Awakening

Awakening

Chapter 16: Limit Break

The sunrise found Ashimi in a corner of the guest room of the Lavender Town pokemon center, still looking scared. She was taking deep breaths in big gulps of air that made her look and sound like a Magikarp out of water. The feeling of helpless sadness wasn't as strong at the pokemon center, but she still felt very uneasy. She had showered and changed out of her pajamas, though even that simple task was not as easy as it would normally be. She kept fumbling with her clothes clumsily, then she dropped the soap at least five times and nearly slipped on several occasions. Ashimi's pokemon were all around her, trying to be as supportive as they could, though their worry shone through. Zero tried to cheer her up as well, but he was feeling like a mistake that should have never been activated and the frustrating uselessness that plagued his system didn't make the task any easier.

Jonathan paced the room impatiently. He made sure Ashimi ate something, though her lack of appetite, a sharp contrast with her usual deep enjoyment of food, made him worry even more than he already was. His stress threatened to consume him as thoughts of his sister and her tragic life surfaced to join his current worries. When they had returned to the pokemon center the previous night, Jonathan found that he had several missed calls on his cell phone. The calls originated from the Cerulean City gym and he assumed that Ashimi must have even more missed calls from her parents. Being unable to reach her, they must have tried to contact him instead. Ashimi had been asking for her father, so Jonathan returned the call. It was Misty who answered, she had told him that Ash had already left, insisting that he had sensed something troubling, then she flooded him with questions about the whereabouts and state of health of her daughter. He had assured her that Ashimi wasn't injured or in any immediate danger, but she was inexplicably scared. Not long after the call with Misty ended, Jonathan got a call from Ash. The pokemon master assured that he was on his way and would be there soon.

The door was suddenly open and Ash made his way across the room to his daughter. "Daddy!" She jumped into his arms, holding on tightly. "Everything feels so strange, Sabrina said I had to master my aura, please teach me!"

"Ashimi..." Ash tried to keep his voice at a soothing tone for Ashimi's sake. "Tell me what happened." He looked into her eyes as she nodded and narrated the events that took place in the graveyard the previous night. Of course, she left out Johnny's conversation with Jaina because she had not witnessed that, thus didn't know anything about it. She also left out Zero's berserk moment, since she had settled into the idea that it was just an error and he could fix it with more debugging. Instead, she just said she fainted while running away from Gengar and Zero woke her a little later. She didn't remember her use of aura to make him regain control, not that there was any way to explain that, because Zero was not alive in the traditional sense anyway.

Ash frowned, "I can't believe she would do that," he growled in unforgiving anger. If his father had put Sabrina up to this, he would have a thing or two to say to him. "Listen, Ashimi, I'll try to explain this as well as I can. I've studied some of this over time, but the true knowledge of aura is a lost art. As I've said before, every living creature has some aura in them, though it is usually not enough to be projected and remains in a dormant state. At times it can wake up during moments of crisis or danger, that's how people sometimes inexplicably gain the knowledge or strength that saves their lives, their aura gives them clarity and power. However, there is a sort of seal that keeps aura deep within so that it isn't used up, as that can be life threatening. That seal is something natural and necessary for the aura's protection, though it also numbs the extra sensory perception it can provide. "

"When I use aura, the seal is still there, but there's enough aura to seep out and be projected. I've learn to control it to the point where I can call it out at will," Ash explained. "What Sabrina did to you was that she broke the seal, leaving your aura exposed. Instead of learning to coax it out you felt it all at once. You were in a graveyard, a place of sadness and dark energy, all of that overwhelmed your senses. When your friends became worried about you, you felt their worry and their fear for you, and that only made it worse. Without the seal to protect your aura, you're basically hyper sensitive to the flow of energy and emotions of those around you. You can also call out all your aura at once, but if you did that you would..."

Ash couldn't complete the sentence, but Ashimi understood, "I would die," she finished. She let out a breath and continued. "I can sense it, your energy flowing into me. I see the worry in your eyes, but I feel nothing but peace coming from you and it's not just me, it's everyone here, your energy is making them all calm down."

Ash nodded, a small smile forming on his face for his daughter's sake. Pulling off that technique was not easy, he was stressed and worried, but he needed to keep those emotions to himself and project nothing but peace. It was also why he insisted that Misty should wait at the Cerulean gym. Naturally, she would be concerned about her daughter, but then Ash would have one more person to calm with his aura. Ash knew that if he tried to train Ashimi to suppress her aura she wouldn't be receptive to it. She wanted to wield it, not hold it back, she had always dreamed of having the same power her father had. But it was too dangerous, without a limit to hold back the bare essentials of her life force, she could consume it all with frightening ease.

The only way she could be properly trained was if he could find a way to restore the natural seal, if there was even a way. For now, Ash had to buy more time. If she was in any dangerous situations or even in a particularly exciting pokemon battle, he feared that the emotional high would make her project too much of her aura and set off a deadly chain reaction that would leave her drained, in a long coma, or dead. "I'll train you, but you'll have to take a break from your pokemon journey, it's important that you learn to control your aura now that it has awakened, so we need to head home for a while."

"Okay..." Ashimi agreed, thinking that it was an imperative detour and by no means a permanent one. She reasoned that after the training was done she would go back to her quest for more badges.

Thus Ashimi's pokemon journey reached a pause. She and Ash returned to Cerulean City. Jonathan and Zero accompanied them on the trip and stayed for a while before heading off to Saffron City to meet up with Jessie and James and work on some Rocket business. Ash contacted Giovanni about Sabrina's actions, he claimed not to know anything about it and Ash concluded that his father was telling the truth. Angered by the danger Ashimi was put in, the Rocket boss sent his agents out to hunt for Sabrina, but she was not at her gym and locating her would prove to be a very difficult task.

xoxox xox xoxox

A few days later, Zero returned to the Viridian Rocket headquarters in hopes of getting some form of patch or upgrade, though the fact of the matter was that he couldn't. The virtual human project was canceled for a reason, it was simply too difficult to emulate the complex human psyche with the existing resources. "I'm sorry Zero, but I didn't actually program you, no one did. You were made from two brain scans, the computer produced an AI from there, taking random traits from both sets of data. The data was deleted for security reasons, though only personality traits and not actual information was passed on. Basic knowledge was installed and that was it. I do not have the brain scans anymore, and even if I took them again, they wouldn't be exactly the same. In fact, even if I had them, they wouldn't mix exactly the same. You are unique, a one time achievement."

"Can't you look into it? Ashimi said I was acting nonsensical," Zero wasn't sure what that meant, he knew it was bad, but he didn't know how bad. He placed his hand on the metal cylinder before him, the container from where the voice came.

"That's only because you tried to override your AI simulation for your convenience. You can't turn off emotions, that's also part of the deal that comes with your realism." The metal cylinder opened up and out stepped a woman. She closed off the cylinder again and examined her reflection on the smooth mirror-like surface. She looked very much human, good, no one needed to know at a glance how many machine components she had. She started out as a hacker for Team Rocket who had to climb from the bottom. Over time she turned into a sort of technological jack of all trades, and master of none, she would joke. Then when the chance presented itself to become a cyborg... She held back, waited for the technology to become stable and then she joined the project. "I didn't program you, I can't make heads or tails of your data, I wouldn't know what to fix because I don't know what it's supposed to be like. It's far too complicated, that's why I used a brain scan instead of just programming, because I couldn't have made something this complex."

Zero pouted cutely. "Why didn't you just deactivate me after the project was cancelled, I'm no good to Team Rocket."

Pixel reached out and ruffled his hair. "Because you're cute, that's why I decided to keep you."

"But then you sent me away..." Zero continued to pout.

"Because being with Ashimi would do you some good. See the world, make friends, then you might just..." She decided to leave the statement hanging, there was no simple way to explain that she hoped something inexplicable would occur. "I have to prepare for a mission, Comet is already getting the others up to speed. When we're back, we'll play with you, okay?"

Zero found it in himself to smile, "okay..."

xoxox xox xoxox

Later that night, while Zero remained at headquarters, Pixel, Comet and two younger agents made their way into a building in the northern side of Pewter City. It was suspected to be the hiding place of one of Sabrina's minions, who could possibly have information on her whereabouts. Pixel was well attuned with machines, being partially one herself, and would be giving the other agents guidance from the rooftop, watching everything unfold through various security cameras inside the building. Comet was a high ranking spy whose missions often involved infiltration and the theft or recovery of various valuables.

The younger agents were Jonathan and Dorme. He had reported to headquarters as per Giovanni's orders, who claimed Jessie and James could do their duties without additional help and he could be placed in a more productive position. Jonathan was plagued with doubts and mixed feelings about Team Rocket that he was having a hard time coming to terms with. Dorme was called back from her unsuccessful hunts for Daala and Jaina. It felt as if they had dropped off the face of the earth, probably spooked into hiding by the heavy Rocket activity as they combed Kanto looking for Sabrina. They were searching in other regions too, but Kanto had always been Sabrina's home and it deserved special attention. Plus Giovanni happened to know that teleporting was a lot easier for Sabrina in familiar territory. Her teleportation would consume a lot more energy per distance outside of Kanto, and would be less precise, though she was still a formidable opponent.

Dorme seemed all too eager to participate in the Sabrina hunt, albeit she didn't actually expect to find anything. This was the suspected location of a minion, not Sabrina herself, and most leads had turned out to be duds anyway. Even so, the blond was still energetic about the mission since Johnny would be her partner and Comet, one of the nicer high ranked agents, would be on the field with them. Plus Pixel was directing the mission and usually gave good reviews. This was their chance to score some points in their Rocket careers. Dorme and Johnny's part of the mission was simple. All they had to do was provide backup in case Sabrina's underling really was there and tried to escape. They waited in the first floor of the closed office building, leaning against a cubicle wall. "I heard he's a werewolf," Dorme commented about Comet.

Jonathan couldn't help it but to roll his eyes. "High ranked Rocket spy, fact, Misty's relative, fact, nice to the rookies despite his rank, fact, werewolf, definitely fiction, as all werewolves are."

"It was just a rumor, it's not like I actually believed it," Dorme pouted. "Comet is obviously not a werewolf, he's not hairy enough. As for all werewolves being fiction, I doubt that, they're just extinct. I happened to know for a fact some years back, before we were born, a female was found, she had fangs and claws and everything and purple hair!"

"It was probably just some weirdo furry," Jonathan laughed.

"Was not!" Dorme stomped her foot. "I asked Laiki about it because if the werewolf was real, then surely Team Rocket must have gone after her. Even if Laiki was a toddler at the time, she would know, because she makes it her business to know every piece of gossip and Team Rocket going werewolf hunting sounds like a hot topic to me. But you know what? She didn't outright deny it like I thought she would. She got all uncomfortable and clammed up, Laiki never clams up! She definitely know something but she won't tell."

"Right..." Jonathan laughed. "Why are we discussing Comet's possible species anyway. I thought it was pretty clear he's a human."

"He would look older by now," Dorme pointed out.

"Don't tell me you think he's a vampire," Jonathan joked.

"Of course not, he doesn't sparkle in the sun," Dorme shook her head.

Jonathan looked downright offended. "Dorme," He looked so serious that it made Dorme uneasy. She wordlessly nodded her head and waited in silence for him to continue. "Vampires do not sparkle in the sunlight or sparkle at all. If they go out in the sun they burst into flames and die." Dorme looked as if she was going to open her mouth to protest and cite some modern legend from her mother's youth, but Jonathan raised his hand in a sign of silence and repeated, almost obsessively. "They burst into flames and die." Dorme had no choice but to nod solemnly. An uncomfortable silence passed, during which Jonathan maintained the same serious look and Dorme shifted awkwardly. When the quiet finally got to Jonathan, he added, "I don't think he's a vampire either."

"Huh?" Dorme blinked, then was able to pick up on the thread of conversation they were having before. "Oh, I don't think so either, but then how do you explain the way he looks? He should look older."

"He has white hairs," Jonathan pointed out.

"But he has the face and body of a twenty-something," Dorme specified.

"He works out," Jonathan logically suggested.

"His face? It's flawless!" Dorme dramatized.

"Plastic surgery?" It felt unlikely, but he had to guess.

"Nah, he's not the type to go through the trouble and if he was, he'd dye his hair too," the blond mused.

"Um... he... takes his pokemon chewy vitamins every day?" Jonathan guessed.

"I doubt that alone would work," Dorme breathe hopelessly, though she still made a mental note to take her vitamins every day. "It makes sense that Pixel looks twenty-something, she's an android after all."

"Cyborg," Jonathan corrected. "Androids are human-looking robots, cyborgs are humans with mechanical enhancements. Please Dorme, get it right."

"Sorry if my collection of digital comics isn't as big as yours," Dorme crossed her arms and threw her head back. "How many drives do you have anyway?"

"A bunch..." Jonathan admitted. "All together they're maybe an exabyte... or two... or three," he saw Dorme giving him an impatient look. "Okay fine, it's seven, but they're really high definition, so yeah..."

Dorme's jaw dropped, "sheesh..."

"The theories will have to wait, we have confirmation, there's a psychic here!" Comet's voice came through Jonathan and Dorme's ear pieces.

"Theories? I thought these things were set to receive only, he was listening?" Dorme felt her face grow hot with embarrassment. Pixel was probably listening in too. 'Way to look like an idiot rookie,' Dorme mentally berated herself.

"Jamming signal detected on the third floor. It looks like there's a machine that can amplify psychic waves being used to jam the pokeball mechanisms," Pixel's voice warned.

"What?!" Dorme hurried to try to release her pokemon from their confinement inside the red and white capsules, but it was already too late. "It won't work. I thought Team Rocket had defenses for this! Why isn't Pixel fixing it? Is she busy with something else?"

"We must be too close to the source of the jamming signal, let's go!" Jonathan hurried towards the elevator. "Pixel, are the elevators usable, are you controlling them?"

Noises filtered in, originating from Comet's location. There were arguments, yelling and the sounds of a struggle, then the communication channel from Comet was cut. "Stay in the first floor until further notice," Pixel ordered, then ended the communication between them as a whole.

"What happened to Comet?" Jonathan asked, but received no reply. "Come in Pixel," nothing, "she cut us off, or the enemy did."

"I'm getting all antsy just standing here," Dorme paced back and forth a little. She tapped on her ear piece, but it remained unresponsive.

"We don't want to get stuck in the elevators if Pixel isn't controlling them, let's take the stairs," Jonathan started moving towards them.

"What?" Dorme gasped. "We can't disobey a direct order! We already look bad enough by chatting on the job like that. Pixel said to stay here!"

"The communication is out and there's nothing to prove that Pixel cut it herself. Maybe she intended to say something else but didn't have time. The pokeballs aren't working, Comet is fighting the psychic alone, shouldn't we be giving him some backup?" Jonathan reasoned. He didn't wait for Dorme's reply before rushing up the stairs.

"Comet knows what he's doing. If we get scolded for poking our noses where they don't belong, it's going to be all your fault!" Dorme hurried after Jonathan despite her protests.

The two young Rockets arrived at the third floor quickly. The place was dark with desks and chairs overturned, piled against the walls as if thrown aside by a tremendous force. Up ahead there was what could only be described as a false wall. It was wooden and not very thick, but it was painted to look like the concrete structure of the rest of the building. The room was large, encompassing the entire floor, and it would be difficult to tell that there were a few feet of it missing, sealed off towards the back. The false wall had been broken and there was a deep darkness beyond the hole. Jonathan and Dorme ventured in. There were shelves with cabinets, though they took no time to look through them.

They found a ladder going down and took it. The part that corresponded to the second and first floor was hidden in the center of a fountain. The pillar with water that went up and down in spiraling lines with invisible transparent tubes that made it look as if gravity and physics ceased to exist, reached from the floor of the first floor to the roof of the second. It was decorative and most would attribute its thickness to the mechanisms needed to guide the water in such a seemingly magical way, the building's workers never suspected there was a ladder in its hollow center.

The ladder led to a hidden basement that was not reported in the official plans of the building. A tall door stood before them with a red R engraved on it. "Team Rocket..." Dorme whispered.

"I think I know what this is," Jonathan recalled the place being mentioned by his parents. "It used to be a Rocket hide out, but it's too small and not in use anymore. The Rockets now go to that breeding center near the gym. Brock comes and goes, but since taking over the Pewter gym again he hasn't been there as often. He plans to go back to the breeding center full time, even if he had to work with Team Rocket to keep it, after Brand is old enough to manage the Pewter City gym. I doubt even a psychic could hide here for long, he must have broken in recently." Jonathan pushed the large doors aside, they were unlocked and open a crack. He opened the doors just enough to slip through and went in, followed by Dorme.

The basement was rather large, but empty. It was dark, humid and it smelled of dust and abandonment. A lone light flickered in the middle of the room. The two young Rockets ventured further in. There was an odd armor-like machine with wires and circuitry sticking out, sparks were still coming from it, as if it had been ripped apart recently. "Stop!" A desperate voice pleaded and there was a sound of someone being thrown against a wall, but it was too dark in that corner to see from afar. Jonathan turned on a tiny flashlight, which provided considerable illumination for being so small. "No, don't come any closer!" Approaching the voice they found a young man, a rookie psychic at best, in a corner cowering in fear. He looked up at the Rockets, "I surrender!"

"Wow, this guy's pretty bloody and beaten, looks like a few bones are broken too," Dorme observed, the helpless psychic was simply in too much pain to focus enough to use his powers anymore. "Was it Comet?"

"There's no one else here," Jonathan voiced. "It's a bit of overkill, but I suppose this guy must have done something to make him mad." The helpless psychic gasped and looked up fearfully. Quiet steps approached behind Jonathan and Dorme. The Rockets turned to look and found a very angry looking Comet. Before they could even blink, Comet grasped both their throats and lifted them off the floor.

"Comet!" Pixel suddenly made it into the room. "Put them down, they're our allies." She was wearing her armor now, black with a red R on the chest and silver on the boots and forearms, the armor held all the necessary components to act as a computer she could use for her role of tech support during missions. Comet's grip on their throats loosened but he didn't let them go. Dorme and Jonathan kept trying to pull his hands away, utterly confused about his inexplicable actions, but they couldn't get free. Comet was usually described as one of the 'cool' agents, who didn't throw his rank around if he could help it and was looked upon with a trustful sort of respect by the younger Rockets. "Comet," Pixel repeated, her tone softer now, as she removed her helmet. Comet dropped the two young Rockets, who took in gasping breaths of air, and turned his attention fully towards Pixel. "I know you're still in there, wake up."

Comet approached with a somewhat feral look still reflected in his eyes, as if he was unsure if the woman was a threat or an ally. He stepped closer, breathing deeply as if taking in her scent, a mix of a machine-like scent and something sweeter. "Pixel?" He blinked. "Weren't you stationed on the roof?" He looked back at Dorme and Jonathan, "and weren't you two at the first floor in case he tried to get away?"

"He's not going anywhere," Pixel voiced, looking towards the beaten psychic. "It looks like he fainted from his injuries.

"Looks like it..." Comet scratched his head in confusion then grinned at Jonathan and Dorme, "did you two rough him up?" The younger Rockets could offer no answer beyond an uncomfortable step back. Comet paused, looking at their frightened expressions with concern, "did I do something weird just now?"

"We'd best talk about it on the way back to HQ," Pixel suggested.

To be Continued

The female werewolf Dorme mentioned is Aayla from Don't Give Me Diamonds, who was not actually a werewolf at all, but was mistaken for one... and she wasn't a furry either, she was a... Read the story if you haven't already and find out. We all know James collects bottle caps... Johnny collects comics, but this story takes place in the future and paper is already outdated today as it is, so he collects them digitally. Of course, Dorme knows what an exabyte is because each generation is more technologically proficient than the last, so this is not an odd term for them. If you haven't heard it before, the most simple explanation is that an exabyte is a thousand petabytes, a petabyte is a thousand terabytes and I'm sure you can take it from there. The armor Pixel wears in this chapter looks kind of similar to Calhoun's armor in Wreck it Ralph.

Awakening

Chapter 17: Picking Up The Pieces

Comet made his way down the long hallways of the Rocket headquarters, underground beneath Viridian City. The tunnels ran through all of Kanto, forming an ever growing city under the streets above. He passed next to a security elevator, taking a moment to pause and look at it. He had access to it, but had not used it in a long time, he had no reason to go down there anymore. If a mission came up where he had to recover, or more likely steal, some kind of chemical or genetic substance, then he might find himself personally delivering the precious cargo to the scientists working at the laboratories below. But that hadn't happened lately, most of his missions dealt with retrieving information, blueprints and such, which went to different areas for analysis. The last time he was down there he visited Binks' live-in laboratory, the man just couldn't be kept away from his studies even after he regained enough clarity of mind to get around without an escort. Although, he never really went anywhere alone, as he was always seen in the company of a rare Zoroark with a violet mane.

The apartment lab had been remodeled and integrated into the research space next to it long ago, as it had been a little over a year since Binks' passing. Aayla, his once human, Zoroark companion, fell ill and passed away soon after his death. Comet continued walking. Three times, the problem the elderly scientist had warned him about had occurred three times so far. The first time it happened, the first time he lost himself, Pixel was close enough to talk some sense into him. He still found the occurrence to be strange, that and the white locks in his hair. He expected to get white hair eventually, but the white locks were thick and appeared very fast. He disregarded it at first, joking that at least he could rest assured that he would probably never go bald, because the white hair was somewhat thicker and stronger than the strands of soft orange he still had, yet later he wished he would have investigated immediately, not that it would have made a difference anyway.

Comet was one of several clones copied from Luke, a Rocket agent that had been there since the founding of Team Rocket. The others were modified by having elements added to them, which resulted in their rapid aging to adulthood, mutation, loss of control, insanity and eventual death. Urban legends still remained of the feared serial killer one of them came to be known as, even though it happened decades ago. Comet grew up slowly, at the rate of any normal boy. Nothing was added to him, but something was removed. When the cloning project was declared a failure, only he remained within Team Rocket. Luke, his original, took him in as a son, and it wasn't until Comet was all grown up that he learned the truth about his origins. Binks, the scientist who oversaw the cloning process, having gained experience after working under Dr. Fuji's direction, had assured Comet after the truth was revealed to him, that he was indeed fully human.

Comet's ease when it came to adapting to various situations, how training was never difficult for him, his agility and endurance, were due to certain limitations and negative genetics being removed, however, nothing was added, thus he was expected to live his life as a normal human, a rather athletic one, but normal nonetheless. For most of his youth that's how it was for Comet. Yet a time came where the first signs of age began to manifest. First it was his hair turning white, but he still felt strong, and had the same face and body he had at twenty-five, despite being in his late thirties. The genetic alterations were fine during his youth, but as he became older his body interpreted the smallest signs of aging as a threat and fought to take action against it. The adaptations were a rapid form of evolution that was too fast to end in anything other than chaos. He was becoming like his lost brothers, inhumanly strong, insane and dangerous.

"I'm sorry for unknowingly lying to you, telling you that you would live out the rest of your life as a human." Binks, weakened by years of poor health, had fallen ill again that time, unable to continue his studies for weeks. That time, he would never recover. "There is a way though, you can restore the limitations, but it is likely the process will damage you, leave you quite frail for the rest of your days." Binks did not wait for Comet's reply, he already knew the answer. "But of course, you won't agree to that. You're a Rocket to the end. You and Pixel both. How is her percentage of technology now? Does her biological side still prevail?" Binks laughed, "you kids... Such lovers of chaos, the peace and serenity of old age is not for you. You'll live in chaos until it claims you." He feared that even with their youthful faces, they wouldn't live long lives, yet he tried to stay optimistic. After all, both Binks and Aayla had lived through a lot and survived for far longer than they had expected, so maybe there was a chance for Comet and Pixel to live long lives too.

Despite the news he had received, despite knowing that his end would most likely not be a peaceful one, Comet smiled. "You're right, Pixel and I are agents of chaos, but more importantly, we're Rockets and we'll make the best of it for as long as we can. And who knows, maybe Pixel will stick around for a long time, she does fit in very well with technology and then she can keep me as me."

After Binks died, Aayla took to sleeping all the time and slowly became weaker. She was at peace though, assuring that both she and Binks had lasted longer than they had expected and found some semblance of happiness in the end.

In the present time, as Comet made his way to his and Pixel's room at HQ, he reflected on how much Team Rocket had changed around him yet he had not noticed. Perhaps he and Pixel had changed along with the world, while remaining in the same stage of their lives, the stage where they constantly chased after what was new and exciting. They were not left behind to look at the world from a different perspective, perhaps missing out on those experiences, but that was alright, because they were not looking for their place, seeking the next stage, they were where they belonged. He dropped onto the bed and closed his eyes.

Pixel sat beside him, nodding at her Porygon-Z, Prism, that she would continue what they were working on later. "You okay?" Peachy, her Pikachu, had ran off to visit Giovanni's Persian couple at his office.

"Yeah," Comet assured. He was always cheerful and carefree, like his father, his original. "The boss didn't find out this time."

"It only ever happens in particularly deadly situations," Pixel reminded. "You should be fine on your usual missions, getting in and out unseen. That second time was priceless though. As much as I would have liked to have been close by to snap you out of it right away, someone had to put Thor in his place," and no ordinary human could.

Comet temporarily losing his sanity was nothing to laugh at, but he did anyway. Thor had been the one to restrain him, as he was probably the only one strong enough to do so, and got a few bruises to show for it. Comet did too, but his healing was much faster and the signs of the struggle were gone in hours, while Thor had to walk around yelling at rookies with a black and blue face for a few days. "I apologized to him for the trouble and that pissed him off more," Comet grinned.

"Figures," Pixel laughed. "I think it'll be okay this time," they didn't know if the next time would be okay too, but they did know it would come sooner or later. "I'm pretty sure we can trust Johnny and Dorme to keep the secret, I wasn't too sure about her, but Laiki said it would be okay. She's a pretty good judge of character," which wasn't surprising with the amount of personal data the pokemon doctor knew about everyone.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, at Cerulean City, during the last few weeks, Ashimi was busy with small concentration exercises. Ash made sure to tell her time and again how important it was not to let all her aura escape her and especially not to push it out harshly. He didn't have an easy time of training his daughter since she wanted to learn how to shoot big blasts of energy from her palms and read minds, despite mind reading not actually being a part of the aura abilities, though emotional reading was.

Delia had gone over to stay at the Cerulean gym for a few days. She was always cheerful and kind, looking upon just about any situation with optimism, so she would be good to have around. One afternoon, Ashimi was taking a break from training, helping her grandmother decorate gingerbread cookies. It wasn't Christmas and the cookies felt a bit out of season, but they were delicious. The young girl sighed and put down the frosting pen. Instead of gum drop buttons, the cookies had red Rs, one had blue-violet frosting on its head, another yellow and another lines of blue and orange.

"Those are very nice cookies," Delia complimented, but it was clear that her granddaughter's thoughts were elsewhere. "What's wrong, honey?"

"What's with grandpa making Sabrina public enemy number one?" Ashimi finally asked. "She was kind of mean, really, she could have teleported me out of the graveyard before unlocking my aura, but I'm still thankful to her. Without her help who knows when I would have been able to use my aura? Ten years from now? Twenty? Never?"

"Ashimi, sweetie, I'm sure you would have figure it out without going to the extremes," Delia softly replied. "As for your grandfather. He's only sending out the army because he loves you, although I agree that it's excessive to declare Sabrina a traitor and sentence her to immediate execution. I tried to tell him we should talk to her and ask her to undo what she did. I'm no expert, but if that natural aura seal Ash mentioned is there for protection and he can use his abilities while having it, then so can you."

"Or I could just master it like this," Ashimi formed a ball of light in the palm of her hands. Her father kept telling her not to make it too big, but she kept wondering how big it could be. "It's so easy, the energy just flows out!"

"That's kind of the problem, I think," Delia reminded.

"I won't use it all up, but I must have enough to spare for a few special abilities," Ashimi assured. She let the ball of energy fade, the aura retreating back into her being. "Dad's the only one who can truly teach me to control it and he's only letting me take baby steps."

"I know it's frustrating, but the path to such a great power can't be easy," Delia gently reminded.

"I know..." Ashimi let out a tired breath, all that waiting and moving slowly was getting to her. "Where did dad go anyway? He's been gone for two days now and he wouldn't even tell me what exactly he was researching or where."

"I'm sure we'll hear about it soon," Delia tried to encourage her. "Then you'll have new things to learn with the aura." She could tell that Ashimi was becoming frustrated with the slow pace of her father's cautionary teachings, but his worries were not without a good reason. If Ash used up his power, he would likely faint and take a while to recover, but if Ashimi used up her power, she would die. "For now, how about we made some cinnamon chocolate milk to go with the cookies." Despite her impatience, Ashimi couldn't say no to the suggestion. Her grandmother made the best cinnamon chocolate milk, she could drink a barrel of the stuff and still want more.

A short while later Misty arrived at the kitchen after having very easily dispatched a cascade badge hopeful. She didn't mean to be harsh on the poor kid, but the boy needed to do some serious training if he wanted to get into the Indigo League. She joined her mother-in-law and daughter in making treats. At least Ashimi got more treats than usual, probably because they wanted to keep her calm and happy, as being even a little upset would feel significantly worse in the sensitive state of her aura. Ash was very worried about what could happened if the flow of energy was corrupted. It wasn't only a matter of keeping her aura in her body, but also keeping it pure, which was no simple task when any darkness that may be in the atmosphere could grip it so easily without its natural protective barrier.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later, Ash arrived with Giovanni. Ashimi was surprised to see her grandfather there as he rarely came for visits and instead when she wanted to see him, she had to go to Viridian City. Giovanni gave her a small box that seemed like so much more than an ordinary gift. "These are very rare, don't lose them," he instructed.

Ashimi opened the velvet box to find a pair of earrings inside. They were simple in design, two orbs in a pretty shade of blue. They looked like pearls, except they weren't the normal color of pearls, but they were smooth and round, unlike how most gems were cut. "They're beautiful."

"Ashimi," Ash spoke seriously, which made his daughter look at him curiously. She wondered what was going on. Her grandfather wouldn't make his way there unless he had a good reason and it looked like her father was aware of what that reason was. "Never take them off."

Ashimi looked at her father and grandfather with curiosity and slight confusion. She had been holding the box the whole time, not knowing what the earrings within really meant. Slowly, as if expecting something grand to occur, she touched one of the smooth orbs with the tip of her index finger. The effect was instantaneous. There was a sort of peaceful feeling contained in the unusual gems. "What are they?"

"Aquamarine's pearls, an item of legends. They form a protective shield around your aura to purify any negative energy that may try to corrupt it. In your case, you won't get any additional protection, but you will have an equivalent to the natural protection Sabrina removed. Your aura will be more difficult to coax out with them on, though you should still be able to do it with what you've learned so far. These are not meant as a hindrance to a true aura user, so the difficulty you may feel at first will be imperceptible once you establish true control over your aura." Ash explained, he had tested the pearls' authenticity with his own aura. "It's very important that you do not remove them and especially do not lose them, they cannot be replaced. It will be more difficult to activate your aura, but that's how it's supposed to be, you have to promise not to try to take any shortcuts by taking them off."

Ashimi paused for a moment. She felt all the eyes in the room on her. "Alright, I promise," she finally agreed. She knew she didn't have a choice.

"You better not break that promise," Giovanni warned. That explained why he was there, to take the oath so to speak.

Yet it took Ashimi by surprise, as she thought he would be more open to the thought of a shortcut to power. "It'll take me a lot longer to master using aura," she pointed out.

"There are no shortcuts to power," Giovanni stated firmly. "You may manipulate it for a while, but it will not stay. The only power that is truly yours is the power you earn." It was something he had learned the hard way through many years of trial and error. "Besides," he added with a challenging grin. "I wouldn't want to think that you're not strong enough to master this on your own, how it was meant to be. When did you become afraid of challenges?"

"I'm not!" Ashimi ascertained. "I can do this, thank you," she put the earrings on, and the hyper sensitivity she had to the world around her faded. "You said they would protect me, but I can't sense a thing now."

"That's because you never could," Ash revealed. "Sensing things with aura is like," he tried to come up with a simple example. "It's like learning to open a window and looking out, but you haven't been doing that, you just had a really big hole on the wall. Now I can teach you how to really make aura flow instead of pushing it out with little direction. Precision would have been necessary for more advanced techniques anyway and if your aura just flows out in every direction, you wouldn't have been able to learn them. In the long run, you'll get more out of it this way."

"What about my pokemon journey?" Ashimi inquired.

"After I've taught you some techniques, you can continue with your journey and practice along the way, on one condition," Ash decided. Ashimi watched him expectantly, "you have to pass a test."

"What's the test?" Ashimi eagerly asked.

Ash smiled, "you'll find out soon enough."

xoxox xox xoxox

Several more weeks passed and Ashimi continued to train her aura with Ash. He showed her basic techniques for summoning her aura, sensing and the like. It was challenging, as only a relatively small amount of Ashimi's aura would readily respond to her, though Ash assured her she was making good progress. She had inquired about the origin of Aquamarine's pearls. They were said to have belonged to princess Aquamarine, who lived centuries ago. Some say they were formed from her tears, other say they were her eyes, and the most well known legend claimed that the pearls were the crystallized souls of Aquamarine and her beloved. Whatever their origin may be, they did hold a mysterious power to them that only aura users could benefit from. They were not easy to obtain, but Team Rocket had its ways.

The day of the test finally came and Ash revealed what it would consist of. "A pokemon battle," the announcement made Ashimi all too eager to take the test. "Not with me though, I'll be the judge."

"I'll be your opponent," Misty announced, she and Ash had planned this in secret, to come up with a proper way to see how far Ashimi had gone. "You'll need a water pokemon for this, since this battle will take place under water." The pool's glass walls rose up, it was the stage Misty and her sisters had used for under water plays in the past.

Ash gave Ashimi a bright yellow balloon, "in the distant past, the Aura Guardians were the protectors of the people and pokemon, so here's something to protect. If it pops you lose, if you let it go and it floats away, it's game over if you don't recover it before it reaches the surface."

Ashimi looked towards her mother, "where's yours?"

"I'm not the one taking the test here," Misty teased with a smile. She handed Ashimi a mask with a device to breath underwater, she also had one for herself. "You have to stay under water, you can breathe with this," Misty knew her daughter had used the device before, so she was already familiar with it.

"Okay, so I have to swim around underwater without surfacing, I'll also have to protect this balloon, which would probably pop pretty easily, and all the while you'll be trying to pop it." To top it all up, Ashimi would be paired with Squirtle, who needed some serious training. She couldn't help it but to feel as if this was all done on purpose.

"That's the basic idea," Misty nodded. "Don't forget you have to knock out my pokemon before yours is knocked out," the Cerulean gym leader added. "You can help Squirtle in any way you want, and I can help Starmie too."

Though Ashimi tried to stay positive, she knew that the challenge ahead was not an easy one and she wouldn't be able to continue her pokemon journey until she won. Ashimi made sure the mask was secured over her nose and mouth and stood at the edge of the pool. The silver mask reminded her of the ones the ninja wore in Mortal Kombat 25, which she played in secret at Johnny's house, as her mother would probably insist that she was too young for such gore. Honestly, it wasn't the gore which made her want to play, it was the fact that it was forbidden, though she still insisted the blood looked like ketchup. She had changed into a bathing suit and Squirtle stood nervously beside her. "It's okay, Squirtle," her voice sounded a bit odd under the mask, but being able to speak underwater would certainly be useful. "I'll be there underwater with you, you don't need to worry, just do your best."

Misty had gone to the opposite side of the pool with a mask like Ashimi's and Starmie was beside her. "Begin!" Ash called out from the glass pool's side.

Misty, Ashimi and their pokemon dove underwater. Ashimi allowed herself to fall on her back, shielding the yellow balloon with her body from the impact of the water. She held it, feeling the rubber move and stretch as it tried to float away. 'Aura shield, keep the currents soft...' It was an ancient technique and a relatively simple one. People believed water to be a source of life, that is beyond the physical necessity for it. As such, the ancient Azure tribe, where Aquamarine was said to have lived, spent a lot of time studying how to influence water with their aura. 'Calm the tides...'

"Starmie, water gun!" Misty took the initiative. Squirtle squeaked and retreated into his shell. The current harshly pushed Squirtle away to crash against the side of the pool, which was thankfully made of reinforced glass.

"Don't give up, Squirtle!" Bubbles came out of the small machinery on the mask, as Ashimi tried to get her pokemon to seriously battle. "You can do it Squirtle, counter attack with a water gun of your own!"

"Starmie, tackle!" Misty went on the offensive again. Starmie spun rapidly underwater and crashed into Squirtle harshly.

There was a cracking sound, though only Ashimi was close enough to notice what it was. 'Squirtle's shell... It's taken too much punishment over the course of the journey, but I won't ask mom to go easy on me and I won't risk Squirtle getting hurt either, I'll just have to do this myself.' "Squirtle! I'll show you there's nothing to be afraid of! Use ice beam, then you can hang back if you want, you won't have to fight anymore if you're not ready. It's up to me to train you after all, to lead with the example."

Both Squirtle and Misty were puzzled by Ashimi's words. The little turtle took the opportunity and peeked out from his cracked shell, letting out an ice beam under water. "Watch out, Starmie!" misty warned, but the pokemon was able to dodge the ice beam without any problems.

A line of ice appeared were the beam passed, freezing the water into a sort of icy spear. Ashimi gave the balloon to Squirtle, "protect this, make sure it doesn't pop, don't move, I'll take care of things now." Ashimi grabbed the ice spear, the contact was not pleasant on her hands, but she gripped it tightly anyway and kicked her legs to move herself through the water. She was a fast swimmer, having begun to learn to swim at the same time she learned to walk.

'I definitely shouldn't have told her she could help in the battle,' Misty thought, the fact that Ash had gotten so into the battle that he started cheering along with Pichu and Pikachu at the clever move wasn't helping either. 'Like father, like daughter.' "Starmie, dodge that ice spear!" Misty rushed forward, intent on taking the weapon out of her daughter's hands. Just as Starmie dodged Ashimi's charge, she threw the ice spear it, focusing her aura to try to throw it harder. "Starmie, reverse!" Starmie would spin as it moved underwater, it made approaching it dangerous and added a boost in speed, but sudden changes of direction were not so easy to perform. It was too late, the spear of ice crashed against Starmie and then shattered on impact. Misty tried to end the battle quickly. Ashimi would probably throw herself in the way of Starmie's attack to save the balloon, so much for those aura meditation exercises calming her rashness, then again, they didn't change that in Ash either. "Got you!" If Misty could restrain her daughter while Starmie popped the balloon Squirtle gingerly held, then the battle would be over.

The strange part was that rather than flailing to escape, Ashimi brought her arms and legs close to her body, bending her elbows and knees in a fetal position with her hands under her chin. Misty expected her to put up a fight when she wrapped her arms around her shoulders, but she was still. Then suddenly, she stretched out her arms in a fluid motion to free herself and stretched her legs to push herself forward, away from the stunned Misty. The elder swimmer didn't even fell that much strength in the move, yet Ashimi managed to slip away. "Sorry mom, but Dorme gave me some pretty good martial arts pointers when she taught me how to wear makeup." Ashimi shot forward while Starmie made it past the floating shards of ice, moving towards Squirtle. "Down, Squirtle, sink on your back!" The small turtle obeyed, protecting the balloon from the friction of the water.

Misty knew that no matter how fast she went, Ashimi couldn't possibly make it in time to intercept Starmie's attack. "Starmie, water gun at the balloon!" The strong current should be enough to pop it.

"Let the balloon go! I'll take the hit!" Ashimi rushed over, but she wasn't going to make it on time. Instead Squirtle shielded the balloon, which continue to float upward. Ashimi rushed towards it instead and was able to hold it before it reached the surface. The rubber was stretched and pale in some areas. She would have to protect it with her aura shield at all times now, or it would pop at any second. Squirtle was below and Starmie was closer to Ashimi. If she could conjure a ball of aura of sufficient power in her hands, she could throw it at Starmie, but she couldn't, and a small portion of aura just wouldn't be strong enough. "Squirtle, are you alright? You took the hit..."

Misty saw the slight change in the current around Ashimi and the way the water around the balloon softly glowed. Popping it would be more difficult now that it was under her aura's protection. However, it looked like Squirtle wasn't doing all that great. As sorry as she felt for the little turtle, she had to end this battle. She promised herself she wouldn't go easy on Ashimi, it was the only way to know that she would be able to safely continue her journey. "Starmie, knock out Squirtle, water gun!" As expected, Squirtle retreated in fright. Before the turtle could recover, she'd send Starmie to tackle him and that should finish the battle. Just in case, Misty began to swim towards Ashimi, to try to make her drop the balloon if it came to that. The bright yellow color was stretched to near white in some areas, it wouldn't withstand being exposed to the currents without the protection of the aura shield.

Squirtle did little more than endure the hit of Starmie's water gun. He always got scared and didn't react fast enough to dodge, despite Ashimi calling out to him in warning. His shell cracked deeply, but Misty had her eyes focused on Ashimi and didn't notice, she would have called off the battle if she had known what was going on with Squirtle. Pain rippled through Ash's senses and he gasped. Starmie's water gun came to an end and the pool was filled with bubbles, he couldn't see what was happening to Squirtle but he could sense the pokemon's great distress. He opened his mouth to call out and tell them something was wrong, to end the battle, but he didn't have time to do it. As soon as Starmie's water gun concluded, Misty had ordered a tackle, but Ashimi had already positioned herself to kick Starmie in the center of the jewel before it could initiate the next attack, while still protectively holding the balloon in her arms. Ashimi might have Misty's red hair, but she certainly had Ash's spirit.

The kick delayed Starmie's attack, but Ashimi saw her mother swimming towards her and knew that if she tried to steal the balloon she'd be in trouble. Misty had a look in her eyes that just screamed tickle fight and Ashimi knew that she'd lose her concentration, and with it the aura shield, if it came to that. "Squirtle, bubbles!" Ashimi tried to swim away as fast as she could while maintaining the shield. A spray of bubbles assaulted Starmie and formed a barrier separating Misty from Ashimi.

Ash snapped himself out of his wonderment with the battle and refocused on Squirtle. "Misty, Ashimi, Squirtle is-"

"Going to win this!" Ashimi interrupted. She had made it to Squirtle, with one arm around the balloon and the other on his shell, holding it closed and easing the pain. Being underwater somehow made defense and recovery techniques easier to perform simultaneously. "Bubbles! Ice beam!"

'I can't see through these bubbles!' Misty tried to swim through the bubbles, but didn't make it to Starmie in time. "Starmie, be careful!" She knew her pokemon wouldn't be able to know which way to move with all the bubbles, but she was in the same situation and couldn't offer directions. Finally she spotted Ashimi with a spear of ice heading toward Starmie, still keeping the balloon protected. "She's coming from above and to the right, dodge that ice spear!" Ashimi's hit missed as the bubbles finally cleared up enough to see, the only thick bubbles still present were below, closer to Squirtle, as if making a futile effort to hide his location.

This time Ashimi didn't throw the spear as hard, probably because she was focusing her aura on shielding the balloon. Misty was able to grab onto the ice as it went past its target, holding on to it despite how uncomfortable the cold felt. "This ends now! Starmie, charge!" Misty pushed herself deeper into the pull towards the bubbles. If she tried to go after Ashimi again, she was far enough to make a getaway, so she would change her tactics and target Squirtle. Ash was right, those hands on pokemon battles were certainly exciting! 'If Starmie doesn't knock Squirtle out, I'll do it myself!'

"Now, Squirtle!" Behind the bubbles there was another spear of ice. Squirtle pushed it forward with his strongest water gun. The ice shot up like a big ice bullet, flew next to Misty and found its target at the center of Starmie's jewel. Starmie finally had enough, the jewel flashed on and off until it turned dim, the sea star pokemon had fainted.

Misty stopped in her charge, eyes wide in disbelief. "I... I lost..." Despite not having won, a smile formed on her lips. "Congratulations, Ashimi!"

"Thanks mom, that was an awesome battle! Can I stop protecting this balloon now?" Honestly, Ashimi was quite tired of it.

"Of course, the battle is over now," Misty laughed.

Ashimi let the balloon go, the rubber deflated and rose to float on the surface of the pool. She made her way to Squirtle and hugged him. "It's okay Squirtle, I'll get you all healed up. We need to work on your dodging, but you're pretty tough, so you can be proud of that!"

"What?!" Misty gasped. "His shell! But how? I didn't notice that before!"

"It's a fake shell anyway, I guess an imitation isn't as good as the real thing. Squirtle lost his real shell before I got him and is scared of battling, but taking hits is harder than dodging them, so he's tougher than he knows." Ashimi smiled at the little turtle, who for once, actually felt accomplished, even if he was close to fainting.

"That's what I was trying to say," Ash pointed out as the pool was lowered into the floor and Misty and Ashimi surfaced. Misty had recalled Starmie, while Ashimi had Squirtle in her arms. "I sensed there was something distressing Squirtle, but now he's happy, he's glad to have faced his fears." Let me heal him, then we can get him a new shell at the pokemon center. It won't be as strong as a real one, but he'll probably get a new one if he evolves."

Ashimi smiled. "See, Squirtle? All you needed is a little confidence."

"Still, you're pretty reckless," Misty ruffled her daughter's wet hair.

"Aw c'mon mom, you loved using the ice spear, I saw it in your eyes when you got a hold of it," Ashimi giggled.

"I think she's got a point," Ash teased.

"I guess a certain someone has rubbed off on me," Misty playfully countered. "By the way, when did you wear makeup? I don't recall seeing that."

"Not for long," Ashimi shrugged. "I thought the martial arts advice was more interesting," she admitted, which seemed to amuse her mother. Ashimi was a bit of a tomboy at times, much like her sisters would claim Misty was.

"Let's not forget this," Ash held out something in his closed palm to Misty, who took it.

"I hereby officially grant you a cascade badge," the Cerulean gym leader gave the water drop shaped badge to her daughter.

"Wow, really? I thought it was just a test, I didn't know it counted for a badge battle!" Ashimi was overjoyed.

"You've come very far on your journey and I know you'll continue to improve," Misty commended.

"If it pleases my beautiful mermaids, how about we go out to a celebratory dinner after we're done at the pokemon center?" Ash knew exactly what the answer would be.

To be Continued

Awakening

Chapter 18: Who's That Pokemon?

With a cascade badge to add to her collection, Ashimi was ready to continue her pokemon journey. Jonathan and Zero met her at Cerulean City and once again they were on their way. Their next destination was Fuchsia City, where Ashimi would challenge the gym leader for a soul badge. Ashimi shared stories of her training, though she admitted she was looking forward to giving the whole aura deal a more hands on approach. "Did you go on any interesting missions?" She asked.

"You could say that," Jonathan replied. Interesting was certainly one way to describe what had happened. "We managed to catch a psychic, but he didn't have any useful information. It turns out he couldn't take Sabrina's training and left the Espers. He was trying to join Tornado, but he was apparently never in direct contact with their leader, if they even have a leader. Their whole perspective about being an organization without a real structure, a very dispersed and disorganized organization, is making them very slippery. They move like small time vigilantes that would normally have no effect on Team Rocket, but are aiming for the top. Either way, Sabrina is still the main target since she was the one who dared to make a move against you." All through that, Jonathan didn't mention, that he still kept all his confusion regarding Jaina. He worried about his parents' possible rash and dangerous reaction, so he had not told them.

"Things have gotten so complicated," Ashimi mused aloud. "But I guess they were never truly simple in the first place. What about you, Zero, did you do anything interesting?"

"Nothing unusual," Zero admitted. "I took a break and played lots of video games."

"Sounds fun," Ashimi smiled. "I made sure to pack all my handhelds too."

"Of course, you play games while I drive you around and meanwhile I barely get any game time. I'm going to fall way behind my guild on every MMO if I don't do some serious level grinding soon," Jonathan complained.

Ashimi only grinned, "I could take the wheel," she offered.

"Not until the boss says it's okay." The mention of Giovanni made Jonathan sink back into his thoughts, as his conversation with Jaina that night at the Lavender Town graveyard replayed in his mind, and he grew quiet. Ashimi didn't find his sudden silence to be strange. She thought he was just getting a little melancholy due to his lack of MMO leveling lately.

xoxox xox xoxox

The road trip continued pretty calmly. With Team Rocket still on the hunt for Sabrina, it looked like Daala and Jaina were not feeling in the liberty to make a move. Thus, with nothing to delay them, Ashimi, Jonathan and Zero made it to Fuchsia City without any problems. It was late at night so they went to rest at the pokemon center. When the morning came, Ashimi was eager to leave towards the gym. Zero followed her without protest, but Jonathan had to drag himself out of bed. The good news was that he caught up with the MMO guild he was in, the bad news was that he didn't get any sleep until half an hour before he had to get up. Yawning with every step he stopped at a cafe near the pokemon center for coffee. Ashimi settled for a large muffin that she had to hold with both hands due to its size, the same could be said of Jonathan's ice coffee, which was piled with cream.

Feeling more awake, they made it into the Fuchsia gym, which was decorated dojo style. They expected various traps to be set up, but it looked like the ninja were not up to their usual tricks. The gym had been passed down from one ninja to another in the clan and sometimes more than one served as an active gym leader, taking turns with the battles. Upon reaching the arena area they found two ninja at the other side. Their black clothes hid their identity, with their faces and even their hair concealed. They both wore odd metal chokers that looked too distinctly mechanical to be mere decorations. Ashimi could tell that the ninja were a man and a woman, but that was all she could figure out just by looking at them.

The two ninja made a series of poses, then they each held out a pokeball as if challenging her without spoken words. "Two on two?" Ashimi interpreted, but the ninja shook their heads in unison. She thought they meant it would be one on one and they intended to decide which of them would battle based on what pokemon she sent out. Zubat had won her a boulder badge, Pichu a marsh badge, Chari a thunder badge, Furball a rainbow badge, Squirtle a cascade badge, but since they started getting along Ashimi hadn't participated in a big non-training battle with Clefable and she was certainly looking forward to it. "Clefable, I choose you!" The pink pokemon emerged from her pokeball, eager to battle.

The two ninja responded by releasing both their pokemon from their pokeballs. The pokemon also had strange collars, though they were slightly different and bulkier than those worn by the ninja. The fact that they were wearing collars was about all Ashimi could see of the pokemon just by looking at them. The pokemon were surrounded in a black mist and appeared as nothing more than ghostly shadows, but that didn't mean they were ghost types. It was the machines around their necks which concealed their identity. "Who's that pokemon?"

Ashimi pulled out her cell phone and activated the pokedex app. However, the device's only response was to say, "pokemon unknown."

Ashimi looked at Zero, who stared intensely at the shadowy figures on the arena, then shook his head. She stared at the pokemon as well, reaching out with their aura to try to sense their types. She felt no heat, or chill, or jolt or anything. The Fuchsia gym was known for its poison type pokemon, but if they were going to stick with the program it wouldn't make sense to hide their pokemon like that. Suspiciously, Ashimi noticed that several small lights on the two pokemon collars lit for a moment, then went out again. She tried to focus on the ninja, trying to get some sort of clue from their energy, but she got a similar reaction from the collars they wore and no new information about their pokemon's identities.

The ninja grew impatient and went on the attack, "tackle." The female ninja commanded, her voice was warped and unrecognizable, an effect added by the collars the ninja wore.

"Be careful, Clefable!" Seeing as both mysterious pokemon were attacking at once, Ashimi assumed this was a two on two battle, with both pairs battling at the same time. She was about to call out another pokemon, when the ninja signaled for her to stop. "What? This is supposed to be two on one?" The two ninja nodded in confirmation. "Fine, we can deal with that, right, Clefable?" The pink pokemon, who had safely dodged the attacks so far, replied with the same determination her trainer held. "Sing!" That should slow down the attackers and it would get them both at once. Clefable's melodious voice run out through the arena, in a lullaby that was making the pokemon, the ninja, and the spectators all sleepy, save for Zero, who could resist it due to his unusual nature. 'Stay awake, stay awake!' Ashimi mentally shouted at herself, trying to focus her aura on resisting the sweet melody.

"Sand attack..." The male ninja muttered sleepily, the two black clad figures leaning on each other to stay on their feet. The mysterious pair of pokemon kicked aside one of the tatami floor boards of the arena to reveal the sand below, it would be easy to dig through, albeit that was obviously not their plan. The pokemon kicked up quite the storm of sand despite their movements being sluggish with sleep at first.

Clefable tried to keep up her sweet tune, but the sand was too much and she began to cough and covered her mouth with her pink paws. As the song ended, the rival pokemon became more alert, kicking up more sand and threatening to suffocate Clefable with it. The sand wouldn't be much of a problem if it wasn't flying through the air, it was time to go on the defensive, then attack again. "Clefable, dig!" Tossing aside another of the tatami mats closer to her as she had seen the other pokemon do, Clefable prepared to go under the area. Unfortunately, she was met with the unpleasant surprise of poisonous gas spraying up from beneath the floor. The purple gas hit Clefable right in the face and made her stumble back, trying to catch her breath and coughing wildly.

"A trap..." Ashimi realized all too late. 'How could I have missed that? This gym is known for its traps, just because the ninja didn't activate any on the way to the center of the dojo, doesn't mean that the traps at the arena itself were disabled too.' She was normally more intuitive than this. Shouldn't she be able to perceive more now that she had the aura? But not even her father used the aura all the time. Then she recalled what Sabrina had said, there was always a price to pay. It was no wonder Ash didn't rely on the aura all the time despite its effectiveness, he didn't want to dull the value of plain old observation. She had been so sensitive to aura for so long lately and so focused on learning how to control it, she forgot to use it as a complement to more commonly practical means. "I'm sorry, Clefable, that was my fault, but it won't happen again!"

"Quick attack," both ninja called out at once, intent on putting an end to Clefable's opposition as fast as they could.

The poisonous gas stopped, but Ashimi wouldn't fall for the same trap twice. surely there was someone watching the battle and controlling the traps to aid the ninja. It did fit the theme of being outnumbered. Thinking outside of the box, Ashimi tried to stretch her senses and felt a presence behind the wall on the opposite side of the arena, but it was too far for her to tell who it could be at her current level; though whoever it was, wasn't wearing any devices to hide from her, as if they assumed she wouldn't look too far. "Clefable, the poison gas might come out again at any second, pick up the tatami mat... now swing!" Clefable swung the tatami mat like an oddly shaped bat and the two pokemon got their heads stuck on it. They move in coordination, almost as one, though there were clearly two of them.

Though the ninja's faces were covered, their change in posture expressed surprise. Ashimi grinned, she had warned Clefable about the poison, told her to pick up the tatami mat, but she had no intentions of putting it back in its place like the ninja assumed. "Clefable, run behind them and use heal bell while they're distracted!" It seemed illogical to waste time moving away if Ashimi's intention was to go on the defensive rather than attack, but she had a good reason to do so. Clefable decided to trust her, the tatami mat idea had worked after all. So far the attacks that the ninja's pokemon had use were not very telling of their true identity. But after struggling with the tatami mat, the ninja would know that they had to step up their game and Ashimi would get an idea of what she could expect if Clefable did get too close to the other pokemon.

The male ninja looked at his female ally and she nodded as if approving of his silent suggestion. Then he went on the offensive, "water gun!"

"Dodge it Clefable and use thunderbolt!" The fact that the ninja's pokemon had to turn around before it could fire its water gun at Clefable, after it had freed itself from the tatami mat, gave the pink pokemon just enough time to dodge and counter attack. She was cured from the poison thanks to the effects of heal bell, so she didn't have to worry about that slowing her down. Thunder attacks had become Ashimi's signature move, as they were for her father, and if there was a chance that a pokemon of hers could learn it, she would certainly be glad to train them for that purpose. After all, while she trained her aura, her pokemon did take a break, but they didn't lazy about all day. Seeing their trainer working hard, they took the time to train too and Pichu even got some pointers from his father, which he shared with his friends.

"Volt switch!" The female ninja called out at the last second. The other mysterious pokemon was quickly on the move. The shadowy creature pushed its ally out of the way, using its own electricity to attract Clefable's attack and return a portion of it. Clefable was hit by the electric bolts, though so was the other pokemon, albeit it was not very effective.

"An electric type and a water type," Ashimi voiced. Because of how they moved around, Clefable was now closer to the spot where the opponents' sand attack had taken place. Yet digging was too risky, who knew what kind of traps were under the arena, then she got an idea. Ashimi went on her knees, touching the edge of the arena with her open palms. "Dig, Clefable!" She closed her eyes and sensed. "Stop, move right... keep going... slowly... slowly... turn... turn... some more... keep turning... don't stay still... forward... that's it... get ready for your specialty... keep moving... don't stop... careful... that's the way..."

The ninja's heads turned to look at each other, then back at the arena. They didn't know where Clefable was, but Ashimi was guiding her to avoid the traps under the tatami mats. That meant she had to be under one of the mats that wasn't set as a trap. They knew the layout of the arena, so they began trying to pinpoint where Clefable was. "Dig her out!" The male ninja commanded.

"Zap her when she comes out!" The female ninja added. The two pokemon cloaked in shadows began working together, lifting the tatami mats that the ninja pointed out to them. The water type dug, while the electric type stood by in vigilance, ready to attack at the first sign of something pink beneath the sand.

They were doing the same thing Ashimi had done, trying to rely on something big and forgetting to use it as a compliment to something basic. They had the full knowledge of the traps and they thought they could use that as a resource to outwit her, but they were in fact revealing the traps. As for Ashimi, if she focused hard she could sense some of the traps nearest to Clefable, her energy resonating off the pokemon, rather than crawling and scanning the floor as her posture deceivingly hinted. But hey, the ninja were playing mind games with her and being all misleading too, so why shouldn't she? Other than a few of the traps, Ashimi didn't know where the others were and she was worried about a domino effect being set off, so she relied on secretly guiding Clefable through the same area, turning back and forth with such carefully phrased commands that they may not be so easy to figure out, unless her opponents paid close attention. Yet they were so focused on the field advantage they had, that they didn't try to take the other small advantages that might present themselves.

"Where is she?" The male ninja voiced.

"She's moving around too much!" The female ninja impatiently complained.

Clefable had gotten the hang of the deception, moving between the same safe areas and listening to the sounds above her to make sure she wasn't under the area that the opposing pokemon were searching. Ashimi could leave Clefable to her own devices for a moment and search for more information to help her. It was a good thing she did, because she sensed something changing in the flow of energy from whoever was beyond the opposite wall. Her aura was not sharp enough to figure out the person's intention like her father might be able to do, but her instinct told her this was bad. When the ninja told their pokemon to stop digging, Ashimi's suspicions peaked and she urgently called out to Clefable. "Now Clefable, jump out and attack with metronome!" After the tunnel had been dug, Clefable could move around, as the dirt below the first layer of sand was thicker and wouldn't collapse in itself as easily. The ground above where Clefable was had been disturbed, but that didn't reveal her path because the same could be said for all the areas were the ninja's pokemon had dug. Her time moving back and forth gave her the chance to prepare for what Ashimi referred to as her specialty, metronome. With her fingers already glowing, the pink pokemon jumped out and released the energy she had accumulated.

There was a flash of light and an explosion as the two shadowy pokemon were tossed left and right. Their collars cracked and ceased to function, damaged by the direct proximity of the attack. "I knew it..." Jonathan whispered under his breath. He had not known about this beforehand, but he caught on almost immediately.

Ashimi's suspicions were confirmed. "I know who you are..." The traps in the gym weren't active, only the ninja clan knew how to operate the dojo they built, even if they were allied to Team Rocket. If Rocket agents came by after her intention to battle at the Fuchsia gym in the near future was known, they might only have time to learn how to operate the arena traps. Plus she would get a false sense of security by making it to the arena easily. The collars were too convenient at blocking aura and also at detecting its intensity, as they lit up whenever she used it. Yet only a few people should know Ashimi even started using aura, or that she even could, as it wasn't always inherited by a descendant of an aura user. This was a test from Giovanni to see how well she had adapted, and how useful her new skills could be in battle.

Ash had tested her defense, now Giovanni had sent some Rockets to test how well she could break through their defenses, of course they would volunteer, they always volunteered for every mission they could when they weren't busy with their regular Rocket duties. Plus there were the poses at the start and the look of recognition on Johnny's face. He must have realized something and must have had a good reason why he couldn't say it. Now, seeing the male Vaporeon and female Jolteon without their shadowy cover, Ashimi recognized them right away. They were Foxtrot's siblings, a pair of mischievous twins that Jonathan had to closely guard his candy stash from, ever since their days as Eevee. They were a bit rowdy in their play and sometimes used attacks indoors, which was against the rules established by Jessie and James, for the sake of avoiding property damage. It was up to their older brother, Foxtrot, to keep an eye on them, when they slipped away from Growly and Flare. "Jessie and James!"

Seeing as they had been discovered, they saw no reason to continue hiding. Jessie and James, removed their masks and collars, tossing them aside with a glamorous flare. The one controlling the traps behind the far wall opened a hidden door and jumped out, Meowth held a control pad with a small screen on it, were he could see the entire arena via a hidden camera on the ceiling. Once again, for old times' sake, Jessie made a pose, "prepare for trouble!"

"The likes of which you'd never foresee!" James continued, also posing dramatically.

"Coming at you times three!" Jonathan joined in.

"Johnny!" Ashimi half scolded, stifling a giggle.

"Sorry Ashy, the oath is a family tradition, I can't resist," Jonathan made it to the other side of the arena, making poses along with his parents.

Ashimi laughed, "I can't hold it against you, it does look fun." She looked at Clefable and made a discreet gesture with her hand, which went unnoticed by everyone else other than the intended recipient of the message.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people in the Rocket nation!"

"To fill the world with great elation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"And become the brightest thereof!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Johnny!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"You can never win against our might!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Purrrr!" Nya popped out of her pokeball just on time to accentuate her father's final line of the motto.

"Bravo!" Zero clapped.

"Great performance!" Ashimi applauded.

The Rockets took a vow, then Jessie and James called out simultaneously, "Attack!"

Jolteon and Vaporeon charged forward. "Thuderbolt!" Jessie commanded.

"Water gun!" James swiftly added.

"Metronome!" Ashimi cheered. Clefable had spent the entire duration of the motto charging her psychic energy until she thought she would burst. Not only her fingers, but her entire body was glowing brighter than ever before. She released the massive energy in an explosion of light, her telekinesis momentarily going wild with the great force. Tatami mats were sent flying in every direction and several of the traps on the arena became active, causing a chain reaction. Meowth gasped as the control pad he was holding began to spark, he threw it in alarm and it exploded in the air along with several other traps. Clefable's out of control burst of telekinesis had unearthed the bombs, which exploded simultaneously in a brilliant flash of light.

The rooftop of the gym was blown clear off and out flew Jolteon, Vaporeon, Jessie, James, Johnny, Meowth, Zero and even Ashimi. "We're blasting off again!" Jessie and James' voices echoed as they took to the skies. Unlike his parents, Johnny had never been sent blasting off before, though he had heard the stories. Ashimi knew the stories as well, and as she was thrown across the sky, she wondered what her father did to make sure he didn't get caught in the blasts all those times in the past.

Back at the Fuchsia gym arena, or what was left of it, Clefable looked around in a daze, standing in the middle of the destruction. "Fable?" She saw Nya calmly grooming her lavender fur in the middle of the arena, unhurt, as if the explosions didn't just happen next to her. Clefable didn't understand, sure, she was glad the cute young pokemon wasn't hurt, the little Purrloin was a sweetie to everyone, but still, the pink pokemon couldn't figure out how she managed to come out of the blast unharmed. "Clef..." Clefable let out a breath and decided to be thankful for the small miracle. She hoped the others didn't have too much of a harsh landing.

To be Continued

Awakening

Chapter 19: Wild Safari (Part 1)

Having recovered from the blast off, the next day, Ashimi, Jonathan and Zero decided to visit the Safari Zone, after Zero had suddenly declared he wanted a pokemon of his own. The notion had seemed illogical to him at first, how could a virtual android who didn't even function properly do what was meant to be done by a human? Yet Comet and Pixel had suggested it, so in the end he decided, why not? If an explosion and being thrown across the sky was the worst that could happen, and it didn't happen all that often, then it wasn't so bad. Besides, maybe the pokemon wouldn't care about his origins, his friends and their pokemon didn't.

"Here we are, the Safari Zone!" They had gone through the front office and made it to the expanse of land designated for the special zone. Ashimi grinned widely as the memories associated with the place swam through her mind. "I haven't been here in over a year, last time I was having a picnic with dad. Actually, we used to come yearly, right around this time." Her eyes sparkled and her friends knew what was coming. "Let's have a picnic! We didn't bring a basket, but we could probably find one at the gift shop, dad always says the shop gets bigger every time he sees it. We'll fill it with treats and get a checkered blanket too!"

"Pizza burgers!" Jonathan and Zero cheered in unison. The peculiar combination started out as one of Comet's experiments when he ate at the Viridian HQ cafeteria, and ended up as a hit dish distributed through various regions by a fast food chain secretly owned by Team Rocket.

Not long after the sudden unanimous choice of a picnic, the three friends had raided the Safari Zone shops and now had a big picnic basket in their possession. Jonathan held the basket while Ashimi navigated the tall grass, looking for the same spot she usually ate at with her father. The grass had really grown since she was last there and she wondered if the clearing even existed anymore or if it had been invaded and consumed by the grass around it.

"A pokemon!" Zero suddenly exclaimed.

Ashimi noticed then that she had lost track of him in the tall grass. It had been allowed to grow so much that she couldn't see over the top. 'Not even Johnny can see above this grass,' the thought reminded her that he held their picnic basket and, even if she found the elusive clearing, there wouldn't be a picnic without it. "Zero! Johnny!"

There was some rustling in the grass, but it seemed to be moving away. "Ashimi, Nidoran's getting away! I got him by the tail!" Zero's voice came from somewhere in the tall grass. "Come back here!"

The rustling sped up, moving away quickly, until Ashimi could no longer hear it. "Zero? Oh man, I don't want to miss this! Johnny, which way did he go?" There was no reply, "Johnny?" She pouted, "great, I lost them both." She kept going forward and finally made it out of the tall grass. Yet this wasn't the clearing she remembered, instead she found a pair of small ponds. A Magikarp was hopping out of the water from one pond to another. Tired from the exercise, the Magikarp's jump fell short and he flopped helplessly on the grass. Realizing that someone was watching, the Magikarp paused, then tried to hurry along back to either of the ponds, seemingly embarrassed. Ashimi couldn't help it but to giggle at the creature's antics. "Here you go little guy," she picked up the fish and put him into the nearest pond. The Magikarp swam around before once again jumping to the next pond and back. "That's some work out, keep at it!"

Ashimi continued on her way, letting out an annoyed breath at the tall grass that turned the Safari Zone into a maze. "Man, when was the last time they mowed the lawn around here? If I had to take a guess, I'd say it was right before dad and I came on that picnic last year." Once again she braved the tall grass, trying to continue on in a straight line. After a while, she finally reached a large clearing. It wasn't the same one she was looking for, but she gave up on that as she suspected that her clearing had been invaded by the overgrown grass and could no longer be called a clearing. At least she made it out of the tall grass and found Zero.

"I'm going to catch you, Nidoran!" Zero was chasing a small male Nidoran around, though the Nidoran didn't appear to be taking his challenge seriously.

"Do you even have any pokeballs with you?" Ashimi inquired.

"No, but that's okay, I want to walk with my pokemon, I'll get a pokeball later." Zero made a jump for the Nidoran, but the pokemon playfully dodged him. "Oh forget it, I'll never catch him." Zero sat down, looking solemn.

"Aw, c'mon, don't give up so easily," Ashimi tried to cheer him up. "Here," she pulled a pokeball out of her bag and gave it to him. "Take this pokeball and try again."

"It's alright, I'll just live without a pokemon." Zero closed his eyes and remained still while Nidoran gave him a curious look.

"Are you debugging again?" Ashimi stared in curiosity. "I guess maybe it's kind of like high tech meditating... Not my specialty, with all the sitting still and everything."

Nidoran approached cautiously, wanting to continue their game, but not wanting to get caught so easily. Then suddenly in a fast motion Zero pounced on the pokemon. "I was only kidding about giving up, and now I got you!" The Nidoran squirmed, but was unable to free himself, so he bit Zero instead. "Ouch, not fair!" The pokemon jumped a few feet back, staring at the virtual boy with challenging eyes.

"Do you want to borrow Pichu?" Ashimi offered.

"No worries, I can do this on my own, let's not forget I'm part pokemon myself," Zero reminded.

"I thought you were only virtual, I mean just because the first virtual life form that was made was Porygon and served as a base for any other virtual life forms, does it really make you part pokemon if you can't use pokemon abilities? You can use pokedex abilities and you're certainly as adorable as a pokemon, but..." Ashimi mused aloud.

"Details, details!" Zero waved off her theories and picked up a stone from the ground, "rock throw!" The Nidoran dodged the rock at the last moment, only to find himself as the target of another. Soon there were rocks, pebbles, sticks and even blades of grass flying in his direction.

"That's one way to have a pokemon battle..." Ashimi laughed, "alright, go Zero!" She decided to cheer him on despite his unusual strategy.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, Jonathan had made it out of the maze of tall grass. He was sure he heard Jaina's voice, but now he wondered if he had just imagined it. He looked across the field where several Tauros were eating grass. "No one here but the pokemon..." He was about to turn around and go back into the tall grass to try to find Ashimi and Zero, but then a flicker of light from the corner of his eyes caught his attention. He looked into the distance beyond the Tauros where the light became brighter as it got ever closer. When the source of the light was close enough to be identified, Jonathan saw that it was a Rapidash, and the person riding her was none other than Daala. "Daala, what are you-" His line of questioning concerning her reasons for being there was interrupted by the Tauros running away from the fire pokemon in a sudden stampede. As survival instinct kicked in, Jonathan's primary concern became not to be flattened under their hooves. "Go Vaporeon!" Along with Vaporeon, Jolteon also jumped out of her pokeball. "Hey, I was only calling for your brother!" Yet the twins had been inseparable in their days as Eevee and evolution had not changed that.

Finding himself surrounded by wild pokemon, Vaporeon was at a loss for what to do, so he melted into a puddle of water at Jonathan's feet, which caused him to slip and fall. Jolteon, who was generally more feisty than her twin, decided to shock the Tauros, which only got their attention. The heard realized that the Rapidash was no longer chasing them and instead turned their attention towards their attacker. They were at peace enjoying the fresh grass and the fire pokemon had caught them by surprise and startled them, but now they were ready to stand their ground.

"Ow..." Jonathan picked himself off the ground to realized he was surrounded by angry Tauros that were glaring at him as if he was some unworthy rookie matador. Maybe taking Foxtrot's younger siblings along wasn't such a great idea after all. He thought it was when he saw how they battled for his parents, but that was different. Because of his special bond with the elder of Growly and Flare's children, the younger two looked at him as if he was the same as Foxtrot, another pokemon brother. They knew he was human, but they didn't acknowledge him as such and instead of listening to him in battle they turned it into one big game. "I should have known you two wouldn't change."

One of the Tauros decided to end the glaring contest by running towards Jonathan. The teenager dodged, trying not to slip on Vaporeon. "Pull yourself together Vaporeon!" As he was surrounded, the Tauros that charged and missed him, ended up running into the one behind him. The two massive beasts locked horns and pushed against each other, tails whipping wildly. Some of the spectator Tauros were hit by the tails of the two who were fighting and decided to join the battle.

Pretty soon the Tauros had forgotten all about Jolteon and her companions, and were locked in combat against each other. "Jolteon, Vaporeon, return! Let's get out of here!" Jonathan recalled his pokemon and clutched the picnic basket close. He tried to look for an opening in the mayhem that had formed. something hit him hard, probably the dull side of a horn, or a hoof, he wasn't sure. What he did know was that it knocked the wind out of him and threw him to the ground, the basket escaping his protecting embrace. "The basket!" He tried to reach for it, but it was too late, as the picnic basket and its delicious contents were crushed by the berserk Tauros and Jonathan had a feeling that soon he would be crushed too.

He tried to stay on his feet but he kept getting knocked to the ground and a particularly heavy Tauros stepped on his ankle, making walking or even standing a very painful experience. He was knocked to the ground again. He wanted to call Foxtrot for help, but how could he? Starting a fire wouldn't help the situation, the Tauros were so crazed by that point that they probably didn't care if they were burned, besides, where would Foxtrot even stand? He would probably get stepped on by those monsters the second he was out of his pokeball. Jonathan felt Foxtrot's pokeball vibrate, "stay there, don't come out," he insisted as he tried to crawl out of the chaos. He forcefully met the ground and the last thing he saw before passing out was a red flash.

xoxox xox xoxox

The pain that assaulted him prevented Jonathan from continuing in the land of blissful unconsciousness. He felt something small and fuzzy licking his face and slowly opened his eyes to see Nya. In a flash of panic, he wrapped his arms around the lavender kitten in an effort to protect her from the threat that had already passed. The teen looked around to find himself in an entirely different area of the Safari Zone. In the distance, he saw a heard of Tauros fighting among themselves and even further still a flame that moved this way and that, as if searching for something, or someone. Nya purred and rubbed her head on his chin.

Jonathan looked at the kitten with perplexity and not really expecting an answer he wondered, "how did we get here?" Nya only let out a soft high pitch meow and resumed her purring as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. In the distance, the flame of Daala's Rapidash became a wall of fire as the tall grass was ignited. "We better stop her, go back in your pokeball where it's safe, Nya." After returning the Purrloin to her pokeball, Jonathan called out Vaporeon. He wasn't surprised when Jolteon popped out as well, since one always followed the other. Unlike most Rockets, he didn't want to lock his pokeballs, not only because his pokemon could get him out of a jam if he found himself in a situation where he was unable to let them out, but also because they were his friends and locking them up didn't feel right.

"Vaporeon, put that fire out! Jolteon, cover him!" The two eeveelutions began to playfully tackle each other, laughing merrily. "Are you even listening to me?" Jolteon was pulling her brother's ear, she let him go, went on her hind legs and jumped on Jonathan, wrapping her forelegs around his neck and nibbling on his ear. "Stop it, Jolteon!" He stumbled back as Vaporeon began to pull on his pant's leg. "Stop it, both of you! Foxtrot!" The Flareon jumped out of his pokeball and chased the two younger eeveelutions off his trainer. "Thanks, Foxtrot," Jonathan got up and dusted himself off, glaring at the mischievous pokemon twins. "The fire is spreading!"

"The fire is here!" Rapidash stopped a few feet away, her rider glaring at the Rocket, with flames burning behind her. "I'm not sure how you escaped the Tauros, but you won't escape me!" Daala challenged.

Vaporeon and Jolteon started pulling at Jonathan's pantlegs again, but on that occasion he wasted no time in shaking them off. "Stop it, both of you! If you repeat that incident again, I'll-" He couldn't think of a threat that he was actually willing to do and would somehow scare the twins into obedience. Foxtrot intervened and pointed out the obvious danger, which caused the twins to get into defensive positions. Vaporeon nodded at his older brother and dashed off to put the flames out, though he occasionally glanced at his sister. Jolteon's fur was full of sparks, ready to put up a fight.

xoxox xox xoxox

Some distance away, Zero and Nidoran were exchanging attacks, while Ashimi and Pichu cheered them on. Suddenly, a third contender joined the fight, the same Magikarp Ashimi had encountered before flopped and hopped, until it bumped into Nidoran in a sad attempt that couldn't quite be called a tackle. Nidoran slapped the fish away and got hit by a rock from Zero in his moment of distraction. Not wanting to be left out, Magikarp went on the attack again. "Hey! This is between me and Nidoran!" Zero complained as Nidoran batted the fish away with his tail.

"That's one stubborn Magikarp," Ashimi mused aloud. "Feistier than any other Magikarp I've ever seen."

The battle of Zero versus Nidoran evolved into some sort of odd wrestling match. The pokemon and the virtual boy were rolling around on the grass, with no rhyme or reason to their fight, just random tackling. Surprisingly, the same Magikarp returned, flipping around out of breath and clearly bruised. Zero and Nidoran were tangled in a mess of limbs, dirt and grass when the Magikarp hopped on top of the pile and wheezed in exhaustion, unable to do anything else.

Ashimi and Pichu fell into a fit of laughter at the scene before them. "It looks like Magikarp is going for the gold!"

"Maybe I should catch Magikarp instead," Zero considered.

Magikarp seemed to regain his energy at the words and quickly flopped off them. He hopped over to Ashimi and rubbed against her leg in his best impression of a cat, which wasn't all that great. "Looks like Magikarp likes me best." She grinned proudly and picked up the fish which promptly attempted to, eat her face? She pulled him off by the tail and threw him on the ground, "ew!" She wiped off the fish spit furiously.

"Oh yes, I can see he's madly in love with you, that would explain the kissing." Zero started making silly faces and exaggerated kissy noises. Nidoran rolled around laughing and soon joined in the teasing. The icing on the cake was Magikarp blushing bright red.

"Oh no... No-no, no-no, no-no, no!" Ashimi stepped back and frantically shook her head. "My father had pokemon fall in love with him and tackle him, and pop out of their pokeballs, and jump on him, and obsess over him, and all that stuff, and at times it gets to be a lot to deal with! If a pokemon must be in love with me why must it be a Magikarp?!" Ashimi dramatically declared.

With tears in his eyes, Magikarp flopped away as fast as he could, disappearing into the tall grass. "I think you hurt his feelings..." Zero stated obviously.

Nidoran nodded his head in agreement and shook his clawed finger in a scolding motion, as if saying, 'shame on you!'

Ashimi pouted, "but I wanted to catch him!"

"You did?" Zero blinked in surprise.

"Yeah!" Ashimi exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Magikarp evolve into Gyarados and that little guy had some real endurance and determination. He'll evolve into something awesome!" With that declaration left in the air, Ashimi ran off into the tall grass to look for Magikarp.

"Wait for me!" Zero ran after her to witness the rest of the hilariously ridiculous soap opera.

"Nido?" Nidoran pouted, feeling ignored. Wasn't that stubborn weird kid trying to catch him? They didn't even reach a definite result to their battle. Determined not to leave things as they were, Nidoran hurried after them through the tall grass.

xoxox xox xoxox

Daala released Houndour from his pokeball, to even out the field two on two. Rapidash, Houndour-" Before Daala could give an order, a scream interrupted their fight. Not too far from them, they spotted Jaina, surrounded by fire, with Gastly floating beside her.

"Vaporeon, help Jaina!" Vaporeon stared at his trainer. Foxtrot tried to enforce the instructions, but his younger brother didn't move. Jonathan let out an impatient breath. "Jolteon, go with him." Once his sister joined him, Vaporeon finally did as he was told. Those two functioned as a team or not at all, and even then they didn't listen to him as much as to his parents. Foxtrot's alarmed warning caught Jonathan's attention just on time for him to dodge out of the way of Rapidash's horn.

Foxtrot and Houndour became locked in a fierce battle, scratching, biting and tackling each other like ferocious beasts. Rapidash didn't turn back to attack Jonathan, instead she continued dashing off with Daala on her back. The flaming unicorn jumped over Vaporeon and Jolteon, landing right next to Jaina and shooting a fireball point blank at Gastly.

Gastly fell to the ground as if deflated and Jaina let out a cry of alarm. "Gastly!"

Daala extended her arm, leaning over the side of her mount and grabbed Jaina. The fierce rider threw the redhead on her Rapidash like a sack of potatoes and loudly announced, "all traitors to Tornado will be executed!" Then she dashed off again.

Houndour tried to follow his trainer in her get away, but Foxtrot refused to let him go. "Show him who's the strongest, Foxtrot, fire fang!" Then as soon as the Flareon had sunk his teeth into his opponent, "fire blast!"

The fire came from so close it caused enough pressure, friction and heat to hurt even a fire pokemon. Houndour was engulfed in flames and Foxtrot had to jump back. With a pained yet furious howl, Houndour rolled on the ground, got the fire problem under control and got back in the battle. He knew his orders were to flee and follow Daala, he knew his trainer would be concerned if he stayed behind, but he was so angry that he couldn't bring himself to run away. Enraged, he shot one fireball after another as if to redeem his fire's power and prove that it too was very strong.

Yet Foxtrot still had his trainer to guide him and keep him from getting so caught up in the battle that strategy was entirely forgotten to anger. "Keep your distance!" Foxtrot held back the urge to finish the fight and hung back, dodging the fireballs. Then when Houndour was forced to pause for breath, "now, finish this with strength!" Jonathan grinned victoriously and added, "repeatedly." Foxtrot was all too eager to finish the fight and attacked with everything he had until Houndour was knocked out.

xoxox xox xoxox

Some distance away, Daala stopped and jumped off Rapidash. Jaina got on the ground too and stretched. "You didn't have to throw me around like a sack of potatoes, you know," the redhead complained. "Ugh, any potatoes unfortunate enough to be transported by you will end up as mashed potatoes!" Noticing the other girl wasn't paying attention to her, she questioned, "Daala?"

"Where's Houndour? I thought he was right behind me. What if Team Rocket got him?" Without another second to waste, she hurried back to find her missing pokemon.

"What about the plan?" Jaina called after her.

"Rapidash, stay here and help with the plan," Daala disappeared into the tall grass.

Jaina let out an exasperated breath, "great," she grumbled. The original plan was for Daala to attack Jonathan and for Jaina to go to his rescue and nurse him back to health. Then he would trust her and they could use him against Ashimi. However, that plan didn't work out, as for some inexplicable reason, Jonathan was able to escape the Tauros.

Instead they came up with an alternative plan, Jaina would pretend to have broken her alliance with Tornado and Daala would be getting rid of the traitor. Surely then Jonathan would be concerned for his sister and run off to save her. Even if he wouldn't find himself in her debt that way, perhaps playing hero would help soften him up a bit and shake the foundation of his loyalty, or at least that's what Jaina and Daala were hoping for.

"Okay Rapidash, I'm going to pretend I fainted, when Jonathan gets here, fight him with everything you have." If Rapidash actually won, Jaina would go back to the original plan of playing hero and if Jonathan won, he would play hero for her.

To be Continued

Magikarp's "kiss" with Ashimi is a reference to a similar scene in Slayers, involving Lina and a fish person.

Awakening

Chapter 20: Wild Safari (Part 2)

Jonathan rushed off to find Jaina, having Vaporeon extinguish the remaining flames along the way. Daala came out of a patch of tall grass from the opposite direction. "What did you do with my Houndour, Rocket?"

"I knocked him out back there. What did you do with Jaina?" Jonathan demanded to know.

"Go find her yourself!" Daala ran past him towards Houndour.

Worried that Jaina was caught in some sort of trap, Jonathan decided not to pursue Daala, and instead went to find his sister. He dove into the tall grass, from which Daala had emerged, and got across to a clearing on the other side. There he found Jaina laying motionless on the ground, with Rapidash as her guard. "Jaina!"

From another patch of tall grass on the other side of the clearing, Ashimi emerged. "Johnny! Have you seen a Magikarp with kamikaze tendencies around here?"

Jonathan wasn't even sure he wanted to ask what that was about, "not really."

"Oh legendaries, he got away!" Ashimi pouted and after taking a second look at her surroundings she noticed the situation beyond the focus of her Magikarp hunt. "What's going on?"

"Jaina betrayed Tornado!" Maybe she could join Team Rocket and live a life that made up for the past. She might never forgive Giovanni, but she could still become friends with Ashimi, who would one day take his place. "I need to save her!"

Ashimi didn't quite understand Jonathan's determination, though she supposed that if Jaina was to be captured and questioned, she would need to be saved from a possible execution ordered by Tornado. Zero arrived soon after Ashimi, followed by Nidoran. "What did I miss?"

While Ashimi got Zero caught up on the recent happenings, Jonathan began the battle. "Go Vaporeon, water gun!" Vaporeon whimpered in response, exhausted from all the water he used to put out the fire before it continued to spread through the tall grass of the Safari Zone. He was looking rather dehydrated. "Okay, you can take a break." Jonathan decided not to recall Vaporeon and instead let him stay out beside him along with Foxtrot, since Jolteon would probably feel more comfortable with her twin around. Foxtrot had quite a battle with Houndour, so Jonathan let him rest and called upon Jolteon instead. "Jolteon, thunderbolt!"

Jolteon yawned uninterested and shot a burst of electricity that was easily dodged by Rapidash. The lightning passed close to Jaina, but it didn't strike her. Jolteon's ear twitched in curiosity as she repeated the motion, this time clearly missing Rapidash on purpose. Ashimi stood by, watching the happenings, she didn't want to interrupt Jonathan's battle but he was going nowhere fast, then there was the fact that Rapidash was without a trainer, though Ashimi assumed she was Daala's pokemon.

"Why won't you listen to me?" Jonathan asked in frustration.

To the teen's surprise, his eeveelutions actually gave a straight answer this time, which was translated by Zero. "They say it's because you always play favorites for their older brother. You even gave him a nickname to make it clear that when you called, you meant him and not all three of the Eevee."

"If I play favorites it's only because Foxtrot actually listens to me!" Jonathan defended.

Zero looked at Vaporeon and Jolteon, who were quick to argue in return. The virtual android continued to translate, "they're saying that you were always playing with the pokemon, so they saw you as another pokemon to play with, rather than a trainer. That's why they didn't do what you said, they just wanted to play. Then later when they were ready to accept you as their trainer you didn't give them a second chance and only wanted to train their brother."

"Is that how it is?" Jonathan looked at the eeveelutions. Foxtrot was saying something, Jonathan realized that he didn't need Zero to make a translation for the Flareon, he knew his loyal companion was trying to defend him. "It's okay, Foxtrot, you don't need to make excuses for me. I should have given them another chance to battle for me when they gave me another chance to prove myself as a trainer. Vaporeon, Jolteon, I'm sorry, can we try this one more time?" The water and electric eeveelutions looked at each other as if having a silent discussion of consideration, then they nodded in agreement. "Thanks, I won't let you down! Now lets finish this battle, thunderbolt!" Jonathan pointed at Rapidash, who wasn't sure how to react without Daala. She was the newest addition to her team and didn't have as much experience as her other pokemon. Jolteon shook her head and pointed at Jaina, "be careful not to hit Jaina," Jonathan agreed, but Jolteon only shook her head again.

"What is it?" Zero inquired.

Jolteon considered telling him, but then decided against it. She wanted her trainer to learn to understand her how he understood her older brother, without the need for a translation. Then suddenly she got an idea and signaled to Vaporeon. Foxtrot looked at the younger eeveelutions suspiciously, but everything happened too fast for him to stop them. In a matter of seconds, Vaporeon and Jolteon had succeeded in pulling Jonathan's pants down to his ankles. He was not expecting the assault and ended up tripping and falling flat on his face. This was worse than the last time it happened.

Laughter filled the area with Ashimi's being the loudest. "Wait till I tell Dorme about this! Hahaha!"

"Don't you dare!" Twice had Ashimi witnessed an occurrence like this, the last time being attributed to the same pair of culprits. But at least on that occasion he had managed to stay on his feet, unlike now.

Jaina's face turned red with the force of her contained laughter, which she couldn't hold back any longer. She let it all out in a loud flood that proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that she was indeed very much awake. Her laughter was even louder than Ashimi's.

Jolteon explained herself to Zero, who, between laughs, informed Jonathan. "Jolteon says that she saw Jaina flinch when the lightning passed close to her, so she wanted to let you know she was awake, but also wanted you to understand her without help, like you understand Foxtrot."

"Well you could have found a different way to tell me!" Jonathan protested. "These things take time, I'll learn to understand you eventually, but please don't pull my pants down every time you want to get my attention!" Laughter coming from the tall grass made the group turned their heads in that direction. Seeing that she had been discovered, Daala stepped into the clearing. Jonathan grimaced when he saw her, "you didn't..."

Still giggling, Daala admitted, yes I did, I saw everything," she confessed. She had arrived around the time Jonathan apologized to Vaporeon and Jolteon, which intrigued her, as it was not the kind of behavior she expected from a heartless Rocket. She watched quietly from that point on, until she was unable to contain her amusement and her laughter gave away her position.

"No..." Jonathan frowned in embarrassment. His friends, his sister and even the enemy had been a witness to that? This was not his day.

"Oh yes," Daala gave him a mocking grin, "black with little red Rs, I didn't even know they made Team Rocket boxers."

Jonathan's face turned bright red. "My choice of underwear is nobody's business but my own! Now can we please get back to the battle?"

"Fine, but I'm not deleting the picture I took," Daala declared with a mischievous grin.

Jonathan gasped, his eyes going wide in horror, "you took a picture? That's not fair!" Just when he thought his day couldn't be any more mortifying. Vaporeon and Jolteon whimpered in apology, they didn't mean to cause this much trouble. Jonathan glared, "you better be sorry. Let's just get this battle over with, I got run over by a bunch of Tauros, my privacy has been totally invaded and I'm not in a good mood right now. Jolteon, electrocute that Rapidash until she lights up like a lightbulb!"

Jolteon started to build up her electricity for a massive attack. Jaina quickly scrambled to get out of the way and Daala began to pronounce the first syllable of her counter measure for Rapidash. All of that took place in the same split second that a Magikarp jumped out of nowhere and lashed onto Rapidash's muzzle. Time felt as if it stood still as the group witnessed the unexpected act.

"Magikarp!" Ashimi cheered at having found the pokemon she meant to capture.

"That's the kamikaze Magikarp you were looking for?" Jonathan couldn't help it but to agree with the description.

Jolteon had held back her attack in light of the unexpected situation and she was surrounded by sparks of accumulated energy. Daala felt into a pause of silent shock and Rapidash all around freaked out. The unicorn started kicking around wildly and shooting fire in every direction. Daala rushed to her side to try to aid her, but it was useless. Before the Tornado agent could pull Magikarp off, she was tossed aside by a painful kick to the stomach from her own pokemon. Daala fell on the ground, out of breath, clutching her abdomen, while Rapidash ran off wildly, leaving a trail of flames in her path. "Rapidash, no! There's too much fire, it's getting out of control!" Daala got to her feet with a heavy breath and ran after her crazed pokemon.

"This is insane!" Jaina threw her arms in the air, their plans went up in smoke and the same could be said about the Safari Zone if the fire wasn't stopped. Clearly, Daala had decided to make that her priority now, since Tornado was supposed to be an enemy of Team Rocket, not of Kanto. She usually didn't mind a little collateral damage, but a major fire that destroyed the entire Safari Zone and all the pokemon that lived in it was too much. Jaina decided to support Daala's new priority and ran off after her.

"I'll have to agree on that," Jonathan voiced. "You sure have a talent for attracting odd pokemon, Ashy. Vaporeon, sorry to make you work so hard in one day, but give it your all to put the fire out! Foxtrot, Jolteon, help out with sand attack!"

"Not fair! Daala is stealing my Magikarp! I saw him first!" Ashimi loudly complained. "Squirtle, I choose you! Put the fire out!" Squirtle shyly stepped forward, his nerves once again threatening to get the best of him. "It's okay, I'm right here by your side, I'll protect you," Ashimi assured. "Water gun, full force!" Squirtle nodded and began his assault on the flames.

Nidoran was uneasy, he had friends in the Safari Zone and it had been his home since he hatched. "It's okay, Nidoran, we'll put the fire out," Zero assured. "You can help too, just kick dirt into the flames." Nidoran was about to point out that he didn't know sand attack, but Zero already realized it and encouraged him anyway. "Just do what the others are doing." Nidoran jumped forward and joined the efforts.

"That's right, we need all the help we can get," Ashimi released all her Pokemon from their pokeballs. "Do your best to help put the fire out, everyone!"

Together they continued to advance against the fire, until they reached a group of trees that were being consumed by the flames. The fire had climbed up to the branches, causing sparks and flaming pieces of wood and foliage to rain down on the area below. A scream pierced the air as they spotted Jaina trapped in the middle of the inferno. Her talking Gastly was doing her best to keep her trainer safe, but there really wasn't much that she could do.

"Jaina!" Jonathan called out to her, his voice full of concern.

"Johnny!" Jaina spotted him beyond the barrier of flames, but there was no way that she could get to him.

Jonathan desperately tried to find a way to get to Jaina, but the trees were so tall and lush, putting the fire out completely would take time. The wind was blowing the smoke away from Jonathan, Ashimi, Zero and the pokemon, but Jaina was coughing heavily, ready to pass out, and she was trapped. "Keep up the efforts, everyone!" Jonathan ran around the fire and began to climb a tree on the opposite side. It was on fire on the branches that stretched out to touch the neighboring trees, but the trunk was not on fire yet. He made it to a steady branch that was high enough to get over the curtain of flames. He heard Ashimi telling him to be careful, or questioning his reckless actions, he wasn't sure. Zero might have said something too, but he was too focused on the task at hand. His eyes stung, since he was in the path of the smoke now.

On the ground below, he saw the panicked Gastly, circling Jaina, who was on her knees with her hands over her mouth and nose, eyes closed from the pain in her throat. Thankfully, he had his grappler hook on his belt, hanging between the pokeballs. He shot the hook towards a thick branch on the other side and swung, dodging the flames and grabbing Jaina by the waist. The grappler's cable retracted, pulling them towards the other branch, but the fire had reached the branch and it couldn't hold their combined weight.

The branch cracked dangerously before breaking. "Squirtle, water gun!" Ashimi called out urgently, pointing at Johnny and Jaina, rather than the flames, which were too tall to be put out completely before they fell on them. Squirtle reacted just fast enough and the blast of water pushed Johnny far enough so that he and Jaina landed on the grass, instead of the fire.

Another flaming branch fell, from right above where Nidoran was, "Nidoran, look out!" Zero dove forward, pushing the small pokemon out of the way.

Ashimi was just starting to breathe easy, seeing that Jonathan and Jaina made it back safely, when she heard the commotion and turned to look in Zero's direction. "Zero!"

Zero was trapped under the flaming branch, he disintegrated into blocks of blue code and floated through the branch and the fire as if he was there but at the same time wasn't, like a ghost. The blocks of rapidly flickering code slowly took on the shape of blocky polygons that became more detailed, until Zero was back. He was no longer wearing his civilian clothes, instead clothed in black armor with red boots, armbands and the letter R. The glitch had short circuited his graphics driver and caused him to go back to his default appearance. Nidoran stare at him with wide eyes before bolting away as if he had witnessed something terrifying. "Nidoran! Come back, it's okay, it's just me..."

"Zero..." Ashimi felt a strong ripple of energy course through her. That was dangerous, Zero's energy, it nearly disappeared completely. She always had trouble sensing him, probably because he was virtual, but little by little she had started to see just the smallest spark of life in him, but just then, it was nearly extinguished. His aura flickered inside him like the tiny fragile flame of a candle that a strong wind threatened to put out. It wasn't unheard of for life to appear where there was initially no true life, there were several pokemon that were like that, and Zero was the same, Ashimi didn't doubt it.

Zero was only a lifeless program when he was made, but now his experiences had brought out a supernatural occurrence like the others that had taken place in their world before. Yet Zero was different from pokemon, the persona of a human was too complex, too filled with emotions and conflicting thoughts. That was simply how humans were, never purely black or white, always a constant storm of, not only shades of gray, but every other color. Thus it was harder for such a new life to become stable. 'Zero, I won't let your life fade, I won't let you become nothing but data again.' Ashimi walked over to the virtual boy, "are you alright?" She asked gently.

Zero was frowning, his small chibi-like features making him look heartbreakingly cute. "Pokemon don't like me, I can't be a real trainer."

"That's not true, you know some of my pokemon didn't warm up to me right away either. We'll find a pokemon that's just right for you, don't give up," Ashimi smiled, trying to encourage him.

Zero didn't look convinced, but he didn't want to worry Ashimi. "It's okay, no big deal, I'm alright." Ashimi could sense it wasn't true, but she was determined to make it true.

Finding herself in an area clear of the smoke, as the wind continued blowing it away, Jaina took in big gasping breaths until her burning lungs didn't feel so desperate. She looked at Johnny, who had gone through so much on that day. The impulse from the water gun had saved them, but it must have hurt to be hit with such pressure. "You... You saved me, you risked your life for me." Her words were filled with awe and disbelief.

"Of course," Jonathan smiled reassuringly. "I couldn't let anything happen to you. Are you going to be okay now?"

Jaina nodded slowly. "I'm not hurt, just a bit bruised and I have a sore throat from all the smoke, but I think I'll be fine."

Her Gastly floated next to her protectively with sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you out of there myself."

"It's okay," Jaina assured. "It's not your fault."

"Your face is still red from all the heat," Jonathan observed. "You better go rest , I'll be there as soon as Ashimi, Zero and I are done putting the fire out." Ashimi would most likely head to the pokemon center after this and perhaps it was time to tell her about Jaina. "We can talk at the pokemon center and if you're up to it we could go out for ice-cream, maybe that will make your throat feel better."

A few tears escaped the corners of Jaina's eyes, "thank you..." She watched Jonathan return to the front lines beside Ashimi. "No one..." she whispered sadly under her breath while she put some distance between herself and the burnt area. "No one has ever done something like this for me." She fought to stop the rush of emotion that overtook her, yet she couldn't help it but to cry. "No one has ever cared for me..."

"That's not true," Gastly argued.

Jaina shook her head, "isn't the only reason why you follow me because he appointed you to? So that he may act through me and continue to live in non-existence? Some leader he is."

"Be careful," Gastly warned, narrowing her eyes.

"I don't fear him," Jaina scuffed.

"Be careful of the boy," Gastly repeated her warning. "The look in your eyes is not one of trickery. Would you prefer to live as his sister or as an agent of Tornado?"

Jaina clenched her fists in frustration. "I... I want neither!" Then she ran as fast as she could, with Gastly trailing behind her.

xoxox xox xoxox

When the fire was completely extinguished, Jonathan went to find Jaina, but she was nowhere to be seen. "She's gone..."

"I heard ice-cream being mentioned," Ashimi teased. "Were you asking her out? Man, this is too weird, it's starting to feel like one of those crazy harem anime. Dorme has a thing for you, Daala had no problems snapping a picture of you pantless-"

"Don't remind me," Jonathan grumbled in embarrassed frustration.

"And now Jaina's all flustered and all like," Ashimi made a silly impression of an overly love-sick tone, "oh, my hero!" She joined her hands, placing them over her heart and batted her eyelashes.

Jonathan blushed, "It's not like that! Jaina's face was red because of the heat and she was a little emotional because... Because of an entirely different reason. She doesn't see me that way, it's impossible, and Daala was just being mean or looking for blackmail or something," he quickly excused.

"Dorme's going to freak out," Ashimi shook her head.

"Do you have to tell her?" Jonathan pleaded.

"Nah, it's really none of her business who sees you in your underwear," Ashimi mused.

"That was an accident!" Jonathan insisted.

Ashimi laughed, "I know, I know, I'm just teasing you. But really, Jaina was giving you some interesting looks back there."

"I told you, there's an entirely different reason for that," Jonathan's face turned serious and Ashimi could sense the uneasiness in his aura.

Her complexion turned serious as well. "Jonathan."

He instantly looked into her eyes, she never called him by his full name, to her he had always been Johnny, or 'oni' when she was a toddler. "Ashley," he spoke in return, her true name felt alien to him.

"Your aura..." Ashimi trailed into silence, unsure of what to ask. She swallowed her nervousness and treaded forward carefully. "I sense uneasiness and doubt..." She paused, taking a deep breath, then adopted a grave look of deep concern that was well beyond her years. "I also sense that you care for her... Could it be... Did you..." She took a big breath, as if she had just ran a marathon and asked, "are you in love with her?"

"What?!" Jonathan yelled, shocked. "Are you crazy? She's my sister!"

Ashimi gasped and stared, "I thought that was just an act, are you saying it was actually true?" Zero, who was rather quiet and not in the mood to talk, had a similar shocked expression to Ashimi as he listened.

"Her hair, she's not just copying mom's hair, and her eyes, the fact that they're the same color as dad's is no coincidence. It's not a disguise, she's my twin, her death was a lie," Jonathan revealed.

Ashimi took a moment to regain her voice. "Your sister," a million questions floated through her head. "I guess I still need more practice in reading auras, I sensed affection but I didn't realize it was family love. But I don't get it, how could it be? I thought the real Jaina had passed away a long time ago. Where was she all these years and how do you know it's true?"

"I feel it, I can't explain it, I just do. Her story is complicated," Jonathan felt silent, but he could feel Ashimi and Zero's eyes burning into him, looking for answers. "I'll explain everything, let's just go to the pokemon center before we're blamed for what happened here. If I remember correctly, the Safari Zone management changed earlier this year, and if the overgrown grass taking over is any indication, they're not taking care of the place like they used to, but I doubt that they'll ignore the obvious signs that there was a fire here. Daala doesn't seem to be around, maybe she fled after things got out of control and hoped that we would get blamed for this."

Ashimi and Jonathan recalled all their pokemon, save for Pichu, who took his usual spot on Ashimi's head. "I agree, we better get out of here. We can talk at the pokemon center," Ashimi paused, feeling unsure. "If you don't mind," she sensed this wasn't easy for Jonathan. Her skill at sensing aura was not yet fully developed, but she could tell that much at least.

"I want to tell you," Jonathan insisted. "There was just a lot going on at the time when I found out and I couldn't tell you before, but you're my best friend and I trust you more than anyone."

Ashimi smiled, she would believe his words, aura or not, but it felt nice being able to sense the sincerity in them. "And I know I can totally trust you and count on- eep!" Her foot caught on something that was rather charred and she stumbled.

Jonathan caught her and steadied her on her feet. "That's right, you can count on me," he gave her a cocky grin. Ashimi stuck out her tongue and playfully punched him on the arm. "Ow, easy, I'm still sore, I did get run over by some Tauros today."

"Really? Well at least you can say you have some pretty good endurance. I'll try some of my aura healing on you at the pokemon center, that should help at least a little. Now that I think about it, you do have a bit of a limp," Ashimi noted.

"I can feel my ankle swelling, but I don't think it's broken, I can take the walk back to the car. I guess I should thank Thor for his painful endurance training." The last part was spoken with heavy sarcasm. No matter how beneficial the training might be in the long run, Jonathan couldn't bring himself to muster any feelings of gratitude towards the harsh general.

Ashimi stepped back and looked at the charred thing on the ground. "What did I trip on anyway?" She poked it with the tip of her foot, she had an odd feeling about it, then she sensed it. "Hey, this thing is alive!" She poked it again until it wiggled. The thing opened its eyes and began to flop around, trying to shake off the ash and brown grass that clung to its burnt body. Then Ashimi finally recognized the creature. "It's Magikarp! A Magikarp that survives all that will definitely evolve into a strong Gyarados, I'm taking him with us!" With the decision made, Ashimi caught the Magikarp in a pokeball. The little guy really needed to be taken to a pokemon center anyway.

As they were nearing the exit of the Safari Zone, a small Nidoran approached. 'Wait for me!' He called out, in the language of pokemon.

"Nidoran? Why are you here?" Zero questioned. "Do you want to go with Ashimi too? She's a great trainer, I'm sure she'll make you strong."

Nidoran shook his head, 'I want to go with you, aniki. Can I?'

"With me? But I'm..." Zero thought he might as well come clean. "I'm not even human, I'm not a pokemon either, but..."

'It doesn't matter!' Nidoran interrupted. 'You're strong, and brave, and smart, and loyal, and, and, and that's all it takes to be a good trainer. I feel I can trust you, so can I come? Please, aniki?'

Zero smiled wide, and with a big grin replied, "nope, you can't come with me."

"What?" Nidoran, Ashimi and Jonathan chorused, though for Nidoran it sounded to the others as 'nido?'

Then Zero laughed, "I'm kidding! Of course you can tag along, but what's with that aniki stuff?"

'You're a Rocket! A real tough yakuza, and you're my blood brother, so I call you aniki,' Nidoran cheered. 'Do you prefer boss? Cause I can call you boss, boss.'

Zero laughed and Ashimi wished she could understand both sides of the conversation. "I'm not the boss, Ashimi is the boss, or the future boss anyway. I guess aniki is alright." He held out the pokeball Ashimi had given him, "hop in." Nidoran ran over and willingly jumped into the red beam. Zero's face lit up with joy, "I caught a pokemon!" He cheered and realized, "and I made a new friend. Go Nidoran!" Now that he was officially captured, Zero let him out again. "You can go back in your pokeball when you get tired, but let's just walk for now."

Ashimi and Jonathan both congratulated him, and Ashimi hugged him. "You'll be the most adorable pokemon trainer ever! Look at you, you're a black and red tiny version of Megaman, that's so cute! I should get Nidoran some gijinka hats to match yours, although it can't really be called gijinka if a pokemon wears them, but who cares about the details, it's cute!"

"I'm a real pokemon trainer now, not a virtual doll." Technically Zero didn't look old enough to have a pokemon, nor was he anywhere near old enough chronologically, but who cares? Rockets didn't play by the rules anyway.

"But you're still as cute as a doll!" Ashimi ruffled his hair.

"Aren't you a lucky one, the princess gives you all the attention," Jonathan teased.

"You both better watch out from now on," Zero playfully held up Nidoran's pokeball. "I have a pokemon so I can challenge you to pokemon battles!"

Ashimi was all too eager for the idea. "We should totally have some pokemon battles later, but first let's go to the pokemon center, and we should get some food too, I'm starving!" The thought of food reminded her of something. "Wait a minute!" She shot an accusing glare at Jonathan, "didn't you have our picnic basket?" With all that had been going on, the picnic had been forgotten, until then.

"Um..." Jonathan nervously took a step back. "It kind of got flattened by a bunch of Tauros..." He kept backing away.

Ashimi's jaw dropped, "my pizza burgers... No!" She broke into a run as Jonathan dashed away and Zero followed. "Agent Johnny, how dare you fail such an important mission, the future boss is very angry at the loss of the precious cargo!"

To be Continued

My Main Site: http://azurelight.net
Deviant Art: http://mikaristar.deviantart.com
Fanart Central: http://fanart-central.net/user/AzureMikari/