Last Time On TMOM:
Lucario started training Ash to use wave, inadvertently upsetting Aileen who discovered she had no wave talent. Now the party continues to close the distance between them and Pikachu.
Quote: 'Be careful, Ash. When legendaries choose someone, it is rarely a one-time thing.'

Chapter Fifteen: Visions

But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
-Bastille

A sudden knock to the back of his head effectively snuffed the aura from his hand. Ash started, gripping the lump he could feel forming beneath his fingers.

"Ow," Ash loudly complained, somewhat heedless of his sleeping companions. A few sleeping bags rustled but no one sat up. Everyone else had called it an evening hours before. There was only one who was still awake, the same one who was always still awake. Ash was starting to wonder if Lucario ever slept.

'Go to bed,' Lucario ordered as he marched past.

Ash hadn't heard the pokemon approach. He must have been making his rounds and found the teenager still up. Unfortunately, Lucario's words had the opposite effect. Ash stood up and cheerfully fell into step behind the pokemon.

The cold night was best taken at a brisk pace. Ash stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and half-skipped half-jogged to keep up with Lucario's more lengthier strides. Despite his earlier show of disapproval, Lucario did nothing to dissuade Ash from following.

"I'm getting better at the aura sphere," Ash announced.

'That so?'

"Would you like me to show you?"

'I saw.'

"And…"

'It is bigger. Keep working at it and you might even be able to fry an unfortunate joltik.'

Ash made a face. "It's not that small." He had gotten the energy sphere to expand to the size of a golf ball at least. Surely, it could do more damage than just singeing one of the smallest bug type pokemon.

'Sure,' Lucario shrugged. Without looking back at Ash, he took a giant leap straight off the ground and up into the nearby tree. Ash watched as the agile pokemon snatched the lowest branch in mid-jump and managed to swing himself upon it. Then, with his remaining momentum, effortlessly leaped up another two branches. The shaking leaves heralded his exit.

Ash stared up the tree only for a moment or two longer before deciding to call it a night himself.

'Thank you for talking to Aileen.'

Ash was startled by the bodiless voice, despite having been well acquainted with Lucario's telepathy by now. The pokemon didn't need to be nearby to hold a conversation. And just because he put space between them didn't necessarily mean the pokemon was done chatting.

Ash wondered idly if there actually was a range on the pokemon's telepathy as he plopped down under the tree. Ash leaned against the trunk, looking up into the tree's darkened branches for some sign of the elusive pokemon.

"I didn't think you cared," He said to the tree branches.

'I care about the que- the princess. I care about the princess. Unfortunately, I couldn't foresee a way to stall her suffering. Whether it came from me or from her own lacking ability- the outcome would have been the same.'

"I dunno. Maybe you just need to learn how to talk to people better. She'd probably have handled it better if you broke it to her differently."

'...Perhaps.'

Ash smiled in spite of himself. He stretched out his arms, tucking them comfortably behind his head. It certainly didn't make an ideal pillow but Ash had fallen asleep in weirder places. "Besides, I would have talked to her anyway. I care about Aileen too."

'I see…' Lucario was silent for a moment. Long enough for Ash's eyelids to grow just a little bit heavier. The pokemon's next words were just gentle enough to shake Ash back awake. 'You care a lot for your friends. Pikachu, especially.'

"Yeah," Ash yawned loudly, missing the nuance in Lucario's tone. "We go way back."

'How did you and Pikachu meet?'

"Badly," Ash grinned a little foolishly at the memory. "I tried to give him a hug. And he electrocuted me. Professor Oak was out of pokemon by the time I got to the lab so… Pikachu was the only one left."

'So this Professor… he introduced you?'

"Yeah. Pikachu was my starter pokemon… All trainers get one when they start their pokemon journey. Didn't you have pokemon trainers in your time?"

'Not quite. But we did have adventurers… they often paired with willing pokemon. It was how I came to be recruited by Sir Aaron. He was an adventurer before he was knighted.'

Ash sensed he might have strayed too far into an uncomfortable conversation. But Lucario didn't let the silence linger long.

'You said you didn't get along at first?'

"Well, yeah. No. We didn't," Ash laughed, still fighting off the heavy feeling in his chest. "But we kinda needed each other. It was rough at first but… eventually, we clicked. He's the pokemon partner I never knew I needed…"

Ash trailed off, staring aimlessly into the dark. He was only all too aware of how long he had been separated from his dearest friend. Pikachu's absence was a lingering hurt that never quite went away. Like a hole leaking in his heart. But now, Ash had become aware of a new revelation.

It hurt to talk about Pikachu this way as if they'd never meet again. But Lucario really wouldn't meet anyone from his timeline again. He had been ripped from everything he had known, everything familiar and any possible friend or family he might have had. He must have had some, beyond Sir Aaron. The loneliness alone could have been nothing short of suffocating.

Ash sat in sober reflection of this. He opened his mouth a few times but swallowed the words before he could speak. He knew there were absolutely no words that could mend such a hurt. But he hated knowing and feeling that it was impossible to even start.

He still didn't totally like the pokemon. Lucario was curmudgeonly and stuck in his ways, something certainly expected of a several-centuries-old pokemon. But he was also sad and that was something Ash could relate to. It was not in that shrug it off, eat some chocolate, and have a few pokemon battles sort of way either. It was the kind of sadness that ran bone-deep and stuck around long past its welcome.

Ash had been dealing with the same sort of sadness for months now and he hadn't wanted to admit it to anyone. Not even himself.

He wasn't allowed to feel sad. He had to be stronger. At least strong enough, long enough, until he could figure out what direction his life now needed to take.

Should he cut his losses, go home and quit being a pokemon trainer? Or should he keep a promise he hadn't intended to make and shoot for a selfish goal that no longer felt all his own? Was it selfish to keep going or selfish to quit?

Since the tournament, Ash hadn't had time to think about the decision he would shortly need to make. Everything had been such a perfect whirlwind of distraction. But what if he did manage to get Pikachu back? What then?

If he left training, his pokemon would suffer. He'd lose everything he had been spending the last several years trying to accomplish. Everything they had gone through would have been for nothing.

But if he stayed, how many more people would he inadvertently hurt?

What even was the right answer?

Ash hugged his knees, fighting the urge to bury his face into them. He hadn't meant to spiral. But now that he was here, it was hard to pull himself out of the whirlpool of his own thoughts. The thoughts had a way of consuming everything; sound, thought, feeling- everything. So Ash genuinely couldn't help nearly jumping out of his skin when he felt Lucario's paw touch his arm.

Lucario had jumped down in the proceeding silence. And though he hadn't crept up on the human, Ash still found his appearance as sudden as if he had. His heart, even now, was still hammering away in his throat. It was hard to catch his breath.

"S-sorry," Ash muttered, rubbing at his trembling arms. "I'm not usually this jumpy."

'I shouldn't have been asking so candidly of your absent friend… I can see I've managed to upset you too. I apologize.'

"No," Ash said absently. "No… it's fine."

Ash climbed back to his feet, casting Lucario one last sidelong glance. The pokemon was staring silently back at him. Ash couldn't read his expression any more than he ever could. So Ash shrugged off the stare and walked back towards camp and the others.

'We will find Pikachu.'

Ash stopped, startled. When he spun back, Lucario was still there; meeting Ash's wide eyes with a confident nod.

"Uh… Th-thank you."

This was a little too much to digest on so little sleep. Ash felt bad that he could only offer this kind gesture a mere garbled word of thanks. But he didn't know what else to say. Ash hugged his arms tight to his chest, about-faced, and quick time marched his way back to his sleeping bag.

It wasn't until he had finally laid down to sleep that Ash mulled over their conversation again. He had so absentmindedly answered Lucario's seemingly friendly questions that Ash hadn't stopped to consider what Lucario was doing.

And what was he doing? Ash wondered. He definitely seemed to have some sort of objective with those questions. Did he think… did he think I'd abandon Pikachu like Sir Aaron? Was he evaluating our relationship?

This thought just made Ash irritated. He flipped about in his sleeping bag, trying to toss the troublesome thought off and lose himself to sleep. But still, the question dominated his thoughts. What was Lucario doing?

First, Lucario had boldly announced that his only investment in this adventure had been to assist Aileen. After they discovered the time flower, it became clear that Lucario was hoping to find more clues about what happened in his past. And now…

Now Ash was starting to think, crazy as it was, that Lucario might have been sincere. Maybe he really did want to help Ash reunite with his pokemon partner. Maybe, somehow… Lucario was starting to care?

Ash shook his head and pressed his face deeper into his sleeping bag. No, he thought. No, that's definitely not it.

"What all can wave do?" Ash asked absentmindedly.

He had been in the middle of Lucario's second lesson on wave. Already a few precious hours had passed and the firefly sized ball of wave energy was only teasing its way in and out of existence above Ash's palms. He wasn't getting very far with this new task.

The question popped out without any serious thought on Ash's part. He was just desperate to distract from the monotony of his continued failures. Even when not with Lucario, Ash had spent hours squinting down at the energy in his hand, willing it to shape itself into something more substantial. It almost felt like all this practice was making him worse.

'What do you mean?' came Lucario's guarded reply. Ash didn't quite catch the pokemon's tone.

"I mean… like, other than throwing it at people and sensing invisible things… what can it do?"

Ash gave a small cry when the wave sparked out, singeing his unprotected fingers. He quickly sucked on his injured finger. He was quiet for a moment; taking his finger from his mouth before adding, "Or did I just sum it up?"

'No, wave is more. Much more.'

"How so?"

'I told you before. It's a life force. Everything has it. It can hurt. It can protect. It can heal and it can capture and contain you… for years.'

Ash realized his mistake too late. He stared up at the pokemon opposite of him. The sun's rising light beamed right into Ash's eyes, tossing shadows across Lucario's face. But even blinking back the glare, Ash could read the emotion in Lucario's hunched shoulders and hitched voice.

"Wave did that?" Ash whispered.

'With a powerful user, wave can do many things.'

Lucario was trying to speak casually; to brush aside the slipped curtain. Ash knew better than to press any further.

The pokemon trainer stood up, dusting off his jeans, and clapping off any dirt that still clung to his singed hands. His fingers still smarted a little, but all his injuries so far had been slight. Mostly just scrapes, bruises, and very mild burns. He knew they'd heal before the day's end.

"Should we get going?"

He was offering Lucario an out to the unpleasant conversation. And the pokemon willingly took it.

Lucario climbed back to his feet as well and gave a quick nod. 'The others will probably be rousing now. Let's hurry back.'

But before Ash could turn back towards camp, the pokemon had him by the arm. Ash swore he saw a malicious sparkle in its eyes.

'Walk back to camp without your sight, Ashton. Only wave.'

Ash, knowing better than to question Lucario's bizarre training requests by now, let out an exasperated sigh. He obediently shut his eyes and began the now, considerably more grueling, trek back to camp. It was hard to resist the urge to peek, especially when tripping over something underfoot. He tried to follow Lucario's darting form, hoping that the pokemon might light up a path in the darkness. And while his comprehension of wave enabled him to see Lucario, lithe and agile, leaping in and out of the shadows of his sight; Ash struggled to see something as simple as a tree branch.

'Your focus is too narrow,' Lucario explained after Ash had another unfortunate run-in with a low hanging branch. Ash rubbed at his sore face while Lucario unhelpfully continued, 'You are zeroing in on the obvious sparks of life. Let your senses broaden.'

"Broaden, broaden. Got it," Ash grumbled through the slight pain.

Ash tried. He really did. But it was hard to differentiate between what he was actually seeing and what he just hoped was there.

He let Lucario's lead lengthen, choosing instead to fall back and take the ancient pokemon's advice. With slower and more deliberate steps, Ash also decreased his chances of running into something. Because his wave sight was so abysmal, Ash naturally began relying on his other senses. He listened far more strenuously and used his hands to wave off any potential obstacles that dared fall into his path.

It wasn't too long, at this more leisurely pace, that Ash began to see a bit of what Lucario must have meant. The ground spread out before him like a soft blanket, freckled with bright pieces of light. Ash imagined this must have been some hint of the crystals that twined deep in the soil this close to the Tree of Beginnings. As Ash walked along he began to notice something else. Just beyond a southern hill, there beamed a brilliant shine. It shone like a sunbeam, nearly blinding his tightly closed eyes. Even without broadened senses, Ash would have felt the wave streaming from this place.

It wasn't exactly in the same direction as the camp as far as Ash could tell. But his curiosity made it impossible to simply pass the place by. He abandoned the blind wave training as the path grew steep and rocky. It was a bit beyond his skill; climbing down a canyon wall blind. He didn't think he could manage it without cracking his skull open and that was never minding his still healing elbow. Besides, knowing his luck with perilous climbs, it was best to avoid risks. Lucario wouldn't mind… probably.

Ash dropped the last few feet of the canyon wall, bouncing off his toes to keep the shock from his legs. The sight that awaited him was enough to nearly rip the air from his lungs. Ash fell backward, only just avoiding the plethora of shimmering time flowers underfoot. They clinked and chimed pleasantly as his ankles brushed their shining petals. But even more surprising than the field of flowers was the sight of his wave master having beaten him here.

Ash stared across the way at where Lucario was perched, on a small outcrop of the canyon wall. The flowers pooled even there, where the soil had to be hard and unforgiving. Ash didn't know much about the strange blooms but even he had to think that this large a cluster of them was unusual. As if they were drawn to the location just as much as Ash had been. Or were they what drew him here? Ash couldn't say.

He walked amongst the swaying blossoms gingerly, not wanting to inadvertently open up any time capsules from the past. He still didn't fully understand how such a thing like time flowers could even exist, much less how they functioned. Perhaps there was little danger but Ash still thought it better to err on the side of caution.

"I thought you wanted to head back to camp," Ash began cheerfully to his pokemon companion. It was only as Ash drew nearer that he felt the change in the air. He felt as if he had just dipped into ice water- freezing ice water that seized his limbs into place. Ash couldn't bear to draw any closer to Lucario with the wave emanating off of him. It was almost physically painful. And that increased Ash's concern.

"Lucario? Lucario, what's wrong?"

Lucario did not look up. The aura radiating off of him stayed frigid, effectively holding Ash at bay. But he did answer. The soft and fragile words rose up in Ash's thoughts, trembling as if in danger of falling apart. If not for their stark simplicity, Ash might have had trouble making them out.

'This is where it happened.'

"Where it… What? What are you talking about?" Ash tried to step forward but fell back again, scalded by the icy energy. He shook out his hands, hoping that he could manipulate the energy himself- turn it away from himself. To cut a path towards Lucario at the very least.

As he was attempting to do so, he heard the distant calls of their party. So the campsite wasn't as far off as he had originally thought. Waking up and seeing both of them gone must have alarmed the group. Lucario was always so punctual after all.

"We're over here!" Ash shouted out. "Down the canyon! Come quick!"

He wasn't quite sure what sort of help the others could provide but at least he wouldn't be left alone in this. Ash really wasn't sure he should be the one talking Lucario off whatever ledge this was.

"Lucario, you're frightening me. What are you talking about?" Ash started again.

Lucario sucked in a deep breath but it did little to quell the rising emotion. He choked on it, only just able to sputter out the thought.

'This is where he trapped me. Where he sealed me away. My friend. My only friend… he threw me away. He betrayed me. He took- he ripped everything away from me. My life, my time, my everything.'

The thoughts were circling sickeningly around Ash's own head almost making him dizzy with the spin of them. He could feel the spiral, nearly sinking down himself. Lucario's thoughts were more than just words now, not simply spoken audible things. They were fully formed, weaving out images and memories and pain- so much gripping pain that Ash almost cried out himself. He felt the grief down deep, the emotion tearing something out from his chest and leaving him bleeding.

But Ash knew these weren't his own emotions. He fought against them, blinking back the tears forced upon him.

"Lucario, stop!"

'Why not just kill me? Why let me live to know this? To know, to live this betrayal? I hate him. I hate him. IhatehimIhatehimI-'

"Lucario!"

The shout seemed to shake something loose. At least, Lucario looked up, staring Ash's way somehow without seeing him at all.

The others were closer now. Ash could hear their approaching footsteps. He looked over his shoulder only for a second. He only meant to warn them not to come too close. But it was as he did so that Lucario's dam burst.

'Why? Why? Why did he do this to me? Aaron!'

The force of this thought and the wave cooking behind it went off like a small explosion. When Lucario slammed his fists into the ground, the wave that had been building pulsed from his body. It shot through the air as a strong wind and inevitably, Ash was caught up in it. He was thrown several feet. Ash landed roughly on his back, not too far from the approaching humans.

Ash heard a chorus of his name. The others gathered around him and someone tried to help him to his feet. Ash pushed off them, only having eyes for Lucario and the bizarre scene unfolding around him.

According to their own eyes, they must have just stepped into a sepia drenched painting. The blurred second image matched up with the present almost perfectly, save now there were two Lucarios and a man standing on the low outcropping.

It was easy to tell which Lucario was the real one. One of them was looking at the man and his double with wide-eyed horror and the other didn't even seem to notice. His eyes were closed, just as they had been when Ash had met him. It was also easy to identify the man. He was dressed as all the portraits and tapestries had depicted him. The gallant garb, dashing cape and dapper hat tilted at a jaunty angle looked far more fitting on him than it ever had on Ash. But the man wore a solemn expression quite unlike the paintings. It brought out the unnaturalness of what they were seeing, a long-dead legend brought back to walk amongst them.

"What's going on?" came Aileen's breathless whisper on Ash's left.

"Time flower," said Ash at nearly the same time as Kidd. But he followed it up with, "I think this is Lucario's memory."

"Whatever would give you that idea?" Jessie sarcastically chimed in. The group ignored her.

They were still too far back to hear Sir Aaron's phantom clearly. But Lucario's mirror had thoughts that ran loud and clear.

'Sir Aaron, we must turn back. If we head much further, we will bypass the armies completely.'

A brief pause and then the clearly more agitated Lucario gesticulated, 'What do you mean you're not going back?'

Ash found it oddly disconcerting staring at the Lucario from hundreds of years ago. The pokemon had experienced the events only days before, in his perspective. And yet there was a significant difference between the two. Rage and sorrow had aged the present-day Lucario by centuries. Never was that more clear to Ash than by seeing them side by side.

He was not the same pokemon and nor could he ever be again. The next few seconds of the ancient memory only proved that.

Sir Aaron ignored Lucario's telepathic pleas and leapt ahead, landing on a higher outcrop that had crumbled away in their present day. Thus suspended, he turned back only to fling his staff at the following pokemon. The shaft stabbed neatly into the dirt just inches from where Lucario's past self stood. Lucario looked uncertainly between staff and human before a flash of wave exploded from the tip of the staff.

Everyone, in the past and present, shielded their eyes. Ash and the one remaining Lucario were the first to blink past the light and see its aftermath. Past Lucario was gone, sealed inside the staff; the foretold betrayal now complete.

Sir Aaron casually retrieved a small bone whistle from where it hung about his neck. One single breath had called a giant Pidgeot down to where he stood waiting. Ash and Lucario both watched helplessly as the hero flew away; one watching in alarm and the other in quiet resignation.

"He can't do that! Come back!" Ash shouted out at the memory. "Come back, you coward!" Kidd caught the teenager's arm before Ash got too carried away.

"It's just a memory, Ash. This all happened centuries ago."

He didn't want to admit she was right. His feelings felt like they were boiling up in his chest and with no outlet, Ash had no one to be mad at but himself. It was easier to yell at a phantom than it was to admit his own powerlessness.

Lucario remained standing beside the staff; a solemn visitor to a long forsaken tombstone. The sight brought unexpected pain to Ash's heart. They had only been companions on this journey for a week and even less of that spent in affable harmony. And yet, somehow, seeing Lucario this way was almost unbearable.

He stepped forward to do what, he didn't yet know. But a sudden scream rent the peace of the moment in two. Ash whirled about, catching sight of what had caused Jessie to scream. A huge stampede of pokemon had suddenly appeared in the canyon coming straight for them. They were unlike any pokemon Ash had ever seen, each of them dressed in heavy menacing armor. There was no time to get out of the way. If the stampede didn't kill them, then the spikes protruding from their armor certainly would do the trick.

James and Jessie comically ran about, trying to dodge between the creatures. They were actually pretty agile and even more so when scared out of their minds. Kidd, ever prepared, tsked and detached a grappling hook launcher from her utility belt. With a casual smoothness that could only come from routine practice, she shot a piston into the nearby rockface. With a single press of a button, she was whisked up and out of danger. She might have swept up one of the children with her. But a clumsy sweep only just missed Ash's waiting arms. That left Ash and Aileen to fend for themselves.

Ash grabbed Aileen roughly by the wrist and pulled her with him against the canyon wall. He shielded her with his own body as best he could. But it turned out to be completely unnecessary. Ash realized it almost at the same time Team Rocket had. When a menacing Rhyhorn came too close, Ash braced himself only for the pokemon to phase right through him. James too stepped right through a Beedrill. He came out the other side of the pokemon in blinking confusion.

"They're part of the illusion!" Kidd cried from above their heads. "It's the ancient pokemon army! None of them are real!"

The humans sagged with relief. But unfortunately, one didn't share their revelation.

Lucario saw the pokemon menace approach and completely missed the plight of his human companions. Adrenaline spiked, Lucario leapt at the opportunity to take out his frustrations on a familiar threat. He let out a primal yell and launched sphere after sphere of wave into the tide of pokemon foes.

The aura spheres phased straight through their intended targets and into the canyon walls. Two or three came close enough to force Team Rocket to scatter again. One came inches from where Kidd hung, showering the woman with rock and dirt.

"Lucario, stop! It's just the time flower vision! It's not real!"

A light of recognition came back into Lucario's eyes. But while Ash's shout may have snapped Lucario out of his rage, it had the double consequence of focusing the last sphere of energy his way. Lucario couldn't take back the energy once it was thrown and Ash had no time to dodge.

Only time enough to push Aileen out of the way.

The sphere exploded on contact, sending a rippling shockwave through the canyon. The vision immediately evaporated around them, releasing them to the harsh light of mid-morning.

The group held their breath as the dust cleared, surprised to see anything of Ash still standing. And he was, albeit barely. In a vain attempt to protect himself, Ash had crossed his forearms in front of his face. He remained locked in that position, frozen in intense agony. He held his breath until Aileen rushed to his side.

Her touch collapsed any support he had left. Ash screamed, long and hard. He used breath he didn't know he still had. He screamed and sobbed and fell to his knees with his frozen arms still bracing against an attack that had already happened. The inflamed skin of his forearms bubbled with blisters. Aileen could barely look at his injured arms without crying herself.

Team Rocket and Kidd quickly extracted themselves from their various defensive positions to rush to Ash's aid. Only one held back. Lucario beheld the chaos he had wrought with certain horror.

Kidd had managed to get Ash to lay down. James frantically dug through the first aid kit for burn ointment and bandages. Both Jessie and Aileen stayed fretfully on the sidelines. Even Jessie, to her credit, looked properly disturbed by this turn of events. Aileen couldn't stop crying. Her head so full of Ash's situation, she had completely forgotten about Lucario.

When she finally remembered the situation that had caused this unhappy conclusion, Aileen turned her tearful eyes to Lucario. She hadn't known what to say. She didn't know up from down, much less how to address Lucario right now. With Ash's screams still in her ears, one could hardly expect her to think of anything reasonable.

However, she didn't have to. Because when she looked to where Lucario had been, the ancient pokemon was gone.

To Be Continued…
Please Read and Review!

So sorry for the delay, guys! Here I Am's climax and then the world going to shit with this whole pandemic thing, totally messed up my update schedule. Admittedly it probably would have been disrupted anyway because of Animal Crossing coming out. But I definitely didn't expect to be delayed as long as I was.

Hopefully, there won't be as long as a wait between this chapter and the next one.

Thanks very much to the reviews I got last chapter: AshKetchumForever, SailorSea, Jeannot2978, TT, Shaveza, Thor94, YumeTakato, and Juaniu1994. I appreciate each and every review from you guys!

I do want to respond to one review I got from a Guest last time. This anonymous friend wrote, "I feel like the story that Ash told Lucario probably both impressed and horrified him at the same time. Even though he didn't express it, his response kind of implies that he knows from experience that Ash is never going to have an easy life ahead of him. So either Sir Aaron was also that era's chosen one, or he has heard stories and legends about others who were."

Without giving too much away, I just wanna say I am impressed with this analysis of Lucario's reaction. I was hoping to convey something very much like this without explicitly saying so. Good on you, Guest, for catching it!

Next time on Mystery of Me, Ash and company pick up their pieces and head on to the tree without Lucario. Expect the next update around the July/August time frame! Stay safe everyone! Wash your hands!