The Search...

(Warning Mature Content within this chapter and Part 2)

Chapter 40 – The Search...

A raven haired young boy, a little over nine years old, was lying in his bed in his own bedroom. It was around 11pm and his bedtime was at 930pm but he just couldn't sleep. He had his bedside lamp on and was reading a comic book while sitting up in bed, leaning against the headboard with the covers drawn up to his stomach. He had waited for his mom to go to sleep and when she did, he had turned on the light and took out the comic book from his bedside drawers. He was about to turn the page when there was a sharp tapping on his bedroom window. The boy looked at his window with slight fear at first, before it went away and he smiled. He got out of bed and went to the window and opened it. A young girl with brunette hair dressed in her blue and green pajamas climbed through the window at once and the boy closed the window.

"About time Ashy. I thought I was going to freeze," whined the girl.

"Sorry but don't be such a crybaby Leaf," replied back Ash jokingly. The girl crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. Ash rubbed the back of his head, mumbling out an apology before going to continue reading the comic book as he sat on his bed again.

Leaf sighed, relaxing a bit before she followed after her friend and sat next to him. She looked at the comic book he was reading. "Did you finish it yet? Did you see how Captain Alakazam fought off the evil Gengar, found the treasure and then took it to the museum?" asked Leaf.

"No point reading that anymore," replied Ash as he closed the comic book and placed it on the bedside drawers before looking at Leaf, who had a sheepish look on her face. "You always spoil it for me Leaf."

"Hehe. Bad habit. Sorry," she said but Ash just shook his head and chuckled.

"It's alright I guess. But try to stop yea?" he asked her and she shrugged, saying she's not promising anything. They went quiet for a moment before Ash talked again. "So…I'm guessing again?" he asked her and Leaf had a sad look before she turned away.

"Yea…another one…I don't know why she's doing this. Another guy she brought home and then they went to her room and closed the door. I don't know what she does with all these guys she brings home with her and I don't know if I can stand it anymore. She never cares what I do or what happens to me or if I'm hungry or not. All she cares about is herself and what other people can get for her. She's always on the phone and always saying she wants shoes or dresses or rings or necklaces and then she'll say something like 'you do that for me and I'll show you a good time'. I don't even know what that means. Why won't she show me a good time? Why won't she have fun with me? Why does she always leave me alone? Why doesn't she love me or want to take care of me Ashy?" asked Leaf sadly. She wasn't able to hold it back anymore so she started crying.

"Hey, it's okay Leaf. I don't know why she does it either but we'll be going on our journeys soon and you'll be able to get away from all that. And you can come here whenever you want, anytime you want, just like always. And…and...we can go on our pokémon journeys t-together so you're never alone again. We'll have so much fun together that you won't remember about that at all. So don't feel bad okay?" he told her, completely nervous over what he said. She slowly stopped her crying.

"Thanks Ashy. You're always helping me," said Leaf as she hugged him suddenly, making Ash blush as he awkwardly patted her back. "You know, about today. With the other kids…It was just a joke right? A harmless prank. You're not mad right? I…I just don't want to lose my new friends," she told him.

"Of…of c-course Leaf. And it's okay. You're my f-friend. I c-care about my f-friends and I understand," said Ash with some stuttering and Leaf gave him a smile in response at being friendly and kind. He was the only one that she could be herself around.

"Do you promise to always be my friend no matter what?" she asked him, separating from him and looking at him.

Ash nodded. "I promise Leaf. I promise that I will always be your friend, that I will always help you if you need me and I promise to go with you on the journey," said Ash who gained some courage from her asking him that question.

Leaf hugged him again smiling, making Ash go crimson and unable to speak, his arms hanging loosely by his side. "I promise that too Ashy. We'll go together on our pokémon journey and together, we'll become the best. We'll have the bestest match at the tournament. Right?"

"You bet!" replied Ash and they both smiled.

Ash got up and took out a sleeping bag and extra pillow from his closet and spread it out onto the floor. He then climbed into it and lied down on the floor and asked Leaf to turn off the light after she gets comfortable in the bed. He always had her sleep in the bed whenever she came to spend the night at his house when her mom would bring someone home. The first time her mom did that she was afraid because of the noises that were coming from her mom's bedroom late at night. It scared her so much that she wasn't able to sleep at all that night. She asked her mom what those noises were from in the morning but her mom just told her that she was busy exercising with her friends when they would come over and to never bother them when they were doing that. The second time it happened, Leaf couldn't take it and had snuck out. She went to the only person's house who she was close to at the time and asked if she could stay the night after climbing through his window when he opened it for her. After that first time, she would always come to Ash's house to spend the night whenever her mom would bring someone home.

"Ashy?" asked Leaf.

"Yea Leaf?" he said as he raised his head to look at her from the floor.

"I'm…scared."

"Why?"

"I'm scared because…even though my mom isn't nice to me…I don't want to lose my mom!" said Leaf before she started crying again. Ash felt bad for her and got up from his sleeping bag and went to her and hugged her. He was blushing like mad because he liked her and was embarrassed over what he just did. But he knew she needed a friend right now. His mom had taught him much, even though he was still just a kid. But he still did miss things from time to time...

"Hey, don't c-cry Leaf. Maybe she's just confused but she'll be alright s-soon. And even if not…I'll…I'll be right here and my mom can take care of us both. O-Okay?" he told her and Leaf nodded. Ash thought for a moment before he told her to hold on. He went to his closet again and took out a small blue box. He then went back to Leaf and gave her the box and she gave him a confused look making him redden. "I-I was going to save this for your b-birthday but you should have it now." Leaf gave a big smile and started ripping off the wrapping paper. She opened the box and took out the gift. It was a blue baseball style cap with a black poke ball symbol on it. She let out a happy squeal before she put it on her head but it was a little big on her and so it dropped down and covered her eyes. "Sorry if it's a little big but that was the only official Pokémon League cap that was blue that I could find for you since I know you like that color," said Ash as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's okay Ashy. I love it! I promise I'll use it when I'm older and it doesn't hide half my face," replied Leaf, the large smile still on her before taking off the hat. She then hugged Ash who once again went crimson. "Thanks Ashy. You're always so nice to me," she said quietly.

"No p-problem Leaf. I'm happy that you l-like it," replied Ash. The two separated and Ash went back to his sleeping bag and got in while Leaf put the blue hat on the bedside drawer before she turned off the lamp on it. They told each other goodnight and went to sleep.

A little over a decade after that night, Ash was once again looking at the blue cap he had bought for Leaf. It had three claw marks on its side with some blood and dirt on it. He clutched it to his chest and lowered his head as he remembered that night. He had promised her that no matter what he would be there for her if she needed him and be her friend. Even if she did make mistakes, losing her way, hurting him in the process and did what she did, he couldn't break that promise. Not now. Not ever. He looked up at his friends and family, seeing them concerned and worried. He looked at Richie, seeing the furious look on his face. He looked at his pokémon who were waiting for his command. He glanced back at the hat. No, he couldn't. Richie was right. The girls were right. His friends were right. It doesn't matter at all what she did. It's not like she killed someone or had sex with someone else to get back at him. And she is his childhood friend. She is someone he cares about…and has feelings for. If he could give rotten criminals a second chance, then his friends deserved to get more chances then them. But these heartless bastards…when he got his hands on them…they will not be getting any more chances at all…and would feel his wrath before being wiped from existence…

"MEWTWO!" roared Ash all of sudden, catching everyone off guard and not even a second later, a large blue glowing sphere appeared in front of them all. The most powerful psychic to ever exist, Mewtwo emerged from it, making Clair, Liza, Shauna, Lizabeth and Giselle gasp at the sight of the legendary.

"Tell me you've changed your….wait, what's wrong Ash?" asked Mewtwo, sensing his friend's distress. The raven haired guardian looked his friend in the eye before answering him.

"Later. I need my pokémon."

"Who do you want me to bring?"

"Everyone," answered Ash and Mewtwo's eyes widened in response. That would mean something serious must have happened. His eyes glowed blue in response as he contacted each of Ash's pokémon that he was going to bring and let them know that they were going to be teleported. Even though he helped him develop some mental defenses, the psychic feline could have easily read his friend's mind to know what happened. But he respected him and wouldn't do that to him. He would wait to learn what occurred. As Mewtwo contacted the pokémon and got them prepared to be teleported, Ash turned his gaze to his almost twin Richie. "I swear on my life Richie; I will find them and will make the Skull Brothers pay," promised Ash.

"I don't care what you do or how you do it Ash. But I'm going with you. I am not going to just sit around waiting to find out what happened. And if anything happens to Joy…" replied Richie, not finishing but Ash understood and he nodded.

"Ash," started Delia and the raven haired trainer looked at his mom. "I think you might need him," she said and took out the Ultra ball that contained Chesnaught. He went to his mom, took the ball and opened it, letting out his Chesnaught who instantly had a serious face appear as he could tell something was up.

"Ash, take them too," said Misty as she held out Vaporeon's Luxury Ball and so did May, Dawn and Serena with the pokémon that Ash gave them before. He nodded at the four and retook the four Luxury Balls before opening them up. The four Eevee evolutions took up a straight sitting position immediately with no sounds made, also sensing that something had happened.

Ash moved to the edge of the balcony, standing near the railings. Pikachu jumped to Ash's shoulder and Lucario and Gardevoir went to stand beside him. Ash's group looked on in silence at what he was doing, wondering what he was waiting for. But when numerous blue spheres appeared all over the large balcony and in the air courtesy of Mewtwo, they gasped at what purple feline had done. He had teleported Ash's pokémon to them and they got their first glimpse at all of his pokémon.

Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Pidgeot, Ninetales, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Golduck, Primeape, Arcanine, Alakazam, Machamp, Gengar, Steelix, Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Muk, Blissey, Scizor, Electivire, Magmortar, Gyarados, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Sylveon, Lapras, Kabutops, all of his Tauros, Snorlax, Dragonite, Meganium, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Noctowl, Ampharos, Yanmega, Gliscor, Heracross, Weavile, Skarmory, Houndoom, Donphan, Tyranitar, Sceptile, Blaziken, Swampert, Swellow, Gallade, Breloom, Ninjask, Floatzel, Torkoal, Sableye, Aggron, Manectric, Flygon, Crawdaunt, Absol, Glalie, Froslass, Altaria, Salamence, Metagross, Torterra, Infernape, Empoleon, Staraptor, Luxray, Lopunny, Garchomp, Toxicroak, Serperior, Emboar, Samurott, Unfezant, Liepard, Leavanny, Gigalith, Excadrill, Seismitoad, Scoliopede, Lilligant, Krookodile, Scrafty, Zoroark, Reuniclus, Swanna, Eelektross, Chandelure, Haxorus, Mienshao, Golurk, Braviary, Hydreigon, Volcarona, Chesnaught, Delphox, Greninja, Talonflame, Pyroar, Florges, Gogoat, Pangoro, Meowstic, Dragalge, Heliolisk, Goodra, Tyrantrum, Aurorus, Hawlucha and Noivern appeared.

Everyone was flabbergasted to the amount of pokémon that Ash had captured and trained as they saw them all clearly for the first time. They knew from his memories that he had caught many pokémon, seeing him train with them. Yet seeing them in person, right in front of them, still surprised them. Some were standing near them on the balcony. Some were hovering by themselves in the air while others who were too large or heavy to be on the balcony were being levitated in the air by Mewtwo's powers, outlined with a purple glow. They couldn't believe it. He not only has an actual army of pokémon, but each of his pokémon also looked incredibly strong.

"Look at all the dragons!" whispered Iris, her eyes darting to and fro to all the dragon type pokémon.

"What beautiful water pokémon!" exclaimed Misty, unable to control herself at seeing them all, becoming starry eyed.

"He has all the starters?!" asked Gary in disbelief, seeing the powerful pokémon that were very rare and usually only available as starting pokémon for beginning trainers in each region.

"He has all the Eevee evolutions?!" asked an astonished Brock, looking at all the pure type evolution pokémon.

"Mewtwo, bring the others as well please if they don't mind," requested Ash and Mewtwo nodded. A moment later and nine more blue spheres appeared before fading away to reveal the pokémon he teleported to them.

Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Entei, Suicune, Raikou, Lugia, Ho-Oh and Victini appeared.

The raven haired guardian's friends and family were speechless. There were nine legendary pokémon, not counting Mewtwo, right in front of them and that's nine more than what ninety-nine percent of the population has seen. It was quiet as they kept moving their gaze from one pokémon to the next. Some of Ash's pokémon talked to one another in their own poke speech. The conversations had serious tones among their poke speech but the second Ash stepped forward, his pokémon instantly went quiet and composed themselves into attention and that impressed everyone.

"His pokémon are extremely well trained," remarked Giselle in aw after seeing that happen and everyone murmured their agreements with her.

"I have brought you all here for something important!" Ash's voice caught the group's attention and they all turned their gazes on him now though they would glance back at the powerful pokémon in front of them every few seconds. All of his pokémon, even the legendary pokémon, were giving him their full attention. "A group of men, calling themselves the Skull Brothers, have hurt me and my friends!" Ho-Oh let out a screech of fury as she remembered the earlier altercation with them. She was in no matter what. Many of them started growling and snarling in addition after hearing that first sentence. Some from his group took a step back without realizing they did. "I gave them a chance to change their ways but they decided to keep doing wrong. This will be a personal mission. So I must warn you now that there will be no mercy shown or given to them at all! They have attacked the girls once before, and they have now attacked Richie, Joy and Leaf. They kidnapped Joy and Leaf while leaving a hurt Richie behind. He pushed through the pain so he can get here and tell us what happened! There will be no holding back! If you are uneasy about that, I don't blame you and if you don't want to be a part of it, you may sit this out and you will not be judged. Not be me, nor by anyone else in our family or any of our friends. So whoever wants out, say so now." None of the pokémon made a sound at all or showed any indication that they wanted out. Each of them had sworn loyalty to each other and to Ash. If one of them was in it, so were the rest. No ifs, ands or buts. They had trained together to fight against the darkness and this was no different. They would not let evil people get away with their wrong doings. "Very well then. Mewtwo, show them pictures of Leaf, Joy and of the Skull Brothers from my memories." A large blue sphere appeared with an image of Leaf, a second one appeared of Joy and another appeared that showed the five Skull Brothers. Each of his pokémon looked carefully at the images until it was saved in their minds. Ash turned his attention to the view over the railing before giving out his commands after the images faded away, stretching out his arm in front of him. "Fan out in groups of three on the ground and two in the air! Find them! Check everywhere! You find anything suspicious, noteworthy, Leaf, Joy or the Skull Brothers, send message to Mewtwo immediately. Do not engage them in battle until I get there unless it's absolutely necessary! Now go! Find them and don't let anyone or anything stand in your way!" All of his pokémon, except for one, immediately moved. The flying and levitating pokémon flew out into the distance in different directions in groups of two as they looked for their targets. The other pokémon Mewtwo teleported quickly down to the ground in front of the hotel and the instant that they touched the ground, they fanned out in groups of three into the vast Indigo Plateau forest, moving to the nearby rivers, the mountainous regions and towards other areas as well. Ash had his Blissey stay behind, since he had other plans for her.

"Lucario, heal Richie and Gary," said Ash. Lucario nodded and first healed Richie with Heal Pulse before he went to Gary who had a look of confusion on his face. "You're ribs are cracked," explained Ash, keeping his gaze over the horizon. Lucario had sensed the injury and relayed the information to his Master mentally after Ash's orders. Gary had his eyes widen and so did everyone else but for different reasons. The ones who knew what happened couldn't believe that Ash was able to damage someone so much with just a single punch without using his aura. The others were shocked and wondered how he became hurt so badly.

"Gary, how'd you crack your ribs?" asked Professor Oak in concern, moving closer to his grandson while Lucario healed him with Heal Pulse.

The young pokémon researcher thought for a quick second before answering his grandfather. "Eh, I did something stupid as always Gramps. It's no big deal," replied back Gary with a few grunts as the healing process hurt, the bones fixing themselves. He was going to tell the truth, but stopped himself. He didn't want to start more crap with his rival. He just wanted it over and done with now so he could focus on getting Ilene back. When Lucario finished up, Gary thanked him. Ash glanced back at his old rival, surprised he didn't say anything. Gary looked at Ash, locking eyes with his childhood rival for a moment before giving him a curt nod. Ash returned the gesture with a nod of his own before facing forward again. Ilene glanced at Gary, not believing he didn't throw Ash under the bus, thinking she may have judged him too harshly before. The Queen quickly looked away so nobody can catch her looking at him.

"Pikachu…" The yellow mouse looked at his best friend. "Start charging."

"PIKA!" Pikachu jumped onto a thicker part of the railing and landed on all fours. His lightning shaped tail stood up straight as his cheeks started sparking. He drew in energy from the electrical currents in the air, absorbing it using his electric sacks in his cheeks and into his body using his tail.

"Ash? What's Pikachu doing?" asked Dawn in concern.

"He's getting ready for battle. He's absorbing the electrical energy in the air to give him a boost…to use his full power," he replied simply. Dawn nodded in understanding and so did several others as they too were wondering why the yellow mouse was doing that.

"Allow us to help," said Serena but Ash shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry Serena. The gloves are off and I don't want any of you in the cross fire. When I said no mercy and no holding back, I meant it. This is something I have to do, to atone for my mistakes. My pokémon are going to fight viciously now with no remorse just like they did when the stadium was attacked…and so will I," explained Ash, his last words scaring some of his friends.

The oldest Sensational Sister moved closer to him. "Aren't you going too far?" asked Daisy Waterflower with worry making Ash look at her. She didn't want him to do something rash that could cause something bad for him in the future.

The raven haired guardian looked into her eyes, seeing the concern in them for him. He didn't want to upset her but he had to do this. "No Daisy. I gave them a chance. I warned them after they attacked and hurt your sister Misty, May, Dawn, Serena, Anabel, Sarah and…Leaf…and now they've kidnapped her and Joy after attacking them and Richie and hurt him. A man needs to keep his word. And as an Aura Guardian, it's my duty and job as one to keep the balance and punish those who have wronged others. There will be absolutely no mercy shown or given to them after they decided to not heed my warning. Even if they beg for their lives…" trailed off Ash. He kept his gaze on Daisy for a moment until she nodded in understanding and he dropped his gaze, looking at the blue cap again.

Everyone was at a loss of words on how to respond to that. No one had ever seen this side of Ash before. Even his angered and drunken outbursts from last night seemed to be nothing compared to his serious yet calm attitude towards what he was going to do. Delia was scared at what she heard her son say and she was about to go to him and talk some sense into him. She took a step to him but was then held back by Oak. She looked at him with a confused expression but Oak just sighed sadly before speaking.

"You know this Delia," started Oak and everyone besides Ash and his pokémon turned their attention to them. "Some people…are just evil. And no matter how many chances you give them or all the things you do to try and help them…they won't ever change. They either need to be locked up for good or if they insist on it, end their pitiful lives," explained Oak. Delia gasped at what he said and it took a good while before she understood. She nodded sadly as she knew it was true.

Some people were in disbelief that they heard such words from the world famous Pokémon Professor. They had always envisioned him as a kind person and one who would always use words to settle conflicts. Dawn was especially surprised as she looked up to the kind professor because of his wisdom, poetry works and gentle nature. But now, he was justifying what Ash was going to do. She understood the reasons why and believed it as well but it still shocked her. Nobody knew what to do or what to say and so they just stood there in silence for a few minutes. But then Delia remembered something that Richie said and needed to know what happened.

"Ash?" asked Delia and her son turned to face his mother. "What happened between you and Leaf? Richie said she confessed her feelings and kissed you? That you fought? What's been going on?" Her questions made Ash sigh heavily and Richie grimaced a bit. He didn't mean to spill all that out in his anger but it was too late now. Everyone turned their attention to the raven haired guardian waiting for him to answer with some worried, some curious and others were pissed. The families of the girls had their eyes narrowed at him.

"I don't know if this is the right time or not but looks like I have no choice. Leaf confessed to me a couple things after I beat the Skull Brothers the first time," started Ash. He told them what she told him, making them stunned over what they found out. "I didn't know about that and when she told me I became angry that she had betrayed my and the girls' trust, that she took advantage of me. That's why I left yesterday without a word." Several people had comprehending looks form their faces as they now understood why he left without saying anything. Daisy Waterflower felt both angry over what Leaf did and sad that Ash was hurt. She glanced at Misty and saw her with watery eyes but she wasn't crying. She turned back to look at the guardian when he spoke again. "I needed time alone to think and I ended up going to Club Indigo. I ran into some old friends…" He gestured towards Clair, Liza, Shauna, Lizabeth, Sabrina and Giselle. "And many from our group came when they found out I was there. We danced and drank, having a good time. Then…" Ash sighed and shook his head. Now that he had to explain what had happened, he felt like a total asshole and a damn prick for behaving so rottenly. The parents became angered, hearing that they had been drinking, glancing at their children and the others before looking at Ash again. He continued and told them everything that happened until he left the club. "She chased after me. We argued and fought again outside before our friends got involved as well. I didn't listen to anyone, hurting Gary and Clair. I even hurt and scared Queen Ilene." When he said that last statement, everyone glanced at the three mentioned. They saw them staring at Ash with their eyes wide in surprise that he admitted that before snapping their attention back to Ash when he spoke again. "I'm so sorry for that. I understand if you don't forgive me," apologized Ash to the three, looking at them with a sorrow filled face. They were frozen still from his apology in front of everyone. "At the end of the night I told everyone I wanted to be alone as I was tired of everything and left after promising I'll come back in the morning. I came back to get the girls and leave the tournament, to go back to the island I've been staying at. Well, that was the plan at first, but not anymore…" Ash finished explaining and looked away back towards the horizon, hanging his head, ashamed of what he did now.

The group of people were silent, half of them processing the new information and the other half waiting anxiously for their reaction. Misty, Dawn, Serena and May were scared as they didn't know how their families would respond. Cynthia, Sarah and Anabel were giving Ash looks of sadness, both at what he had done and that he had to deal with realizing how he made terrible mistakes. Sabrina became teary eyed, not liking one bit that he was feeling so many mixed emotions. Clair was dumbstruck that he confessed his mistakes in front of the whole group. Liza was also surprised at him revealing what he had done, but it also made her believe more in the fact that he was a real man since he was owning up to his mistakes. Shauna, Lizabeth and Giselle were feeling horrible for what he was going through but also had their respect for him grow since he had admitted to doing wrong, making them feel something strongly inside. Daisy Waterflower felt absolutely horrible seeing him so depressed. Ilene felt badly in seeing her Knight in so much grief.

Nobody moved or made a sound for a while until Delia walked towards her son with a determined look on her face. When she reached him, she grabbed his shoulder, whirled him around and did something she had never done before. She slapped him hard across the face, making the raven haired guardian stumble back without a sound. He was expecting someone to hit him, yell at him or do something but wasn't expecting it to be his own mother. The entire group, from his friends, to the parents, even his pokémon, was speechless at what she just did. Ash balanced himself out and stood up again yet he kept his gaze towards the floor. He knew he deserved that and perhaps more.

"Look at me," she said in a dangerously calm voice. He slowly raised his head to look into his mother's eyes. "Remember the promise you made to me? Don't let the bad things keep you down and to not let it control you? To not leave anyone behind? Remember?" she asked. After a few seconds, Ash slowly nodded his head. "Are you sorry for you did?"

"I am Mom. I feel horrible about everything. I'm so sorry for what I did," responded Ash as he looked down again.

"I believe you," said Delia. She turned to the others. "We will not bring this up for any reason. Ash, the girls and Leaf will handle this between themselves in a civilized manner afterwards. Am I understood?" asked Delia in a calm voice but the way she was looking at them all made them not even dare to not agree, not even the girls' parents and sisters. She faced her son again. "Now, you'll make it up to Clair, Gary and Ilene after this is all done. Did I make myself clear?" Ash agreed without hesitation and promised he will make it up to them. "Good. Now, what is the plan?" she asked him.

"I'm working on it. But, Mewtwo, can you please get one of the potion kits from home?" he asked the legendary psychic and he nodded. A second later, a box appeared in front of Ash. He opened it and took out several medicine bottles. He then went to Richie and handed him five of them. "Use these full restores on your pokémon." Richie was at first stupefied from receiving the very expensive medicine but then he got out of his stupor. He brought out his pokémon and started applying the restorative potions onto his pokémon. His Raichu was quickly defrosted and he along with his other pokémon were soon back to full strength, looking even better than before. As Richie did that, Ash closed the box, picked it up and walked over to his purple haired friend and handed it to her who tilted her head. "I owed you for when you healed Lucario with your potion remember?"

"But this is too much Ash and I only used one. I can't accept this," replied back Iris, trying to give the expensive and rare potions back to him but Ash just shook his head.

"It's alright Iris. You keep it. It may come in handy one day. There are five more in here and I have more back home," he said, making her and several others eyes widen that he had more. They were very costly and that was why very few places sold them since they were the pinnacle of medicine technology for healing pokémon on the go.

"You should send a message Ash," suggested Mewtwo after a moment of silence to his friend who thought about it before he agreed. "Do you know what you're going to say?" The raven haired guardian said he did and he returned to the railings. The purple feline lowered himself and stood beside his friend. He placed his three digit hand on Ash's shoulder before his eyes glowed blue. What happened next made them all cry out in shock as a thundering voice echoed across the sky as if spoken from the heavens above…

The tall and well built Champion of Kanto was sitting on his couch in the living room, enjoying his breakfast as he watched the morning news on the flat screen TV that was hung on the wall in front of him. The same old stuff was being said as the anchor gave out the news; the stadium attack, Ash Ketchum being an Aura Guardian, the tournament results so far with some replays shown, etc. Lance became bored and was about to change the channel when his door bell was rang. He got up and went to see who it was. When he opened it, he saw it was the Champion of Kalos. "Good morning Diantha. Come in," he said, moving aside to allow her in.

"Morning Lance and thanks," she replied, walking in. "How are you doing?" she asked him.

He closed the door and gestured to the couches and breakfast on the table. She reached over and took a biscuit. "Alright I guess. Thank you," he replied, sitting down and so did she. "And yourself? What brings you here? Not that I'm complaining of course," he said with a small smile.

She smiled a bit. "Doing well, thanks. Well the board meeting is still going on but during their break, one of the members sent me a message. It looks like…" A breaking new report was mentioned on the news suddenly, catching their attention, making both of them turn to look at it.

"THIS JUST IN. WE'VE JUST BEEN INFORMED THAT ASH KETCHUM, AKA THE BLUE SPIRIT, WAS SEEN INSIDE CLUB INDIGO LAST NIGHT AND WAS CAUSING QUITE A SCENE. THAT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE NEWS BUT LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT HIM; FROM EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS WHO CALLED IN, THEY SAID THAT HE DANCED WITH OVER TEN GIRLS, SEVERAL OF WHICH ARE FAMOUS AND WELL KNOWN IN THE WORLD, DRANK HEAVILY, STARTED A FIGHT IN THE CLUB BEFORE FINALLY LEAVING AFTER MAKING HIS FIFTH ROUND MATCH UP OPPONENT, LEAF GREEN, CRY AND CHASE AFTER HIM WHEN HE LEFT. STAY TUNED TO HEAR MORE ONCE WE GET AN UPDATE AND CONFIRM ALL OF THIS. CONTINUING ON TO SPORTS, WE HAVE-"

Lance turned off the TV. He and Diantha looked at one another. The information surprised them both. They couldn't believe what they just heard. There's no way Ash would've done that…could he? Lance and Diantha were lost in thought when his Poketch rang. He didn't hear it until the third ring and hurriedly picked it up. "This is Lance…Yes I just saw it too…I don't know…alright, I'll meet you there as I'm going to fly there." Lance turned to Diantha after he hung up. "That was Steven. He was asking if I saw the news. He said to meet him at Ash's hotel. We need to see if this is true and do some damage control if it is," he told her, standing up.

Diantha was surprised at what he was saying and what he had agreed to. "Lance, I'm impressed. Have you finally started moving on enough to actually go out of your way to help him?" she asked him, making him go red but he didn't respond. "Silent as always when you're embarrassed," she remarked, letting out a giggle. He gave her a curious look, wondering how she knew that about him. She stood up. "C'mon. Let's go help out our fellow Champion's boyfriend," she said with a smile.

It took a few seconds for Lance to snap out of his thoughts and he nodded. He led her to the balcony and tossed out his Dragonite's poke ball and his friend greeted him. "Dragonite; we have some business to attend to at the Hotel." Dragonite allowed Lance and Diantha to climb onto his back before shooting into the air. The Kalos Champion had pink circles on her cheeks, but was feeling good at having him sit behind her and press up against her since there wasn't much room on his pokémon. As they flew, Lance was heating up from feeling her against him as well. Why am I feeling like this? And how does she know that thing about me? Both stayed silent as his pokémon flew towards their destination. With Dragonite's impressive speed, they were already covered half the distance when a loud booming voice was heard from the sky itself. That made Dragonite stop and hover in his spot in the air with both Lance and Diantha listening with widened eyes since they knew who that voice belonged to…

"I feel better now." That was the only thing that Edmond said after he finished violating Natasha and buttoned up his pants as he glanced at her. She was on the floor, barely breathing. She was groaning and whizzing in pain with many cuts along with black and blue bruises all over her body. His brothers had cut her and beaten her to within an inch of her life as he raped her. "By the way whore, I have a message from Giovanni for you." She couldn't make a sound but opened her eye. "He says you're done and he has no room for weak people like you. " He laughed, seeing her close her eye again and let out tears. "Make sure she's comfy," said Edmond after spitting on her, prior to disappearing up the stairs. His brothers quickly tied her up again before leaving her on the cold floor.

When Edmond reached upstairs, he noticed a glow in the corner. He glanced towards the area and saw the red head's poke balls disappear. He smirked, knowing what had happened. Giovanni must have had them be recalled. Looks like the bitch has been completely cut off like he said. He laughed a bit. As soon as Edwin and Edward reached upstairs to join their boss, the cabin's front door opened. Ed and Eddie walked in with Ed carrying a beautiful brunette girl over his shoulder while Eddie carried a beautiful pink haired girl. They dropped the two girls onto the floor without care and the impact woke them up.

"Ugh…" groaned Joy. She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. She then noticed who was around her and she became immobilized with fear.

"What…" muttered Leaf, opening her eyes and slowly raised her head. She looked around and then became rigid like a board, noticing who was standing in front of her.

"Hello girls," said Edward with an evil grin. Both Leaf and Joy yelped, moved toward each other and hugged one another, making the five bald men laugh at them.

"Hey there gorgeous," said Edmond as he locked his eyes with Leaf. "Looks like I do get to show you a good time," he said, his words coated with lust, making Leaf shudder. "And hello to you too sexy," he added, turning to the other girl. "I'm sure we'll get to know each other well," he told Joy who shivered. "We'll have some fun soon enough but first my brothers and I need to discuss something. Edwin, Edward; take these two to the basement to be with our other guest."

Edwin grabbed Leaf while Edward grabbed Joy and both girls immediately started to struggle against their grip while shouting at them to let them go. But then Edmond punched both Leaf and Joy in the stomach hard, making them stop instantly as it was so painful and took their breath away. The two brothers took the now stilled girls down to the basement. Edwin flung Leaf onto the wood table making the brunette cry out in pain. The Skull Brother quickly tied her hands and feet with durable rope, tightening it so much that it dug into her skin, making her grit her teeth as her eyes began to water. He picked her up again and then dropped her onto the ground without care. Edward did the same to Joy. He tied up her hands and feet before dropping her onto the floor as well.

"Enjoy the floor until it's time for your welcome party," laughed Edwin before heading back upstairs with Edward leaving Leaf and Joy to wallow in sadness and fear before they started to cry.

"Richie…where are you?" whispered Joy as she let out silent tears.

"Ash…please find us," whispered Leaf with tears going down her cheeks

"Save…your breath." Leaf and Joy stopped crying abruptly and looked around frantically for the hoarse voice that said that. Both of them struggled a bit before they were able to turn their bodies to the other side and what they saw made them let out a startled cry. A red headed woman was tied up on the floor naked and was covered with many injuries and wounds all over her body. Her nose was broken and her left eye was swollen shut. There was dried blood all over her. The right eye was barely open and was locked onto Leaf and Joy.

"Oh my god!" cried out Joy.

"What…happened…to you?" gasped Leaf.

"Them," said the woman hoarsely. Leaf and Joy had to strain their ears to be able to hear her as her voice was so low. Each time the poor red head spoke, she felt sharp sting like pain in her throat. "Raped me…beat…me…same…to...you…" That revelation shocked and scared the two girls before everything just hit them at once. That was when they realized that they too were going to be raped and beaten, possibly even killed. That nobody knew where they were taken to. That they were never going to see their friends and family again. Joy was never going to see Richie again and she wondered how he would feel once he realized that he had failed them. Leaf thought how she would never again see Ash and would never be able to fix things between them. Both the pink haired girl and the brunette started sobbing, realizing that everything that they loved, liked or even took for granted…was now out of their reach forever.

Back upstairs in the living room, the five brothers were talking. "So what do you think boss? Both girls have amazing bodies huh?" asked Ed as he gleefully rubbed his hands together. He and his four brothers grinned darkly, standing in the living room.

"Yes, good going Ed. I'm going to enjoy my time with the brunette since she belongs to the Guardian. Revenge is going to be sweet. And the other one ain't bad either," laughed Edmond. "But we must be careful. I'm surprised you were even able to take them."

"They weren't with the Guardian at the time. They were with another punk kid who tried to hold us up as they ran for it but it was nothing we couldn't handle. The pink haired girl looks like the local Nurse Joy," explained Eddie.

"I see. Hmmm. Nurse Joy you say? She will definitely be fun. Slutty nurse fantasy anyone?" he joked, laughing with his brothers before becoming serious again. "But how I'm going to enjoy ravaging the brunette, knowing she's the Guardian's. Oh, I have many plans set in store to make him suffer. But we must be careful now. He's probably looking for her as we speak. He is stronger than what we first believed and witnessed. We need to prepare," remarked Edmond and his brothers agreed. Before any of them could say anything else however, they all heard a powerful voice that seemed to come from the sky itself through the open windows. They were frozen by it and could do nothing but listen to it.

"THIS IS AURA GUARDIAN ASH KETCHUM SPEAKING TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE WHO CAN HEAR THIS MESSAGE. TWO GIRLS, WHOSE NAMES ARE LEAF AND JOY, HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED BY THE VILE GROUP THAT CALL THEMSELVES THE SKULL BROTHERS. MY POKÉMON ARE SEARCHING FOR THEM RIGHT NOW AND ARE AUTHORIZED TO USE FORCE IF NECESSARY. DO NOT GET IN THEIR WAY. IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT MAY HELP ME FIND THEM, PLEASE COME TO THE INDIGO PLATEAU HOTEL AND SPEAK WITH MY FRIENDS IN THE LOBBY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION."

There was silence for a moment before Ash's manifested voice was heard speaking again.

"THESE NEXT WORDS ARE FOR THE SKULL BROTHERS. LISTEN CAREFULLY. I WARNED YOU BEFORE AND GAVE YOU A CHANCE. YOU HAVE DECIDED TO NOT CHANGE YOUR WAYS AND HAVE CROSSED THE LINE. I WARNED YOU OF WHAT WILL COME IF YOU CONTINUE DOWN THIS PATH. IF YOU DON'T RELEASE THEM BY THE TIME I FIND WHERE YOU'RE HIDING, THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY. ABSOLUTELY NO MERCY WILL BE SHOWN OR GIVEN IF EITHER OF THEM HAS EVEN THE SLIGHTEST SCRATCH ON THEM. IF THEY ARE HURT IN ANY WAY OR FORM, I WILL USE MY FULL POWER ON YOU AND NOT EVEN ARCEUS HIMSELF WILL BE ABLE TO PROTECT YOU."

Ash's voice faded away once more before his voice was heard for the last time.

"LEAF…JOY…IF YOU CAN HEAR THIS…STAY STRONG…I'M COMING FOR YOU."

After that last message, the thundering voice faded away for good. A little while later and many different things occurred at once. Lance, Diantha and his Dragonite were stupefied in the air for a couple moments from hearing Ash's message before recomposing themselves and continued towards the hotel. Alder and Steven were frozen in the middle of the road that led to the hotel. They quickly recovered after it finished and ran to the hotel. Officer Jenny, who was enjoying her day off from patrolling Indigo Lake, was driving to the market when she heard the message. She quickly changed her course without hesitation and sped up to the hotel. The Kanto reporter Britney Snow heard the message and quickly packed up her stuff and had her camera man drive their van to the hotel as fast as possible from Victory Road as they were there for a story about new pokémon appearing in the area.

Many people who heard the message were calling news channels and newspaper companies from all over. Several were making their way to the hotel. Many others who decided to not get involved were shocked to see powerful pokémon combing through the Indigo Plateau forest, the nearby rivers, lakes, caves and many others were seen flying through the sky. The Skull Brothers glanced at one another with shock in their eyes before Edmond quickly gave them orders.

"Ed, board up the windows! Eddie, get our equipment ready and get the traps set! Edwin, make sure the pokémon are healed and ready to go! Edward, move the brunette and nurse to the upstairs bedrooms and make sure they can't move! I'm going to get our weapons ready!"

Ed went to the large walk in closet that was filled with supplies. He took out a hammer, a box of nails and several thin but large planks of wood before heading out and started hammering away to board up the windows. Eddie went to the den where their duffel bags were. He opened them up and took out several high grade military equipment; thermal goggles, binoculars, some small explosives, several bulletproof vests and military grade protective clothing. He made sure none of the explosives were damaged so he could set them up properly. Edwin went to the dining room and pushed the table to one side and placed all of their pokémon's poke balls onto the table. Then, one by one, he called them out and looked them over for any injuries. Whether he found any or not, he still applied potions on them and gave each of them an energy boosting pill that heightened their strengths to make sure they were in fighting shape. Edward went downstairs to get the two girls and take them upstairs to separate them.

Edmond went to several cases that were piled up against the living room wall. He opened up the top one and took out several large and sharp machetes that were inside their sheaths that had a belt strap on it. He placed them on the small coffee table after inspecting each one for sharpness. He then opened another case and pulled out an automatic rifle and checked over the scope, the trigger, the magazine and laser sight. Seeing everything was in order, he went to another box, opened it and took out a smaller box of ammunition. He ejected the empty magazine and started placing the bullets into it. When finished, he attached the magazine to the rifle and then lowered the small lever on the side to put the rifle's safety on. He then did the same thing four more times with four more rifles that he pulled out of the cases.

Leaf, Joy and the red head were in the basement in silence. They weren't able to hear Ash's message from the sky since they were in the basement, the door was closed and the only window that let in some light was shut. It was a pretty thick window too, since the original owners of the cabin had upgraded it to prevent pokémon from easily breaking and entering the place. The two girls were whimpering, lying on the cold hard floor of the basement. They had no idea where they were but knew what was coming for them. They were scared out of their minds and didn't know what to do or think. After a moment, they both glanced at one another and thought the same thing; they had to find a way out and they couldn't give up yet. They looked around the basement with blurred visions, the water in their eyes not helping them, hoping to find something they could use.

"No…use…tried…" came the hoarse and weak voice of the red headed woman when she noticed the two girls looking around for something to help them out. Leaf and Joy focused their attention back onto her.

"There has to be a way out," replied Leaf, her voice slightly high pitched because of her fear but the red head barely shook her head.

"What's your name?" asked Joy and the red head looked at them for a moment before answering.

"Na…tash…a."

"Natasha?" asked Joy and she nodded very slowly.

"Natasha, I'm Leaf and that's Joy. Just hang on okay? We'll find a way out." Leaf told the red head trying to give her hope but the woman didn't respond back. She merely closed her one good eye, letting out a single tear and took a deep rattling breath before coughing out a little bit of blood. She was in so much pain because she was suffering from numerous injuries and wounds. Leaf looked at her with concern and so did Joy as she looked to be in very bad shape. Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs that made all three girls hold their breath with their hearts beating wildly. Next thing that she knew, Leaf was picked up off the basement floor and flung over someone's shoulder. "LET ME GO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" shouted Leaf but Edward paid her no mind and took her upstairs.

"LEEAAAFFFF!" screamed Joy but didn't hear anything in return as the two disappeared upstairs and the basement door closed. Joy began crying again and the red head closed her eye and remained quiet, thinking that the brunette would soon go through what she had…