Bonds: An Ash Betrayal Story (Hiatus)

A Legendary Lesson

As I focused on Lillie's battle, I began to come up with strategies on how to defeat Max tomorrow morning. I had a gut feeling that he'd come into the battle with both a Slaking and a Sceptile. I knew I would want both a fire type and some sort of fighting type or pokemon with a fighting type move. I knew I had options for both, Infernape, Charizard, Typhlosion, and so on. We were coming towards the end of the tournament too, as there's only a few more battles left, I think there are around 4 or 5 left,

"Doubting yourself, Ketchum?" I heard Giratina's voice in my head and him rematerialize as a reflection in the window, "This isn't the Ash I remember who was brave enough to stand up to Arceus himself." I hate to admit it, but Giratina's right. I never doubted myself for a second when I had to help him on two separate occasions, when I had to save the lives of countless people and pokemon alike,

"I'm just beginning to question my decision to leave my friends in the dust," I stated, "Clearly they all didn't think the same thing I thought they felt..."

Before I could go on, a portal materialized in the center of the elite's suite, and everybody jumped back in shock, before we heard Giratina call out to me,

"Come, Ketchum..." It said lowly, then it's eye could be seen staring back up at us all, "Just Ketchum...none of you," It then warned my fellow elites and champions,

"Are you going to trust it?" I heard Lance ask,

"That looks ridiculous, Ash," I heard Diantha say, "I personally have no idea what Giratina is capable of, but these seems incredibly dangerous,"

"Yes, but like Ash said," Cynthia started, "He captured Giratina,"

"Cynthia is right, Diantha," I said to shocked onlookers, "And I trust any pokemon of mine with my life," I said as I jumped into the wormhole. Before I could hear anyone call out for me, it closed.

I was warped instantly into what looked like a distorted version of our own world. Now it was time to see what the great dragon wanted with me,

"So, Ketchum," It called out as it flew up to me, lining itself to stare right at me, "Fly with me...We have much to discuss,"

I nodded and hopped onto the dragon, and we began casually flying around the distortion world,

"You know you still have hope of fulfilling that promise to the young boy," Giratina stated, breaking the silence, "He wouldn't want anything less of you,"

"I know," I said solemnly, "But am I in a state to give my best right now?" I then asked. I was really making a bigger deal out of this than I should have,

"Perhaps you need some divine intervention," I looked down at my phantasmal dragon when it said that, completely unaware of what it, "I'm the legendary dragon of balance. I balance the powers of Palkia and Dialga. When I see an imbalance in anything of note, I make it right in whatever way I can."

"I get that, Giratina. I just don't understand why you would waste your energy on me," I said with a deep sigh, "I'm only a twenty year old trainer,"

"A twenty year old trainer whose seen countless battles and that has determined the fate of the world on several occasions, often clashing with pokemon like myself to do so," Giratina explained, "Plus, every pokemon is just as concerned for their trainer and the trainer is for them." I nodded and Giratina and I came to what looked like some sort of ruin. Upon closer a closer look, I saw it was a crashed aircraft of some sort,

"This look familiar by any chance?" Giratina asked. I took a closer look and saw that this was Zero's old aircraft he originally used to try and capture Giratina with,

"That's Zero's..." I said with surprise, keeping my eyes locked on the downed craft, "It's still here..."

"That's right," We flew past it and kept on going, "I'm sure you don't need me to remind you about that event."

We continued flying across the distortion world, having philosophical debates as we went along. Soon we came to a ruin-like area in the distortion world. I looked in one of the reflective areas and realized that this was the reverse side of the Ruins of Alph. Giratina then reared up towards a stone tablet,

"Gaze upon the stone, Ketchum and tell me what you see," 

I looked at the tablet and saw an ancient battle. Had to have been at least 5,000 years old or something, beyond the Great Kalos War. It was between two people, obviously the precursor to trainers, and two different pokemon, in this case it looked like it was between a Charizard and an Aerodactyl. The trainer with the Charizard appeared to be standing tall and confident, while the other one was shorter and looked to be younger. I had Giratina fly me over to the next segment of the stone, since it was broken up in this world, and I saw the next part.

I noticed that the Aerodactyl, at least thats what I think it is, was defeated and the younger trainer was kneeling at its side while the older trainer helped him up. Giratina flew me to the next segment of the stone and saw that the younger trainer was no longer there, instead he was the same size as the older trainer, and the older trainer looked like he aged a bit. Again, Aerodactyl and Charizard fought, and once again Aerodactyl fell, and the old trainer helped the younger one again. Giratina then flew me to the last tablet.

I saw the older trainer was now an elderly man, participating in what could be his last battle. Aerodactyl and Charizard once again fought, and this time, Areodactyl won. The older trainer appeared to be congratulating the younger trainer with his accomplishment. It looked almost like this was an equivalent  form of a champion battle, this older trainer seemed incredibly powerful. However it appears people only used one pokemon each,

"What did you learn?" I heard Giratina speak, and after a minute or two of processing the story that was told, I had my answer.

"Battles are meant to bring people together. We battle to ensure a better future, since the elder trainer seemed to be helping the younger one up each and every time he lost. The older trainer helped up the younger trainer each and every time he lost. It looks like the younger trainer grew stronger in each encounter, must be a symbol for growth as a person, and obviously the Aerodactyl he used grew as a pokemon as well. Battles ensure the growth of people and pokemon alike, preparing them for the tasks ahead,"

"Indeed, Ketchum," I heard Giratina speak, "You learn fast. Now tell me, what parallels do you see in this tablet to your situation?" I thought about it then it hit me like a load of bricks. I was in the position of the elder trainer. I was the champion, I was the one responsible for fostering the growth of trainers,

"Max is the younger trainer in my situation, while I'm the elder trainer," I stated, "If I don't battle at my best he and his pokemon can't get better as a person and as pokemon," 

The two of us came back to the stadium's reverse world counterpart as we discussed this further. Now that I've cleared my head, I can go into this battle confident once again,

"Now that you have learned what you have learned, are you ready for your next challenge?" Giratina asked,

"Yes," I replied flatly and confidently, "And as my way of saying thanks, you'll be participating in this battle."

Once I said that, Giratina opened the portal to the overworld and I jumped up, landing in the center of the room amongst a group of stunned champions and elite four members.

Max, I know you've said in the past you'd love to battle a legendary pokemon, so this is your chance.

Time to fulfill a promise I made almost seven years ago.