Clanverse whatif: Yugi and Harry and the Broken Chains: Part 2

Yami didn’t answer, he didn’t need to as he searched the room for magicks that shouldn’t be there. Yugi swiftly joined him, not sure what his darker self was looking for but very aware that it had to be something bad if Yami was this ticked off. Between them it didn’t take long to discover the locked chest hidden away under the bed in the corner of the room.

“Don’t touch it. Not yet.” Yami cautioned when Yugi moved to drag it out, certain that the chest, which looked a lot like the one he used in real life for his Hogwarts equipment, was not something he recognised. The hikari moved back, allowing his dark first access to the storage trunk.

Yami scowled as he defused the trap that had been set, his anger only getting worse as he realised that someone had not only changed things in Yugi’s soul room, but had been setting up traps against the room’s own owner. Once it was safe, he and Yugi pulled out the heavy wooden box.

“I didn’t set that up.” Yugi worried at his darker self, his hand brushing the wooden surface. Under normal circumstances he would have marvelled at how real the texture was, despite this all being in his head, but right now he was too worried to consider it.

“I know.” Yami was focused on the lock as he tried to break the spell holding it shut only to look chagrined when Yugi reached under the bed, felt around for a bit and then pulled the key out.

“Wizards are lazy.” Yugi reminded his darker self as he put the key in the lock, “And they wouldn’t want to spend ages casting the spells if they were worried about getting caught. You terrify them, remember?”

Yami just looked smug at that, even as he took Yugi’s hand off of the key and turned it himself, expecting a trap. Shockingly there wasn’t one, but when they looked at the items in the chest it was rather disturbing to discover over half of them were broken or damaged.

Yugi let out a soft gasp as he beheld the sight. Each of these things, be them toys or games or trophies or pictures, held a memory or a group of related memories. If they were damaged or broken, it was highly possible the memory inside would be corrupted or worse, lost forever.

“Careful.” Yami murmured as Yugi reached for one of the few undamaged ones.

Yugi didn’t reply, too intent on regaining his sealed memories. Instead he just picked up the first item, a small, rather fancy looking mirror with some sort of message above it that looked like it should be in latin but was in fact just mirror writing, and let the memory sweep him away.

Lunar Dance: Part 4

They got very, very lost on the way through the route. So lost, in fact that Kaze and Issui reached level ten while they were walking. Yami, who had switched with Yugi, convinced he might have more luck than Yugi in finding their way, was training with Hane when they were attacked by a Starly.

Yami wasn’t too worried, by this point they had fought against so many wild  Starly that he was confident Hane could win against the larger Pokémon. The pair of bird Pokémon went at it, attacking each other by tackling each other in midair.

Keeping a close eye on Hane’s health using the Pokedex, Yami was about to use a potion on his bird, when suddenly the opposing creature managed to land a blow that sent Hane tumbling from the air. Before Yami could recall his Pokémon, the pokéball in his hand shattered and the bird falling from the skies disintegrated into purple shards before fading away.

“What the...” Yami stared at the empty air where his Starly had been. Pokémon didn’t do that when they fainted, not in real life. This had to be part of the rules of the Shadow Game. Probably yet another rule Bakura had failed to mention to them.

Yugi was just as shocked as he was. In fact he had started to like his Pokémon and watching one of them just disintegrate into the evening air. They were still in shock when they stumbled into town, where Hikari met them at the entrance.

She sulked when they had one more Pokémon in their Pokedex than her and then was just taking them to the Trainer School when they were interrupted by some strange man who claimed to be from the International Police. Codenamed Looker, the man was certainly odd enough to pull Yugi out of his shock and cause him to focus.

Author Note: Lunar Dance Team Update

Species: Piplup Nickname: Issui Gender: Male Nature: Calm Characteristic: Good Perseverance Ability: Torrent Level: 5 --> 12

Species: Pidove Nickname: Kaze Gender: Female Nature: Modest Characteristic: Mischievous Ability: Keen Eye Level: 4 --> 10

Clanverse whatif: Yugi and Harry and the Broken Chains: Part 1

It had been a long time since Yami had activated a Shadow Game. Most of his dealings with the dark realm in more recent years had been instigated by someone else. However the Shadows were more than willing to answer his furious call, descending upon the fool of a wizard who dared try to erase his memories of the previous school year.

The wizard didn’t stand a chance. The Shadows were hungry and Yami was more than willing to let them feast. The Pharaoh dragged the truth out of his attacker, that he had been hired by the International Confederate of Wizards to ‘encourage’ them to return to Hogwarts in September, before allowing the darkness to sweep him away.

He knew what had brought this on. They had sent letters to the school just a few days ago, withdrawing from Hogwarts. With everything that had happened there during the school year Yami had managed to convince Yugi that it was better for everyone if they stayed away. Of course if Yugi wasn’t going, Kari and Joey had no interest in disappearing for nine months of the year and Ombre went where her hikari went. If Kari wasn’t going, neither was she. Yami had also spoken to Kaiba who was refusing to go anywhere near that madhouse that they called a school and would not be sending Mokuba back either.

This was quite obviously the response to their letters and Yami was ready to destroy anyone who had agreed that this was a good idea.

For the first time he was glad that the Puzzle guarded its secrets so carefully. The wizard had been casting spells when Yami had found him, but the ‘memories’ he had been carefully editing had been fakes, generated by the Puzzle in order to confuse and confound anyone trying to find anything useful. All the spells had done was alert Yami to a foreign presence in his mind and give the Pharaoh some idea of what the enemy was trying to do.

He slipped out of his soul room, stepping over the body of the mindless wreck of a wizard and headed for Yugi’s bedroom. His hikari had to be told about this affront. He knew Yugi would try and talk him out of taking vengeance, but he still had to be told. When he reached Yugi’s room, however, he found his hikari led on his bed, pouring over his potions’ text book and frowning at a piece of parchment.

“Yugi?” Yami asked, confused.

“Can you check this for me?” Yugi asked, looking up at him with a hopeful expression.

“I thought we weren’t bothering with doing the homework since we aren’t going back.” Yami replied, dread sinking in as he realised that he hadn’t seen Yugi for a couple of hours.

“Ah... uhh, Yami...” Yugi trailed off, looking sheepish as the Pharaoh moved across the room, “I wanted to talk to you about...” He trailed off as he felt the Pharaoh’s anger flare up. It wasn’t aimed at him but he was in a foul mood and Yugi could feel the Shadows just waiting to lash out at the slightest provocation, “Yami? What’s wrong?”

“Yugi, I need you to come with me a minute.” The Pharaoh’s anger was obvious in his tone and Yugi quickly closed his text book, pushing his parchment to one side and scrambling to his feet.

“Sure, where...?” Yugi paused, confusion obvious as his darker self pushed him sitting. “What’s going on?” The hikari asked, worried now. Yami was acting weird and Yugi didn’t know what was causing it.

“Just come with me to your soul room.” The Pharaoh didn’t explain. Yugi didn’t need him to. He trusted Yami without question, acting weird or not, and he took a deep breath before mentally ‘stepping back’ into the corridor between his mind and Yami’s.

The Pharaoh was waiting for him, the powerful spirit’s anger manifesting as an aura of shadows that roiled and blazed like flames. Yugi didn’t understand what was going on, or why Yami was so furious when he had seemed so happy earlier, but he knew he had to try to calm him. He reached out, putting his hand on Yami’s arm, concerned confusion etched on his features.

“Yami. Please talk to me.” Yugi ignored the pins and needles in his hand and arm where they contacted with the dark energy, “What’s happened?”

“There was someone in my soul room.” Yami explained, hesitating at the door to Yugi’s soul room until Yugi preceded him and pulled him in after, shaking his head in amusement at Yami’s actions. No matter how many times Yugi told the spirit who had once shared his body that he was welcome in Yugi’s soul room any time, Yami always waited until Yugi had invited him in to enter.

Then what Yami had said actually sank in.

“Someone in your...” Yugi’s eyes widened, shock obvious.

“Well, in the maze that makes it up.” Yami shrugged, already scanning the room and noting that it looked different from how he remembered it being this morning, causing the shadows surrounding him to flare up once again for a moment before Yugi let out a sharp, pained hiss and pulled away from him. Almost instantly the Pharaoh pulled the power back within himself and opened his mouth to apologise, only to note that Yugi was looking around his soul room, implications already sinking in.

“You think they got in here first.” Yugi suddenly understood his darker self’s anger far too well. 

Lunar Dance: Part 3

A brief stop at the PokeCentre and the local mart later, Yugi left town fifteen pokéballs, one premier ball, one potion and two antidotes heavier and Y3500 poorer.  He wasn’t actually sure he needed all of that, but Yami had reminded him that they had started the game with that much money for a reason. It was better to be prepared than not when they didn’t know what they were getting into.

Hikari was waiting for them on the outskirts of town and shoved them back towards the houses, the game’s plot forcing them to detour back to their arrival point to talk to their ‘mom.’

Once there they got a journal to write in and a parcel from Jun’s mother to deliver to him when they saw him. Then it was back to town again. By the time they got back, Issui had learned Bubble and they had left a trail of knocked out Starly behind them.

When they got back to where Hikari was still waiting, she was a lot more helpful. In fact she gave them a demonstration of how to catch a Pokémon, her Chimchar allowing her to catch the wild Bidoof they encountered easily. She also gave them another five pokéballs, making Yugi wish he hadn’t spent so much money on them.

Once she was gone, Yugi managed to catch the first Pokémon they ran into. His Pokedex informed him that it was a female Starly and that it was currently level 4. He wasn’t sure what the levels meant in game terms, but since Issui had been gaining levels through battle experience he assumed that his Starly, who he decided to call Kaze, would need training in order to get stronger.

Something weird happened when he tried to catch the next Pokémon to come along though. The pokéballs refused to work. He wasted three, which he picked up after the Bidoof had been defeated, before he finally had to give up. Hikari was watching from the ledge above him and started giggling at him as he searched through the grass for the missing balls.

“You can’t catch any more Pokémon here.” She called down to him, causing him to turn to her, confusion obvious, “It’s a rule the Boss put down. You can only catch the first Pokémon you catch on each route.”

‘That means we can’t go back to the route between here and ‘home’ either.’ Yami huffed.

“No but the forest is still open, we never ran into any Pokémon there.” Yugi reminded him, before looking at Hikari, “Thanks for telling me.”

“No problem.” Hikari replied with a smile, “It’s not a fair game if you don’t know the rules after all. Oh, by the way, don’t forget you have to keep your Pokedex ahead of mine.”

“What?” Yugi asked, confused again.

“You agreed to it, remember?” She asked, “We’re racing to fill the Pokedex. Don’t worry, you don’t have to catch every Pokémon, just seeing them counts, but if I get ahead of you, the Shadows might not like it.” Yugi gulped, having not realised he had been adding to the rules when he had agreed to race her. “Good luck.” She waved and carried on down the route merrily.

‘So we can’t catch more than one Pokémon per route and we have to somehow keep our Pokedex ahead of Hikari’s?’ Yami asked with a growl, taking spirit form to pace through the long grass.

“And we can’t lose a single battle.” Yugi replied, nerves settling in a little as he realised the scope of their task. “We have to get to the Champion and beat him without losing a match.”

‘We’ll do it.’ Yami reassured Yugi, who headed back to the forest they had met the man from Galactic in. ‘It’s just another game. And we never lose, remember?’

“True.” Yugi allowed, the thought cheering him up as he caught their third team member. Another Starly, another female one, this one nicknamed Hane. “And Bakura will sulk for ages when we get out of here.”

Yami grumbled something Yugi didn’t quite catch, but he suspected was along the lines of ‘murder the bloody tomb robber.’ For once the hikari didn’t call his darker half on it. Yami was allowed to be ticked off about this and as long as he was just grumbling, he probably wouldn’t do anything that would get him in trouble.

They got into a little trouble with a Kricketot, the bug Pokémon had absorbed their attacks for a couple of turns before landing a blow that had nearly knocked Issui out. Yugi had had to rush back to the PokeCentre, where Yami skimmed through the Pokedex while they were waiting for Issui to be treated. ‘Bide,’ the move he finally figured out the Kricketot had used against them, absorbed the power of the attacks that they had launched at it and countered with that power.

It was something they were going to have to watch out for in the future if they wanted to get through the game safely.

Sneak Peak: Shadow Treaty chapter 14

Tristan was not happy.

Last night’s attempt to make a plan had proved fruitful. However the meeting had ended on a blazing row as they discussed who would be best to go and get the prophecy from the English Ministry.

Harry had to go, no one else could get the orb out of the Hall of Prophecy. If Harry was going, so was Yugi and Yami. From there it had devolved into a row. They all wanted to go, well except Kaiba, who had more than enough on his plate as it was and needed to be in Japan. However it had been argued that if something went wrong, a big group was more of a target then two or three people on their own.

Two bodies had been discarded immediately. That would mean Harry and Yugi going alone with only Yami for backup. None of them were willing to let that happen.

Seven, it was decided, was too many. As was, it was eventually argued, five. Four allowed two to go with the pair, while leaving enough on the island to help the refugees, settle any more sent their way and keep a decent size force behind to protect the island, should the worst happen.

Then it just came down to arguing over who should go with them.

Personally, while Tristan knew about the link between Harry and the Yugis, he was of the opinion that sending the trio into the maw was a bad idea. If anyone should stay behind it was Yugi and someone else should go in his place. It wasn’t going to happen though. Not with his link partner going into danger and the enemy able to summon monsters equivalent to the Egyptian God Monsters.

Yugi had to go, if only to ensure Harry would return.

There had not really been any question of Joey not going. He had had Yugi’s back for nigh on a decade, there was no way in hell he was going to let Yugi and Harry walk into danger without him now.

Which left the debate over the last spot.

Tristan had put himself forward before anyone else could and was still fuming over how quickly he had been shot down. It was his own fault, he knew that. He had had no magic before the gang had been split up by the Ministries of various countries. He hadn’t practised with his Shadow Magic since he had gained access to it. He didn’t have a wand, or any training with one and he was not used to the Magical Community in England.

He had the physical strength, but in this, just as he had been in every other battle his friends had fought, he was utterly useless and it was driving him to distraction.

With Kaiba taking himself out the running, since he needed to run his company, Ombre refusing to risk the safety of anyone else by going with them while her control was shot and Ryou stepping back for much the same reason, that left Mokuba, Luna, the Weasleys and Hermione.

Kaiba had nixed any thoughts his little brother had of going. Mokuba was needed to help prevent Kaiba Corp falling into complete collapse. Unspoken was that Seto refused to let Mokuba go into battle without him there to fight at his side. There was no way the elder Kaiba, who was his little brother’s guardian, would allow Mokuba to go. The elder Kaiba knew Mokuba would eventually forgive him for the oath he had extracted from his little brother to prevent just that.

If Mokuba wasn’t going, then it was decided that no one under Harry’s age should go, much to Ginny’s outrage, though Luna looked as if she had expected it.

The only hesitation Weasley twins had had was that they were looking for one person, not two, and while they were skilled at tricks and treats, they were not amongst the group that had trained for combat for the last year.

Finally it had been decided that Hermione, who had trained alongside the others, worked on her Shadow skills until they were second nature alongside Kari and knew spells far beyond her age level would take the last spot.

Ron had exploded with rage, launched a long, ranting and mostly rude tirade against the group, and then stalked off back to the castle.

Tristan, in all honesty, had wanted to do much the same but knew it wouldn’t have helped anything.

He had, at least, been a little appeased by the decision to leave the Millennium Items, bar Yugi’s Puzzle of course, on Duellist Kingdom. It was a bad idea to take them back into enemy territory when they had been stolen once already. Instead Yugi had asked a favour of Tristan, hoping it would appease him slightly. While Draco held the Millennium Ring, the other five items needed protection. Yugi had entrusted that task to him.

Tristan didn’t see why he was being allowed to guard the items, but wasn’t trusted enough to protect their wielder. Yugi had tried to explain, that it wasn’t that he didn’t trust him to have his back, but that he wanted him to be here, where he could protect not only the Millennium Items, but the refugees and the island too.

Tristan had seen through it easily. Yugi didn’t want most of his friends and ‘Clan siblings’ following them to England, because the one person who had always been certain that everything would be alright in the end wasn’t sure that they would come back.

He had a feeling that if it hadn’t been so essential to his powers and his access to Yami, Yugi would have left the Puzzle too.

They should not be this worried. After all it was a simple retrieval. Go in, get the prophecy, get back out again. Easy, right?

Yeah right. Just the fact it was supposed to be a ‘simple’ retrieval meant that everything was going to go balls up the moment it had an opportunity.

Still, as he helped Yugi settle the refugees that had arrived this morning with the Speaker, he looked forward to when this was all over and they could possibly, finally, leave all the saving the world business to the professionals and have a relatively normal life.

Normal life. Ha.

Isla Del Leyendas: Part 22

Delia Ketchum had her back turned to the TV when the coverage of the legendary battle came on. “We have reporters on the ground and in the air, as the legendary Pokemon that have gathered at Isla De Leyendas have started to batt… we’re going live!”

“I’m here on the scene, in Newcopter 1, and the fight below me has grown even more intense, Lugia and Rayquaza seem to be attempting to disrupt the fighting but it doesn’t look like they’re having much luck. What the? Is that? Maybe Harriet can get a better look, it looks like there are Pokemon Trainers down there!”

Delia wheeled around, Pokemon Trainers?

Thankfully, there was no sign of Ash anywhere.

Then a Pokemon’s roar made everyone stop.

The grounded news reporter showed the Trainers that had been using their Pokemon in an attempt to stop the fighting, had managed to get to the legendary Pokemon, and to the shock of everyone, the legendary Pokemon didn’t attack them, instead they allowed the Trainers to climb aboard or on their backs, or necks. The cameraman zoomed in on the Trainers, and it looked like they were talking to the Pokemon.

Then the camera switched back to the helicopter, who was filming a fight between a adult man and a teen, and a Pokemon that had been in Ash’s storybooks as a child.

The helicopter made a low pass as the teen restrained the adult and the Pokemon prepared an attack.

It was then a teen Delia recognised as Gary Oak emerged.

On the return swoop Delia caught one good look at the fighting teen’s face, before the Hyper Beam attack was loosed and everything faded in an explosion.

Ms. Delia Ketchum, and Professor Samuel Oak were on the next blimp to Isla De Leyendas.

A day later, Misty and Brock joined them.

Two weeks later May and Max had joined them.

It was now four weeks since Ash had been brought into hospital.

And there had been no change in his condition.

Delia Ketchum remembered several times when Ash had gotten himself into danger like this, but not once had Ash ended up in hospital, not once had his Pokemon been left as weak as they had… were they linked, and until Ash recovered, would they not?

“You’re a Pokemon Trainer,” She had once said to him, “And that’s just how it is… but next time, could you try to save the world, just a little closer to home?”

“I guess, I could give it a try.” Ash had replied, and yet this had to be almost the furthest away from home Ash had ever had to save the world, Mrs Ketchum was beginning to feel that fate was out to get her son.

Delia Ketchum was getting a coffee out of the vending machine when May rushed down the corridor, “Mrs Ketchum! Mrs Ketchum!”

“How many times have I asked you to call me Delia?” Delia asked as she turned around, coffee in hand, she took a look at May, “What’s wrong? Has something happened? Is Ash alright?”

“Come see for yourself.”

Mrs Ketchum dropped the coffee and ran after May.

She wasn’t sure what to expect as she walked into the room, where Gary Oak, Brock, Misty and Max were gathered around the bed, which the head of had been raised so the person in it could sit up slightly without any effort. “Guys.” May whispered. Brock and Misty moved aside. And Delia saw something that caused her breath to catch in her throat.

A pair of deep brown eyes looked over to her.

“Oh Ash.” Delia rushed over, hugging her son tightly. She only let go when Ash groaned slightly. “You’re awake.”

“Hey Mum.” Ash whispered, wincing away slightly.

Delia realised he was expecting another ear bashing, like the ones she’d given him after his adventures with Lugia and with the Unknown.

“Oh, Ash, you had me so scared.” Delia sat on his bed, and Ash friends filed out of the door, Brock shut it behind him. “I saw you get hit by Hyper Beam on TV, I got the next blimp out. Professor Oak was talking with all the other Trainers who were there, he’s around the Hospital somewhere. The doctors were afraid you weren’t going to make it.”

“So was I.” Ash admitted, “I didn’t think I could.”

“I’m just glad you’re back.” Delia told her son, this time hugging him carefully. A hug that Ash returned.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” Ash whispered, and then frowned at how weak his voice was.

“Come in.” Delia called for him.

The Doctor came in, “Brock said he’d come round?”

“Hi.” Ash whispered.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Mr Ketchum, you gave us all a scare. How are you feeling?”

“Not too bad, surprisingly unhurt.”

“Have you told him?” The Doctor asked Mrs Ketchum, she shook her head, “You’ve got very few of the bruises left, a few bones that still need to heal, but a lot of the cuts and bumps that you gained in your time in the time in the Temple have all healed.”

Ash frowned, “How long was I out?”

“You’ve been in hospital a month, Mr Ketchum.”

Ash’s frown deepened, then he looked around, “Where’s Pikachu? And all of my other Pokemon? Are they ok? Are they hurt?” Ash asked in a panic.

“Calm down, your Pokemon are fine. They’ve all been healed and are all resting in their Pokeballs.”

“And Pikachu? Where’s Pikachu?”

“I think Danielle took him down to get something to eat, Pikachu hasn’t left your side, other then to eat, since you came out of surgery.”

Ash bit his lip, “How long ago did they go?”

The Doctor looked at Ash carefully, then smiled and shook his head, “You two really don’t like to be separated do you?” Ash shook his head. There was a happy cheer outside, then the door slipped open and an electric mouse Pokemon walked in.

Pikachu looked around Ash’s room, his Trainer’s mum was here still, and the Doctor was back… He was beginning to hate the white, bland place that was a Pokemon Centre for humans, a Hospital as Gary had called it, but why had he been told to go in? The only person he wanted to see was… Pikachu smiled broadly as he saw that the one he’d been waiting for had woken up…

“Pikapi!” Pikachu shouted, and rushed over and hugged his Trainer, friend and brother tightly.

“Hi Pikachu.” Ash said softly, then leant back against the bed.

“Don’t wear yourself out, Ash.” Delia said, concerned.

“He’ll be fine, Mrs Ketchum, now I want to run some tests. May I speak to him alone, a second?”

Delia nodded, “Come on Pikachu.”

“Pika.” Pikachu shook his head.

“I meant without any other humans in the room.” The doctor said with a smile. Now that Ash was awake, that Pikachu of his was probably never going to leave the room. “You and the others can come back in once I’m done.” Delia looked put out but left, once the door was shut the Doctor turned to Ash with a serious look on his face, “How do you really feel?”

Ash smiled slightly, “Like I got hit by a rolling Golem.”

“I thought you might, how’s your head?”

“Nowhere near as sore as it was before Arceus’s Hyper Beam hit me.”

“Was the head injury gotten in the fight outside the Temple?”

“No, I bashed my head in a fight in the Temple.” Ash told him. The Doctor nodded.

“And your chest?”

“Painful, but no where near as bad as when I passed out.” The doctor nodded again.

“And the rest of your injuries? Not all of them were results of the Hyper Beam, I think.”

Ash shook his head, “I got them fighting with… Kale.” Ash’s sudden snarl made Pikachu look up, “What happened to Kale? The guy who started the whole thing?”

“Kale is dead. He wasn’t as lucky as you.”

“The Hyper Beam killed him?” Ash asked, relaxing slightly.

“Yes. You held him back long enough for Arceus to end the threat.”

“How do you know…?”

“The legendary battle was being shown on TV, everyone who was watching TV at that moment of time saw it.”

Ash sighed, and closed his eyes as the Doctor started the basic tests, “Tired Ash?” The Doctor asked.

“A little.” Ash admitted.

“You’re not to overtax yourself, I don’t want you to end up back in the Emergency Room. If you get too tired, then tell your friends to leave, or to be quiet, and go to sleep, you’re body has been through a lot, Gary Oak told us that you nearly died on the mountain after your first fight with Kale, It should have been impossible for you to be able to restrain Kale as long as you did with the injuries you’d sustained.”

“If it hadn’t been for Arceus, I couldn’t have done, he leant me his strength and blocked the pain, but even that was giving out.” Ash admitted.

“Well, you’re a very lucky Trainer, Ash Ketchum, and now I’ll leave your friends and mother to berate you and get the full story, since no one knows your part, bar you.”

“Iason was there with me, in the first round, and Gary.” Ash said, his eyes opening and shooting towards the Doctor.

“Yes, but they have questions too.” The Doctor said, pushing open the door, Gary slipped back in as the Doctor went out.

“I’ve got a question before the others come in.” Gary said, his eyes showing his confusion, “What did you mean you were ‘on borrowed time anyway’?”

Ash sighed, “Arceus told me that my body was dying, when I saw it after my first fight with Kale, and that I could only come back to fight Kale again, after that, I’d die, and there’d be no coming back. Win or lose, I was going to die, and the strength Arceus had given me, was fading. I figured that I could take Kale down with me… I didn’t expect to ever wake up.”

“That’s why you were so confused when you first came round.” Gary realised, “Arceus told you that you were going to die…” Gary sighed, “Honestly Ashy-boy, you nearly gave my Gramps a heart attack when he saw the fight on TV.”

Ash smiled slightly as Pikachu finally let go of his hospital clothes and Gary let the others into the room. 

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And with Ash going to recover soon and everything settled I decided for some weird reason that that was a fit place to end it so I could move onto the next book 

Isla Del Leyendas: Part 21

Pikachu looked around, where was he?

Correction, where were they?

He, and all of Ash’s Pokemon, the he’d used in the fight against Kale, were floating in what looked like a cloud. Laid, unmoving, in front of the Pokemon was…

“PIKAPI!!!??” Pikachu yelled, remembering what had happened, Ash had been on the receiving end of a Hyper Beam attack from Arceus, God of Pokemon. He ran over.

“SWELLOW!?”

“SCEPTILE!!!??”

“DONPHAN??!!!”

“GAILIE!!!???”

“TORKOAL??!!!”

Pikachu shook Ash, then remembered something Misty had done when Ash had nearly drowned, and put it’s cheek next to it’s Trainer’s mouth. Nothing… “Pikachuuuu!” Pikachu shocked him carefully, “Chu!!! CHUUUUUUUUU!” Nothing… no response… “Pikapi…” Pikachu sobbed, he couldn’t be gone again, he couldn’t be. Pikachu had to jump back as a white light rose up between the Pokemon and their Trainer.

Arceus appeared in front of them.

And instantly had to jump to the side, away from a Thunder attack.

‘You dare attack your God?’ It asked.

Pikachu looked around. The other Pokemon looked unsure what to do, but Pikachu knew. And launched another attack.

>You killed my friend!< Pikachu snapped, before he fired his attack. >You killed Ash!<

‘No, Kale killed your Trainer,’ Arceus answered as it dodged, ‘I merely gave Ash enough time to finish what he had started. He came back to protect you.’

“So you took him away from us?” Sceptile snarled the question.

‘He would have had to leave, his body was too hurt, if I hadn’t attacked when I had, your Trainer would have come back for nothing. What do you care? He’s a human, like the one who nearly caused the Legendary War.’

~That’s not true!~ Swellow snapped, ~Ash is nothing like Kale, you can ask any of us!~

‘Your Trainer was a human being, what makes him so special, compared to the humans who walk among us every day?’

/Ash was kind and caring and helped us, in ways no other human would!/ Torkoal growled, letting off smoke. /He saved my life!/

)Ash helped me become stronger more confident!( Galie put in.

“He put himself in harms way to protect me!” Sceptile growled.

~Ash gave me the confidence to beat anyone!~

*Ash helped all of us evolve!* Donphan shouted.

‘Is this so? But what about you, Pikachu? Ash’s most trusted partner, and yet you’ve never evolved, what could he have possibly done to deserve your trust?’

>We’ve been together for years.< Pikachu started, >Ash only ever asked me to evolve once, and I chose not to and he accepted this, even when it might have cost him the chance at a Gym Badge. I didn’t want to, I wanted to beat the Raichu as I was, and Ash let me try again, evolution wasn’t the most important thing to me, Ash’s friendship was. If he’d have insisted, I would have evolved just to help him. He risked his life many times to protect me, we’re like brothers! You can’t take him from me!< Pikachu felt tears running down it’s face.

‘Your ‘Brother’ is gone, he sacrificed himself to save the planet. You should be grateful to him.’

Pikachu froze. No. No. No. Not again, Ash… >Take me instead!<

‘You’d offer your own life to bring your Trainer back? Willingly?’

~Not only Pikachu!~

*But us too.*

/We’d all offer our lives to save Ash’s./

‘It is in my power to grant the deepest wishes of Pokemon, I can grant your wish, but there is a price for such a gift. It requires a sacrifice, each of you must give some of your life force to restore your Trainer’s. But you will be weakened for a time, and your Trainer will not be as strong as he once was. If you can accept this, and promise to protect him… If you are willing to sacrifice part of your own life, then I will bring back your Trainer.’

>Now and all ways. Take it!<

~I would with my life, save him!~

*Of course, give him back!*

“As long as he has my Pokeball with him I will protect him, let him live!”

)I wouldn’t let anything happen to him, Ash must live.(

/I owe him my life, bring him back to us!/

Lights surrounded the Pokemon, yellow around Pikachu, red around Torkoal, pale blue around Swellow, green around Sceptile, grey around Gaile, and brown around Donphan.

The lights rose from the Pokemon, leaving them feeling weak, and pooled together in front of them.

And entered Ash’s still form.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then Ash’s chest started to rise and fall.

‘It is done. Remember your promises, for the time may come when he needs your help. Lugia’s gift will return to him when he re-enters the realm of the living, and that is where I will return you all.’

>How can we trust you to keep your promise? You took him from us in the first place!< Pikachu asked.

‘This is the first time in eternity, that I have been questioned and threatened, the loyalty you Pokemon have shown this human… I will return him first if that is what you wish.’ Pikachu nodded and Ash’s form vanished. ‘Now sleep, Pokemon of Ash Ketchum, and remember your promises.’

Isla Del Leyendas: Part 20

Gary Oak gasped as Ash’s eyes shot open, it shouldn’t be possible, he’d seen Kale bring Ash down, just moments ago Ash would have passed away, now he was back, and all the old confidence burned in his eyes, along with something that Gary didn’t quite understand.

Gary backed away quickly as Ash got to his feet, a bright white light appeared by Ash’s side, and the boy looked down and to his left as it died down. A Pokemon, one that Gary had only seen in books and mythology stood by the Trainer’s side.

“Ash?” Gary asked, completely confused.

“Welcome Arceus.” Ash greeted the Pokemon, “Gary.” He said with a nod, then the two of them walked down to where Iason and Kale were fighting.

“Iason.” Ash called.

Iason stopped and backed away from Kale, if this was some trick, he didn’t want to be taken by surprise. Then he looked over his shoulder and froze, “Ash? But you’re… I saw you…”

“I had help.” Ash gestured to the Pokemon by his side.

Iason’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, “How? When?” Iason shook his head, having given up on logic hours ago, “Welcome Arceus, God of all Pokemon.”

“This isn’t possible!” Kale snarled, “That Pokemon doesn’t exist!”

“Yes, it does.” Ash said coldly, “Iason, go and help the others, Kale is mine and Arceus’s.”

Iason shuddered at Ash’s icy tones, something that before now, he’d never heard from the teen, he decided to go, as much as he hated it, leaving Ash and Kale to it. Ash and Kale stared at each other, in a contest of wills that Kale backed away from first.

“How many times do I have to kill you?” Kale snarled as he and Ash circled around each other.

“You won’t beat me this time.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Kale growled and launched a punch at Ash, who blocked it and retaliated. Arceus roared and every single legendary Pokemon stopped, all eyes turned to the fight between the Chosen of Arceus and Kale.

“Come on Ashy-boy,” Gary whispered from his vantage point, “You can take him this time.” Watching the fight, it seemed like the strength Kale had stolen from Juni and Hayley, and which he had used to easily overpower Ash the first time, seemed to have vanished, and yet Gary knew he’d been using it against Iason just a minute ago.

Arceus growled, catching Gary’s attention. Of course, Ash had told Iason that he’d had help from Arceus, could the Creation Pokemon be lending Ash his strength now?

Kale was shocked and angry. He had easily overpowered Ash before, he’d left the teen for dead, there was no way Ketchum would have recovered and become this strong this quickly, this couldn’t possibly be the same boy. Kale staggered backwards as Ash landed a punch to his face.

Kale snarled, his plan was coming apart. The legendary Pokemon had stopped fighting when the non-Pokemon had roared and now, what was worse, was that they were beginning to listen to their Chosen, they would turn on him soon and then he would be as good as dead. He snarled and leapt on Ash attempting to wrestle him to the ground.

To his shock, Kale was the one who ended up pinned.

“Return the powers of the Chosen.” Ash snarled. Kale just stared at him.

Ash’s voice… there were two voices, speaking in unison, Ash’s voice, and another, a deeper, infinitely more powerful one. “Kale, return the powers and restore the balance now!”

“Why should I?” Kale snarled, spotting a weak link in Ash’s defence, he’d forgotten to pin one of Kale’s arms, providing him with a chance to… Kale punched Ash in the face, causing the Trainer to release his grip for only a few seconds. That was all Kale needed to flip their positions.

Ash glared up at him, then Arceus tackled Kale, knocking him off the teen.

Ash got to his feet, “Kale,” Ash was speaking, but Kale could no longer tell where Ash’s voice ended and the other voice began. “The Legendary War you almost caused would have destroyed the world, what is your defence?”

Gary watched Ash carefully. He wasn’t acting like Ash, he was acting like a judge about to hear a trial and deliver a verdict. ‘Arceus isn’t helping Ash!’ Gary realised, ‘It’s using him!’ Gary looked from the Pokemon, to his friend, and realised the predatory gaze in Arceus’s eyes was reflected in Ash’s eyes.

“I don’t need to defend myself against you, Ketchum.” Kale snarled, “I would have captured the Legendary Pokemon and ended the war before it had begun, I have no wish to rule a ruined world.”

“You won’t be ruling any world.” Ash/Arceus spoke.

“This world will be mine, and you can’t stop me!” Kale’s growled, and attacked. Ash merely stepped aside, and grabbed the offending arm, twisting it behind Kale’s back, before grabbing Kale’s other shoulder, with his free hand, restraining the bad guy.

“Arceus!” Gary’s eyes widened, that had been Ash’s voice, Ash was calling to the Pokemon that now was stood before Kale and Ash, glaring at the idiot who had dared to mess with the legendary Pokemon. “Arceus, end this!”

Gary’s eyes widened as Arceus prepared to use its Hyper Beam. Ash wasn’t moving… showed no signs of moving… Gary came out from his vantage point. “Ash, what are you doing?” He demanded.

Ash’s eyes shot towards Gary, “Gary, I’m doing what needs to be done, now get away from here.”

“Ash, you’ll be killed!”

“I’m on borrowed time anyway.” There was pain in Ash’s eyes as he said this. “Tell everyone I’m sorry.”

“Ash!”

“Pikapi!” Gary caught Pikachu as he tried to rush over to his Trainer, having come round in time to see the final few seconds of the fight, Gary was shielding it from the attack as Arceus launched the Hyper Beam. “PIKAPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!”