Grief...

Chapter 22 - Grief...

Ash had won his third match of the Spirit Tournament but it came with some heart stopping moments. His opponent, Russell Diamond, cheated at the end and mega evolved his Aerodactyl in an attempt to humiliate and beat Ash, knowing he couldn't win in a fair fight as Ash had beaten his first two pokémon with one hit each. The raven haired trainer won however despite the cheating ways and saved the officials who Russell targeted with his mega pokémon when they tried to stop him. When Ash's Charizard beat Aerodactyl, Russell pretended to give up but tried to land a sneak attack with a hidden blade on Ash but Dawn had thrown herself between the two, getting stabbed instead. Brock knocked out Russell with a rage induced punch and Ash had healed Dawn with his aura powers before the two shared a short kiss in front of their friends on the field. They were now heading back to their suite, with Ash and Dawn leading the group, holding each other close. They had barely moved a hundred feet away from the stadium when Dawn stumbled though Ash kept her from falling by catching her.

"Hey, you alright?" asked Ash, greatly concerned.

"Yea, I just became tired and woozy all of a sudden," replied Dawn. Ash placed his hat on her head and then picked her up without another word, carrying her in his arms, bridal style and continued walking.

"Thank you." Dawn whispered to him, her arms around his neck. Ash smiled and whispered that it was no problem. When their friends saw Ash pick her up after she said she was tired, they smiled happily at the gesture and the girls fawned over it.

"He's so caring isn't he Leaf?" asked Sarah with admiring eyes at the raven haired trainer.

"Yeah, he is." Leaf's agreement caused a whirlwind of thoughts to go through her head.

'He hasn't changed at all, still caring and protecting others. He's become so strong and handsome too. He's always been fearless though and he has matured greatly and….wait, what am I doing? Am I really thinking about Ash like that right now? What the hell?' Leaf's internal struggle went unnoticed by the group as they continued walking.

Halfway to the hotel, some fans and reporters caught up to the stragglers of their group and started asking questions randomly and quite loudly.

"Hey there, what did you think of the match between Ash and Russell?"

"Do you know where we can find Ash? He's always dodging interviews."

"Hey, do you where I can find that Charizard trainer? I want to get his autograph!"

"Do you know where that fearless and handsome Ash is? I want to ask him out!"

Ash heard the questions and started walking faster, not wanting to deal with it at all. Gary noticed and nudged Brock.

"Looks like Ashy-boy doesn't want attention," said Gary a little too loudly. A couple of the people bothering their friends behind them heard and rounded on the researcher.

"You know where he is? Tell us!" They demanded, practically shouting in Gary's face. The others continued past them, laughing at Gary, as he never knows when to close his mouth. Gary was fuming that they had left him behind to deal with the crazy fans and reporters, but his scowl quickly turned into a smirk as he decided to have some fun with the reporters.

"So, you want to see the great Ash? Alright then, listen up…"

Ash sighed in relief as they crazy people didn't notice him and had reached the hotel. As soon as he stepped inside, Richie and Joy shot towards him, with obvious concern on their faces. They heard what had happened at the end, since Joy is a League Official and had a walkie-talkie with her at all times when on her shift, asking Ash if everything is okay. Ash nodded, telling them that everything is alright and that he just needed to take Dawn up so she can rest comfortably as she had fallen asleep in his arms. Not giving them the full story, Ash walked past them and went up in the elevator. A moment later, the rest of their friends showed up. Joy and Richie turned to them.

"Hey, we heard a bunch of horrible stuff happened through the League's chattering. What happened?" asked Richie immediately, Joy standing beside him; both of them not letting them go on up until they got an explanation.

"Well, this is what happened…" Brock told them exactly what happened from the beginning to the end. When he got to the mega pokémon part, Richie shouted out a curse word angrily and when he talked about how Dawn got stabbed, Joy clapped her hands to her mouth, silencing her cry of shock and quickly began to tear up. Richie wrapped an arm around her as she started to cry, burying her face into his chest, while Richie called Russell several bad names.

"Hey don't cry Joy, its okay because Ash healed her." Joy and Richie looked at him as if he was crazy and Brock explained what happened after the injury.

"I'm so relieved that she's okay and that worthless excuse of a trainer is getting locked up. Good job with the knockout punch Brock," complimented Richie.

"Thanks Richie, but I haven't punched anyone that hard before," admitted Brock, as he massaged his knuckles. "It hurt a little." Some chuckles were heard at his revelation. Richie turned to Joy.

"When are you off of your shift?"

"Around 5pm. I'll come up before I go home." Joy rubbed her eyes dry of tears.

"Okay. I'm going to go check on them. I'll see you later."

Joy gave Richie a quick kiss on the cheek and returned to work. Richie and the rest traveled up in the elevator and entered their empty room. They looked around for Ash, Dawn, Lucario, Gardevoir and Pikachu and found them in Serena's and Dawn's bedroom.

Lucario had an angry look on his face while Gardevoir looked sullen. Pikachu was curled up next to Dawn and Piplup who was brought out by Dawn. The small blue penguin pokémon was hugged by Dawn, who still had Ash's hat on her head as she slept under the covers still fully dressed. Ash was sitting on a chair beside Dawn, watching over her as she slept. He glanced at his friends when they entered the room, putting a finger to his mouth to signal them to stay quiet. They quietly left the room after nodding and closed the door.

Ash watched Dawn as she slept for another moment before getting up. Lucario and Gardevoir shared an understanding look with Ash before moving closer to Dawn, letting him know that they will watch over her for him. Ash nodded in appreciation and went out of the room. He walked quietly to the balcony, glad at the fact that the others didn't bother him right now.

Ash leaned against the balcony railing as he stared off into the distance. The memories of the day's events began to flow past in front of his mind's eye. He couldn't believe what had happened. He couldn't believe that Russell was willing to cheat and hurt others. The last time he saw people like that was when he defeated the last evil organization that he had come across years ago; Team Flare.

He went over every detail in his head and couldn't figure out what he did wrong. What made him madder was the fact that he didn't react quickly enough to stop Russell as well before he tried to attack and before Dawn got caught in the middle. His anger caused his aura to flare out and arch around him.

The blue glow from the balcony caught everyone's attention who was gathered round in the living room. Leaf and Sarah stared at him in awe, never before seeing an Aura Guardian's true power. Misty, May and Serena instantly got up and headed towards him. Leaf was about to stop them when Brock grabbed her shoulder and when she turned to look at him, he shook his head. Leaf returned to follow them with her eyes as the three drew closer to Ash.

Ash's aura was blazing around like flames dancing in the wind as the three drew close. Sarah thought that the blue flames might hurt the girls, cause them to shout or scream in pain but when she saw Misty place a hand on his shoulder through the blue flame like aura, she gasped.

"Ash's aura won't hurt anyone that is not his enemy or is not a threat," explained Brock, as soon as Sarah opened her mouth to ask about that.

"Oh." It was all she could say and Leaf nodded silently. She was thinking about the same thing.

Ash looked at the person who placed her hand on his shoulder. He was too absorbed in his thoughts to sense others nearing him. Seeing Misty's concerned look made him calm down a little, his aura stopped flaring around and regressed back into him. He noticed Misty wearing the necklace he bought her and it raised his spirits, but only slightly. He now sensed two more people around him and turned around to see it was Serena and May. The three girls had come to check on him.

"Hey, are you okay Ash?" asked Misty softly. Ash faced her fully before shaking his head.

"No, I'm not. I can't get past what happened today. The image of what happened to Dawn keeps replaying in my mind over and over again. I can't stop seeing it!" He turned around, leaning against the balcony railing again and his eyes watered. Misty hugged him from behind as May and Serena hugged him from both sides.

"It's not your fault Ash." Misty spoke into his back, hoping he would listen.

"It is! I could've prevented it from happening!" he admitted, tears escaping from his eyes and falling down. The girls' eyes widened as they gasped at what they heard. "I sensed evil intentions and pushed the official out of the way! I was about to block that idiot's attack when Dawn moved in front of me! If she hadn't done that or if I had pushed her out of the way as well, she wouldn't have gotten hurt!" Ash started sobbing, the others inside in the living room hearing him. Sarah couldn't bear seeing him so sullen so she got up to go and try to help him, but Leaf pulled her back down.

"No. It is not our place. Let those three handle it." Sarah didn't argue but kept her eyes stayed fixed on the four in the balcony. Iris glanced at the two for a second as a thought ran across her mind but then she dismissed it as just her imagination.

"Ash, it's not your fault," said May, repeating Misty's words.

"But I could've-"

"It doesn't matter," interrupted Serena. "You did what you could've and you saved her in the end."

"She's right and that's all that matters Ash," agreed May. Ash's crying slowed down a bit as the girls words washed over him.

"We know that you will do your best no matter what to protect the people you care about and that's all we could ever ask of you," said Misty.

Ash's crying stopped after a moment and his breathing slowly returned to normal. The three girls were still hugging him and it was very comforting to him. Their words also made him feel a bit better. He slowly turned himself around, the girls letting go so he could do so and he eyed the three.

"Do you really mean that?" The raven haired trainer looked at the three girls in front of him. The three nodded and hugged him again at the same time. Ash wrapped his arms around them and smiled.

"Thank you." As they released each other, Ash told the girls that he felt better and will join them later. He wanted to think about some other things, promising them that he won't dwell on what happened. They agreed, each giving him a peck on the cheek before moving back into the living room and they sat down on the couch.

"Will he be okay?" Leaf asked in a very concerned tone as Sarah glanced at them and Max looked up at his sister but Serena answered.

"I believe he will be."

"What was troubling him?" asked Sarah. "Why did he begin to glow and have flames go around him?"

"Well Ash is an Aura Guardian and whenever he needs to use it or his emotions become too much, his aura, which the best way to describe is spiritual life energy, flares out around him like that. Also, keep this Aura Guardian stuff secret, the less people who know the better. Anyway, he was blaming himself for what happened to Dawn," clarified May.

"What?!" both Leaf and Sarah shouted, bewildered. "Why?"

"Because that's who Ash is. He always blames himself, even when he isn't at fault. If he's around someone who gets hurt or gets into a worse situation, he blames himself for not doing something. He's always been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders," explained Misty sadly.

"It's true. I've seen Ash do some amazing things and he's saved the world many times already. Imagine growing up like that, saving the world yet unable to protect your friend from such a stupid thing. It must weigh heavily on Ash," revealed Brock.

Brock glanced behind him to see his pseudo brother still leaning against the rail. Leaf and Sarah had expressions on their face that was like a Deerling caught in headlights.

"You're telling me that Ash has saved the world and not only once, but multiple times?" croaked out Leaf. Sarah was too awestruck to say anything.

"Yes he has, many times. He has fought against every single criminal organization known so far and other bad stuff," said Max.

"But not many people know about it. Looks like Ash trusts you two so I don't think he'll mind you two knowing about it as well," said May.

"The first time I met Ash, I thought he was some hopeless kid who didn't know anything but I was quickly shown that I was wrong. He's a very caring person and always puts others before himself," added Iris.

"I must also confess that the first time I met him, I thought he was another delusional trainer who thought he could become a Master one day, but after our first match together and traveling around with him for a bit, I'm glad to say that my initial observation was incorrect and if anyone can reach that goal, it will be him," said Cilan.

"I got to say the first time I crossed paths with Ash was when my and other trainers' pokémon were stolen by Team Rocket while at our first Indigo Plateau tournament appearance. With his help, we were able to stop Team Rocket and get everyone's pokémon back. From that day forward, I knew then that he was a good friend to know and we've been friends since," commented Richie.

Leaf and Sarah were thinking many things as a result of hearing their stories about Ash. Not only was Ash an Aura Guardian, but he had saved the world several times and fought against evil organizations. Their friends were speaking so highly of the raven haired trainer and they have stuck by his side through what seems like countless adventures and experiences.

Sarah was astounded that Ash and his friends had such an understanding of each other that they radiated a sense of being a family, not just a group of friends. At that realization, Sarah decided that she wanted something like that and told herself that she would stick with them from now on. Leaf however was thinking about how she could have been a part of everything with him if she hadn't gone her separate way in the beginning when she got her starter pokémon. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Gary had arrived until Iris spoke.

"So the great Gary finally shows. What, not used to the attention these days mister pokémon researcher?" teased Iris. The group laughed as Gary sat down on the couch, next to Cilan.

"Nope. I feed the hungry animals some bullshit about how Ash spends his time nearby Victory Road in between matches and they lapped it up." Gary put up his feet on the table, smirking, proud of his witty story. Leaf gave Gary an amused look.

"Huh, not bad Gare-bear."

"Damn it Leaf stop saying that!"

They laughed in amusement at Leaf's teasing and spent their time talking amongst themselves about the tournament's events so far for quite some time, unaware of the time passing. It was when Joy entered their suite that they noticed that it was past 5pm already. The last match of the day would be going on right now but they didn't care. Richie got up to welcome Joy inside while Brock and Cilan got up to make dinner. Joy sat down on the couch saying hello to everyone as Richie sat down.

"Hey guys. How are Dawn and Ash doing?"

"They're doing well Joy considering what happened. Dawn is still resting and Ash is…" Serena stopped talking as she absent mindedly glanced at the balcony. "He's still standing there?"

They all looked in the direction she was facing and saw Ash still leaning against the railing, in his last position when the girls left him.

"Has he been standing there this whole time?" whispered May and Max got up to check on him.

Everyone watched as Max got close to Ash in the balcony and tried to talk to him. Max saw that Ash's eyes were blue and he seemed to be concentrating on something as his eyes were narrowed and his brow furrowed. Max had a tendency to act impulsively but not as much anymore since he had traveled some on his own when he finally got his trainer's license, so even though he was shocked at first at seeing his idol like that, he didn't lose it. He returned to the patient group and sat down before talking.

"He's okay, just meditating." Max felt proud of himself for thinking that up.

"How can you tell?" asked Sarah. She was becoming very interested in Ash and wanted to know as much as she could about him and would take any opportunity to learn more when able.

"He's eyes are glowing blue." Max instantly covered his mouth with both hands as Sarah and Leaf cried out together at the same time.

"WHAT?!"

"I mean, ah…I meant to say…ah forget it, yea his eyes are blue. He can make them glow blue because of his aura." Max explained as May smacked him. "Ow! What the hell May?! They know he's an Aura Guardian so what does it matter?"

"Even so, you don't need to shout out everything that you know! They could've found out on their own just like we did or when he told them himself!"

"May, its okay, I mean we are all friends and we trust each other right?" Misty looked around at the group. "So it doesn't matter if they found out on their own or by us. Granted, I think its better if they know sooner rather than later as it could be beneficial in the future."

"She's right. You guys should really stop acting like kids."

"Look who's calling other people kids when she's scared of the cold," laughed Gary.

"HEY!" Iris got up on her feet, angry.

"Sit down short stuff before you hurt yourself," teased Gary.

"That's it!" Iris lunged at Gary who somehow flipped himself over the couch backwards and landed on his feet, earning an impressed look from the others at his athleticism and ran to his room and closed the door before Iris could catch him.

"Open this door Gare-Bear so I can kick your ass!" Cilan appeared next to the screaming dragon master in training out of nowhere.

"Iris, please stop shouting and calm yourself." Iris rounded on Cilan.

"I love you Cilan but if you try to get in the middle of this, I will kick your ass too!" She pounded on the door a little more before Cilan grabbed her, spun her around and picked her up in his arms.

"Cilan what are you-" He didn't let her finish as he kissed her on the lips. Iris's anger quickly melted away and joined in as well. After a moment, they stopped and Iris had pink circles on her cheeks.

"Iris, I love seeing your passion for everything, even when you're angry, but right now our friend Dawn needs her rest. I know you can take care of yourself but perhaps now is not the time."

Iris looked into Cilan's eyes for a few seconds before hugging him.

"I'm sorry for losing my temper. I know he likes to make fun but I just lost it for some reason. Thanks."

"That's quite alright." He looked at her before facing the group. "Dinner should be ready in about five minutes. I suggest you all wash up."

They got up to wash for dinner and then sat around the table. Ash was still in the balcony when Misty went to retrieve him.

"Ash? Dinner's ready."

Ash's eyes stopped glowing blue, changing back to his brown eyes and turned to her.

"Thanks Mist," he answered softly.

"Ash, are you really okay?" She wanted to know for sure.

"Yes, I am. I'm sorry if I worried you or the others but I'm fine."

"Good. Otherwise I'd mallet you for moping around," warned Misty with a grin. Ash chuckled.

"I'll keep that in mind Mist." They hugged, Misty giving Ash a quick kiss on his lips, making him smile. He told her he would check on Dawn before joining them for dinner and she nodded. Misty went to the table as Ash checked in on Dawn. He saw she was still asleep with Piplup in her arms and Pikachu curled up next to her. Lucario and Gardevoir were still standing guard in the corner of the room.

"Hey guys, thanks. You can go rest and eat or do whatever. She should be fine." Lucario and Gardevoir nodded and left, leaving the room. Ash moved beside the bed, looking at her. She was sleeping so peacefully. He softly pushed her hair out of her eyes and raised the blanket back up to her shoulders as they had slid down, but made sure it didn't cover Piplup's face. He kissed the side of her forehead since the hat was still on her and left the room, but not before also placing a blanket on the yellow mouse.

He joined the others at the dinner table. He ate his meal quietly, not in the mood to talk or joke around. The others noticed it but continued on with their conversations so as to not make things awkward. They knew he would blame himself for that too. Lucario and Gardevoir took up their balcony positions as always, enjoying the fresh air as they ate their food and conversed.

After the meal, Ash got up, thanked the two chefs for the food and informed them that he was going to go train for a bit and the others nodded. They knew he just wanted to be alone and they respected his wish, even though he didn't outright say it. He called Gardevoir and Lucario to join him and the three left. They soon got into the woods and after they traveled a good distance into the forest, Ash dropped to his knees. Lucario and Gardevoir quickly knelt beside him and noticed how he was shaking violently. He had finally let his emotions take over.

"I keep seeing it! I keep seeing her get attacked and about to die!" Ash admitted as he crashed his right fist on the ground repeatedly, making a small hole in the ground from the force of it. "I care so much about her. I care about all of them so much. I've seen worse things happen in my life. So why am I seeing her get stabbed over and over again in my mind?"

"Master, it's alright. You love her, just like you love Ladies Misty, May and Serena and that's why you feel so much sadness. You'll get passed this just like everything else. It was a traumatic experience, but you kept a level head and healed her immediately. You didn't panic and you saved her. You should be proud of yourself," replied Lucario.

"What if I was the cause?" asked Ash, whispering. His question brought understanding to his pokémon.

"Is this why you are so upset? You believe yourself to be the cause for all this?" asked a shocked Lucario suddenly while Gardevoir shook her head in disbelief.

"I am the cause for it! If I hadn't beaten that scumbag so humiliatingly then he wouldn't have acted in so horribly!" admitted the raven haired trainer.

"Ash, remember what happened to me? Remember before the tournament even started how we came across disgusting people who bothered the girls?" Ash looked at Gardevoir, tears in his eyes.

"Yes."

"Then you should know that it isn't your fault at all. Even if you had barely won, that poor excuse for a trainer would still have done something, I'm sure of it. You need to stop blaming yourself for the actions of others. You did what needed to be done. You put an arrogant and cold hearted person in his place and he didn't like it," finished Gardevoir.

"Master, I hate to say this, but this is good."

"What?! What's so good about what happened Lucario?" A shocked Ash was glaring at Lucario.

"I'm not saying what happened to Lady Dawn was a good thing, but I am saying that it is good that you are releasing your emotions, confronting what is making you feel this way and experiencing something like this. It will help you in the future when we will inevitably be juggling many people's lives, while we attempt to protect them against the coming evils."

Ash stayed quiet, trying to hear and understand Lucario's words.

"I just can't get that image out of my head. It may be childish, it may be pathetic and it may be weak, but when she was stabbed, I felt as if somebody had torn out my heart. I thought I had lost her forever."

They looked at him for a moment in silence. The fairy pokémon was looking at her trainer with a saddened expression while the aura pokémon thought hard for a couple minutes before he spoke.

"What's the big deal; you still would have had three other mates to choose from."

Gardevoir gasped at Lucario's words and was about to tell him off when Lucario was struck by an aura enhanced punch, causing him to fly through the air a good distance before he crashed onto the ground. Ash was furious at what he just heard and his aura flared out. He charged at Lucario who picked himself off the floor quickly and lunged forward. They fought fiercely as Ash spoke, Gardevoir holding her hands to her mouth, in shock from what she just witnessed.

"I can't believe you just said that! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if even one of them got hurt or died, especially if it was because of me! I love each of them with all my heart!"

Lucario threw some Aura Spheres and Mach Punches at Ash who dodged and blocked most of the Mach Punches, getting hit by a few of them but he repelled all the spheres with his own.

"You should know that I would gladly give me life for them at anytime it's needed!" Their battle raged on and grew even more intense, causing Ash's aura to flare out over the trees.

Back at the hotel, Sarah was in the balcony looking out into the distance, thinking over everything she just learned about Ash. The more she thought about him, the things that he had done from saving others to fighting against terrorists, the more her feelings and respect for the man grew. She sighed after a while, about to go back in when something caught her eye. Out of nowhere, blue streaks of energy popped out from underneath the trees.

"Hey, look at that!"

Sarah called out to the others, pointing out into the woods from their balcony. The others joined her in the balcony and looked in the pointed direction. They saw streaks of blue energy shooting out from beneath the trees with great speed.

"Looks like Ash is letting off some steam," mused Gary.

"Ash is doing that?" asked Sarah. Her and Leaf's eyes went wide in astonishment.

"Yup, he is." As Brock said that, a sudden shockwave of visible blue energy erupted from beneath the trees, expanding outwards before fading away as it reached the edge of the forest.

"Wow." Both Leaf and Sarah said it out loud. Their friends chuckled at their astonishment.

"And it looks like he's sparring against Lucario," said Misty.

"No way can a human fight a pokémon, let alone that human being Ash and the pokémon being Lucario. It's like a Caterpie trying to fight a Charizard," said Leaf, looking at Misty with a look that clearly said that she thought she was insane. The red head giggled at her reaction.

"He's done it before and we've all seen it." She saw the grinning faces of the group, even from Sarah who mentioned that she witnessed Ash spar against Lopunny when they trained earlier. Leaf was beyond stupefied, not believing it but she did quickly direct her attention back at the spot where the energy erupted out of. They all saw more blue streaks of energy shoot upwards from beneath the trees.

Ash and Lucario were panting heavily, both kneeling on one leg, both battered and bruised. Gardevoir had tried to stop the fight but after almost getting blasted by an Aura Sphere, she decided to keep out of the way for now. Ash and Lucario both stood up shakily and barely managed to launch one more Aura Sphere at each other. Too tired for either of them to move, they both were struck and knocked down to the ground. They stayed lying on the ground for a few minutes, catching their breath. Lucario recovered faster than Ash, since he was a pokémon but slowly got up before limping towards his master.

"Master," croaked Lucario as he reached Ash and eyed him until Ash opened his eyes. "I'm sorry for what I said. I did it on purpose to anger you so you could let out your frustrations. I do know how you feel and I understand completely. I merely wanted you to stop sulking and blaming yourself. I thought if you had something to release your emotions on, you would feel better. Please forgive me."

Lucario's apology and revelation stunned Ash for a moment. He shook his head slightly before chuckling but stopped since it caused him pain.

"Ugh…that hurts…I should've known. It's alright and thanks. I needed that." Lucario helped Ash up and they leaned against each other for support as they headed out of the forest.

"You too are so stupid! I swear I'm going to lose it one of these days!" yelled Gardevoir as she followed them. The two aura users laughed at her remark but then grunted in pain.

"That's what you get and you deserve it!" Now Gardevoir was laughing at them. They finally reached the hotel and went upstairs. When the door opened to the suite, their friends took one look at the completely beat up Ash and Lucario and they scrambled to them. They carried the two to the couches and let them relax a bit before asking what happened.

"Let's just say it was a very intense sparring session. Ash let out his frustrations at the request of Lucario, or more like at the taunting of Lucario." Gardevoir glared at the two after she summarized the reason why two of their friends were in terrible shape.

"Why didn't you two heal each other? You both have the ability to do so."

"Because they're too tired and beat up Max," answered Gardevoir.

"I have some spare medicine with me, hang on." Iris left the room and came back with some max potion and sprayed it on Lucario. His injuries rapidly healed and he was as good as new. He placed his paw on Ash's shoulder, channeling some Aura on him. A moment later, Ash was as good as new as well.

"Thanks Lucario and thanks Iris. I'll get some replacements for you." Ash stood up and stretched a bit.

"You are so strange Ash," commented Leaf with a teasing smile on her face while most of the group laughed at him as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Takes one to know one Leaf. I remember you doing some weird things too when we were young," replied Ash, making Leaf's jaw drop and the others to laugh. She wasn't expecting a quick comeback from him or to remember anything from the past when they were kids. She would've countered back but since it was Ash, she was stunned into silence, not used to his witty side. She recovered and hit him on the shoulder as he headed to Dawn's room, who glanced back at her with a smirk. His taunting smile made her chuckle and also made her feel something but quickly ignored it. Ash entered the blunette's room to check on her and found the blue haired girl still asleep. He returned to the group.

"Dawn hasn't woken up at all?" he asked them as he joined them on the couch.

"No. It is kind of strange. Is anything wrong?"

"Everything is alright May. I can see her breathing but I was just wondering if she got up at all. Maybe the day's events were much more tiring on her than I thought."

"I wouldn't be surprised. When Dawn wants to sleep, she'll sleep all day."

Serena's statement made them laugh a bit. They began talking again and what to do together. They decided to play Taboo in teams, which was basically a game where two teams took turns acting out something for their team to guess what it is without speaking and within a certain time limit. Also, the thing that was acted out is decided by the other team. Since they were almost even teams, they decided to have the men versus the women.

Ash joined them to distract his mind from the events of that day. After about two hours of playing the game, the women won by having the most points. They decided to call it a night and once again it was a little too late for Joy to go home so she spent the night with them, sleeping in Misty and May's room with them. Lucario and Gardevoir requested to join their comrades back home and to sleep more comfortably so Ash returned them. He checked in on Dawn and then went to his own bedroom, wore his usual sweat pants and no shirt for pajamas and lied down to sleep.

However, try as he might, Ash had trouble falling asleep, thinking about Dawn. He tossed and he turned but eventually sleep came to him. Unfortunately, even sleeping turned out to be torture for him though as he kept seeing nightmares, one after the other. He saw Dawn getting hurt, of him not getting there in time, of his other friends angry, everyone calling him a coward, everyone asking him why he betrayed them, why he didn't save her, why he didn't save them. He apologized over and over again, saying he tried his best but they said it wasn't good enough. He was in his suite alone now as one by one his friends and pokémon vanished before him, leaving him because of his failures.

Soon after, the suite disappeared and he was all alone in a dark place and couldn't see in any direction he faced. He shouted out into the darkness but there was nothing and nothing happened. He fell to his knees and started crying. He had failed. Failed his friends, his family, his pokémon, the world, his loved ones and now he was all alone. He sobbed for a long time. He thought he was going to be stuck there for the rest of his life until an evil laugh filled the area. The raven haired trainer was startled into stopping his crying and quickly stood up. He brought out his aura to perhaps sense or see what it was.

"That won't help you."

It was a horrible voice, filled with malice and sounded like the worst thing Ash had ever heard. Suddenly the darkness vanished, revealing a grey room but in its stead stood a dark monster, having a humanoid shape, almost like a bodybuilder but disfigured, beastly, hideous, grotesque and disproportionate. Its entire body was covered in a darkened red glow.

The evil creature was the worst thing Ash had ever seen, but the thing that made him lose his breath, his focus, was because of its eyes. Its eyes were entirely black, and it was devoid of all good emotion. It seemed to act like a vacuum, sucking away all the good he felt. Ash flared out his aura to protect himself, knowing this creature was pure evil but the creature just laughed while moving towards the guardian.

The Aura Guardian tried to land a punch against the creature but the monster dodged the strike swiftly before it quickly grabbed Ash by the throat with a monstrous hand, lifting the guardian into the air, its long, crude but sharp nails digging into his skin. His aura was not affecting the creature at all. Ash struggled to free himself while trying to breathe.

"You will not be able to save them. You are too weak. You will fail. You will lose all that you hold dear. I will watch as you witness your friends fall, your pokémon fall. I will watch as they all succumb to me and then I will make you watch as I tear your pokémon apart. I will make you watch as I turn your friends against you. I will make you watch as I take the love the girls have for you for myself. You have been warned Guardian. I will enjoy our time in the real world. Soon I will awaken. Soon I will spread my darkness. Soon I will be unstoppable. Enjoy the time you have before I arrive, for it will be the last moments of your miserable and pathetic life."

The evil creature laughed as black streams of energy came out from it and spread out in all directions. When a couple of the streams connected against the guardian, Ash let out a blood curling scream. It was pain beyond pain as he felt it drain his life from him. The creature laughed loudly, his sadistic nature enjoying the pain that he was inflicting. The raven haired trainer's vision was beginning to blur as the pain intensified and soon all he saw was darkness.

"Ash! Ash! Wake up Ash!"

Ash was woken up from his nightmare by someone shaking him and when he opened his eyes, he couldn't tell who woke him up at first, his vision blurry. He focused his eyes and saw it was Dawn who had shook him awake. She had turned on his room lights. He gazed at her for a second before rubbing his eyes and sitting up in his bed. He looked at her again and blinked a couple times, realizing that he was awake and that it was only a nightmare. She looked like she was beyond scared, her face pale and eyes filled with worry. She was still wearing his hat on her head. Even though he was scared of what he saw, he couldn't help but think she looked cute with it on until the blunette's question shifted his attention away.

"Was it a bad dream?" she asked quietly. Ash looked her in the eyes and nodded.

"A horrible nightmare. But it was just a dream."

"It sounded awful. You were pleading in your sleep then you started to scream." Dawn shifted slightly.

"Oh." Ash went red. I really screamed in my sleep? "I'm sorry if I woke you up. Was I that loud?"

"Oh no, you weren't that loud. I don't think the others heard you. I woke up not too long ago and I came in here a few minutes ago to see if you were awake still and thank you for everything but saw you tossing and turning. Next second you were talking and screaming so I tried to wake you up."

"I see." Ash formed a small smile on his face for her. "Thank you Dawn."

"You're welcome and no need to worry. I'll let you go back to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Dawn smiled as she got up and made to leave but Ash grasped her hand when she turned towards the door. Ash could see through her blue night gown, because of the room's lights and it was semi-transparent like Misty's, revealing blue undergarments. Dawn turned her head back to look at him, a little pink from him holding her hand.

"Please don't go. I don't want to be alone right now. I want you to stay with me."

Dawn's face went completely red but agreed. The blunette took of the hat and placed it on the dresser before she climbed into bed, going under the covers and laid down next to the raven haired trainer. They faced each other, lying on their sides. Having spent some time in bed with Misty, Ash wasn't too embarrassed over the situation. Dawn noticed his bare chest and her already red face turned crimson. Ash smiled at her and she giggled a bit. She raised her hand and placed it against his cheek.

"Thank you for saving me today, my Guardian." Ash put his hand on top of hers that was on his cheek and held it. He lowered their hands and kissed the palm of her hand.

"I will always protect you Dawn. I care for you greatly. I will never let anything happen to you."

Dawn's lips trembled as she felt emotion fill her as it never did before. She felt it fill every inch of her body with a warm feeling and felt like she was flying. It was new, it was exciting and it made her act without thinking at all. She leaned in quickly and kissed the raven haired guardian but instead of a simple kiss, it was an intense one.

Ash's eyes widened in surprise but quickly closed them as he kissed her back. He moved his hands towards Dawn, grabbed her from the waist and pulled her closer, the blunette giving a small squeak of surprise as he did so but she continued kissing him when she realized what he was doing. Their mad passion was soon enflaming them. As the red head had done, the blue haired girl pushed the raven haired man onto his back before moving on top of him and resuming their kiss.

His hands acted as if they had a mind of their own. Ash moved his left hand through her long blue hair and the right hand he moved up and down her leg, stopping it for a moment every now and then, causing Dawn to whimper a bit for stopping the massage. She had both of her hands on his bare body, just pressed against it. They continued like this for another moment when Ash thought if he should try using his tongue in the kiss as well, but then Dawn's tongue entered his mouth, surprising him so that he cracked open his eyes for a quick second then closed them again. They stopped soon enough to get some air, their foreheads touching and they opened their eyes.

"Someone's forward," joked Ash while Dawn gave him a sly smile.

"I knew you would like it my Guardian," teased the blunette.

"I'd have to be crazy not to like it." Dawn blushed before immediately kissing him again.

Ash could feel both of them heating up like crazy now. Even as he was in such a heated embrace and was lost in an emotional high, he still sensed what was going on. He felt one of Dawn's hands leave his chest and travel to his hand on her leg and grabbed it. She began moving his hand further up her leg, leading up against the side of her body, over the night gown and then moving their hands to the front, stopping just under her chest.

Dawn moaned into his mouth before pulling away and had Ash look at her as she moved his hand slowly down her front. Ash's eyes went wide and his face reddened as he noticed what she was doing but suddenly Dawn stopped moving their hands when they reached the bottom of her stomach. Ash tilted his head, a confused look on his face, wanting to know why. Dawn raised her other hand and waved her index finger at him with a smirk on her face.

"Not yet Ashy-boy," taunted Dawn.

"Someone likes to mess around. You're such a tease," replied Ash with a grin.

"Tease am I?"

Dawn moved his hand around her back, under her night gown and had him grab her firm round ass. Ash let out a small gasp at her actions and Dawn smirked as he stared at her, not believing what she just did. She let go of his hand but he didn't remove it from her rear as Dawn moved both her hands to cup his face as she leaned back in.

"I may be a tease but looks like you're a pervert. You're hand is still on my butt," said Dawn.

"So I'm a pervert and you're a tease. I guess we set a good example for others huh?" laughed Ash.

"Maybe not a good example, but we can show others how to have fun," replied Dawn with a grin before they closed the distance and kissed.

Simple at first but then their tongues got involved and Ash squeezed her firm ass tightly a couple seconds later, causing Dawn to squeak with pleasure. She felt a rush surge through her when he did that that she couldn't describe. Whether it was adrenaline or something else entirely, whatever it was, she liked it. She liked it a lot.

After another couple of moments, they stopped to breathe again and Dawn laid down completely on top of Ash, her head resting on the middle of his chest, their bodies aligned. Ash wrapped his arms around her back and Dawn placed her arms on both sides of him. She raised her head and then rested her chin on top of his chest, facing Ash, their eyes gazing into each other's.

"Goodnight my Guardian."

"Goodnight my Lucky Star."

Dawn's face brightened and her smile broadened, hearing her pet name he picked out for her the first time. They kissed again and shortly after broke apart. Dawn rested her head against his chest again and closed her eyes. Ash looked at the blunette lying on top of him. He smiled at her and brought up the covers around her shoulders before wrapping his arms around her again. Dawn hummed lightly as she felt him hug her again and Ash smiled. He watched over her as she fell asleep until he too fell asleep. Dawn slept comfortably, feeling completely safe in his arms and Ash slept without seeing any more nightmares.