario.
Then both of them get into their stances in a cave and were ready to duke it out. But Lucario stopped Ash before they began.
"Ash. The scarf." said Lucario to Ash.
"You just have to make it unfair don't you." said Ash sarcastically. He then went to his backpack still lying in the middle of the cave. Ash now wore a simple black shirt and blue pants. Mewtwo had to go shopping because as he was getting taller and taller, and he needed new clothes all the time. So his Sinnoh jacket was in the bottom of the backpack buried under his newer stolen clothes that were already small to him too. On top of Ash's small clothes was his green cloak that still could cover his whole body and that grey scarf.
But since Ash doesn't go out of the cave, he is using the scarf for a different purpose. His skills in Aura skyrocketed and he was able to sense with eyes closed almost perfectly. The whole cave at least. But still. When he has time to meditate during the Sundays it still feels the best. He could now sense even the area around the mountain. The Pokemon that are there. People on their tours around the mountain. Trees growing slowly. All of this. But it is a long process to get to that point. He has to stay still and be relaxed for at least 2 hours to get a sight of that scale. But it is worth it. For him at least. This is his only connection to the world outside.
But this wasn't the only ability he mastered during the year he was here. He could finally understand every single Pokemon's pokespeech inside the cave. It wasn't very hard to learn that. The pattern is similar for every Pokemon so it took a few months to learn that for every one of them.
However, then there was the Aura Link. It was much harder here. His other Pokemon don't have the ability to control aura. So it was all on him to try and connect to them. And he connects to every single one of them differently. As Lucario said when he was Riolu. 'Aura is tightly connected to emotions.' That gave Ash an idea. Charizard always went through some emotional dilemma when the link activated. So Ash tried to empathize with Charizard every single day after training trying to stabilize the link. It took some time but when Ash understood truly understood what Charizard was going through he was able to stabilize the link and they could communicate when necessary. It was a gigantic step forward. Even Lucario didn't know how exactly to do that. He only knew Guardians were able to do that. And Ash found out the way how.
After this Ash repeated the process with his closest Pokemon. Pikachu was first and it went pretty fast there. In a week they had the link established. Then there was Sceptile, Infernape, and Bulbasaur. He managed to establish the link with them too even though it was much harder with them. He is now working on a link between him and Snorlax in his spare time on Sundays.
And then there was the fighting. He was able to master everything Lucario threw at him so far. But they still had a long road ahead of themselves. He can fight and hold his own for a certain amount of time against Lucario. Lucario isn't using any Pokemon attacks of course. Just a hand to hand spar. Or Bone Rush vs. Bo spars. In these, he still is getting his ass handed to him. He'll become better in a future hopefully.
There are still so many things to learn though. Manifesting and using Aura as Aura Spheres'll be a pain in the ass. And Psychic resistance training from Mewtwo'll be one hell of a training. Mewtwo will be probably even more merciless then Lucario.
Even though Ash came a long way, his Pokemon didn't fall behind. So many of them evolved already. Mainly his water Pokemon. Two of them evolved at the same time when they were fighting each other. Croconaw and Corpfish both evolved to Feraligatr and Crawdaunt 4 months ago. Then there was his Buizel who was getting frustrated that he couldn't evolve. So he asked Ash for some strong training partner so he could finally reach the potential to evolve. And since that day, Buizel was at the mercy of Tyranitar. And boy did he got rekt. And after several days of constant beating and losing, Buizel finally evolved into Floatzel. It didn't help against Tyranitar much, but he could at least hold himself against her a little longer. Then there was the last evolution that happened 4 days ago. His Aron evolved into Lairon. Even though Aron was the youngest of the group, he was fired up for training since he could understand what that word meant. And since he was so young, he was usually training with Bulbasaur since he was something like an adoptive dad to Aron. Bulbasaur went very easy on him all the time. If Bulbasaur would go all out he would probably kill poor Aron. Many underestimate Bulbasaur's strength, but he is one of the strongest Pokemon Ash has.
But back to Ash and Lucario. Ash picked up the grey scarf and went back to Lucario. He then wrapped the scarf around his head, covering his eyes with the scarf in a process. Ash closed his eyes and began to focus on the surroundings. Immediately he sensed every single living thing in the cave.
"Ready?" asked Lucario. Lucario was talking in pokespeech to Ash most of the time. The talking through the Aura Link takes some concentration to perform. So this is much easier to do. Aura Link is useful for private conversation. It has some use in Pokemon battles too but nothing else pretty much.
"Come at me, Romeo." taunted Ash blinded by the scarf.
And they began. Lucario jumped at Ash with impressive speed and tried to kick him on the head, but Ash blocked it with him both hands up. Lucario then used Ash hands as a platform to bounced off and backflipped back. Now in a reaching distance, Lucario tried to punch Ash in the face, but Ash blocked it again with his two hands. Lucario then spun around and tried to kick Ash on Ash's side but Ash dropped one hand and blocked it again.
Lucario then jumped back from Ash.
"Are you going to attack me or what?" asked Lucario.
"Chill Lucario. I'm warming up." said Ash back.
"Warm up is over." said Lucario.
And in a completely different speed then before, Lucario was in front of Ash in an instant and spun around kicking Ash into the stomach. The force of the impact forced Ash to slide a few meters back. But it didn't hurt much now. The first time Lucario did this he thought he's going to throw up his lunch. But after a few times, he got used to this.
Unfortunately, Ash didn't have time to think much about it because Lucario then jumped so high that he was at the ceiling of the cave. He then bounced off the ceiling at even faster speed than before and was ready to strike Ash on the head with a powerful kick.
But thankfully Ash jumped of the way at the last second. But as he was sliding away Lucario was in front of him again. Aiming a punch at his stomach. Ash now caught Lucario's paw, made a step aside and twisted Lucario's paw forcing him to lie on the ground as Ash stepped on him and was holding his paw in both of his hands.
"Not bad for a blind man don't you think?" asked Ash confidently to Lucario beneath him.
Lucario just smirked at this. He flicked his legs forcing Ash to trip over and fall to the ground. And in a blink of an eye, Lucario had Ash beneath him in the same scenario Ash had Lucario before.
"Not bad Ash. But not good enough either." said Lucario.
"Damn. So close..." thought Ash. He was so close to his first win today. He changed his strategy to fight against Lucario. He was always the one who was attacking like Lucario did now. But he didn't have enough speed to catch Lucario off guard. And even the defense wasn't going to make the cut. Hopefully, it'll change in the next two years.
2 years later
"Are you giving up?" asked the man with a long, big black beard and blue sharp eyes. This man was now holding his staff against Lucario's neck from behind.
"...Yes." answered Lucario.
"Marvelous. So. What's the score for the Bo training today?" asked the man in a deep voice Lucario as he let go of Lucario.
"... 12:2... for you." said Lucario in a defeated tone.
"You are getting out of shape Lucario." said the man. As the man said this an enormous tremor was heard.
"I think people had to hear this tremor back in the village few kilometers from here." said the man.
"Well, you better stop them right now. It's the end of our training session anyway." said Lucario to the man.
"Yeah... How did you enjoy our last training session Lucario?" said the man as he was making his way with Lucario by his side to the source of the tremors.
"You mean how I enjoyed getting beaten in basically every single spar we had today?" asked Lucario.
"Aww. Come one. Don't be so grumpy." replied the man as they continued their walk to the source of tremors.
A lot has happened during another 2 years. Ash was no longer Ash. There is nothing that would remind you of that 13-year old cheerful kid from Pallet Town. Visually at least. No. Even though he was just 16 years old now, he looked on 25 at least. Lean muscular build, full grown long black beard that reached his collar bone, sharp blue eyes, long black hair that were nearly reaching his waist. Skin pale as the snow outside of the cave and not a single trace of his former Z marks on his cheeks. And a voice deep enough to scare full grown man if Ash would want to intimidate them. The fact that he has over 190 centimeters could help the intimidation process too.
"Do you think we are ready?" asked Lucario.
"I hope so. It's time." said Ash.
Lucario and Ash both reached the source of the tremors. And as they expected they found Pikachu, Charizard, and Mewtwo. All three of them were completely drained. And not only them. When Ash looked around all of his Pokemon were drained to their last bit of energy. After all. This is the last training session. They've put heir heart and soul into these battles.
Ash was very proud of every single one of them. Nearly all of his Pokemon all evolved during those 3 years thankfully. Feebas was next Pokemon who evolved inside the cave. Her training partner was Kingler when he wasn't training with others. And even though Kingler isn't the smartest Pokemon, he was one hell of a trainer for handicapped Feebas. Kingler made sure that Feebas overcame her disability and that she is able to Tackle him even with a broken fin. And Kingler's training and patience paid off. After a lot of training Feebas evolved into a majestic Milotic. But she wasn't an ordinary looking Milotic. One of her hair like fins was much shorter than the other. But it didn't matter to her now. She was able to move freely finally. All of this happened because of the patience that Kingler had with her. Now she can finally have normal Pokemon battles with him. She has a lot of things to thank him for. Luxio evolved next. Luxio evolved into Luxray when Ash let Pikachu train with her instead of his usual training buddies. With the constant teasing from Pikachu who wouldn't have tried to evolve and murder that son of a bitch. And since Luxray and Quilava were the usual sparring partners, Quilava didn't want to fall behind and after few matches against Luxray, she evolved too. Then there was the other not fully evolved training duo. Gabite and Metang. And even though Gabite was winning most of the matches, Metang evolved first and through some miracle, and to add a cherry on the top, when Metang evolved into Metagross his accuracy increased too. So the tables turned. Now Gabite was receiving the beating. It took 2 years since Gabite's first evolution to evolve further. But when he finally managed to do it. Man, was he a force to be reckoned with. Matches between Garchomp and Metagross were one hell of a show. And the last Pokemon that evolved was Lairon. And it was a recent evolution too. He evolved just 2 months ago. and even though he was now much bigger and physically stronger than Bulbasaur, Bulbasaur still wiped a floor with his adoptive son during their matches. That left only two Pokemon who didn't evolve. Pikachu and Bulbasaur of course. And neither of them wanted to evolve. So this was Ash's final team. And Ash tried his hardest to ensure that every single one of them was as strong as they can be. And they truly were. The cave was in constant tremors from the battles that were going on in there.
"Guys. You can rest. Training has ended." said Ash to his Holy Trinity.
All three Pokemon let a sigh of relief as they dropped to their knees. Ash, tired from his own training, then asked Mewtwo for a favor.
"Mewtwo. I know you are tired. But could you please remove the boulder entrance? I want to go outside for a moment."
"Sure. Just give me a moment." said Mewtwo through telepathy. It took a while but Mewtwo, Charizard and Pikachu recover after some time and Mewtwo was finally able to stand and go to the boulder entrance with Ash and Lucario. Of course, as soon as Pikachu had the energy, he jumped back at Ash's shoulder and went with them. They stopped for the Ash's cloak and scarf and then they made their way to the boulder. Mewtwo picked up the boulder with Psychic and Ash, Pikachu and Lucario went outside. Right into the everlasting blizzard on Mount Coronet. Mewtwo closed the entrance and went to rest up for a bit with Charizard after that ridiculous match.
Ash went to the edge of the snowy mountain and looked into the distance. He start to think about all the stuff he went through these 3 years.
Flashback
Aura Sphere training
"Focus Ash. Focus all your Aura energy into that spot. Feel the energy that is connected to emotions. And grab it. You can do it!" yelled Lucario.
Ash then dropped down again from the exhaustion. He tried to manifest the energy. But without those gloves he had at the Tree of beginning it was so hard.
"Ash! Get up!" yelled Lucario at Ash.
Ash was slowly pulling himself up again. He felt so sore. So tired. But by some miracle, he stood up and tried again. He formed a small orb of the size of, candy and tried to add more Aura energy into the orb but when he did, it exploded and the force threw Ash back onto the ground. He now had no energy left to pull himself back on his feet.
"Come on. Get up. You have to!" yelled Lucario. He knew this was hard, but he had to push him as hard as he could. They don't have much time to finish the training.
"I... I... ca... can't..." said Ash as he tried to get up but he just couldn't. "Just let me die." thought Ash.
"GET UP!" yelled Lucario to him as he pulled Ash up himself.
Aura Shield training
Ash was in a blue shield that covered him. He was tired to no end already. Few meters from him was Pikachu. Pikachu then used Quick attack and shot like a bullet against Ash. He tore the shield and hit Ash right in the stomach. Ash cough out some blood and stood up again.
Ash came up with a shield idea when he was training Aura Sphere. It is basically reverse Aura Sphere. All the energy in Aura Sphere stuffed into the small place in a palm. The edges of the Sphere have basically no Aura energy. So Ash was trying to reverse it. Get the energy to the edges and leaving the middle empty and expand the sphere around him.
And Ash realized that it is a tool he'll desperately need against Team Rocket. It would be his only defense against bullets. And since Pikachu is like a bullet when he is using Quick Attack, he thought this training could work. But for now, he was just getting crammed on by Pikachu. The shield hadn't lasted a single Quick Attack from Pikachu.
"Ash. It's over for today. You cough up some blood. Let's get you too Gardevoir." said Pikachu sadly.
Psychic resistance training.
It was midnight already when he heard a light sobbing through the open window. Ash saw his mother. Crying over the tombstone in their backyard again. He felt indescribable sadness. And what was worse. He felt absolutely helpless. He was just watching his mother crying her eyes out all over again. He was then pulled out of this memory.
"Mewtwo! Those memories are private!" yelled angry Ash.
"If they are private stop me from reading them!" yelled Mewtwo as he invaded Ash's mind again.
End Flashback
Ash was still looking through the blizzard into the distance. It truly was a tough training. But he wouldn't have it any other way. Those last two years particularly. The hardest time of his life without a question. But he made it. His cloak and hair flying left and right as the harsh cold wind was changing its directions every few seconds. And even when it was extremely cold outside, Ash was enjoying this. It was the first time after those 3 years he went outside of the cave.
"Are you ready guys?" asked Ash in his new deep voice. Both Pokemon simply nodded. Ash intended to go back and ask Mewtwo via Aura link to open the 'door'. But before that Ash made one last statement as he was still looking into the distance.
"Then let's put up those 3 years of hell to a good use. Team Rocket, we are coming for you."