I need y'all to read this.
I just want to say that I get a lot of comments saying like the "mature" rating isn't a great rating for this book because there's no risqué scenes. People, just because my book hasn't had any scenes like that yet doesn't mean it's not mature? Think back on the things I've covered: Serena's kidnapping, the rape scene that Ash dreamt about, Ash's thoughts and feelings about certain things, Tierno's OBVIOUS sexual assault of Serena? Ash's thoughts towards the bad guys in this book, and my entire series, are psychologically disturbing to say the least. The way Tierno thinks about Serena and how she belongs to him and he deserves her and all that aren't necessarily psychologically normal? Do you really want children reading about that stuff? I can't stop them from reading it, but I can at least warn them.
I literally am trying my absolute hardest to detail these characters and how they would react, how any normal real life person would react when put under extreme stress and just these terrible things that happened to all of them. That shit leaves a fricken stain on your soul. I am not speaking from experience, so if I am assuming too much please tell me, but I feel like the sorts of things I'm putting these characters through is telling a real story about how, if Ash was a real person, he would react to anything that happened in the series, as well as anyone else.
No one could ever go through some of the things Ash had to do at 10 (!) years old in the whole Pokémon series and not be affected by it. Literally from the beginning of Pokémon Legacy I said that the events in the series up to the point of the last episode of Kalos still happened. It's just 7 years later. So PLEASE stop with the comments about maturity ratings just because there's no sex. As a writer it is my job to break my characters down, sometimes repeatedly, and give them that chance to power through the adversity and come out stronger as a person. It's frustrating to read these comments (yes I read most, if not all, of them) and see people saying things like that.
Also, y'all, just be PATIENT geez.
Thanks for reading that! And I truly am so happy that I have so many readers and that I keep gaining new ones every day. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!
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"How are you feeling?" Naomi asked Ash a few days later. They had finally left the mountain and were on Route 206 heading down towards Oreburgh. Once the gang got to the city, Bonnie, Luca, and Korrina would be taking a flight back to Kalos.
"I'm a lot better." Ash was walking easily now, with not as much pain as before. His entire body was still throbbing, but it was dull. Pikachu was back to riding on his shoulders.
"So the question here is do we go up to Snowpoint once we hit Eterna City?" Gary asked, kicking a rock off the path into the bushes lining the way.
"Under normal circumstances I would say yes, but I think we need to see this tournament through. The finals take place in Snowpoint. I think we can go back across the mountain first and get all of those stamps. I also am nowhere near ready to deal with Giovanni."
"You're literally saying we have to cross that damn mountain again?" Gary asked.
"We could just take the train back to Hearthome after we hit Canalave City's Battle Hall," Clemont said. "It's only about a day to get to the train station in Jubilife from there." Serena nodded.
"And the Eterna City Showcase is before Floaroma Town, so we could just make a loop." Serena added, looking at her guide.
"Sounds like the plan then." Ash said, finalizing it.
~~
Towards nightfall they were just walking into Oreburgh. "Let's go find a center, I'm exhausted." Korrina said, smiling. The gang nodded and picked their way through the mining town, looking for the Pokémon Center.
Bonnie looked towards the gym, she saw it on the top of a hill. Sighing, she turned back to her friends. "Are you bummed about the gyms?" Luca asked, reading her mood.
"Yeah, but Clemont is right, Korrina needs us." Bonnie smiled and kissed his cheek. "But we'll come back, just the two of us, after this is all finished and we'll go on an adventure of our own." Luca smiled huge.
"Sounds like a plan," he grinned. They followed their friends into the Pokémon center.
Later that night, Ash was laying next to Serena, when he sighed softly.
"What's up?" Serena asked.
"I'm just worried," Ash started. "When is it going to stop? Giovanni and Lysander almost destroyed Kalos last year, and I thought they were gone for good. Now, we're on the brink of another disaster."
"It definitely seems like a hopeless situation." Serena replied. "But we'll get through it, we always do."
"I just don't think he's going to stop, at least not until he gets what he wants or he's killed. Serena, I wouldn't doubt it for a second if this ended up turning into an all out war."
"Don't say things like that, one man can't have that much influence, can he?"
"Giovanni has loads of people, and there's criminal organizations in every region. I've gone toe to toe with almost all of them, no one scares me like Giovanni. He's a madman, and a smart one."
"We'll figure it out Ash, please stop thinking like that. We'll stop him." Serena rolled onto her side, placing a hand on his cheek. Ash closed his eyes and leaned towards her hand. Pikachu gave the two of them the side eye before grumbling and going to the bottom of the bed, offended that they woke him.
"I just wish we could've gotten married before all of this." He opened his eyes again.
"Me too." Serena pecked his lips. "Now sleep, you need it." Ash smiled and nodded, turning to his other side, while Serena backed up to him.
The next morning, the gang said goodbye to Korrina, Bonnie, and Luca, until it was just Gary, Naomi, Ash, Serena, and Clemont left.
"I'm gonna miss them," Naomi said, turning towards her friends.
"I think we all are, but it's for the best. There's only 5 of us now, and Bonnie and Luca are safer in Kalos." Clemont answered. "Let's go find the Battle Hall."
"Sounds good." Ash replied.
"Hey, remember all of that weird smoke from the other places?" Gary asked the group. They all nodded. "I think we need to keep an eye on that. So far all of the Battle Masters we have faced have had Pokémon with those same things. What if it's all connected?"
"You mean connected to Giovanni?" Serena asked, raising an eyebrow. Gary nodded.
"Then that would mean that Giovanni probably funded the whole thing," Ash said, eyes narrowing. "Which makes sense if he wanted to flush me out. That bastard!" Ash exclaimed, squeezing his fists together.
"Now we definitely need to finish this thing, it's the only way we'll get closer to Giovanni." Gary said, looking towards the general direction of Snowpoint.
"That still doesn't explain the smoke," Serena muttered.
"It does if Luca was right about Fieronite." Naomi replied, crossing her arms as she thought.
"Fieronite is a myth. I don't even want to think about going there," Clemont muttered.
"Why?" Ash asked curiously. "If it's a Pokémon, Pikachu and I will just catch it."
"Ash, Fieronite, if real - which I still believe it is not - would be bad news. The legends don't call it the Devil Pokémon for nothing. That thing can't be tamed, can't be reasoned with, can't be beat, and most definitely cannot be caught. If it's a thing, I don't even want to know how Giovanni got a hold of it, or even convinced the damn thing to work for him. Fieronite would've killed him and his Pokémon on sight."
"Okay, say it's real, and all those things are true, does it have any weakness we can exploit?" Ash asked, still trying to reason his way out of this.
"What part about anything I just said makes you think it has a weakness?" Clemont asked, blue eyes narrowing.
"Anything Clemont, do you remember anything from the legends?" Serena asked desperately.
"The only thing I can really think of is..." Clemont trailed off, not wanting to say it.
"Arceus." Gary finished, looking directly at Ash.
"That's ridiculous because Arceus isn't real," Naomi said. Ash looked worried. "Right?" She asked.
"It is," Ash muttered.
"What!" Clemont yelled, completely surprised. Naomi gasped, and Serena looked worried.
"I've met it. Back when I was traveling with Dawn and Brock. It pulled us back into time along with this other person who was a descendent of the man who betrayed Arceus a long time ago." Ash sighed.
"If Arceus is real, then what makes Fieronite any different?" Serena asked.
"It doesn't," Clemont said. "But statistically it is very unlikely that Fieronite is real. There's no way legends that were written long ago got everything right. It's a miracle that Arceus is even real."
"I hope you're right Clemont. I don't want to think about the type of destruction Giovanni could wreak if he has something like Fieronite." Naomi said, rubbing her shoulders as if she were cold. A chill had set over the group.
"Let's just go find the Battle Master," Ash said, starting to walk towards the center of town.
"I think it's over here," Gary lead the way a few minutes later. They came upon a huge chrome building like the other Battle Halls, which led the gang to believe that the Battle Master was a steel type trainer. The five of them entered, their footsteps echoing across the steel floor.
At the end of the long hallway sat a large man in a steel chair. The gang stopped in front of him.
"My friend and I would like to challenge you," Ash said as Gary stepped forward. The man smirked.
"My name is Steele. This is Battle Hall 1. Have the two of you competed in all of the Pokémon leagues before?" Ash and Gary nodded. "Good. Let's go," he jumped down and walked to a door behind the silver chair. Ash and Gary glanced at each other cautiously, but then they followed. Their friends went to the stands while Steele crossed the arena floor.
"You go first man, I did last time." Gary muttered. Ash nodded as Gary walked towards the edge of the battlefield.
"What's your name?" Steele asked, crossing his arms as he met Ash's eyes.
"Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town," Ash replied. Steele nodded.
"I've heard of you, Unbeatable Trainer," Steele smiled cruelly, using the name the media had given him. "I'm excited to see where this battle goes." Ash's trademark smirk came to his face.
"Me too," Ash pulled a ball from his belt.
"The battle between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and Battle Master Steele will be a three in three battle. The battle is over when either sides Pokémon are unable to continue. Bring out your Pokémon!"
"Aggron, let's go!" The powerful steel type appeared from its ball with a roar.
"Sceptile, I choose you!" The Hoenn starter appeared with a smirk that reflected his trainer's.
"Oh we haven't seen Sceptile in a while," Naomi said, smiling. Clemont and Gary agreed. Serena was watching Ash closely. She wanted him to win so badly.
"Battle begin!"
"Sceptile use Frenzy Plant!" Ash called, starting strong. Sceptile roared and smashed his fists into the ground, sending the large roots whipping towards Aggron.
"Aggron, Fire Blast!" The large Pokémon released the powerful move, causing Steele to smirk as it burned the Frenzy Plant to ashes.
"Shit," Ash muttered to himself. "Sceptile use Leaf Storm!"
"Fire Blast once more!" Again the powerful move was torched.
"Oh no, Ash didn't count on Aggron knowing a fire type move!" Naomi said, leaning forward and grilling the rail.
"He'll figure it out, he always does," Serena said, but she was worried. Ash kept trying specific attacks and was getting cut off by trying to avoid Fire Blast.
"Sceptile use Leaf Storm to shield yourself! Get in close and use Leaf Blade!" Sceptile let out a massive yell, a huge storm of leaves erupting all over the battlefield. It was too much to burn all of them, and Steele knew it.
"Earthquake! Don't let it get close!" Aggron yelled, and the battlefield floor erupted. The smoke and flying rocks collided with Leaf Storm and the moves exploded into dusk. "Find it!" Aggron disappeared into the smoke.
"Stay with me Sceptile!" Ash yelled, grimacing.
"There you are," Steele muttered. "Aggron use Fire Blast!" The Pokémon fired off the powerful move, causing Sceptile to scream as it was burned.
"Sceptile!" Once the smoke cleared, the gang could see that Sceptile had fainted.
"Sceptile is unable to continue. The battle goes to Steele!" Ash grit his teeth as he called the Pokémon back.
"Good job, thanks." He reattached the Pokémon to his belt and brought out another Pokémon.
"I can't believe one of his Pokémon fainted," Naomi whispered. "That never happens,"
"He'll be fine!" Serena exclaimed, setting her jaw.
"Greninja, I choose you!" Ash sent Greninja out. "Come on Greninja, we gotta get strong," Greninja nodded, and trainer and Pokémon fused.
"Tricky," Steele taunted, smirking. He wasn't thrown at all by Greninja's transformation.
"Water Shuriken!" Ash yelled. They slapped their thighs, creating the deadly weapons. Greninja threw them towards Aggron, sending him flying backwards.
"Aggron use Flash Cannon!" Ash yelled in pain as the powerful move struck them in the center of their chest.
"Shadow Sneak!" Ash yelled. The Pokémon disappeared into the shadows.
"Alrighty then, where are you," Steele said lowly, still smirking. Aggron was listening hard for any sound.
"Night Slash!" They jumped out from the left side, slamming into the Pokémon as the wicked shadow blades sliced at Aggron. Aggron roared in pain.
"Grab it!" Faster then it should've been able to move, especially against Greninja, one of its hands shot out and closed around Greninja's wrist.
"Focus Blast!" The ball of yellow energy gathered in Aggron's mouth, and Greninja tried frantically to get away.
"Get out of there!" Ash screamed. Greninja was struggling, but couldn't dislodge Aggron's right grip. The ninja Pokémon got a full frontal hit from the blast of energy, causing him to slam into a wall, which collapsed around him.
Ash yelled out in pain, causing Serena's heart to drop to her stomach. How was Ash losing? She didn't understand it.
"This is a slaughter," Gary murmured. He let out a short cry of pain as Naomi punched his shoulder.
"Don't say that!" Serena scolded, and the looked anxiously back towards the battle.
"He hasn't collapsed yet, maybe Greninja is okay," Clemont said softly, watching the battle intently.
"Greninja, I know we're still in this, I see you," Ash said, calling towards the pile of rocks. There was a blue light, suddenly the rocks went spinning away as Greninja appeared with a giant blue Shuriken.
"Yeah!" Ash exclaimed. "Do it!" Greninja launched the large Shuriken towards Aggron, who didn't have a chance. The Shuriken hit Aggron across the room, creating another pile of rocks across the battlefield that Aggron disappeared under. The rocks shifted, and Aggron tumbled out, falling to the ground.
"Aggron is unable to continue, Greninja wins!" The red called. Steele set his jaw and called the Pokémon back to him.
"Metagross!" The Pokémon appeared with a metallic yell.
"Greninja, are you okay to battle?" Greninja nodded. "Awesome." Ash grinned. "Night Slash!" Greninja jumped into action, causing Metagross to fight back with Bullet Punch as Steele called. The two Pokémon were locked in a deadly, close-range fight. Ash could feel Greninja tiring, Metagross was getting in more and more hits.
"Greninja, break away with Shadow Sneak!" Greninja once again melted into the shadows. Metagross was hovering, spinning around as it tried to anticipate where Greninja was. "Night Slash!" Greninja appeared above the Pokémon, using the momentum to deliver a powerful blow to the top of Metagross's head. The steel type Pokémon slammed to the ground, smoke erupting on impact.
Once the smoke cleared, Metagross was unable to continue. Ash sighed with relief. He was up now. One more battle. "Greninja, return." The ninja type reduced back to its normal self, Ash calling it back into the Pokéball.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu demanded. Ash put a hand down. "Wait bud," he whispered, pulling a different Pokeball out. Pikachu grumbled to itself.
"Lucario I choose you!" Ash yelled.
"Lucario!" Steele brought one out himself, but his was yellow with a blue chest. Ash's eyes widened slightly, but he got over his shock. He touched the keystone on the leather bracelet he wore.
"Mega evolve!" Ash's Lucario glowed white as the tendrils connected, transforming Lucario into her more powerful evolution.
"Lucario, you mega evolve as well!" Ash grimaced as the shiny Lucario started to evolve.
"What are the odds?" Naomi exclaimed, leaning forward.
"Very low," Clemont replied. "Let's just hope Ash's Lucario is more powerful."
"I'm just happy his is shiny, you can tell the difference easier," Gary joked. Naomi glared at him. "Not the time, got it." He muttered.
"She is," Serena whispered. I know what she can do.
"This is an interesting turn of events," Steele smirked.
"Not really," Ash smirked right back. Lucario, use Aura Sphere.
"What?" Steele exclaimed. He seemed surprised for the first time. "Use Aura Sphere as well!" The two powerful fighting type moves collided, exploding in a blast of blue and yellow smoke.
Flash Cannon! Lucario obliged, sending a charged silver beam racing for the opposing Lucario.
"Dodge and use Blaze Kick!" The opposing Lucario jumped straight for Ash's Lucario, moving fast. However, all it took was a small feeling and his Lucario dodged out of the way. "Get in there and use Close Combat!" Another thought and Ash's Lucario was drawing the opposing one in, dodging its attempts to land a hit.
Aura Sphere! Ash commanded. The aura Pokémon charged up another blue sphere and shot it straight at the opposing Lucario's stomach, blasting it across the room.
"Steel Beam!" The shiny amazingly spun towards Ash's in the air, firing the move. Lucario was able to dodge, but Ash felt a quick, grudging sort of respect for the other Lucario rising in his own.
"Close Combat once more!" The opposing Lucario launched at Ash's again.
Use your aura. Ash said. Lucario nodded and closed her eyes, deflecting the move with her aura. Steele looked worried as the hit of energy flung his Lucario a complete dogleg, sending it racing for the wall under the stands. Finish this with Focus Blast. Lucario charged and fired the move, the yellow ball of energy slamming into the back of the other Lucario. When the smoke cleared, Steele's Lucario had collapsed and reverted back to its original state.
"Steele's Lucario is unable to battle. The winner is Ash's Lucario! Which means the match goes to Ash!" The announcer called the battle. Ash's Lucario reverted back to her original state and sat down heavily. Ash smiled and walked over to the Pokémon, placing a hand on her shoulder. Thank you, you fought well. Lucario acknowledged his words. His friends joined him on the battlefield. Smiling, Serena hugged the aura Pokémon, flashing Ash a beautiful smile.
"Congratulations." Steele met him in the middle, holding the yellow Lucario up as it limped with him. Ash was surprised to see it. He shook hands with the Battle Master, and accepted his stamp.
"I want to thank you for a great battle young man." He said. Ash nodded, appreciating the praise. In the back of his mind he felt Lucario conversing with the yellow one, even though he couldn't hear its thoughts. "I'm surprised at the amount of control you have over your Pokémon, Lucario especially. Are you an Aura Guardian by chance?" He asked. Ash panicked.
"No," he said quickly. Steele raised an eyebrow.
"If you say so," the big man relented. Ash wondered how he hit it so hard on the nose. Ash didn't even realize that a lot of people knew about that. The only ones who knew he himself was an Aura Guardian were Gary, Brock, Max, and May. He returned his attention to the Battle Master.
"It's been a long time since someone has caused one of my Pokémon to faint," Ash muttered. "Thank you for the challenge."
"I made one of your Pokémon faint last week!" Gary yelled indignantly. Naomi giggled.
"Let me rectify that," Ash smirked back at Gary. "It's been a long time since anyone important has made one of my Pokémon faint." Ash made sure to stress the word important. This caused his friends to laugh, and a light pink dusting came to Gary's cheeks. Steele chuckled.
"You're okay kid." He said. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me." Ash nodded, still confused. He's nothing like the other Battle Masters.
"Thanks," Ash said, backing towards his friends.
"We can fight tomorrow, my Pokémon need rest." Steele turned to Gary. Gary nodded. Ash felt a weird feeling in his head, that didn't seem like his own. He turned back to Lucario who was standing now. The two Lucario nodded at each other, and then Steele lead his yellow one out.
What was that? Ash asked. Lucario chose not to respond, but he sensed embarrassment from her. Ash laughed softly and rolled his eyes, returning her to her Pokeball. The gang walked out.
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Hey guys.
Thank you for reading that note in the beginning. I really hope addressing those comments made a difference. I didn't care at first, but there's so many now it's literally insane.
ANYWAYS
Thank you for continuing to read! I hope you guys liked the chapter!! It's kinda bad but I wanted to get an update out at least so I didn't disappoint you all with just that one thing and no actual chapter.
Vote and comment!