Chapter 29:XVII. Back from the dead: Limerence
"Hmpfmm.." mumbled a Team Rocket grunt as he was tiredly waking up.
His head felt like it has been hit by a rampaging Rhydon. When the pain in his head subdued, a cold breeze welcomed him. Now with eyes shot open, he saw a lone figure standing before him. A tall figure dressed in a cloak shrouded in darkness slowly approached him. He tried to stand up and get out of there, but he was tied up against a wall.
"Your HQ. Where is it." said the man in front of him as he knelt to the eye level of the grunt.
"And why would I tell you that?" asked the grunt with a chuckle.
The lone bearded man than pointed to his left. There lied his coworkers covered in bruises on a grassy floor of a poorly lit cave.
"You... You did that?" asked the grunt nervously.
"Your HQ. Where. Is. It." asked the man now slowly with emphasis on every word.
"They didn't tell you..." mumbled the grunt as he looked at his beat-up comrades.
"..." the cloaked man didn't reply, but he grabbed the grunts finger and began to bend it into an unnatural angle.
"Time's up." said the cloaked man as the finger began to crack and the grunt started to yell. "STOP! PLEASE STOP!"
"Did you stop when innocent women begged you?" replied the man when he stopped for a moment.
"I... It was the boss. He said we should torture them!" yelled the man as his finger was still bent and nearly broken.
"And? If someone told me that I should do this to you how does it differ?" asked the man as he applied a slight pressure to his finger to receive another squeal from the man.
"I-" began the grunt but was interrupted.
"You did unspeakable things to those poor humans. Just like your coworkers. It's sickening. All of you torture people for fun, but you can't even imagine what it's like to be at the other end. Do you?" asked the cloaked man.
"How does it feel? To be helpless, and at the mercy of some twisted man. Tell me." said the man, still holding the grunt's finger, in a scary deep voice that sent shivers through the grunt's whole body.
"T...t... terrifying." stuttered out the grunt honestly. Suddenly a crack was heard and the grunts finger broke. A loud yell echoed through the cave until the cloaked man asked again.
"That was one. We still have 9 more to go." said the man.
"Okay! I'll tell you!" yelled out the grunt in pain. But the man didn't stop and grabbed another finger with his right hand.
"5 kilometers southwest from Pallet Town! There is a cave hidden behind dozens of vines from the biggest tree in the area! Now let me go!" yelled out the grunt.
"Why should I?" asked the hooded man.
"I- I told you what you have wanted!" said the grunt desperately.
"Although it's nice of you, I never said you will be released. You need to be punished for your sins." said the hooded man as another finger began to crack.
"I'm sorry! I am sorry! I will never do it again! Please just stop!" yelled the grunt as he felt his second finger on the verge of being broken. His squirming didn't help to alleviate the pain, so he tried to remain still.
"You better be. If I see you hurting another human or a Pokemon like this again, I will finish what we have started here." said the cloaked man as he broke the grunts second finger. But the yell from him was never heard because a white glowing fist collided with grunt's cheeks sending him through the cave and the cloaked man turned around and walked off with the Pokemon who delivered the blow that knocked the grunt out.
"Was that really necessary, Ash?" asked Cynthia.
"Yes. They deserved that and much more." said Ash.
"That was truly terrifying." said Lucario in a pokespeech.
"As it should be. I would have continued if it didn't disgust me so much." said Ash.
They all witnessed the whole thing. The whole cave was watching Ash interrogate the grunts from afar, where the light couldn't reach them. Ash made sure that the cave would not be lit up and the only source of light would be near the wall where the Team Rocket grunts were. And even from afar, it was not a pleasant sight to watch Ash doing this thing to every single Team Rocket grunt, even when he obtained the information he wanted from the very first grunt.
"Mewtwo?" asked Ash.
"Yes." answered the feline Pokemon who emerged from the darkness.
"I know you can wipe memories out, but can you alter them?" asked Ash curiously.
"I don't know myself. Never tried it." replied Mewtwo.
"You want to alter their memories?" asked Cynthia.
"Yes. I need more time." replied Ash.
"More time?" mumbled Lucario with a paw below his chin as he was trying to figure out on what his trainer is thinking.
"Yes, Lucario. My healing process will take some time to finish. I may heal fast, but I am no pokemon to get healed immediately. And..." said Ash looking at his missing hand.
"I need to find a way to fight without my hand." said Ash as he put his hand behind the cloak that was covering his arm.
"All of this will take some time, and I need to ensure that they will not move their HQ somewhere else. I do not want Team Rocket to make any rash decisions as I will be recovering. I need them to stay where they are and suspect nothing." continued Ash.
"... You want them to think they killed you." said Cynthia.
"Not just me. Us." replied Ash.
"Do you think it will be believable?" asked Ash and he looked at the blonde haired beauty.
"Who? Me?" asked Cynthia getting caught up in this question. Ash has been pretty decisive so far and his word is basically the law. Not that she minded. His decisions so far were good. Not perfect, as was seen just a while ago, but still relatively good and reasonable. So it surprised her that he wanted her opinion.
"I am looking at you, am I not?" said Ash, sarcastically with a chuckle.
"I.. I don't know." said Cynthia with a tiny blush. "Just this little jab makes me like this? And I am supposed to live with him here for the time being. How am I going to survive this?!" she thought when she registered the heat on her cheeks.
Cynthia looked at Ash and he was still awaiting for her answer. So, would his death be believable? Second death at that. Hmmm. Why would it not? Her villa is thrashed, bloodstains on the bed sheets, and a massive amount of bullets in her bedroom. Well, if they find the blood stained towels and the changed bandage, there might be some questions. And if the Team Rocket grunts' memories will be altered in the right way, then it should be no problem. The blonde woman that was teleported out of there will not remember much so they should be good to go, if Mewtwo will do his part.
"I... I think yes. Yes, it would be."
"Would?" asked Mewtwo.
"Uhm... Mewtwo, was it?" asked Cynthia as she looked at the bipedal Pokemon.
"Yes, lady Shirona?" replied Mewtwo.
"It would be if we improve the plan a little. Could you teleport back to my house?" asked Cynthia.
"Of course. But what for?" asked Mewtwo without any hint of emotions as was normal for him.
"I think we need to get rid of the blood stained towels and the old bandage that is in a trash bin to make our death more believable for Team Rocket. Maybe you could add some red splashes onto the bedroom walls so it would strike the police as some kind of massacre." said Cynthia.
"Great idea, Cynthia!" said Ash.
Out of nowhere, Pikachu, with a small notebook and a pencil, came to his side and gave Ash the notebook. Ash opened the notebook and gave it to Lucario, who was holding it in front of Ash so he could grab the pencil from Pikachu and start to write into the notebook with one hand as Lucario was holding it.
"What is that for Ash?" asked Cynthia curiously, slightly raising an eyebrow at Ash who was writing inside the notebook.
"Nothing really. Hey Cynthia. How much does a bucket of red paint cost?" asked Ash.
"Hmm... around one thousand pokedollars." replied Cynthia with a finger below her chin, deep in thought.
Ash then scribbled something into the notebook, which was tied up in a brown leather, and gave said notebook and pencil to Pikachu who took it somewhere where Cynthia's eyes couldn't see. "What was that for?" she thought.
"And he should really light the cave up again." she added when she looked around the dark cave.
"Great. So Mewtwo, you heard Cynthia. Go and make sure our deaths are believable. You are an expert on that after all." said Ash.
Mewtwo gave Ash a displeased frown and teleported out of The Haven. Sometimes, Ash's sarcasm is too much even for him. But at least he is slowly reverting back to his former self.
"Mewtwo wait!" said Cynthia as she saw the bipedal Pokemon getting ready to teleport out of here.
"Anything else, lady Shirona?" asked Mewtwo.
"Well... Since you'll be at my house. Could you bring me some clothes? I think I will have to stay here for a while." said Cynthia.
If it was anyone else, then she might freak out. Having to stay with a stranger in a cave alone for God knows how long would not be a pleasant experience. However, its Ash. And even the lack of toilet paper will not make her run away from him and leave his side. He has to come back home. And she will do everything in her power to make sure he will get there once again.
"OK." said Mewtwo and teleported out of the cave.
A few minutes later Mewtwo came back. Mewtwo had only brought a few sets of clothes that Cynthia had in her wardrobe. When she asked why, he told her that bringing her whole wardrobe would raise questions. Even though she wanted to disagree, Mewtwo was right. So this will have to be enough clothes for her.
When the first evening came, Mewtwo teleported the grunts back to Cynthia's house with some altered memories. She didn't know what Mewtwo did to them, but according to Ash, it's not something she would want to know.
And the first night in the cave was pretty embracing for Cynthia to say at least. The good news was, that since Mewtwo stole a new cloak for Ash, she could now wear her bathrobe to sleep. Her black thin nightgown that she wore normally to bed was not suitable to be worn in front of Ash. The problem is, there are no beds. Just sleeping bags. One sleeping bag. Fortunately for her, Ash was kind enough to lend her his older one into which he could not stack himself into anymore, and it just so happened to be the perfect size for her. That would take care of that problem, but there was one thing Cynthia forgot about.
Ash's nightmares. A loud yell woke everyone up from their sleep and all of Ash's Pokemon gathered around Ash's 'room' and were looking at the boy in pain screaming for help. Lucario tried to calm him down through Aura, but it was no use. This nightmare was strong in Ash's mind and not even Lucario could manage to subdue Ash's fear.
Then Cynthia stepped in and calmed Ash with one touch. Again. Just like last time. The problem is, she has to be on Ash's side the whole night so the Pokemon and she, herself, could get some sleep. So she tried to explain to the Pokemon what happened before and how it works from what she could gather. The whole cave was whispering to each other, something in pokespeech, and some were even giggling. Suddenly, Pikachu with an evil smirk, walked to Mewtwo and told something to him which Mewtwo immediately translated.
"Lady Shirona. We think that it would be best if you would get into the sleeping bag with Ash." said Mewtwo in his monotone voice.
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Cynthia.
"You said it yourself, lady Shirona. Your touch calms him down, and to ensure that you will be touching him throughout the night, getting into the sleeping bag with him is the best option." replied Mewtwo.
"I- I- I can't!" exclaimed blushing Cynthia. Did Mewtwo have to phrase it like that? And yeah, she slept with him in the same bed, but being in the sleeping bag is totally different. Her bed is very spacious. Sleeping bags are not. And what would Ash say when he wakes up in the morning?
"Why not?" asked Mewtwo.
"It's- It's wrong. I can't just sneak into his sleeping bag without him knowing it!" said Cynthia.
"I heard that people in love do those type of things with their mates. I see nothing wrong with you and Ash doing the same." said Mewtwo. The way Mewtwo is phrasing it was even more embarrassing for the blonde beauty so the blush on her cheeks intensified.
"I am not in love with him and I am not his mate!" yelled out Cynthia, frustratingly.
"Lady Shirona. Deny it all you want, but we know. I can read minds and Lucario can sense emotions. Don't think your thoughts about mating with our trainer didn't go unnoticed by me and Lucario. And I have to say, you have some pretty interesting thoughts about mating, lady Shirona. I have never seen ropes used in such a way. Not to men-" said Mewtwo.
"S-Shut up!" yelled out an angry and embarrassed Cynthia, now red as a tomato, who was still touching Ash's sleeping cheeks to subdue the nightmare.
"Did I cross some boundary?" asked Mewtwo cluelessly to the other Pokemon around them. The response to that was all the Pokemon in the cave had begun laughing hysterically.
Blushing, Cynthia focused on Ash and not on the laughter of his Pokemon. His face covered in sweat with a painful expression on his face again. "Will he ever forget it?" thought Cynthia. Cynthia gulped loudly when she thought about being in the same sleeping bag with Ash. She would feel EVERYTHING. It was so wrong, but yet it felt so right. Sleeping right next to him, in his arms and wake up just a few centimeters from his face.
"No. I can't." thought Cynthia.
"Yes you can." said Mewtwo.
She turned to face the bipedal Pokemon and he spoke again. "Stop dreaming and take some actions, lady Shirona. Your fantasies, as weird as they are, can become reality. The first step is to help Ash and get into the sleeping bag with him." said Mewtwo.
Take some action. Easy for him to say. It's not that easy. But, it is to help him. The fact that her fantasies crossed with actually helping Ash is just a mere coincidence Cynthia tried to reassure herself.
"... I will do it under one condition." declared Cynthia.
"What do you want, lady Shirona?" asked Mewtwo.
"Don't read my thoughts." said Cynthia.
"I can't promise that. But if it's about the things I said earlier, then I can promise you that I will keep your thoughts to myself." said Mewtwo.
"I guess that will have to do..." said Cynthia with a sigh. Well, at least she tried. She can't really demand anything in her position from Ash's Pokemon. Mewtwo is probably just worried she would do something to Ash, so that's why he is reading her thoughts anyway. She knows Mewtwo is rather protective of Ash. And angering him would be a bad idea.
For some reason, Ash's sleeping bag felt really tight this cold morning. And before Ash opened his eyes, he could feel that his hands were tightly holding something and pressing it against his body. When he opened his eyes, Ash thought that he was still dreaming.
Cynthia, dressed in her bathrobe, was right next to him and she had her head snuggled into Ash's neck. Ash's hand was holding her waist and the arm without a hand was hugging the blonde haired beauty around her stomach.
"OK. This has to be a dream." thought Ash.
However, there is a little problem with this supposed dream. Actually, it is a pretty big one. Being the morning, and having Cynthia so close to him, caused little Ash to wake up too. And it did not look like his manhood was going to sleep anytime soon with Cynthia's chest pressed against his own.
Ash tried to close his eyes and not to focus on Cynthia next to him. However, the Aura sense kicked in and he could see Cynthia again. Now even in more detail. Not to mention the incredible amount of warmth he was feeling again from her. The warmth she enchanted him with once. Feeling it from up close was indescribable. And overwhelming. Ash had to open his eyes or he would really get addicted to it.
When Ash's knight rose up fully, as much as he tried not to, it began poking Cynthia's waist. And as much as he tried to get his morning wood away from Cynthia, due to its length, it was impossible.
A few days ago he would get embarrassed and not look Cynthia in the eye if this happened. Who is he kidding, just her being in his sleeping bag would cause him to not talk to her due to the embarrassment. However, things are different now. Broken people like Ash hide their true self behind the mask. In Ash's case, it is a mask of a carefree attitude and sarcastic remarks in a much more frequent use than before. No one has to know that behind layers and layers of jokes, is a broken boy who will never fully recover from the week he had visited hell.
"Not that I am complaining, but why is she even in my sleeping bag?" thought Ash.
She looks so beautiful. Ash was tempted to pet her head when she was lightly snoring against his chest. The snoring reminded him more of purring then snoring. She truly looked like a pet that sneaked into his sleeping bag, purring quietly in her sleep. What he would do for her, she can't even imagine. Whether it was because of his aura or not, he knew that if anything happened to her, nothing could stop his wrath. The feeling was so primitive and animalistic, that it even scared Ash slightly.
"Hmm... vanilla." thought Ash when he inhaled Cynthia's scent. How can someone be so perfect?
He should have kissed her when he had a chance. He should ignore Mewtwo's comment and go for it. That was maybe the last chance he had to kiss her. The feeling of love is radiating from her as much as the warmth he once felt. But as with Lucario and Gardevoir, he can't tell if it's that kind of love, and even if the love she is feeling is for him. Why would she? He left them. And now he is a cripple and his body is full of scars. Who would really want him? But then again, she IS in his sleeping bag. Looking as peaceful as ever.
"So, lady Shirona. What excuse will it be?" thought Ash with a playful smirk. But really. Why is she here? She would never get into the sleeping bag with him out of all people, Right? She has her own sleeping bag. Maybe it was some prank by Ash's Pokemon. And when another poke from Ash's manhood came, Cynthia's eyes begin slowly opening.
"Am I that irresistible, Cynthia?" asked Ash playfully when the sleeping beauty woke up.
Cynthia's eyes shot open when she heard his deep voice so close to her ears, she jumped from the sleeping bag before even a trained fighter like Ash could register it.
"I- It's not like that!" said Cynthia. Red color flushed her cheeks while she waved her hands in denial all the while Ash slowly got up and sat down inside the sleeping bag.
"Of course it isn't" said Ash playfully.
"I swear!" exclaimed Cynthia. She was about to say something else, but someone walked up to them.
"Ash?" asked Lucario who appeared right next to Cynthia and in front of Ash, interrupting a moment between the two of them.
"Yes Lucario?" replied Ash. He is like an alarm clock. Always up before Ash and waking him up.
"Let's get to training after breakfast. The sooner you are on your feet the sooner we will be able to take Team Rocket down." said Lucario.
The sentence Lucario said conjured a big smile onto Ash's face. "Can't argue with that logic." said Ash. Soreness nearly left his body, and he feels that his wounds underneath his bandages are healed. It's not the perfect condition, but he survived training sessions in worst states.
"Yosh, Cynthia. Keep the sleeping bag warm for me. I will be back in a jiffy and we can continue." said Ash and he winked at Cynthia. Cynthia naturally turned red and looked away from Ash.
"Maybe I overdid it with this one." thought Ash. He isn't very experienced with pretending to be someone else. Ash always spoke what was on his mind, and acted on it accordingly. Maybe that was a reason why some people considered him obnoxious when he was younger. But it seemed like Cynthia took the teasing well. Maybe she could handle more in the future.
"You can't train in this state, Ash!" yelled out Cynthia, snapping Ash out of his thoughts.
"Sure I can. Lucario had me train when I was worse than I am right now. Don't worry." said Ash calmly.
"True that." Lucario added in pokespeech.
Still not perfectly healed, but it should be enough to start with the training. They will start with some new fighting stances anyway so it will not be that intense. Even with Lucario. But what of Cynthia? She is not someone who can stand in one place and do nothing for long periods of time. But he can't keep her company while he trains.
"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you release your Pokemon and have a fight with mine in the meantime? I am curious how my Pokemon fare against the Champion of Kanto after three years of training." said Ash who was still sitting in the sleeping bag.
"Don't change the subject. I am not going to let you train in this state." said Cynthia, standing behind what she said.
"You think you can stop me, lady Shirona?" asked Ash teasingly while slowly raising up into a standing position. As soon as he stood up, Cynthia immediately turned around and Ash could see a glimpse of redness on her cheeks again.
"What's the matter, Cynthia?" asked Ash. He knows that Cynthia can get easily embarrassed when nudity is involved by now, but he is wearing a shirt and trunks. Nothing really revealing.
"You... are little TOO eager to get into the training Ash." said Cynthia, choosing her words very carefully.
It took some time before Ash realized what she was implying. He should have stayed inside the sleeping bag longer.
"Ooooh. Well. I can safely safe this is your doing. Not my excitement for training." said Ash. Maybe he went too far this time? A slap would be an appropriate reaction from Cynthia, so Ash waited if the slap or a punch will come. But it never did. Only a loud gulp was heard from her.
"A-Anyway. I still won't let you train in your state." Cynthia stuttered while still looking elsewhere and with her back at Ash.
"What will you do if I do go and train?" asked Ash curiously.
"I'll stop you." said Cynthia confidently, yet still not daring to look at Ash and his morning problem.
"That's very thoughtful of you, Cynthia. I appreciate that you are so worried about me, but don't try to stop me. I have already decided." said Ash.
Cynthia turned around, got behind Ash, and took his right arm and left arm and held his hands behind his back, gripping him as tightly as she could.
"Lucario, be reasonable and give me something to tie him up with. He can't train in this state." said Cynthia looking pleadingly at Lucario. Lucario just stood there the whole time and was watching the exchange between the two humans with a neutral look.
Ash had to chuckle at Cynthia's attempt to get him back into the sleeping bag. She is still worried about hurting him so she didn't dare to push him into the ground or anything that could hurt him more. The grip she is holding him is impressive, but nowhere near the level, she would need to stop him.
"Lucario. Do as she asked and get some rope. She will need them." said Ash calmly.
"Ash! I am going to say it one last time! Untie me or you'll regret it!" yelled a frustrated Cynthia, as she squirmed in the ropes of which Ash tied her with.
"Calm down, Cynthia. I will untie you as soon as we finish the training as I promised." said Ash, sitting in front of Cynthia with a sandwich in hand.
"Now be a good girl and open your mouth so I can feed you some breakfast." said Ash teasingly.
"No! I will not eat stolen food and I w...mmflmm" she started but as she was saying this Ash forced the sandwich into her mouth, silencing her protests. Ash could see she wanted to spit the sandwich out, but she was very hungry, so in the end, she swallowed it. They haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning. Everything was so hectic that they totally forgot about that, so now they were finally having breakfast. Well, more like Cynthia was forced to eat a stolen sandwich that Mewtwo brought this morning.
"There. Be a good girl and eat." said Ash teasingly as he petted her head, still with a sandwich in hand. Cynthia puffed her cheeks in frustration and tried to bite Ash, but being a trained fighter like himself, instead of biting Ash's hand, he pulled his hand away and instead, she bit the sandwich which Ash cleverly placed in the place where Cynthia had aimed to bite him.
"Now that's more like it. Just a few more bites." said Ash with a satisfied smile. Ash watched if Cynthia will swallow the piece of sandwich she bit into. It was the battle of stares, and in the end, hungry Cynthia lost and swallowed another bite.
"I hate you." mumbled Cynthia not really meaning it to which Ash chuckled.
This is certainly not how she imagined the first time being tied up by Ash. Which Mewtwo unfortunately already knew. Hopefully, Mewtwo will not make any remarks on her situation right now, since he is standing right beside Ash. She could not look Ash in the face if her dirty fantasy got out. Especially when he is teasing her every time he gets a chance.
"Well. If you would have been a good girl you could have a Pokemon battle. But since you are a bad girl you ended up getting tied up in my sleeping bag. It was your choice really." said Ash. Cynthia sighed at Ash's remark. She isn't going to get out of this, is she?
"Ash. Just promise me you will take it lightly, since you are still in no condition to train. I am truly worried that you could hurt yourself." said Cynthia sincerely, as she looked into the blue eyes of Ash. This time Ash's smile wasn't the teasing one but one of his sincere smiles.
"I will." he said sincerely.
"Let's make a deal. You eat the sandwich and I will not overdo my training. Deal?" asked Ash, smiling.
"Deal." answered smiling Cynthia and she took another bite from the sandwich Ash was feeding her with.
"Is this how you handle females in human society?" asked Lucario.
Both him and Lucario were standing in the middle of the cave near the large campfire across each other ready to start the training. But before the actual training, Lucario questioned Ash about Cynthia and their morning incident.
"No. Of course not. I think it's actually illegal to forcibly tie up and hold people 'hostage' like this." Ash replied.
"Than why are you doing it?" asked Lucario.
"Stubborn women like Cynthia are hard to handle. This is the easiest solution. And since we are already breaking laws left and right, I figured that this one we can break too. Besides, it's not like she will remain tied up and 'kidnapped' forever." said Ash.
"Interesting..." said Lucario thinking about what Ash just said..
"Enough about me and Cynthia. Any ideas how to handle this?" asked Ash raising his arm with a missing hand to Lucario.
"Kinda. So firstly. Bo training is out of the question. Bo, as you know, is a two-handed weapon. We can try and train you in something similar to Bo, but one-handed. Unfortunately, we don't have time for that. So we will focus on your hand-to-hand combat." said Lucario.
"Great..." said Ash sarcastically. Years learning how to fight with Bo just went out of the window.
"However, I think that I know how to make you a great fighter even without your hand. The key in this will be speed." said Lucario.
"Speed?" asked Ash.
"Yes. Your defense will remain relatively unchanged. You can block attacks even without a hand. Some counterattacks will have to be tweaked, but that will not take too much time to change. But then, there are your attacks and punches. You will have to be twice as fast to be on the same level as you once were. That's why speed is the key. What your left hand did now falls solely on the right hand. And what your right hand did, it has to do now too. That is what we will focus on. I don't know any fighting style where only one hand is used, so we will tweak the current one. This is my plan. If you have any other suggestion, I am all ears." said Lucario.
"Since I don't have a plan, we will do this your way. But I have a question. What about Aura Spheres and the Shield?" asked Ash. He tried to make a sphere and a shield with his left arm, but without a hand, he was unable too.
"Same advance. We will have to increase the speed it takes to create the sphere's and the transition between making shields and spheres." said Lucario.
"Is all of this even possible?" asked Ash. It sounds impossible.
"I think so. You are now at a level of a professional fighter in terms of speed of your punches and kicks. And as we know, Aura Guardians have much more durability and stronger bodies to match. So your muscles should be capable of breaking the limits of the regular human speed of punches and kicks without too much of a problem."
"Well. Seems like we have a lot of work to do." said Ash.
"Indeed we do." said Lucario.
"Goddammit!" yelled out a frustrated Ash as he punched the ground.
"Get up, Ash." said Lucario to Ash, who was lying on the ground.
Ash slowly rose up and looked at Lucario with a focused glare. His body was sore already, but it was nothing Ash couldn't handle. If a little bit of pain stopped him from training, he would never be able to stand against Team Rocket.
The second he got up again, Ash was in defense against Lucario's punches and kicks again. "I hate this." thought Ash. He was usually on the offense. He was the one who was pushing Lucario when he had both of his hands. Now he has to defend himself and even that is not enough.
Ash blocked Lucario's spin kick and was ready to counterattack by grabbing Lucario's leg. Ash tried to grab Lucario's leg with his left hand. Unfortunately for Ash, this is not the arm with a hand. Ash's eyes widened slightly when he realized his mistake.
Lucario took advantage of Ash's hesitation and punched Ash in the left side of his stomach. Ash groaned in his deep voice at the sudden pain of Lucario's punch.
Lucario than continued with a round kick to Ash's right side, but Ash blocked Lucario's advance with his right hand. Ash after the block went for another counterattack and stepped forward and elbowed Lucario in the stomach with his left arm following the attack with a right kick aimed at Lucario's side.
Lucario blocked the second attack with his right paw and simultaneously attacked with his left paw on Ash's breast. Ash, seeing this from a mile away, tried to catch Lucario's punch with his left hand, but again, his left hand was not there.
Lucario delivered another powerful blow to Ash causing Ash to collapse on the ground for the 6th time in three minutes.
"Stop trying to use your left hand, Ash." said Lucario.
"You think I am not trying? I do! But when I see your attack coming I act on instinct. And my instincts still think that my left hand is there!" said Ash loudly, pointing at his bandaged left arm with the right hand.
"We will get nowhere if this will continue." said Lucario.
"I have an idea." said someone.
The two fighters looked at the figure approaching them revealing Mewtwo standing before them. Mewtwo slowly came to Ash, offering him his hand and pulled him back up.
"Well. I am all ears, Mewtwo."
An hour later, Mewtwo was watching how his idea was unfolding. The fight between Ash and Lucario was much slower now, but Ash finally stopped using his left hand.
After Ash blocked several blows from Lucario, Lucario announced a quick break so both of them could get something to drink.
"Now if you excuse me, I'll go to drink some water." said Lucario, politely with a bow and left Mewtwo and Ash alone near the big fireplace in the middle of the Haven.
"Yeah. That reminds me I forgot to give Cynthia that orange juice you brought here, Mewtwo."
"Are you going to feed her again?" asked Mewtwo.
"Well, she can't drink very well with her hands tied up." replied Ash as the two of them made their way towards Mewtwo's room where all the things they need to survive here are.
"Which reminds me. How did you think of this?" said Ash, flapping his cape over his left arm out of the way, showing that his left arm is tied with a thin rope against his back to keep him from using his left arm.
"It was lady Shirona who gave me the idea." replied Mewtwo walking with Ash towards Mewtwo's room.
"Of course. I bet she saw how we are tying the grunts together so she came up with this idea. She truly is clever." said Ash.
"Actually, it has nothing to do with the Team Rocket grunts and tying them up." said Mewtwo when they reached Mewtwo's room filled with stuff to eat and drink.
"Huh? Then what?" asked surprised Ash when he grabbed a small cartoon of an orange juice with a straw from Mewtwo's room.
"I am sure you will find out in the future." said Mewtwo.
"Kanto region is still covered in the biggest storm in two decades. Our sources say that the storm should end in two days. Thanks to the early meteorological prediction, no one was killed in the storm. However, 17 people have been injured in the storm according to our sources. It is possible that more people are injured since communication is still out. And in other news, the Unova conference is coming up in a few months, so I hope you are ready for some exciting Pokemon battles. There are a lot of new talents emerging from the Unova region so show up in the stands and support new talented trainers in their dreams to become a champion. There..." said some woman in the radio who was interrupted by a loud yell inside a tent where the radio was playing.
"Haha! I won!" yelled out a tall bulky man dressed in winter clothes and the only thing that was not covered were his brown eyes. This man and two others were dressed in warm winter clothes and were in the tent playing cards with each other.
"Again?! Are you sure he is not cheating, Steven?" asked the second man. Who was slightly shorter than the previous one. But both of them were dressed in white winter clothes and thick leather boots inside their orange tent, lit only by a small lantern in the corner.
Outside were two other orange tents that were withstanding the harsh blizzards of Mount Coronet. The 9 man expedition on the mountain went as expected so far. Each time they moved closer towards the peak, the temperature drops slightly. They had to sleep in their winter clothes since they are so close to the top now.
Even when the expedition went as planned, they haven't found anything yet. No anomalies were spotted with their tech. The guys in the second tent have the technology to monitor the situation here and not a single sign of seismic activity was caught on the radar.
The guys in the third tent were carrying food and the other needs that they need to survive in these harsh condition. Thankfully, they have enough food for 2 months with them so they should be fine. And the clothes Charles gave them for the expedition was warm enough too. On top of that, one of the men took with him a pack of cards, so Steven and the other man named Eric, who was with them in a tent, could kill some time before the climb.
And so far, the group of travelers got along pretty well. Right from the beginning. After all, Steven is the type of guy who could make friends even with the most stubborn person ever. He is the most charming man you could encounter one would say.
"Not sure, Eric." said Steven who was dressed similarly to the other two guys.
"Come on guys. I would have never cheated on you." said a laughing, bulky, tall man whose name was Jim.
"I don't believe you, the last expedition you were giving yourself the best cards when you were shuffling." said Eric.
"Want to shuffle the deck yourself?" asked Jim in a booming voice and a slight laughter.
"... Give it to me." said an irritated Eric, and he snatched the pack of cards from Jim's hand. Shuffling a deck with thick gloves is an art, and both Jim and Eric have so much experience with climbs like this, that it's like they are shuffling the deck as the normal person would without gloves.
As another game of cards is played, Steven is thinking about the expedition as a whole. Since their climb on the mountain, no tremor stirred the area. Even when they were ready for it.
The weirder thing is that Mount Coronet was never a source of seismic activity. And the fact their technology didn't catch anything pointed to the fact that there were no ordinary earthquakes either. Then what is it? The only thing he could think of is that there is a massive Pokemon somewhere on Mount Coronet causing these things. But then, why would it stop now? So many questions, Steven thought he may never find the answer.
When the group began their climb again, they stopped for a moment on a relatively flat place several meters below the very top. In the blizzard, it was very hard to make out, but one of the men in his group saw the entrance into the cave on this platform. The group made their way through the high and thick snow into the entrance of a cave and after several minutes, they made it into the cave.
"Where do you think it leads?" asked Eric who was already tired from the climb, being the weakest from the group.
"To answers." replied Steven.
Clarence, one of the guys who carried the supplies, unpacked his enormous backpack and pulled out a small lantern. Right after it, he pulled out matches from his pocket in the winter jacket and lit the lantern up.
With light shining through the small cave, they made their way forward. And just after a couple of steps, Jeremy, the man with the research technology, stopped.
"There is a heat signature coming towards us." he said looking at a display of some small tablet in his hands.
"Do you know what it is?" asked Steven who stopped with the group a few steps from Jeremy.
"It's a human. A man most likely. His body temperature is slightly higher than that of a normal human." said Jeremy.
Small noises were heard as the group stood in their places. Clarence made a few steps into the darkness of the cave with his lantern lit up to shine the light for them to see the approaching human. And after a few seconds, the human was spotted in the darkness.
"He is missing his left hand." said Jeremy as the image of the human approaching them was getting much clearer on the display.
As the man approached them, he was covered from head to toe in a cloak and a grey scarf that covered his mouth. The only feature they could see was his nose, thick black beard, and the start of a scar under his eye. The eye which with the second one is hidden under the hood. He is wearing some sort of a black cape over his left hand to cover his missing hand, but the missing heat signature there gave it away already.
"Greetings. What brings you here, gentleman?" asked the man in a very deep voice.
"Greetings. We are here to uncover the mystery of the tremors that were surrounding Mount Coronet. It is said to come from here." said Steven in his calm tone as he stepped from the group to do the talking with this stranger.
"That? I didn't think it would cause that much commotion for the league to send the Champion himself to check up on it." said the man, sounding surprised.
"The tremors caused people in nearby villages to become worried. So I came here to investigate it. You know something about that?" asked Steven.
"Yes. My Pokemon caused the tremors." replied the man.
"Your Pokemon?" asked now surprised Steven.
"Yes. I am sorry that my training caused so much commotion. I promise it will not happen again." said the man.
"Your Pokemon are that strong?" asked Steven.
"I suppose they are since you are here." replied the man.
Steven was very careful in his approach to this man. The strength was practically radiating from him and he felt tense when talking to him. But he seemed harmless so far, so that's a good thing. Well, harmless in the fact that he didn't attack them. If his Pokemon are so strong, then he is not harmless at all. Maybe he should test it out.
"What do you say to a battle to test out your Pokemons' strength?" asked Steven.
The cave in which they are in now isn't very big, but for a 3 to 3 match, for example, it looks like a good enough place to have a Pokemon battle.
"... Why not. I haven't had a Pokemon battle in a long time." said the man.
"Before we battle, can I ask you what are you doing up here? It's not exactly a place for a human to be in." said Steven as he went to make a space between him and the man for their Pokemon battle.
"I like solitude." replied the bearded man, simply.
Steven stood with his group on the one side of the cave, and the man stood across him. The light from Clarence's lantern barely reached the man on the other end.
Steven was preparing his strategy for the battle. For him, it's more about getting information of this man and his Pokemon than the actual battle. Not that it would change anything about going all out, but he will pay close attention to the man during the battle. There is no better source of information than the battle between two trainers.
"How does a 3 on 3 sound?" asked Steven.
"Fine by me." said the man.
And then the man, without any announcement for the start of the battle, pulled out a pokeball from his belt under the cloak and threw it out, revealing a Weavile.
"Skarmory, onto the battlefield!" said Steven as he released his first Pokemon.
The whole cave went silent for a moment. Especially the group that was with Steven was dead silent. It is not every day you see a Hoenn Champion battle some random person. As they were savoring the moment, a conversation between the bearded man and Steven continued.
"You may have the first move, Mr. Stone." said the man politely.
"Thank you." said Steven. "Skarmory, Aerial Ace!" said Steven loudly.
"Block it with Metal Claw." said the man calmly.
Skarmory made a quick flip in the air and dived into the direction where Weavile was standing. The sharp claw Pokemon crossed her hands in front of her and awaited the impact. The collision of attacks came and the result surprised everybody.
The gush of wind created by Skarmory's quick Aerial ace went past the Weavile resulting in the flapping of the mystery man's cloak and Weavile was still rooted at the same spot she was before. Skarmory's attack didn't move Weavile at all.
Startled, Skarmory then quickly flew up in the restricted room of the cave. Everybody in the cave had their jaws near the floor at such display of power. This is one of Champion's Pokemon and Skarmory didn't do anything to Weavile.
"That's... impressive." said Steven.
"Thank you." said the man.
"Let's continue. Brave Bird!" said Steven.
"Night Slash." said the man.
Following their commands, Skarmory made a quick turn in the air and set himself on flames. In the same time, Weavile created a purple glowing rod in her palm. Skarmory's flaming body turned blue as he dived towards Weavile, who jumped towards the Skarmory.
Two attacks collided creating a small explosion in the air. The first Pokemon who emerged from the smoke created by the explosion was Weavile, who landed in front of the mysterious man with grace. Skarmory on the other hand glided to the ground, injured. The damage was increased when the recoil damage from a powerful Brave Bird attack activated.
"Hidden Power." said the man.
"Dodge and Air Slash!" said Steven.
Weavile quickly created a white sphere with a dark blue tint and threw it at Skarmory even faster. Unfortunately for her, Skarmory dodged it with ease and the gear-like attack from Skarmory hit Weavile directly, resulting in another smaller explosion.
When Weavile was revealed to be relatively unharmed by the attack, Steven went for another attack.
"Steel Wing!" he said.
And as Skarmory was preparing for another attack, Steven began analyzing their match so far. His Pokemon is incredibly strong. Getting unscathed from Skarmory's attack was unbelievable. And it even seemed like the trainer before him waited for Weavile to be struck by the Air Slash to test how Weavile would fare against the attack. Not to mention Weavile's Night Slash was stronger than Skarmory's Brave Bird.
"Night Slash." said Steven's opponent.
And the two Pokemon clashed again. But this time Skarmory was diving again and again against Weavile, and Weavile, with a cocky smirk, was continuously deflecting Steal Wing's aimed for her.
Tired, Skarmory landed on the ground panting from the continuous attempts to hit Weavile.
"Skarmory, Air Slash!" said Steven.
"Blizzard." said the cloaked man.
And as Skarmory attacked with another Air Slash, Weavile opened her mouth and released an enormous Blizzard towards Skarmory.
"Skarmory, use Steel Wing and protect yourself from the Blizzard!" said Steven, quickly.
Skarmory, mere seconds before the Blizzard reached him, placed his wings in front of him and shielded himself with a Steel Wing attack.
"What the hell is this Blizzard?!" asked one of the men from Steven's group who were behind Steven and received the full power of Weavile's Blizzard as well.
After Weavile's attack ended, Skarmory stood still in his place with wings covering his body. With a powerful screech, Skarmory revealed that he was not done yet.
"That's one determined Pokemon... I like it." said the mystery man.
"Thank you. And you are one powerful trainer. Why haven't we heard of you?" asked a curious Steven, seeking information about this mystery man apparently living in the mountain. Maybe that's why they never heard of him.
"Trust me, Mr. Stone, when I say you have certainly heard of me." said the man.
"Huh?" asked Steven.
"But back to the battle, Mr. Stone. Night Slash." said the mystery man.
"Skarmory, dodge!" said Steven. But as he was sorting his thoughts about the man in front of him, Steven failed to notice that Skarmory's feet were frozen to the ground below them. Skarmory struggled to break free, but Weavile quickly silenced the Steel Bird Pokemon with a Night Slash.
Weavile literally appeared in front of Skarmory, forming a purple glowing rod in her one hand and with a spin swing, she sent Skarmory across the cave into the nearby wall of the cave. Weavile's attack was so powerful that Skarmory became a blur after the hit, and causing several rocks to fall from the place where Skarmory landed.
Unmoving, Skarmory fell limply on the floor of the cave with swirls in its eyes.
"I believe this battle is over." said the man and he recalled Weavile. Stunned, Steven, after several seconds of silence, recalled his Skarmory. "You did well, Skarmory."
"Mr. Stone, catch." said the man as he threw some kind of berry to Steven. When Steven caught the berry, it was revealed to be a Sitrus berry. The one which restores a Pokemon's energy.
"Thank you." said Steven. Here on the mountain, he can't heal his Skarmory, so this kind gesture is very welcomed. Seems like this man is not dangerous at all.
"Now for the second battle, Mr. Stone." said the man. This time Steven caught a sign of excitement in his voice. The man reached into his belt for another pokeball and threw it in the air. This time the Pokemon inside was much larger than Weavile.
Steven smiled when he saw the Pokemon. A battle of his favorite Pokemon type is going to take place right now.
"Metagross, onto the battlefield!" said Steven as he released his strongest Pokemon onto the battlefield.
"I see you are not going to go easy on me, Mr. Stone." said the mystery man when he saw the famous Shiny Metagross of Steven Stone in all of its glory. This time, the mystery man raised his head revealing his unique blue eyes underneath the hood. And when Steven looked into them, he knew that not only the Pokemon he released from his pokeball is powerful, but also some kind of immeasurable power is stored inside those eyes as well.
"I can say the same thing about you. This Aggron looks very powerful." said Steven.
"We will see how powerful he is. I mean. How better to test Aggron's power than a battle with one of the most powerful Pokemon in the pokemon league?" said the mystery man with a chuckle that was heard through his scarf.
"You are a flatterer." said Steven jokingly. "Well. Since I had the first move before, now it's your time." said Steven politely. Maybe it was Steven's charm, but this man, even though mysterious, is easy to get along with.
"Iron Head." said the man.
"Metagross, Meteor Mash." said Steven.
Aggron began running against the Iron Legged Pokemon. Running, Aggron created small tremors in the cave's floor because of his huge size and ferocity of which he was approaching the Iron Legged Pokemon.
Metagross raised one of his silvery metal hands, engulfed in a golden meteor shaped star, and prepared to deliver hit to a running Aggron, who by now was enveloped in white particles with specks of grey across his body.
With experience, Metagross waited for the right moment, and when Aggron was just a few centimeters from his metallic face, he attacked with Meteor Mash. Metagross's punch caused Aggron to fall on the ground as his own attack was interrupted.
"So this is what it's like to fight against your Metagross." said the mysterious man.
"Don't tell me it's already over." said Steven sounding a little disappointed. Skarmory is one of his weaker Pokemon, so to get more information about this man's fighting style, he called out the big guns. He didn't expect Aggron to fall this early even against his Metagross.
"No. Of course not. Right, Aggron?" asked the mysterious man.
And as if on cue, Aggron picked himself up and released a powerful roar in the cave.
"This is going inside my journal for sure." said Clarence with the lantern still in hand for his mountain-climber group. The group was quiet the whole time and was just savoring the moment of a great battle. The group even gasped when Skarmory was defeated. They themselves didn't know what to do, so they let Steven do the talking and gain knowledge about this man. Its Steven's mission after all. They are here just to provide him with the necessary equipment and transport.
"You have a journal?" said another man from the group, with some device with an antenna in his hand.
"No. But I am going to start one just because of this." said Clarence turning his attention back to the battlefield.
He quickly placed the lantern on the rocky floor of the cave and pulled a phone from his jacket. Shortly after he was taking pictures of the glorious battle between a champion and a stranger. It's not every day you see the Shiny Metagross of the great Steven Stone in action so up close.
"Metal Sound." said the mysterious man.
Aggron's horns start glowing white and they released an annoyingly screeching sound in the cave. The mountain-climber group and Steven had to cover their ears since they were in the way of a sound-based attack.
"Metagross, Earthquake!" yelled Steven still affected by the Metal Sound attack.
Metagross, fortunately, heard Steven and jumped slightly into the air before dropping on the ground with a massive Earthquake following shortly after.
Metagross's Earthquake caused the ceiling of the cave to tremble and drop several rocks on the ground with the ground shaking tremendously, damaging Aggron and interrupting his attack.
"Now, use Psychic!" said Steven.
Aggron was lifted from the ground into the air and dropped to the ground with enhanced gravity by Metagross, damaging the Iron Armor Pokemon again. "He sure has a lot of stamina."
"Metagross, Meteor Mash!" exclaimed Steven, when he saw Aggron rising up again.
"Metal Claw." said the mysterious man.
Aggron and shiny Metagross were trading blow after blow with their respective attacks colliding with each other in time with one another. But since Aggron was already injured, Metagross, after dozens of traded blows, gave Aggron a Meteor Mash into the face causing him to fall down onto the ground yet again.
"I think it's over now." said Steven already thinking the match was over.
"And who decided that?" asked the mysterious man and Aggron rose once again with another roar, now louder than the previous one.
"Thunderbolt." said the mysterious man and before Steven could register what was going on, a yellow bolt of lightning struck Metagross's body, who released a grunt of pain.
But even though the Thunderbolt was powerful, it was nowhere near the power Aggron would need to bring Metagross down. This Metagross is the strongest member of Steven's team after all.
"Metagross, Double Edge!" said Steven.
"Iron Head." said the cloaked man.
Two massive Pokemon surrounded themselves in white and yellow energy and made their way to another with impressive speed and both powerful attacks collided, causing a rather large explosion, causing several rocks on the ground to be thrown all around them. Steven shielded his eyes looking at the battlefield to find out the result of the collision.
As the smoke was slowly clearing, both trainers could see that only one Pokemon was left standing. And from the silhouette, it was clear who was the winner.
"Aggron, return. I am proud of you. You did well." said the mysterious trainer recalling his beat up Aggron back into the pokeball.
"It's a tie now." said Steven as he recalled his fairly unscathed Metagross back into the pokeball.
"Then what do you say we settle the score once and for all, Mr. Stone?" said the mysterious man.
Steven himself was again thinking deeply about the battle that took place. It looked like this man was just testing his own Pokemon's strength. He wasn't very enthusiastic about the battle, even though he could faintly hear a hint of excitement in his commands. Nevertheless, his Aggron is a very powerful Pokemon. He withstandood a lot of Metagross's strong attacks and was still able to go on.
"The first move is again yours, Mr. Stone." said the mysterious man snapping the Hoenn Champion out of his thoughts.
In the next instant, the mysterious man threw another pokeball into the air revealing a Toxicroak, that will be Steven's last opponent. A rather lazy Toxicroak. When the man released him from the pokeball, it was revealed that Toxicroak was sleeping.
"Claydol, onto the battlefield!" said Steven.
"And the last match begins." said Jim behind Steven eager to find out the result of this private battle.
"Claydol, Psybeam!" said Steven.
"Counter with Sludge Wave." said the mysterious man.
Zig-zagged beam full of colors and a purple poisonous tentacle-like sludge collided, pushing against each other. Neither of the attacks had the necessary firepower to overpower the other one so an explosion followed.
"Claydol, Hyper Beam!" said Steven not even waiting for a cloud of smoke disperse.
"Sludge Wave." said the mysterious man.
And again, the two attacks collided creating another explosion, now much larger than the previous one. And since the explosion was bigger, the cloud of smoke created was bigger as well. Steven now realized that the first Sludge wave was not even at full power, because if it was, Claydol's Psybeam would be useless.
"Low Sweep."
Before Steven's eye could register it, an apparently lazy Toxicroak appeared right in front of Claydol delivering a powerful kick into Claydol's legs, sweeping him off the ground.
"Poison Jab." said the mysterious man and Toxicroak's claw on his hand glowed purple and was shoved into Claydoll's chest, who was lying on the ground thanks to the Low Sweep.
After those two attacks, Claydol could finally move again and Steven took notice of this.
"Claydol, Hyper Beam!" said Steven. Steven hoped that since Toxicroak is so close the Hyper Beam that they would connect. And his thought was right.
Still lying on the ground, Claydol formed an orange-like sphere in front of him, and then the beam from this sphere was shot into Toxicroak, who was blown away by this powerful attack.
However, it did not hurt Toxicroak how Steven hoped. Because even in an injured state, it looked like Toxicroak was prepared for yet another attack.
"Sucker Punch."
Claydol, who finally stood up, was forced to go to the ground again when a Sucker Punch connected with his stomach.
"Poison Jab."
And just like previously, a Poison Jab was shoved into Claydol's stomach. Steven desperate to end Claydol's suffering, ordered another attack.
"Claydol, another Hyper Beam!" said Steven.
"Sludge Wave." said the mysterious man now prepared for the Hyper Beam attack.
And just like previously the two attacks collided. But now form a point-blank range since Toxicroak was still standing on top of Claydol.
"Poison Jab."
And in the grey cloud of smoke, a purple glowing claw was seen and shoved into Claydol's stomach once again. It took a few seconds before the cloud of smoke cleared revealing a pretty beat-up Claydol and Toxicroak who was still standing on top of him.
"I didn't think I would be forced to use this. Claydol, use Explosion!" said Steven.
Steven could see the eyes of the mysterious man, with seemingly unmovable expression, widen slightly. He clearly didn't expect this. When the mysterious man tried to give a command to Toxicroak it was already too late. Claydol exploded with Toxicroak still on top of him increasing the damage to the Toxic Mouth Pokemon.
The cloud created by the Explosion was large enough to fill every corner of the cave. This caused a few coughs from everyone present. After a minute of dead silence, the smoke was cleared revealing a knocked out Claydol.
However, Toxicroak was not out of the game yet. He was lying on the ground panting heavily trying with all his might to stand up. Shaking, Toxicroak revealed to Steven that his lazy nature is only second to that determined one.
"Impossible." mumbled Steven. This was supposed to be Toxicroak's end. Not a single Pokemon he ever fought survived the blast from Explosion. Not to mention this one was from point-blank range. But this Toxicroak did. And with one final loud, toad like croak, Toxicroak rose up, standing tall again.
"Toxicroak. You are magnificent." praised the mysterious bearded trainer to his Pokemon. After several seconds of silence, Steven was finally able to find words in his mouth.
"I guess I lost." said Steven in disbelief. This was supposed to be a draw. Not a loss for him.
With shaky legs, Toxicroak was then returned into his pokeball by its trainer. Who looked on the pokeball with a warm smile. It seemed like he himself didn't expect Toxicroak to withstand that blow.
"THAT WAS A MAGNIFICENT BATTLE!" yelled out Jim in his signature booming voice.
"Indeed it was." said Clarence.
Steven with closed eyes and a smirk on his face, recalled his Claydol back into the pokeball. "Guess today was not our day, Claydol." said Steven.
"Thanks for the battle, Mr. Stone." said the mystery man.
"It was my pleasure. I hadn't had a battle like this in such a long time." said Steven who approached the man in and shook his hand.
"By the way. I never caught your name. What is it." said Steven. He learned a lot from their battle about this man. But his name is still a mystery.
"My name is not important." said the mystery man. Steven looked into his blue eyes trying to find some answers there, but he didn't.
The stranger just turned around and began walking away, leaving Steven and his crew. But Steven has for him one last question before they say their goodbyes to each other.
"Than, how should I call you?" asked Steven giving up on his name. Just from his eyes, he could tell when this man does not want to be known. But a nickname of sorts could be a subtle way to get at least some information about him. And it worked. The stranger looked over his shoulder and made a simple reply.
"You can call me Red."