A Journey's Link

Chapter 59 - Freed

"Then that means..." A whispered to himself, knowing what Aaron was referring to when he said A had no usage in his plan. Is this it? A thought to himself in fear. Is this where it all ends? He was sure that Aaron was going to take a more violent path in removing him, but he was surprised when Aaron got up and pressed a button on the wall, lifting the iron bars and allowing A to walk through.

"You're letting me go?" A asked in surprise. "Not exactly," Aaron said hesitantly. He scratched the backside of his head, not sure how to explain the next part. "I'm going to let you explore the world and experience everything there is to experience," Aaron began explaining, his decision coming from his extreme care for A. "But I'm going to have to wipe your memory before you can do that."

A couldn't believe his ears. "After everything, you're just going to remove all my memories!" A exclaimed angrily. "Well, I can't run the risk of anyone finding you-" Aaron began before getting interrupted by A, who exploded back at him. "Why can't you just trust that I'll keep my mouth shut!" He retorted, feeling betrayed and annoyed.

"At least be glad that I'm letting you go! After that little stunt you pulled back there, I should have you removed from this planet!" Aaron yelled back, feeling confused as to why A wasn't grateful for his offer. A scoffed and folded his arms out of disbelief. "I thought maybe you deserved your family again," he said in a sarcastic tone. "Looks like you're too evil, though," he added.

Rage instantly filled Aaron's eyes. "Why you little-" He grumbled, stomping towards A. Out of instinct, he pulled out his device and pressed the red button, hoping to be teleported out of the room. Instead, he found that he was still standing in the middle of the room, getting approached by an angry and powerful Aaron.

What?! A thought to himself, looking around the room for any way out of there. He found nothing, as the room was incredibly small and barren, so he turned back to Aaron and noticed something that hadn't been noticeable before Aaron took off his mask. He had a sort of chain necklace that had a device that looked very similar to A's, except that the button was blue.

A ran towards Aaron recklessly and jumped forward into his chest, reaching for the necklace and trying to rip it off his chest. It didn't break instantly, so Aaron was temporarily choked by the necklace before it snapped from the pressure, causing him to fall to the ground and A to run as far away from him as possible, holding the device carefully.

"Wait!" Aaron exclaimed, reaching out for A. "Don't press that one!" His voice seemed so sincere that A paused for a moment and almost didn't press it, but remembered what Aaron was about to do to him only a few seconds ago. He gave Aaron a dirty look before pressing hard on the button, causing Aaron to scream after him.

A felt himself being teleported to a location, which was completely unknown to him. Anything is better than here, he consoled himself, feeling his body appearing in a new location. He opened his eyes and looked around, seeing the surroundings of the Ninja Village and the destruction that he caused via Zygarde.

He looked around trying to determine his location within the village and why he was teleported here out of all places. He heard some shouting to his right and looked over, seeing Ash and the other defenders of the village running up to a pained Zygarde core. A assumed all the cells must've abandoned the host core after getting hit with such a powerful attack from Ash. He hid behind a tree as he watched Ash approach the Zygarde core known as Squishy.

He expected Ash to order another move to defeat Squishy but was shocked whenever Ash knelt with a worried look on his face. "Squishy, are you okay?" He heard Ash say from afar. A found it odd that he found forgiveness in the helpless Pokemon even after it was blatantly attacking him. Aaron had given him a device that would take Squishy's ten percent form under his control, but it seemed that the device had found its way off of Squishy.

Squishy made a tiny squeal as Ash picked it up delicately. Turning to Sanpei who stood behind him, Ash softly said some words and handed over Squishy to Sanpei, who ran away to most likely treat its injuries. Ash stood there with a frown, watching the Pokemon be taken away. Greninja and Lucario both walked up beside him, Greninja having reverted to its original form. A couldn't help but notice that Ash seemed incredibly worried about Squishy, which, again, shocked him.

Ash turned around and faced the sky, towards the direction where A was flung into the sky. From Ash's perspective, A had simply disappeared into the horizon and was nowhere close, not knowing that A was just a few meters from him. Ash had a confused look on his face as he continued staring into the blue sky, trying to figure out who A was and why he looked like him.

Giving up, Ash sighed and turned around. He began walking towards where Squishy was taken, so A tried to follow him. Upon taking the first step, A accidentally stepped on an acorn from the tree he took cover under, creating a loud crunch noise that Ash heard. A's eyes grew wide and he tried to hide behind the tree again, hoping not to raise Ash's suspicions.

"Is anyone there?" Ash asked towards the direction of the noise, wondering if a villager had made their way over to him. There was no response, so Ash told Greninja and Lucario to stay put while he went to investigate. Ash began walking towards the tree when A decided on jumping out in front of him in an attempt to flee.

Unfortunately for A, Ash was ready for whatever was behind the tree, as he grabbed A's collar and yanked him back. "You!" Ash said angrily, staring intensely at him. "What are you doing with Squishy? And why did you take Garchomp? And why do you look like me?" Ash asked, his anger coming out in large amounts.

A knew he couldn't answer all those questions in his current state, so he said, "Let...me...go..." in a strained voice. Ash didn't release his grip for a second, but once he did, he allowed A to fall to the floor. Man, he's strong, A thought to himself as he caught his breath. No wonder Aaron's his father. He brought himself up and dusted himself off, presenting himself to Ash.

"Speak, quickly," Ash demanded threateningly, causing A to put up his hands. "I don't have anything on me, I swear. I just came to talk," he said innocently. Ash raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, waiting for A to speak. "Go on," Ash said impatiently, Greninja and Lucario by his side in case anything was attempted.

"There's a lot I need to tell you, Ash," A explained, not knowing where to begin. "Just tell me then!" Ash retorted, his patience wavering. "What is so important that I need to know?" A took a deep breath, knowing what he would tell Ash would change his life permanently. "It's your father, Ash. He's trying to take you down."