Hey all! I'm DarkSlash9, and welcome to Pokemon: Fellowship of the Aura. This story is a remake of The Struggle of the Aura, a story that I discontinued in the past. If you happened to have read the original story, then you are going to notice a sizable amount of major differences right from the get-go. If you're new to this story, well, it'll just be a new story to you! Either way, I hope you all enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own pokemon.

I

The World of Pokemon. A world gifted with the wondrous gift of over 700 creatures, all of unique size and behavior. Running through the prairies, trekking the deserts, soaring between the clouds, lurking in the deep, a vast array of beautiful pokemon can be found just about anywhere. These majestic creatures are said to have all originated from Arceus, the first pokemon in recorded history. Living off the never-ending bounty of the world, pokemon live to survive, make friends, and build bonds with the only other race that inhabits the world with them:

Humans.

But unlike pokemon, humans are violent by nature. It is through mental discipline that some come to emulate the docile nature shown by their pokemon counterparts. Never satisfied, humans have often given into the thirst for power inside, creating the concept known as war. Since their conception, humans have engaged in this phenomenon. Wars over land, power, food... anything that gave them the excuse to fight and take the lives they had no right to take. Unfortunately, the pokemon of this world were often pulled into these trivial conflicts, losing their lives in the battles they never wanted to fight.

Having seen the bloodshed of both mankind and his pokemon brethren, the all-powerful Arceus decided it was high time for a change. With his divine power, he cast down an unimaginable power, Aura, to the purest humans and pokemon in the land, hoping these chosen ones would be able to end the senseless conflicts that seemed to be slowly painting the world a morbid shade of crimson. With the power to bend the essence of life itself in their hands, these select individuals became the first Aura Guardians, servants of Arceus and defenders of peace.

Through the Aura Guardians' unyielding efforts through countless centuries, the world slowly began to take a more peaceful route, one that seemed to promise a future free of conflict...

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Once again, the darkness of humanity that the Aura Guardians had worked so very hard to contain began to boil and fester, unleashing itself in the form of a young Guardian by the name of Brecht. The son of two powerful Aura Guardians, he had been born a prodigy, his skills in the ways of the Aura unrivaled by those of his age. Having reached full mastery of Aura by the age of 14, the darkness and greed in Brecht's heart was only fed by the respect he was given by many elders and commoners at such a young age. Once he reached the age of 31, the evil inside had reached a breaking point.

Consumed with self-adoration and lust for even more power, Sir Brecht's Aura became tainted, changing from brilliant blue to blood red. With his unfathomable level of skill, he conjured a dark army of demons, imps, and spirits, preparing to set the plans he'd made over the years into action. He wanted nothing less than complete control over the entire pokemon world, and he resolved to defeat all that were in his way. The Aura Guardians learned of his plot, and knew he had to be stopped... no matter the cost. It was a long discussion, but in the end, a decision was made:

For the first time in over a thousand years, humanity would be thrown into another war.

Having been stripped from his title at the start of the war, Sir Brecht gave himself a new one: Master Brecht, the Aura Warlord. Leading his armies into every battle, Master Brecht's immense power proved to be instrumental in his war against the forces of good, often tipping the scales back in his own favor whenever the Aura Guardians had gained the upper hand.

The war lasted for 9 years. 9 years defined by senseless bloodshed and loss of innocent life. Countless Aura Guardians fell in battle, ending their blessed bloodlines. In the final days of the war, it became all too clear that the Aura Guardians were on the losing side. Their numbers dwindled, while the followers of Master Brecht, the Dark Guardians, ravaged the land, dancing in the blood of their fallen foes.

On the final day of the war, Master Brecht and his Dark Guardians closed in on the Corridors of the Aura, a large temple where the last remaining Aura Guardians remained. Waiting for death, the Guardians stood in the Corridors, preparing to go down fighting for the will of Arceus. But the Dark Guardians never came. A bright light shone from the heavens, and from the clouded and thundering sky emerged Arceus. The Aura Guardians rejoiced at the sight, expecting the divine pokemon to do something unbelievable like bestow them with the power of a thousand suns or vaporize Brecht and the Dark Guardians right then and there.

Alas, Arceus did neither of those things. Unable to directly kill any man, woman, or pokemon, the best Arceus could do was seal Brecht and his army away, locking them in the rift between time and space, also known as the Distortion World. Unable to resist the pull of Arceus's power, Brecht and his armies were sucked into their prison, ending the war.

But Arceus was not done.

The divine pokemon turned to the 5 surviving Aura Guardians, who stood on the steps of the Corridors of the Aura. Gesturing for them to come, the Guardians complied, kneeling before Arceus. It was then that Arceus instructed the Guardians on what was to happen.

"I thank you for your valiant efforts. You and your fallen brethren have served me better than I could have ever requested. In gratitude for your actions, I have dealt with Brecht and restored peace. But this peace is not eternal. I am unable to directly kill any living thing. Brecht and his demons still live, but in an alternate dimension. There, they are sealed, and the seal shall hold for the next 10,000 years. In these 10,000 years, their seal will be watched over by two entities: Giratina, my son and inhabitant of the Distortion World, and the Corridors of Aura itself. With my power, I shall transport the Corridors into the rift between time and space. You surviving Guardians shall remain on this Earth, preparing for the day Brecht returns."

"My lord," started Sir Maple, one of the Aura Guardians. "Who shall inhabit the Corridors if we are to stay here? And how can we ready ourselves for the return of Brecht?"

"From now on, should an Aura Guardian fall, their soul is to be sent to the Corridors of the Aura, where they shall be given another life, a life much longer than the first. The Guardians in the Corridors will watch over Brecht's seal alongside Giratina, while you Guardians on Earth will do as you always have been: defend all that is good. You need not worry about how to prepare for Brecht's return. All you must do is ensure the survival of the Aura Guardians til that day comes. You five are the last remaining Aura Guardians in the world. Sir Hylus, Sir Maple, Sir Gen, Sir Ketchum, and Sir Arlon... do everything in your power to ensure the survival of your bloodlines. For one of you are the ancestor of the Aura Guardian destined to defeat Brecht and restore balance to the Aura."

"Yes, my lord!" answered all five Guardians in unison.

Arceus nodded, having said all he needed to say.

"Goodbye, my Guardians. Do not forget what I have told you."

And with that, both Arceus and the Corridors of the Aura vanished in a flash of light, leaving the 5 Aura Guardians with their mission: continue their work as Aura Guardians, while ensuring that their bloodlines continue. They were to teach their children about Brecht and the ways of the Aura, and were to teach their children to do the same to their own offspring. The 5 Guardians spread across the regions of the world, continuing on with life. They all perished protecting the delicate flower that was peace, but by the time their lives had ended, they had all spread their skills and knowledge to their descendants, ensuring a safe future.

...

But the 10,000-year seal is weakening, the time for the chosen Aura Guardian to rise and defeat Brecht coming near. Humanity had enjoyed over 9,000 years of relative peace, save for a few conflicts that were eventually calmed by descendants of the 5 Guardians. The Hylus, Maple, Gen, Ketchum, and Arlon clans had ushered the world into an era of peace... but at the cost of many of their lives. Only a few Guardians remain on the Earth, and only 5 remain in the Corridors. With such little numbers, how can they possibly be ready for Brecht's return? Not only that, but the Chosen Guardian destined to bring balance is still but a teenager... one that barely knows neither the ways of the Aura nor the grand past associated with his last name...

...

"Salamence is unable to battle! The victor is Hawlucha!"

The crowd erupted into cheer as a green-haired teen returned his Salamence into its pokeball with a sad smile.

"Maybe next year..." he sighed, putting the ball in his pocket.

He looked across the field, watching as the Hawlucha that defeated his strongest pokemon ran back to its raven-haired trainer. The Wrestling Pokemon jumped into its trainer's arms, allowing itself to be bear hugged by its trainer, who was just as ecstatic as he was.

"That was amazing Hawlucha!" exclaimed the 17 year-old trainer, almost shaking in joy. "We did it! We won the Kalos Conference!"

"Lucha!"

The trainer continued congratulating his pokemon until he realized his opponent was not on the other side of the field, but standing right in front of him, smiling. He immediately put his Hawlucha down, knowing from experience how important it was to be a good sport in a situation like this.

"That was a great battle, Sawyer. I can't wait to battle you again!" said the trainer, outstretching his hand.

"Likewise, Ash." replied Sawyer, shaking Ash's hand. "Good luck taking on the Elite Four! Are you going to battle them immediately or are you going to take the optional 3 months to train?"

"I already decided yesterday that if I won I'd take 3 months off, so I'll be doing that. I want my team to be as strong as possible when I battle Malva, Siebold, Wikstrom, and Drasna."

"Good choice. They're all crazy strong, but I know you can do it!" said Sawyer, taking his leave.

"Thanks, Sawyer!" called Ash, waving goodbye to his rival.

With his rival gone, only Ash and Hawlucha remained on the field, the crowd's deafening cheers for them and only them. It was a feeling completely new to Ash, the feeling of absolute victory. So many times had he come so far, only to come up short at the time he needed to perform the most. But now he was the victor, and it only took him 7 years, 6 regions and countless losses and failures to do it.

"No time to rest though," he thought, his signature competitive smile stretching across his face. Diantha, the Champion of Kalos, and a group of officials approached the stage, a shiny gold trophy in Diantha's hands. Ash approached the group, planning on meeting them half way. "We still have four elites and a champion to train for."

...

After the award ceremony, Ash was finally allowed to leave the battlefield. The people that composed the massive crowd had all gone home, leaving the building rather quiet. Before Ash was allowed to leave, he had to be briefed on what he was to do next in order to become Champion, but of course, he already knew everything he was told. As soon as he was dismissed, he made his way to his locker room, expecting to see a certain someone there. Trophy in hand, he walked through the halls of the stadium, trying to remember where exactly his locker room was.

"Pretty sure I make a left from here aaaannndddd..." Ash turned left and opened the nearest door. "bingo."

The room was very simple; a wooden bench and a couple cubbies for Ash to store his belongings. Being honest with one's self, it was more of a cubby room than a locker room. It didn't take long for Ash to grab his backpack, put his trophy in it, and exit the room, his next destination being not a place, but a person.

"Well, seems like she wasn't in the locker room... Where could she be?" he murmured to himself, keeping his eyes peeled for the sole friend that had come to the battle with him.

Deciding she'd most likely be in the lobby, Ash went there, and sure enough, she was there. Her back was turned to him, so she wasn't aware of his presence. On her shoulder was Pikachu, the mouse pokemon's head bandaged from a nasty injury it received early into Ash's epic battle with Sawyer. She seemed to be waiting for him, and from her body language, it was obvious she was excited. She was twisting from left the right and vice versa repeatedly, and from what Ash's view provided, it seemed like her hands were clasped together.

Ash sighed in adoration, but then paused, realizing he had just sighed in adoration.

"Man, ever since Clemont and Bonnie had to leave us to go back to the Lumiose Gym... I can't stop looking at her. I'd be lying if I said I didn't begin to see her in a different light when she became the only person traveling with me... I've never traveled with just one person - let alone a girl - for an extended period of time... but does this mean I like her? Hm, I mean... she is really pretty... she does have her own goals that she's working hard to reach... and she has a great personality... and most of all, she's been my #1 supporter since we met at the Santalune Gym... those are the things you're supposed to look for in a girl, right? Maybe I should talk to Gary about this... Actually, no, he'd probably take things too far. I'll talk to Brock instead, he's a little more matur-"

The 17 year-old girl suddenly turned around, both her and Pikachu's faces lighting up as soon as they saw Ash in the corner of the lobby. Ash once again found himself without any choice but to admire her features as she approached him. She was absolutely stunning, and it took Bonnie and Clemont leaving the two of them alone for him to realize it. Her eyes were by far his favorite part; two beautiful sky blue circles that seemed light up whenever they looked at him.

"Yeahhhh... I like her... a lot." he thought, awkwardly smiling as his friends got closer and closer.

"Ash!"

"Pikapi!"

"Um, hi Serena, hey Pikachu." answered Ash sheepishly, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head.

But before the hand could reach his hair, Serena's arms wrapped around him, effectively locking the upper half of his body in an iron grip. Pikachu climbed from Serena's shoulder onto Ash's, rubbing his cheek against his trainer/best friend's face. Ash smiled, enjoying the embraces of the two friends that had been there for him from the start of his Kalos journey to the end.

"Congratulations!" squealed Serena, removing her head from Ash's shoulder in order to look at him. "You were amazing out there!"

"Thanks, heheh." replied Ash, his cheeks slowly but surely becoming redder and redder. "You were too."

"At what?" asked Serena, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't do anything."

"Um, cheering. You were amazing at cheering for me. I could literally feel the support." said Ash quickly, trying to make sense of his words. "Dammit."

"Oh, well, um, yeah, that's what friends are for, right?" answered Serena, noticing how pink Ash's cheeks were. Suddenly she began to feel her own face heat up. "Is he blushing... because of me? Am I making him uncomfortable? Crap! I'm still on him! I've been hugging him for too long!"

Serena quickly let go of Ash, noticing how close she had been to him during their short conversation. Her arms had been around him the whole time, and her face was just a few inches away from his own. In all honesty, she was surprised she hadn't caught herself sooner; she was usually a lot more attentive when it came to making any type of physical contact with Ash whatsoever.

After the two separated, they kind of just looked at each other with painfully awkward smiles, neither really knowing what to do or say next. Pikachu looked back and forth between the two, quickly picking up on what was going. It was cute and all, but it was time for them to leave, and if nothing was done, the two would probably spend the next couple hours staring at each other in the same goofy manner.

"Chu."

At the sound of Pikachu's voice, both teens snapped out of their trance, nervous chuckles and hums echoing around the lobby.

"So... we should probably go back to the Pokemon Center, right? I need to ask Nurse Joy heal my pokemon, you need to pack up your stuff from the room we rented... and I have to call my mom on the video phone."

"Y-yeah, totally."

...

10 minutes later...

The walk to the pokemon center was spent talking about Ash's win. Serena had told him her favorite parts of the battle, and also told him of the few times he made mistakes. Taking both the compliments and constructive criticism, Ash thoroughly enjoyed the conversation. Not only did talking about the battle help alleviate the awkward feeling in the air, it reminded him of why he liked Serena so much. She genuinely cared for his battles, almost as if they were her own. She wasn't the most experienced when it came to battling, but somehow she was able to give great advice on it. It almost felt like with her by his side, he could accomplish anything.

Little did he know, Serena felt the same way. If not for Ash's constant encouragement, her dream to win the coveted title of Kalos Queen would have ended before it even started. But thanks to his support, her dream was still alive and well, the rookie Pokemon Performer making it all the way to the top 8 of the Master Class tournament. Not getting first place in the tournament had no effect on her, since immediately after her loss, Ash told her of his various losses in league tournaments.

As the pair entered the Pokemon Center, she remembered Ash's description of his loss in Sinnoh.

"I was a good sport afterwards, but looking back, that was some major bullshit. I put together a killer team, and then this grown man with a perm named Tobias comes with a fucking Darkrai and a Latios! What was a guy like that doing in a league tournament anyway?! If he has enough skill to catch two legendaries then he should be doing something more up his alley like ending world hunger or solving the energy crisis! Not crushing the dreams of teenagers!"

Serena giggled; After hearing that, she didn't feel nearly as bad about losing.

"What's so funny?" asked Ash, handing Pikachu and his pokeballs to Nurse Joy.

"Oh nothing..." said Serena. "I was just thinking about how lucky you were that Sawyer didn't have a Darkrai and a Latios."

"Ah, Tobias..." said Ash, turning around to get his pokeballs back from Nurse Joy. When he turned back to Serena, his facial expression was a little darker than before. "He was weird. I didn't know back then, but his sudden appearance was really a concern to some people. Before the Lily of the Valley conference, nobody had even heard of him. And then right afterwards, he disappeared."

"Disappeared? How?"

"Not sure..." started Ash. "Apparently he just fell off the face of the Earth. Nobody was able to track him or anything. They couldn't even locate the signal from his pokedex. I don't know what happened, but it's definitely something creepy. It was already odd that he had two legendary pokemon under his command... and then he just vanishes? He was definitely one shady dude."

"That is pretty creepy..." agreed Serena. She then pouted, folding her arms. "Darn it, Ash! Why did you have to tell me that?"

"Sorry if it scared you, I was just saying. People don't just disappear like that." said Ash, walking towards the video phone. Ash typed his mother's phone number into the keypad, waiting for his mother's face to show up on the screen. "Anyway, I'm gonna talk to my mom. You can go up to the room if you want."

"Alright." answered Serena walking away. "Let me know when you're done on the phone, I want to call my mom too."

"Sure thing, Serena." replied Ash, right as someone's face appeared in the screen. He could've sworn he called his mother's phone number... yet his mother wasn't the one on the screen. Instead of Delia Ketchum, a brown haired teen was on the screen. He had a huge smile on his face, obviously very happy to see Ash. But Ash wasn't all that happy to see him, more confused if anything. "What are you doing in my house?"

"Oh, so you think now that you've finally won a league tournament you can just speak to me anyhow?" asked the person. "I'm hurt, Ashy-boy."

"Whatever, Gary. What are you doing in my house?" repeated Ash.

"Calm down, I'm not the only one here. Everyone's here. We all came over to watch your battle with Tom Sawyer or whatever the guy's name was on TV. It was pretty hard to find a channel that was showing it since Kalos is pretty far from Kanto but we found a channel right at the second to last battle. The one where that Salamence beat your Talonflame."

"Everyone's there? What do you mean by everyone?" asked Ash, raising an eyebrow.

"Me, Gramps, Tracey, Misty, Ritchie, Brock... y'know, the OG Kanto crew." answered Gary. "Congrats on the win, man. I'd call your mom over to come talk to you, but she's kind of busy right now. You see, Misty's been a little under the weather lately and she kind of vomited all over the-"

"Okay okay, I get it." said Ash, not wanting to hear the end of the sentence. "You said Brock is there, right?"

"Yep."

"Put him on the phone please." said Ash seriously.

Instead of getting Brock like Ash asked, Gary looked at Ash, the smuggest of smirks slowly creeping across his face.

"This is about that Serena girl, isn't it?" asked Gary, eyes narrow.

"How did you-"

"Oh Ashy-boy, you're just too easy to read when it comes to stuff like this. What else would you need advice from Brock for? Lemme guess, you're all over this Serena character? Want to be her man?"

"I'm not 'all over her'." said Ash, looking around to make sure she wasn't in the room. She was nowhere to be found, but he decided to lower his voice to a whisper anyway. "I just like her... a lot."

"Same thing. Anyway, I'm guessing you need advice on what to do with her now? In regards to the fact that you're probably gonna have to separate soon?"

"...yes." sighed Ash.

"Haven't you been in this exact situation before with-"

"Stay on topic. We're talking about Serena right now." snapped Ash.

"Alright alright... geez. Well, here's what you should do, you should-"

"Gary, I don't want your advice." said Ash flatly. "You're just going to tell me to do something that you would do in this situation. I'm not a womanizer like you, so I'd rather take advice from someone like Brock or Tracey, guys who actually see women as, y'know, human beings and not fun objects to touch and look at."

"Hey, no need to be an ass. I'll have you know I am not a womanizer anymore. I've had the same girlfriend, Leaf, for 7 weeks now, which is an all-time record for me, and I don't plan on breaking up with her any time soon. Not only that, but I haven't even cheated on her either! Being with her has taught me that women aren't what I used to see them as. I'm a changed man, Ashy-boy, now shut up and listen to my changed man advice."

"*sigh* I'm listening."

"You need to bring her back to your place-"

"I thought you said you were changed ma-"

"You know what'd be great?" asked Gary, growing irritated. "If you let me finish my sentence. Anyway, you take her home. And by take her home, I mean exactly what I said. Take her here, your house. And before you ask how, here's how. Invite her to a party that you're throwing in celebration of your victory. Don't throw the party of course until a day or two after you two arrive in Kanto. In that 1-2 day time is your window of opportunity to tell her. Take her around, show her a good time. Then take her to my Grandpa's summer camp grounds, where I hear you two met. That's when BAM! You kiss her."

"Kiss her?!" asked Ash, eyes wide. "I can't do that! I don't even know if she likes me back..."

"You dense dolt, of course she likes you back. You know my mom and your mom are like, best friends for life. Your mom tells mine all the details about whenever you call her, and my mom tells me everything your mom said. According to your mom, this Serena girl has the hots for you. You know moms, they have a knack for seeing shit like that."

"...Fine, I'll invite her to come with me to Kanto... but-"

"No buts."

"But what if she doesn't want to-"

"Why wouldn't she?" asked Gary. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but Pokemon Showcases are in Kanto now. If this plan goes right and you kiss her and you two become a thing, you can spend the next 3 months on a journey with her. You'd be training for the Elite 4, while she'd be able to continue her dreams of being a Pokemon Performer, all while being in a region full of pokemon she's never seen before! Ashy-boy, I've got this shit mapped out, man! Come on, just tell her about the party, bring her here, and you can seal the deal. I don't know why you're hesitating. Keep up these shenanigans and this'll end up the same way it did 4 years ago with-"

"Why do you insist on bringing that up?" growled Ash.

"Because you dropped the ball... big time." snorted Gary. "I know it's hard, but you of all people should know that waiting around for a miracle of Arceus gets you nowhere. You'll never know how things could be until you try. This is your second chance, bud. From here on, you're in what I call the 'Make It or Break It Critically Important Now or Never Holy Shit Zone'. I believe in you."

"...You know what? You're right." admitted Ash, slowly nodding his head. "I've faced bigger challenges in the past... I can totally handle this one..."

"Fuck yeah you can. Now get off the phone and invite her to the party. Don't worry about organizing the party or anything, I'll take care of that."

"Thanks, Gary." thanked Ash. "I really didn't expect you to give me advice that good."

"No problem Ashy-boy. Good luck!"

And with that, Gary's face vanished from the video phone's screen. Ash stared at his own reflection in the screen, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

"You can do this." he muttered, slowly standing up. "You're just inviting her to a party. Nothing major."

As he walked across the lobby of the pokemon center, he couldn't help but notice how the self-confidence that almost defined his personality seemed to completely abandon him when it came to anything girl-related. Facing a legendary pokemon that could probably kill him with a single blast? No problem. Entering a battle against one of the best trainers in the world? Whatevs. Talking to a girl he liked? End of the world.

"Here we go..." he mumbled, knocking on the door of the room he and Serena had rented.

"Ash?" asked Serena from inside the room.

"Yep."

"You're done on the phone already?"

"Yep."

"Okay, hold on a sec."

Some shuffling sounds were heard for a couple seconds, which was a couple seconds longer than Ash had expected. He had patience, but she was taking a solid 15 seconds. Right as he was about to knock again, Serena opened the door.

"Hi." she greeted.

"Hey." answered Ash. "I wanna ask you something."

"What is it?" she asked, tilting her head.

Suddenly, Ash felt his body freeze up. Her eyes seemed to be looking straight into his soul, when in reality, she was simply waiting for an answer to her question. All of a sudden his palms got sweaty, and he could just feel the blood rushing to his cheeks.

"So, um, I was just wondering... Wait, let me start over. So I'm having a party to celebrate my win, and I just wanted to know if you'd be interested in coming to it. I thought it'd be a great opportunity for you to come see Kanto again since the last time you were there was when we were 5. You could catch some pokemon there... I also heard there's Pokemon Showcases there too, and I, um, I think it would be pretty cool if we continued our journey together in Kanto since you've been a great person to travel with here in Kalos... I'd train for the Elite 4 while you'd try the Kanto showcases and compete for Kanto Queen."

Ash mentally chastised himself. He was only supposed to invite her to the party, not reveal 75% of his plan in the process. He anxiously waited for Serena's answer. She seemed to be completely caught off guard by Ash's request, but before Ash could assume he said something wrong, she grinned.

"Ash, of course I'll come to your party! And I'd love to compete in the Kanto showcases! But..."

"But...?" thought Ash, a violent chill running through his chest.

"But that's not my decision to make." finished Serena, her grin turning into a sad smile. "I have to ask my mom first. She'd go crazy if I just called her one day and told her I was in another region entirely. Since I'm about to call her anyway, I'll just ask her right now."

Ash sighed in relief. "Okay. I'll just stay in here and pack up my stuff while you call her. I don't want to rush you or anything, but it's 5:42 right now, and the train to Lumiose City leaves at 6:15. After your call we gotta head to the train station."

"It shouldn't take long. I'll be back in a few minutes." sang Serena, closing the door.

Now alone in the room, Ash looked around, noticing that all of Serena's things were already neatly packed in her bag. His own things, however, were all over the place. In what felt like record time, Ash shoved everything into his bag, making sure not to break or scratch his trophy in the process. Once that was out of the way, he walked over to one of the two beds in the room. Both of them were laid and free of any personal belongings, so he decided to just go to the one that was closer to him, even though that one was Serena's. He collapsed face first onto the bed, taking a deep breath.

"I really hope I don't screw this up again." he thought, burying his head in a pillow.

...

the next day...

...

"I am so glad your mom said yes." said Ash, turning to Serena.

After talking to her mother, Serena had rushed up the stairs to tell Ash the good news that she had gotten her mother's permission to go to Kanto. After a few moments of celebration, the two had grabbed their things and got on the train to Lumiose City. After reuniting with Clemont and Bonnie, they had spent the night with their friends. When invited to Ash's party, Clemont and Bonnie reluctantly declined, for the same reason that they were forced to separate from Ash and Serena earlier in their journey; after finding out about the existence of Clembot, the Kalos League deemed the use of a robotic substitute for an actual Gym Leader to be illegal, forcing Clemont to stay in the gym and do his job. With Clemont and Bonnie unable to go, only Ash and Serena were to take the plane back to Kanto the next morning.

Now they were on said plane, and Ash could barely keep his excitement down. This was the fourth time he had told Serena of how glad he was that she was coming with him. Of course, each time Ash said it made the Pokemon Performer's heart flutter, but even to her, it was getting a little too excessive.

"Yes Ash, I know." answered Serena with a giggle. "You can stop saying it now."

"I've only said it, like, twice." said Ash rather defensively.

"You definitely said it at least four times already." chuckled Serena.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did totally not."

"Did totally too."

All the surrounding people on the plane, including Pikachu, silently groaned in clear vexation. While 2 or 3 of the strangers on board thought the playful bickering was cute, the other 248 thought it was annoying as hell. In a world of their own, Ash and Serena barely even noticed the death stares from majority of the people sitting near them. Luckily, Pikachu saw these looks of malice, and decided to act before one of the passengers lost their patience.

"Pika!" hollered Pikachu, catching the attention of both Ash and Serena.

"What's up, bud?" asked Ash. Pikachu pointed out the window. Having a window-seat, Ash looked through the glass, and saw that there was no longer a vast expanse of ocean waters below them; there was land. Ash grinned. "We're here! Look, there's Mt. Moon! And the Pokemon Tower!"

"ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS." echoed a voice from the plane's P.A. system. "THIS IS YOUR PILOT. WE WILL BE REACHING OUR DESTINATION SHORTLY. WE ASK THAT ALL SEAT-BELTS ARE FASTENED AS WE BEGIN OUR DESCENT AND LANDING INTO VIRIDIAN CITY AIRPORT. I REPEAT, ALL PASSENGERS FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS AND PREPARE FOR DESCENT."

"...And there's Viridian Forest!" continued Ash, completely ignoring the pilot's words.

"So Ash," began Serena, making sure her seat-belt was strapped properly. "When we land in the airport, what's next?"

"Oh, um, my friend Gary is going to be there, waiting for us. Once everything's settled, we'll get in his car and he'll drive us to my house. It's not a long drive, so we should be there around noon. Once we get to my house, we'll get you situated and everything... and then we'll spend the rest of the day, as well as tomorrow, having fun. And then the party's on the day after tomorrow."

"Okay... So what kind of fun are we going to have?" asked Serena excitedly.

"Err... the fun kind." answered Ash, growing nervous as he remembered his plan to kiss her at some point during this day and a half of fun. "Don't worry, you'll have a good time... I hope."

"Don't be silly Ash, there's no need to hope." said Serena, catching those last 2 words. "As long as I'm with someone like you, there's no way I can't have fun."

"Thanks Serena... for what it's worth, I could say the same thing about you." said Ash, who was (you guessed it) blushing.

Once again, 90% of the people on the plane, including Pikachu, either rolled their eyes or groaned in cheesy teen-romance induced agony. Lucky for them, Ash and Serena said nothing after that, deciding to spend the remaining minutes of the flight in comfortable silence.

hey hey hey

hey hey hey, woooo

hey hey hey

If you can't hear... what I'm trying to say
If you can't read from the same page
Maybe I'm going deaf
Maybe I'm going blind
Maybe I'm out of my miiiiiii-

"You have reached the one and only Gary Oak, talk to me." answered the owner of the phone, silencing the ringtone. "Hey, Mrs. Ketchum. Yes, that's always how I answer the phone... Yeah, I'm actually walking into the airport right now. Once I find Ash and Serena, we'll be on our wa-... ... ...wait, what did you just say? ... Mrs. Ketchum, with all due respect, if this is a joke, it's not funny. ... You're serious?! Shit! ... Sorry for cursing... no, I don't kiss my mother with this mouth. Anyway, what are they even doing there?! Uggghhhhh, this puts a huge old wrench in everything... *sigh* well, I'm sure Ash can still pull off the plan. It might be a harder for him with you-know-who in the vicinity though... alright, I'll see you soon... yeah, I'll try to warn him, but I don't know how I'll do that with this Serena girl there. I'll try though. K bye."

Gary lolled his head back, a heavy sigh escaping his throat.

"Better start looking for them..." he muttered, taking off the black aviator sunglasses he was wearing.

As he searched, he decided to push aside the troubling information he had just learned and focus solely on finding Ash and Serena. Unfortunately, the task wasn't as easy as he thought it'd be. When it came to clothing style, Ash was as generic as could be. In the 2 minutes he'd been searching, Gary had already passed several boys of various ages in hats, short-sleeved jackets, pants, and completely unnecessary fingerless gloves. He thought of trying to spot Serena, but that was impossible; he'd never seen her before.

"Well... she's gotta be pretty if she's a Pokemon Performer, right?" thought Gary.

Gary walked up to the first pretty girl he saw. Her back was turned to him, and she was standing next to yet another guy in a hat and jacket.

"Hey," greeted Gary, tapping the girl's shoulder. "Is your name Serena by any chance?"

The girl turned around, revealing her face. In Gary's eyes, she wasn't just pretty, she was gorgeous. Mesmerizing eyes, beautiful hair...

"No, it ain't." answered the girl, her voice deeper than Vin Diesel's. "My name's T-Steak. Why you wanna know my name, pretty boy?"

The guy next to T-Steak turned around, revealing himself to be just another dork in similar clothing to Ash.

"Gee whiz, who're you?" asked the Ash look-alike in a high-pitched voice. "If you're here to see my mint-condition vintage ultra-rare Bobsledding trading card collection, you're out of luck cuz they're all mine, ya hear?"

Gary blinked a couple times, realizing that these people were not the pair he was looking for. Giving himself a second to collect himself, he began his reply.

"Listen dork-lord," he said, pointing at boy in the hat. "I don't want your freaking bobsledding trading cards. I didn't even know those existed until now, and frankly, I now see you as a lesser human being because you have them. I'm just trying to find two people and I thought you two... things were them-"

"Hey Gary! Over here!" called a voice from behind Gary, taking his attention away from the two odd people.

Gary turned around, seeing a familiar figure waving to him in the distance.

"Black hair, Pikachu on shoulder, goofy grin, yeah, that's him." mumbled Gary. "Ayyyy! Ashy-bo-"

Gary froze as his eyes captured what must've been the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Her elegant legs raised her to a divine 5 feet and 9 inches, just one inch shorter than Ash. Her short, wavy honey-blonde hair seemed to be that of an angel's; perfectly maintained and shiny. Her eyes were a pleasant shade of blue, and just one look into them brought feelings of joy and kindness. Gary had not once met this girl before, but the smile she gave him made him feel like they were life-long friends...

But none of those things mattered as much as the killer ass that he spotted on her.

"This... this might be an issue." he thought, resisting the temptation to stare at Serena's lower half. He meant it when he told Ash that he was a changed man; he had a girlfriend, and he doubted she'd be happy if she found out he was staring at another girl's curves. "Damn you Ash and your impeccable taste in women..."

"Hey Gary, it's been a while since I've seen you in person!" said Ash, giving Gary a quick bro-hug. "This is Serena Yvonne. Serena, this is Gary Oak."

"Nice to meet you!" greeted Serena, outstretching her hand for a hand shake.

"Nice you meet you too." said Gary, literally trying his best to avoid adding a flirty tone to his voice. After shaking Serena's hand, Gary reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. "Okay, you guys ready to go?"

Both Ash and Serena nodded.

"Alright." said Gary, putting on his sunglasses. "Next stop, the Ketchum residence."

After they had exited the airport, the trio had gotten into Gary's car, the same red convertible he used to ride around in during his days as a trainer. As soon as they got in the car, Serena fell into a world of her own as she gazed at all the pokemon and sights of the Kanto region. Ash and Gary spent most of the ride talking, their conversations ranging from Gary's research discoveries to Ash's stories about the Kalos Region. But as they neared Pallet Town, Gary remembered what was waiting for them. He glanced at his rear-view mirror, and saw that Serena was still sight-seeing.

"Gotta warn him..." he thought. "Without flat-out telling him what's going on..."

Gary cleared his throat.

"Ashy-boy."

"Yeah?"

"So before we all met up in the airport, your mom called me. She told me something that could really affect the next couple of days... I thought I'd tell you about it just so you're, y'know, prepared for anything."

"Really? What'd she tell you?"

"Nothing much," said Gary, "she just wanted me to remind you of what month it is right now."

"May?" asked Ash.

"Yep. That indeed is the month right now. You know how Pallet Town is during May, right?"

"I dunno, sunny?" said Ash.

"I mean, it was sunny a couple years ago, but ever since a... climate change that happened around this exact time four years ago, it's been pretty rainy in May. The worst is when it's a downpour. The rainwater leaks from some people's ceilings, and gets in their houses."

Pikachu's ears perked up as he began to understand Gary's words. Ash, on the other hand, still wasn't getting it.

"Okay... what's the big deal? All I've learned just now is that May used to be a good thing, and then the climate changed and now it's a bad thing because the downpour that May brings gets water in some houses."

"Yes." said Gary.

"So besides the chance of there being rain, how else does this affect me?"

"A lot of rain gets in your house, Ash." said Gary cryptically. "Your house in particular. According to your mom... there's going to be a heavy downpour today. I'm just telling you this so you can be prepared for it... May in Pallet Town is no joke."

"Well, I'm sure I can handle a few leaks." said Ash, dismissing the conversation.

"I hope so, man." sighed Gary, realizing Ash didn't get the message. "I really hope so..."

After that, Gary didn't feel like talking anymore, meaning nobody spoke at all. But just a few seconds later, Serena finally said something that wasn't either 'I've never seen that pokemon before!' or 'Oh wow! There's so many!'. The car drove past a large field, and in this field was a wide variety of different pokemon from different regions.

"Oh wow! There's so many pokemon I've never seen before!" squealed Serena. "And they're all just roaming around that big farm-place-area-thing... Who owns those? Or is it a type of zoo?"

"Those are my pokemon, Serena." said Ash proudly.

"And that's no zoo, that's my Grandpa's pokemon lab. He keeps Ash's pokemon because Ash is too much of a lazy bum to carry them around and is always catching more instead of using the ones he's already caught. Really, he wonders why it took him so long to win a league tournament when he literally starts every region from scratch with the exception of Pikach-"

"What about that time in Sinnoh? Ash told me he used some of his strongest pokemon for that." said Serena, defending Ash.

"Okay, to be fair, I will admit that that was bullshit. Darkrai and a Latios... who knows what else that creep had? A shiny Arceus?"

"Yeah, that was dumb." said Ash quickly, not really wanting to talk about his past failures after a victory. "So anyway, since we just drove past Professor Oak's Lab... my house should be... right over there!"

And so it was. Just a few hundred feet away was a blue house with a red roof. With every second that the car got closer to said house, Ash's smile grew wider and wider. In complete contrast, Gary began to frown, realizing that Ash too would probably be frowning within the next minute or two.

Gary pulled into the driveway, parking his car.

"Hey Gary, I thought you said something about rain... It seems perfectly sunny out." noticed Ash, looking up at the sky as he got out of Gary's car. "Guess the forecast was wrong?"

"T_T... I'm going to the lab." said Gary, staying in his car. "I'll see you guys at the party."

"Okay, thanks for the ride Gary!" hollered Ash as Gary reversed out of the parking lot.

"Thank you!" called Serena.

"You're welcome." sighed Gary, speeding away from Ash's house as fast as possible.

"Hm, I wonder why he's driving so fast...?" mumbled Ash.

"Maybe something urgent is going down at the lab..." concluded Serena.

Gary sped down the road, driving right past the lab without a moment's hesitation.

"Just gonna get as far away from that fiasco as possible." he thought.

"Meh, maybe." said Ash, scratching his head. Pikachu sighed. Not noticing Pikachu's action, Ash turned to Serena. "Well, time to go inside!"

With Serena following close behind, Ash walked up to the front door. He knocked a couple times, but there was no answer. He knocked again, and after another silence, the sound of someone rushing to the door was faintly heard.

"That's my mom." said Ash, turning his head towards Serena. "She can be a little weird when it comes to meeting my friends, so be prepa-"

The door swung open, revealing someone that was indeed female. But her eyes were a beautiful ocean blue, unlike the brown ones of Delia Ketchum. This person had brown hair, but not the same type of brown as Ash's mother's. This girl's hair was more of a tree-bark color, as opposed to the auburn hair Ash was expecting. But what truly set this girl apart from Ash's mother was their age. This girl was nowhere near old enough to be Ash's mom. She looked 17, just like Ash and Serena.

This girl wasn't Ash's mom, that much, Serena could determine.

As soon as she laid her eyes upon Ash, the mystery girl grinned, rushing towards him.

"ASHHHH!" she yelled, pulling the absolutely speechless trainer into a hug.

"M-May...?" stuttered Ash weakly, his eyes wide in absolute shock.

"I haven't seen you in so lonnnnnnnng!" gushed May Maple, giving Ash what was most likely the tightest hug he'd ever experienced. "I-... huh?"

Her head resting on Ash's shoulder, May was given a perfect view of the honey-blonde haired, blue-eyed girl behind him. Both girls looked at each other, and they both blinked twice.

May frowned; this wasn't a person she had met before.

"Ash," she began, a friendly smile on her face. "who's this?"

In a dark room, five men stood. Each wore cloaks of dark blue color, each garment adorned with archaic embroidery and hoods to conceal their faces. All of them wore the same clothes, but each possessed some kind of item to differentiate them from the rest. For example, one had a sword and shield strapped to his back, while another had two blue and black miniaturized pokeballs attached to the wrists of his gloves. all five of these men seemed to radiate a power and strength unlike that of anything else. These hooded figures stood around a rather large glass sphere, and reflecting in the sphere was the scene that had just unfolded.

One of the men, the only one without a unique item, raised his hand, laying it on the sphere. The image paused as soon as his hand made contact. He then removed his hood, revealing a head of very dark cobalt-blue hair and blue eyes to match.

"Guys," he said, taking a step back from the sphere. "I can't watch this anymore."

Three of the four remaining men simply looked at him, their hoods still covering their faces. The fourth one, however, burst into laughter and removed his own hood, revealing messy brown hair and a goatee of the same color.

"What's wrong, Sir Riley?" he asked in between hearty chuckles.

"The second-hand sense of dread is killing me." sighed Sir Riley, half-smiling. "I don't even need to read their Auras to tell those girls aren't gonna get along..."

"Well," said one of the 3 Guardians that had remained silent. He removed his hood, revealing a face that was very similar to Sir Riley's, save for a few differences. In his hand was a brown staff with a silver crest on the end. "it's a good thing Sir Tobias is picking him up tomorrow, then. It'll save him the trouble of dealing with that nightmare."

"Not a nightmare if you ask me." said the Guardian with the brown hair and goatee. "Two beautiful babes, both his age, both well-endowed... in different ways too! He's got it good if you ask me, the best of both worlds!"

"You're disgusting, Branford." droned Sir Riley. "You do realize you bear the same last name as one of those girls, right? And that they're both a couple hundred years younger than you?"

"Sir Riley," snapped the Guardian wielding the staff. "regardless of his crass comments, Sir Branford is still an Aura Guardian. You have no right to say his name without 'Sir' in front of it."

"Yeah, that's SIR Branford to you, Riley!"

"Yeah, and that's SIR Riley you, Sir Incestuous Pedophile." grumbled Sir Riley.

"Hold up," snapped Sir Branford, getting serious. "I just said that he's in a good situation! What, because I'm like 370 years older than them I can't say that they're beautiful women? And who're ya calling incestuous?! I didn't say I'd do anything with them, especially the brown-haired one! Like you said, she's a Maple too!"

"Well," interrupted the Guardian with the staff. "if you think the young Ketchum is in a good situation, that kind of implies that you wouldn't mind being there in his pla-"

"Sirs Aaron, Riley, and Branford. Silence." ordered one of the two remaining Guardians yet to remove his hood.

It was the one with two mini pokeballs attached to the wrists of his gloves. He removed his hood, revealing wavy, grayish-blue hair. At his words, Sir Riley, Sir Branford, and Sir Aaron stopped talking. Even though all 5 of the Guardians in the room were equals in rank and power, they all knew to listen to the one that had just spoken up. He wasn't their leader, but he was by far the most serious of them all. He only spoke when absolutely necessary, causing all four of his companions to listen whenever he did.

"What is it, Sir Tobias?" asked Sir Aaron.

"We must begin preparations for Ketchum's arrival." said Sir Tobias simply. "Tomorrow I am to retrieve him, and his training will begin as soon as possible. It is best for all of you to prepare yourselves. This is not some normal student we're taking under our wing. This is the Chosen Guardian; By the end of his training, he must be as strong as all of us combined, and with twice the battle instinct. This young man's destiny affects us all, so quit your bickering and prepare the Corridors for his arrival."

"Don't worry, everything will be ready by the time he gets here." said Sir Riley, walking away. "The question is... will he be ready? How exactly are you going to pick him up anyway?"

"It doesn't matter if he's ready or not. The world can't afford to wait for him to be 'ready'... " replied Sir Tobias, staring at Ash's paused reflection in the glass sphere. "I'll be bringing him here in the way I see fit. I'm afraid the details as to how I'll be doing it are none of your concern."

"Don't do anything rash, Sir Tobias." warned Sir Aaron.

"Hm."

Sirs Branford, Aaron, and Riley all stared at the back of Sir Tobias's head, all of them feeling uneasy regarding what he might do. He was always one for getting the job done, no matter how he did it. As long as Arceus and the ways of the Aura were protected, he didn't mind whether his methods were the best or not. Deciding to just listen to him and hope he didn't do anything too extreme, the three Guardians left the room, each exiting through a different door.

This left only two men in the room, Sir Tobias and the one other Aura Guardian that had yet to remove his hood or even speak. They both stared down at the glass sphere, Ash, Serena, and May's figures still paused on it.

"Destroy it." ordered Sir Tobias, walking away from the sphere. "Once he arrives, we don't want him to be able to see anything from his life on Earth. It'll only distract him from his training."

The hooded Guardian nodded, unsheathing his double-edged sword. With a grunt, he swung the weapon through the sphere, shattering it. He then returned his blade to its scabbard, a light sigh echoing in the room as he gazed at the shards of glass that now dangerously littered the blue and black checkered floors...

I hope you enjoyed it! I know I did. Of course, feel free to ask any questions you have, because I answer every question in a Q&A section of each and every chapter.

How will Sir Tobias get Ash?

Who is this 5th Aura Guardian wielding a sword and shield?

What will Ash do now that May has suddenly appeared?!

Find out in the next installment of Pokemon: The Fellowship of the Aura!

Seeya,

~DarkSlash9