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Seeing the Lightning	By : Coelacanth Category: Pokemon > General Views: 4696 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
A/N: So far, so good. This chapter is important for our ‘hero’, and for the Pokemon world in general! After the close call with the legendary Darkrai, what events will unfold? Find out now, on Dragon Ba…oops, got carried away. As usual:

Italics means a character is thinking to his/her self.

[Text in box] is when a Pokemon is speaking to their trainer.

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The plan had worked perfectly. It was fortunate that Darkrai was so strong, for those who knew they had power were prone to overconfidence, and overconfidence often left room for mistakes. Auren watched as the enraged legend got very far away, instantly becoming a pinprick of light in what seemed like a dark tunnel. Seconds later, he was back in the real world. He pushed down the mild sickness he felt in the pit of his stomach, it was a side effect he always felt from teleporting with his Pokemon. He took a moment to get his bearings before taking in his surroundings. In front of him was an immense lake, with a small island in the center. All around the lake was forest, thick and wild. He was standing in an open field, the only clear area around the entire lake. In the clearing with Auren were five other people and their Pokemon. These were all people who had planned to kill him, and he couldn’t let go of that thought.

“What…what the hell was that? What did it want with us, and where are we?” Alandra asked, her voice shaky. Her eyes were wide and she was frantically looking around, expecting to see that creature that exuded an aura of pure evil.

“That was Darkrai,” Auren began, “a legendary Pokemon. I’m not completely sure why, but it has been working with my employer, and it has clearly been following me around for some time. It seems that once I decided I wasn’t going to kill you, it stepped in to complete the job. We got lucky. If he catches us again, there will be no escaping, no teleporting, and no fighting. Your group and I have made a very powerful enemy. Or I suppose you could say I have, since it clearly wanted you dead either way. As for where we are? You could probably guess, since Sinnoh only has three lakes that could possibly be this size.”

“Lake Valor?” Alandra guessed. It would make sense. They had been in the middle of Route 215 when Darkrai came forward. It would be a stretch for any Pokemon to teleport so many people such a distance, but it was the only option feasible in her mind.

“No. This is Lake Verity.” Alandra’s eyes grew very wide at Auren’s statement. Lake Verity was at least a two week journey on foot from Route 215. She simply couldn’t believe that any Pokemon would have the ability to move so many so far, and so quickly.

“How?” She stated, clearly too stunned to try and put the pieces together herself. That was when she noticed the slight sound of snoring coming from her right side. She turned to see the small Pokemon that had supposedly saved them all. “How could one Pokemon do so much? Especially one so small?”

“Ah. Speaking of which,” Auren said, walking to his Pokemon’s side and shaking it gently, causing it to slightly turn it’s head up to him “you did a great job. You followed the plan to the letter, and I’m going to have to reward you somehow in the future. I bet right now you’re very tired, though.” The small Pokemon nodded, then pointed at the Pokeball in Auren’s hand. “Alright, alright. Get some rest. Abra, return.” The small Psi Pokmon disappeared in a beam of red, returned to his ball to rest. Seconds later, Auren released Tonitrus from her ball. She looked around quickly, then visibly relaxed.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Alandra said, beginning to sound irritated at being ignored.

“Size isn’t everything, you know?” Auren said with a small smirk before he adopted his typical stoic demeanor. “As far as I can see I don’t owe you an explanation. I just saved all of your lives when I could have escaped alone and left you to die.”

“Why didn’t you, then?” Alandra hadn’t even had time to consider what Auren was telling her. He was right, he had saved them. She only knew a little about legendary Pokemon, but they were supposed to be almost unbeatable. She didn’t doubt her entire group could have been wiped out, put to sleep and killed before they even knew they were in danger. Auren looked down for a moment, before once again meeting her gaze.

“I…it was the right thing to do. If everything you’ve told me is true, then I owe you people a great debt. I began to believe you once that huge man, Frank I believe, charged at me. What he said, is it true?” Auren asked. Alandra blushed a bit, then nodded.

“Yes. We are all trainers who fell in love with our Pokemon.” She confirmed. Auren’s face paled a bit and he felt the sudden urge to sit down.

“So I’ve been…dealing with people for the church’s benefit?” Alandra looked at Auren, and noticed he seemed a bit twitchy. While his face looked calm, she could see his hand was visibly shaking.

“Yes. I know that you were fooled into thinking you were bringing justice to those who deserved it, and I know it’s not your fault.” Alandra said, exhaling a deep breath as she did so. “And you did save all of us, that I don’t doubt. You were given information contrary to what you believed, and you gave it a chance. That alone makes me feel like I made the right choice in confronting you.”

“If you hadn’t, you’d be dead,” Auren said, matter-of-factly, “and I would have added another innocent to my list of murders. You and all your friends…and anyone else the church might lie to me about in the future.” Then Auren’s face became readable to those around him, the stony façade fading for a moment as he turned to his partner. “Tonitrus…I’m so sorry. I’ve made you do terrible things. I promised you that we’d save people, that we’d devote ourselves to doing the right thing. I’m a terrible trainer.” Auren said, locking eyes with his closest friend. She had tears in her eyes, for she too realized what she had been a part of. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to fight beside me anymore.” Auren finished. Auren was proud of his ability to keep others from seeing his emotions, and his true self. Right now, though, none of that mattered. All he could focus on was the fact that he was a monster. The title he had given himself, that of eliminator, rung in his head. He looked back at the ground, tears threatening to surface. He could feel his eyes stinging already. Then, something he didn’t expect happened. Tonitrus pulled him into a hug. His eyes widened at the contact. He didn’t remember the last time he had hugged his Pokemon. Ever since the day they had suffered at the hands of religious nuts, he had made a point to keep physical contact to a minimum.

[…s…oka…eve…ng…gon…e…o…ay…] He heard in his head through a wave of static. What the hell was that? Tonitrus quickly let go of him, locking eyes as she moved back a step or two. Her eyes were as wide as his.

“Tonirtus…was that you?” He asked, trying to figure out what he had just heard. The Thunderbolt Pokemon quickly looked away, suddenly becoming very interested in a nearby tree. “Seriously, what the hell just happened?” He said, the previous moment of despair forgotten.

“Did she speak to you?” Alandra asked, a mild look of amusement on her face.

“Of course not. She can’t speak, she’s mute.” Auren stated. Tonitrus looked back at him, then to Alandra, then back again. “Sorry, it slipped.” Auren said apologetically. The Electivire didn’t like people knowing about her condition; it was a very private and sensitive matter.

“No, a Pokemon’s true voice can never be silenced. I’ll explain it to you later. For now, we need to see if we can wake up my friends.” As she said this, Auren snapped back to the situation at hand. He had been very scatter brained in the last few minutes, and immediately got his act together when the others were mentioned.

“Yeah. If Darkrai put them to sleep they’re probably having horrific nightmares. They may not even know they’re asleep. That’s what that monster does…I know first hand.” Auren said with an angry edge to his voice. “Let’s see if we can get them on their feet.”

“You might find that quite difficult.” A soft, yet powerful feminine voice spoke from behind the two trainers. They turned to see a small, fairy-like creature in front of them. It was only about a foot tall, and was primarily light blue and pink. Its eyes were an intense golden color that complemented the deep red gem set into its forehead. The same gem could be seen shimmering in both of the creature’s tails, both of which were slightly longer than the creature itself.

“Mesprit! It’s been a long time. I’m not sure if you remember me, but…” Auren started, but was cut off as the tiny Emotion Pokemon waved his hand to silence him.

“Of course I remember you, Auren Cole. My memory is not so short that I would forget any human I meet. Such meetings are seldom, anyway, you silly boy. I’m sorry to intrude on your privacy, but did you say something about Darkrai?” Mesprit asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Auren said, slightly embarrassed that the legend in front of him had more or less made fun of him for his assumption. Auren told the story of his meeting with Darkrai, with Alandra adding bits here and there.

“And who might you be, human?” Mesprit asked, floating closer to Alandra. She didn’t know what to say. “The mate of Auren, perhaps?” The Pokemon giggled a little at its own statement, and Alandra quickly blushed.

“No, it’s not like that he…I…well, I already have someone and-”

“Relax, child.” The floating Pokemon said, giggling a bit at how easily she had made the female mumble uncomfortably. “I was teasing you. I can plainly see by your aura that you are mated to a Pokemon, a Blaziken if I’m not mistaken. You share a very strong bond with your mate, this is good. As the creator of emotion, it makes me happy to see such love flourishing.” Alandra blushed again upon hearing Mesprit’s compliment. “Still, that does not answer my original question.”

“My name is Alandra. I’m a trainer, and as you said I am in love with my Blaziken, Mercury.” Upon mentioning his name, her eyes widened for a minute before her hand flew to Mercury’s ball. She opened the ball to release him and found that he was still sleeping. She walked over to him and shook his shoulder, but he didn’t stir. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Well, Darkrai is a very powerful Pokemon capable of forcing Pokemon and humans alike into a deep slumber with a move known only to him.” Mesprit stated.

“Dark Void.” Auren stated, remembering the name Darkrai had used.

“Yep, that’s right! One point for Auren! Would you like to tell the story, Mr. Cole? You seem to know it so well!” Mesprit said, purposefully embarrassing Auren.

“Ermmm, no, sorry about that. I just heard him say it right before we battled him, and…”

“Wait, you battled Darkrai?” Mesprit said, clearly impressed that the trainer was still before her. “How are you alive?”

“Well, I’ll be glad to fill you in, but first we should get everyone to wake up. I feel like they’ll all want to know how they got here as well and I don’t want to tell the same story four or five times.” He responded. Auren never enjoyed recounting tales repeatedly.

“Oh, right! Well, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” Mesprit paused, casting an overly sour look at Auren, “Darkrai is able to put multiple targets to sleep at a time with a powerful move know as Dark Void. This sleep is always very fitful, and it plagues the user with horrific nightmares. They can be terrible memories from the past, the victim’s worst fears, or anything really. They’ll wake up on their own soon enough. Without mean old Darkrai here to keep them asleep, the move will eventually wear off.” She turned to look at Alandra, then to her Blaziken. “In his case, however, we can break the nightmare ourselves. Simply speak to him through the mating bond you’ve established, and that will pull him away from the dark influence.”

“That’s it?” She looked to Mesprit, who simply nodded. She turned back to look at her mate, hoping the Emotion Pokemon was correct. She dove into the bond that had been forged between her and Mercury, and noticed it felt very…cold. Alandra felt a deep fear before reaching out to her sleeping partner.

[Mercury, please wake up. I’m here for you.] She sent the thought directly into his mind. Seconds later, his eyes shot open, and he sprang to his feet, ready to fight. [Calm down, Mercury, you’re safe now. Anything you’ve seen hasn’t been real.] Mercury turned to look at his mate, then swiftly pulled her into a hug, setting her head against his chest.

[It was terrible. I was in a terrible place, and you were…you were…]

“It’s ok, Mercury,” she said aloud, “none of it was real. I’m here, and we’re safe.” She pulled away a bit before pushing herself onto her tiptoes, and she kissed her Pokemon on the cheek.

“Wait, I’m a bit lost.” Auren chimed in. “What just happened, what did you do? You said something about a mating bond, what is that?” He asked, not knowing what had just happened.

“Well, I could explain, but I think I’d rather make her do it!” Mesprit said.

“You just want me to do it because you think it’ll embarrass me.” Alanda said, looking at the playful little psychic Pokemon. It responded by giving her puppy dog eyes and its best sad face, while pointing its tiny hand towards its own chest. “Yes, you. Fine, I’ll do it. It’s not something that is too complicated, and at the same time I don’t fully understand it. Think you could fill in the gaps for both of us, Mesprit?”

“Of course, I will do my best.” It said, again giving its full attention to Alandra.

“Well, first let’s start with a basic bond. After long enough, a trainer should be able to somewhat communicate with their Pokemon. Most trainers think it’s because they begin to understand the language of their Pokemon, but that’s not the case. The ability to understand a Pokemon comes from the bond that forms between the trainer and the Pokemon. This bond allows a Pokemon to speak to its trainer, even though at first the trainer would only catch an odd word here or there. The closer the two become, the more the trainer will be able to understand their Pokemon, until they can have perfectly normal conversations. You following me so far?” Alandra said to Auren, who looked mildly confused.

“Yeah, I understand what you’re getting at. Sounds kind of odd, though. Are you sure that people don’t just understand the Pokemon’s language?” Auren said, not fully convinced that the explanation he was being given was correct.

“Positive. Wait, I’ll prove it to you.” At this, Alandra stepped in front of her Blaziken. “Mercury is going to hold up any number of his claws, and without looking I’m going to tell you how many. He isn’t going to say a thing, but I’ll be able to hear him.” She looked directly at Auren, locking her eyes on his own. Behind her, Mercury held up his hands, before dropping one claw on both of them. “Four.” Alandra said, maybe a second later. Blaziken repeated the process, dropping one claw on his right hand. “Three.” They repeated this process a few times, with Alandra never giving an incorrect number.

“Well, that’s impressive, but for all I know you could have practiced that routine.” Auren said, still doubting what he was seeing. “If what you’re saying is true, and your Blaziken can speak to you without needing words, then why can’t Tonitrus and I talk? We’ve been together for a long time, and she is closer to me than anyone else.”

“Well, I’m not entirely sure,” Alandra started, “but I’m almost positive that you heard her a minute ago, when you were telling her she could leave.”

“I can help with this part!” Mesprit chimed in. “Auren, you once told me your story when we first met. I understood the problem then, but it wasn’t the right time to interfere. You needed to want to see what was wrong, and you had to know that communicating was possible. I couldn’t have proven it to you, sadly. So let me ask, do you want to hear her voice?” Auren looked at Tonitrus, who looked more nervous than Auren had seen her in years.

“Yes. I would love to hear her speak.” He responded resolutely. Tonitrus looked up at him, and her nervousness seemed to melt away. Was she worried that I would say no?

“Well then, I’ll tell you why you haven’t been able to communicate with her yet!” Mesprit exclaimed excitedly. “There was something that happened to both of you when you were still innocent to the world. You both know what happened, so I don’t need to bring it up. Well, Auren, did you make yourself a promise around that time?”

“I did.” Auren answered quietly.

“And what was that promise?” Mesprit continued.

“I promised myself that if she recovered, I’d never let anyone hurt her like that again. I promised that I’d be strong, and that I’d make her strong as well. And I…” He trailed off at the end.

“Spit it out if you want to talk to her, silly goose!” Mesprit had no intention of letting him back down now.

“I promised that I’d never get too close to her again, I’d never let people see how much I cared for her.” He said, barely above a whisper.

“Aha!” Mesprit was practically beaming. “There it is, there’s the problem! You were so worried about her safety that you put up a wall between the two of you, you’ve kept the trainer bond at bay to protect her. Well, if she managed to survive a battle with Darkrai, I can promise you that she doesn’t need you to worry about her safety.”

“But what do I do? It’s not like I meant to put up any kind of barrier, like you’re suggesting. How can I remove something that I wasn’t aware of in the first place?” He asked, sounding almost desperate. Almost.

“Tell her how you really feel.” Alandra spoke softly, catching Auren’s attention. “I can really see it now. All this time, you’ve kept yourself distant because you were worried about what other people might do. If you’ve been able to keep the trainer bond from forming, then I bet you’ve probably never made a meaningful connection with anyone.” Alandra continued, and she seemed saddened as she spoke. “What could have happened to you to cause you to force everyone out, even someone who is clearly so important to you?”

“That’s…I’d rather not talk about it. You said to tell her how I feel? What does that mean?” Auren said, adapting a cool demeanor once more.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like, dummy!” Mesprit said, moving right in front of his face. “Tell her what you think of her, tell her what is really in your heart and I’m one-hundred percent positive that the barrier you formed will explode!” With this, the small Emotion Pokemon floated over to Tonitrus and sat on her shoulder with a huge smile. “Well, go ahead, it’s not nice to keep a lady waiting!” Auren looked at his Pokemon for a moment, closed his eyes, then inhaled.

“Tonitrus,” he said as he opened his eyes and locked them with hers. He let out his breath as he tried to formulate a good answer. “I…well, I dunno what to say. You’re a very strong, very capable fighter. You-”

“Quit thinking about it!” Mespirt shouted, causing him to jump a little and look to the small psychic type. “Let it flow from the heart, don’t try to stop it and don’t be afraid to let emotion take over. It’s the only way you’ll ever hear her voice again!” Mesprit’s last sentence did it. The dam that Auren had held back for so long cracked, and his thoughts started flowing through.

“You’re the only reason I went on living after dad died,” he began, his voice heavy with sadness and thick with sincerity, “I had nothing else to live for. Before you were born I carried you everywhere in a backpack, and I spoke to you all the time. Sometimes you’d move a bit in your egg and I liked to imagine you were answering me when I spoke to you. When you hatched I had never been so happy. My mother…she died during childbirth so I never knew her, and I never had a sibling. You filled that spot, you became like a sister to me, and you became a very close friend. Then…there was the incident and I thought I watched you die. That day I felt a piece of my heart get ripped out upon seeing you bleeding and unconscious.” He was beginning to get louder now, his emotion getting the better of him. “I cried when they told me you might not make it and that if you did you’d never speak again. I cried harder than I’d ever cried before in my life. The pain of knowing I’d never hear that happy voice of yours was almost more than I could bear. I blamed myself for standing there and doing nothing, for watching those people take your voice away from you.” He was practically shouting now. “I also promised that I’d make you strong if you came back to me and that one day you and I would find those who took your voice, and took my father. I swore that we’d do terrible things to them, justice be damned. You are…you are the most important thing in the world to me, Tonitrus. It’s so hard not to just hug you sometimes when I remember how comforted I always felt when you wrapped your arms around me. Hearing the electricity buzzing around me always made me feel happy.”

Auren paused for a minute to collect himself. He had practically screamed the last part, and needed to calm down to continue. The last thing he needed was to break out into tears. When he prepared to continue, he found that he could hear a strange static in his head, like a radio being tuned to the correct station.

“I pushed you away, because I thought it would be better for you.” He said, almost too low for anyone to hear. “I was so stupid. I’ve wondered why I haven’t seen you smile since then. Now I understand. I was pushing you away, and it was causing you to be miserable. I’m so sorry, Tonitrus.” He locked eyes with her again, and something stirred in his gut. “Never again. I will never hide my emotions or push you away ever again. I would die for you, just as I know you would die for me.” Tonitrus’ eyes widened as she noticed a tear running down his cheek. “Please, I just want you to be happy. I just want…I just want to see you smile again. I love you.”

Auren felt something pop as the dam shattered completely, letting his feelings flood through him. Emotions came bubbling to the surface in waves; joy, elation, and contentedness were the most common. Before he could even begin to think about what had happened, the Thunderbolt Pokemon had closed the distance between them and wrapped her powerful arms around him for the second time that day. This time, however, he let himself feel joy at holding his closest friend, and that’s when the radio found it’s station.

[I’ll promise to smile if you will.] A soft, definitive female voice said. It sounded like someone who was crying, and when Auren pulled back he noticed the tears that were wetting the fur on his partner’s face. More importantly, however, he noticed the smile that decorated her features. She’s really beautiful. He shook the thought from his head.

“Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal.” He replied, his grin matching her own.

[You’ll never be lonely again. I’m here, and despite your earlier offer, I’ll never leave you.] Auren heard her voice in his head again, and to him her voice was one of absolute perfection.

“Looks like I won’t have to prattle on to myself when we travel anymore, huh?” He said, jokingly. His voice cracked a bit as he spoke to her, realizing that a few tears had fallen from his own eyes.

[No, you can still do that. I’ve never listened to you when we were traveling anyway.] She responded. He frowned a bit upon hearing this, then noticed she was sticking her tongue out at him.

“Oh great, I’ve got myself a smart-ass partner now. What have I done?” For the first time since his childhood, Auren felt enough happiness to just laugh. His Electivire did the same, and though he could hear her through the newly opened bond, she didn’t actually make a sound. That’s going to take some getting used to. “I can’t believe that we could have been talking for all this time.”

“Well, isn’t that just so sweet.” Auren turned to see Frank, as well as the other members of the group, sitting up. “Yeah, we’re still here.” He said with an enormous grin. “I suppose you were correct, Alandra. It would have been a mistake to kill this boy, he could be very useful to us. I’m sorry, lad. Still, you have a lot to make up for. You’ve crippled our group, and I’m thinking you’ll need to be helping with the repairs. Speaking of repairs, did I hit my head or something? I don’t remember being beside a lake.”

“He saved our lives.” Alandra told the huge man. “I don’t know how, but he managed to teleport us all to Lake Verity.” Frank’s eyes grew large at the thought of such long range teleportation. “You were all put to sleep by a legendary Pokemon named Darkrai, and if it hadn’t been for Auren’s Pokemon, we’d have all died.” Frank didn’t know how or where to begin his questioning, so he sat silently.

“I believe I can tell the story now that everyone is awake.” Auren said, looking back to Mesprit. He told the entire tale from the moment Frank had charged him. He repeated the entire conversation that he and Darkrai had, trying not to leave out any details. Then he told them about Electivire holding the mighty Dark type at bay long enough for his Abra to teleport them all.

“An Abra? You’re trying to tell me an Abra managed to teleport a medium group of people and Pokemon across an entire region?” Frank asked, clearly skeptical.

“Yes. Early on in my training career, I met a young Abra. He was the first Pokemon I ever captured. Being a Psychic type, he was able to communicate with me immediately. We made a deal, but that’s our business. More or less he has only really trained to teleport in case I need to escape. You could consider his Teleport on par with Tonitrus’ Thunder, as far as strength in use goes.” He explained.

Auren looked back at Mesprit, who looked mildly impressed with how he had escaped almost certain death. “Thank you. Thank you so much for this. I don’t know if I deserve to be so close to anyone, but I’ll gladly take this gift you’ve given me.”

“Yeah, about that. First off, anyone has the ability to do what you’re doing, I just helped you realize what you were doing wrong. Secondly, it wasn’t a gift. It was a payment.” Mesprit said, looking rather serious for the first time since she had shown up.

“A payment? What are you paying me for?” He asked, confused over what a legendary Pokemon could want with him.

“Well, forgive me for intruding but when you opened your emotions I took a moment to delve into your mind so I could see everything that had gone on for myself. You were fooled into killing those who had mated with Pokemon by your employer, a man who is clearly important in the Church of Arceus. Not only that, but those you killed were all members of the group with us now. This wouldn’t be terribly strange, but then Darkrai got involved. Darkrai would not be helping the Arceans in their true goals, he is certainly no follower of the creator. There must be some ulterior motive involved.” As the Emotion Pokemon finished, she looked to Alandra. “These motives are somewhat known to you, so I will allow you to fill him in on them.”

“Not here, not yet. Our leader will be the one to fill in the blanks for him, if that’s alright with you.” She said, realizing Mesprit had probably already probed her mind as well, and that meant she knew all about their organization.

“That is acceptable.” Mesprit confirmed. “Auren Cole, you will repay me and those you have caused to suffer in the same task. You will go with these people to see their leader, and you will learn about the darkness that is brewing underneath the surface of the Arcean church. I cannot force you to join in on their cause, but I feel as though you will choose to do so on your own. You have a strong sense of justice, I knew that the moment we met when you were just a boy. I assure you, the people before you are trying to do good. They are trying to save this region, and if Darkrai is involved I dare say they’re trying to save the world. Your Pokemon fought with Darkrai and even managing to hold him off while you fled is a tremendous achievement. So you will go with them, and you will learn what you can. Do you understand?” Auren nodded.

“Honestly, I had planned on it anyway. I need to know what could cause so many people to be in danger, and I want to see if I can help in any way.” He said, ready to truly fight on the right side again.

“You could help a great deal, I assure you.” Alandra said, seeing the possibilities of having such a strong ally.

“What about Darkrai, though? Won’t he be hunting us?” Auren asked.

“No, I’m almost positive he will not be. You’ve seen how overconfident Darkrai is first hand. He isn’t worried about any humans ruining whatever plans he is currently involved in. If you encounter him again, though, he will not be so lenient. You have surely wounded his ego. The little stunt you pulled will have him angry, do not doubt. However, he isn’t able to track people like a Psychic type could, and he would never consider working with one. Most Dark types believe themselves to be well above Psychic types. Be aware that his agents are certainly all over the region. It would be wise to avoid cities and towns that have large churches. Also, traveling as a group is ill-advised. A group of seven traveling together will draw attention, which is not what you need.” Mesprit finished, and Auren knew she had a point. He just hoped she was correct and that Darkrai wouldn‘t come to kill them.

“Alright, so we’ll split into at least three groups, and we’ll make our way…” Auren realized he didn’t know where they were heading. “Wait, where is it that we’re going exactly?” He asked Alandra.

“We need to report back to our leader, back at our secret headquarters. I won’t give any specifics, but I’ll tell you that it’s located in the north somewhere near Snowpoint City.”

Alandra responded. Auren looked to Tonitrus, who was giving him a very deadpan look.

[You had to say you didn’t want to go there, didn’t you?] She said through their still new bond, and even though she was being sarcastic, her smile showed she was amused. Hearing her voice made him smile again, a reaction that he didn’t think would ever get old.

“Yeah yeah, get off my back.” He said, feigning exasperation. He ruffled the fur on her head, and she rewarded him with a small static burst.

“You two are cute together, you know?” Alandra said, clearly amused with their antics.

“Yep! A cute couple if I ever saw one!” Mesprit added cheerfully.

“What? No, it’s not like that!” Auren quickly stated, understanding what the two females were insinuating.

“Oh, but what was that I remember you saying? Something like…’I love you’ I think!” Mesprit countered, causing Auren’s face to change to a light shade of red again. He’d have to work on that, he wasn’t used to being embarrassed.

“Well, yeah. I did say that. I do love her, but I didn’t say I was IN love with her.” He said, hoping they’d drop the subject.

“Oh, I see how those are completely different.” Alandra said, sarcasm dripping with every word. She and Mesprit giggled at Auren’s obvious discomfort.

“Whaveter,” Auren said, finally gaining control of his visible emotions by putting on his classic blank expression, “don’t we have more important things to worry about?”

“I suppose you’re right.” Mesprit answered, seemingly finished with annoying Auren. “You do know I can sense your emotions even if you try to hide them, right?” She said. Apparently she wasn’t done toying with him just yet.

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“And let his light shine down, granting blessings eternal to his children! Amen!” The father of the Veilstone Church of Arceus finished his sermon to the united ‘amen’ of all in attendance. The members slowly stood, some leaving immediately and others standing around to chat with fellow members and friends. Eventually the only people left were the father and a shadowy man in the back. The man stood and walked forward, addressing the father as he did so.

“A nice sermon today, Father.” He said, slowly nearing the pulpit. “Always nice to hear the words of the holy one.” As he spoke he felt his shadow change, become heavier. Seconds later, a large frown appeared on his face. “Excuse me Father, I have business to attend to.” The man said, his personality taking on a much darker tone. He quickly walked out of the Church and then down a nearby ally. He opened the back door to the Game Corner and walked inside, and finally spoke when the door shut behind him.

“What happened? Why are you back?” He spoke quickly, and sharply.

“It seems we underestimated that boy. He’s a rather clever one.” A detached voice spoke to him, giving next to no real information.

“What do you mean? Explain yourself!” The man angrily spoke. He didn’t like to be toyed with, but he had momentarily forgotten who he was speaking to. Darkrai materialized before him, grasping him by the throat with a shadowy hand.

“YOU WILL NOT SPEAK TO ME AS AN INFERIOR, HUMAN!” He boomed, showing how on edge he truly was. It wasn’t like the usually controlled Pokemon to lose his cool, and the man instantly realized he should not push his luck any more.

“I’m sorry lord Darkrai. Please, forgive me, mighty one.” He said, fear evident in his voice. He hated having to belittle himself for anyone, but right now it was his life on the line.

“You are forgiven.” The Pitch-black Pokemon said, releasing the man’s neck.

“Lord, may I ask what has happened? Why you have returned and how we underestimated Auren?” He asked. He didn’t like addressing this creature as ‘lord’ but he needed to know what had happened to bring the Dark legend back.

“The girl confronted him, showed him the truth. While I’m not sure how much he believed, it was enough that he wasn’t going to kill her. She arrived with a few other people who must have also been part of their little ‘organization’ and I couldn’t let the chance pass me by. I made my presence known, and planned on killing them all. I must admit,” Darkrai continued, sounding mildly amused, “that I let myself fall into a typical ‘bad guy’ moment. I wanted to see the look on their face when they realized they were doomed. It is my nature, after all. Long story short, I was distracted and the boy managed to move all of them to safety, including himself.”

“But how?” The man asked, confused as to how he could escape the powerful legendary Pokemon.

“It is detestable, but he used a small Psychic Pokemon to teleport them away.” Darkrai said, sighing slightly like it didn’t truly matter to him anymore.

“Teleported? You couldn’t follow them?” The man asked, letting his tone slip a bit before quickly adding, “My lord.”

“No. I’m forced to admit his Pokemon are both well trained. That Electivire packs a mighty punch for a regular Pokemon, I found that out first hand.” He said, anger seeping back into his voice. “Regardless, this doesn’t change much. Get a meeting together, we’re going to prepare for the next step in our plan. If you must, call those two and have them get on the trail. I have no idea where they teleported though, so don’t even ask.” Darkrai finished speaking as he faded back into the man’s shadow.

“Might I ask what his second Pokemon is, so that we are more prepared in the future?” The man asked, speaking to the air.

“Abra.” Was all the Dark Pokemon said, before disappearing from the man’s shadow. Darkrai leaving always left the man feeling much more at ease. The Pokemon’s evil aura always caused him to feel heavy.

An Abra. The mighty Darkrai was bested by one of the most simple Psychic types known to mankind. No wonder he seems so on edge. The man smiled as he thought of Darkrai being beaten by such a worthless Pokemon. He pulled his Pokegear out of his pocket and began dialing numbers. Darkrai had left him with an order, and it was one he was more than ready to fill out.

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“Alright then, it’s settled.” Back at Lake Verity the small group had decided how they’d go about things. “Alandra, Frank and I will make up the first group.” He then turned and looked at the remaining four trainers. “Gardenia and Bruce, you’ll be the second group.” Auren had been surprised to learn that the female with the Torterra was in fact Gardenia. The other trainer, Bruce, was the trainer who had released the Lopunny. “The third group will be Victor and Tora.” He looked at the two trainers who had planned to fight with a Froslass and a Glaceon, respectively. “We’ll all travel through Sandgem at a staggered pace before heading north to Jubilife. From there we’ll head different directions.” He looked back at Alandra, who gave him a slight nod.

“Our group will take the most difficult route, turning out of Jubilife and heading to Oreburgh. Then we’ll head east on Route 207 until we arrive at the base of Mt. Coronet. We’ll travel north through the mountain all the way to Route 216.” Alandra said, fully understanding the difficulty of their route. She then turned to Gardenia.

“Bruce and I will travel north out of Jubilife, and we’ll head through Floaroma Town. From there we’ll head to Eterna City, where I will stop at my gym. I have a duty there, so I must return as soon as I can.” Gardenia said, before looking to Victor.

“Ve vill travel from Oreburgh straight to Eterna.” Victor began. Auren noted his strange accent. “If ve arrive after group two, zen Bruce vill join us and ve vill travel togetzha out of ze city. If ve arrive before group two, zen ve vill vait for zem to arrive. Zen ve too vill travel north towards Snowpoint.” He finished, looking back to Auren.

“That’s it for the most part.” Auren confirmed, satisfied in their plan. He knew they couldn’t travel together as one large group, they’d draw too much attention. Gardenia in particular needed to remain discreet, she was well known and word of her traveling with a group would spread too quickly. “I suppose we could get moving now if there isn’t anything else that needs to be addressed.” Auren said, looking around in the group. No one moved to speak.

“Try to keep a low profile, don’t rouse the suspicion of local Arceans. There are many good people in the church, but there are those who are out to do terrible things as well. I know you are all used to keeping out of the spotlight in one way or the other, but try not to interfere with local affairs until you have returned to Snowpoint.” Mesprit said from her seat on Tonitrus’ shoulder. Auren had almost forgotten about the small Pokemon throughout his planning.

“Agreed. We don’t need to draw unneeded attention to ourselves. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person hunting people down for the church. The harder we are to find, the better.” Auren confirmed, looking to the tiny Emotion Pokemon. “What about you? Will you come with us?” She shook her head.

“No, my place is here.” She said before floating over to Auren. “Before you go, though, I have something for you. This time, it is a gift.” As she spoke, she placed a tiny hand on Auren’s forehead and he immediately felt more happy, more free. “You have to learn to forgive yourself for what you’ve done. I took away most of the negative emotion you still feel towards yourself over your mistakes. You saved these people, and you’re trying your best to help them. Stop beating yourself up, k?” She said in a sweet voice, before slapping his forehead a few times and smiling. “I’ll stay with the groups that have to wait, and I’ll make sure they’re fine. So don’t worry, do what you need to!” She finished. Auren looked at her and smiled. Before she could act he quickly pulled her into a hug, holding her tiny form close.

“Thanks, for everything. For back then, and for now.” He said, letting go of the mildly flustered Emotion Pokemon. “Oh look, that time I caused you to blush!” He said, commenting on the slight color that decorated her features.

“Oh, shut up you!” She said, crossing her arms and spinning to look the other way. She always enjoyed being playful and teasing others, but she wasn’t used to someone else doing it to her. This human…he is an interesting one.

“Well, I guess we’ll be going then. Alandra, Frank, you ready?” They both gave their affirmative. “What about you, Tonitrus.”

[What? Oh, yes, I’m fine.] The response caused Auren to lift an eyebrow.

“Everything alright?” He asked, not sure why she was acting so strange.

[Oh yes, everything is fine. Let’s get going.] She said. Auren noticed her face was flushed, and Mesprit was trying to stifle a giggle.

“Ummm, ok then. Well, if we’re ready, I guess we can head towards Sandgem. We’ll bypass Twinleaf altogether.” Auren felt a chill go up his spine, he definitely didn’t want to go back there.

“I dunno, I think you should take a short stop there, I think there is somewhere you really need to visit.” Mesprit said, looking at Auren. “There is something there causing you tension, it’d be better if you accepted it and moved on instead of covering it up and burying the feelings it causes.”

“I’ll…think about it. It’s not just me who might not want to go there, though.” He replied, looking at Tonitrus.

[I agree with Mesprit. I think visiting our old home would allow us to find some closure.] Auren was a bit surprised to hear her thoughts on the matter.

“Well, if you think it’s for the best, we’ll stop by there.” He relented. It was only a few miles to Twinleaf, they’d be able to make it there in less than an hour.

“Thank you for your help, Mesprit.” Alandra said, ready to be on her way. Frank dipped into a low bow towards the legendary Pokemon, signifying his gratitude. Auren simply threw up one hand as he turned around, as far as he was concerned he had already said his goodbyes.

“Come visit me again, Auren! Just because I’ve read your mind doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to hear some of the stories you could tell!” She called out from behind them. Moments later they could no longer see the clearing where Mesprit and the others were located.

“So, when did you meet Mesprit?” Alandra asked, breaking the silence.

“Ten years ago.” Auren replied. Alandra waited a moment, figuring he would provide more information. Auren remained silent after his short answer, however.

“Care to elaborate a bit? We have plenty of time to talk on our way to Snowpoint, surely you don’t plan on being silent the whole way there.” Auren sighed loud enough for her to hear.

“I’ll tell you later, I promise. Right now, I’ve got a bit on my mind.” He said, still looking straight ahead. “I’m not used to having company that can actually speak back, but I suppose those days of silence are over.”

[You’d better believe it.] The soft reply came into his head.

“Speaking of my new trainer bond, I never asked what a mating bond was. If I’m not mistaken, that’s what you have with your Blaziken. If you want to talk, you can explain the differences to me on the way to Twinleaf.” He said, casting a glance Alandra’s way.

“Oh yeah, that.” She said, forgetting that she had never explained the difference. They had gotten too caught up in watching him connect with his Pokemon to tell him about it. “Well, as you’re now aware the trainer bond lets a Pokemon speak to their trainer directly; no words are necessary. As you’ve probably noticed, it doesn’t work both ways. You still need to speak to her for her to hear you. That’s the first real difference between a mating bond and a trainer bond. With a mating bond, words are completely unnecessary to the bonded pair.”

“Ah. So basically, it’s not that much different, there’s just an added perk.” Auren stated, figuring he had it pinned.

“You shouldn’t interrupt people when they’re talking, and you shouldn‘t assume you know anything. Alandra wasn’t finished yet.” Frank spoke up for the first time in a while, making his presence known.

“Frank’s right, I wasn’t finished yet. The added ability to speak back to your Pokemon is but a small part of the mating bond. There is so much more, some of which I can’t even explain. The trainer bond is like a translator for your Pokemon, more or less. It allows you to understand them. The mating bond is like a full diagnostic tool. It allows you to truly know them. By tapping into that bond, you can see how your partner feels. Your emotions can be sent back and forth, and it allows a level of closeness that is otherwise impossible.”

“That sounds very interesting. I could probably guess, but how does one achieve a mating bond?” Auren said, now truly interested in the conversation.

“Well, it’s not quite as simple as it sounds. Imagine a trainer who raped his Pokemon. It’s sick and wrong, and would never yield a mating bond. It requires extreme closeness between the two. An intense love and desire to be one. It’s different for everyone, and it’s different for each Pokemon. The only person who could tell you exactly what would need to happen is her.” Alandra pointed at Tonitrus as she spoke. “She would know how the bond would have to be formed between the two of you.”

“You’re right, that doesn’t sound very simple.” Auren said, mildly curious what the specifics would be. Not that he had any use for knowing.

“Well it’s difficult to explain, but I’ve never spoken to a mated pair that had any trouble forging their bond. It’s just something that will happen if it should, there shouldn’t be a large analysis on the subject. If you’re looking at it from a scientific standpoint, chances are it’s not something that’s going to happen. Well…I do know of one pair who did it that way, but they were both very scientific in the first place so that’s a different situation. The thing that they were trying to analyze was the very thing that brought them together, as funny as that sounds.” Alandra laughed a little as she thought of such a silly situation.

“Are there any downsides to the mating bond?” Auren asked. Something he had seen many times was on his mind, and he wanted to confirm his suspicions.

“Downsides? Well, none that I can think of.” Alandra said, trying to think of anything negative brought on by the bond.

“There is one, but I think you already know what it is.” Frank added. Alandra looked at him, confused “The mating bond causes a sort of dependency. I’m sure you’ve seen it, knowing about your past line of work. If something bad happens to one, the other feels it. So imagine what happens if one dies. The backlash to the remaining member is catastrophic, often debilitating. It will leave the strongest person a shell of their former self. I imagine every time you killed one of your marks, or one of their Pokemon, the other just seemed to give up, right?”

“Yes. We’ve seen that numerous times. There were times where I knew the trainer had multiple Pokemon, but didn’t bother trying to send them out. I had always wondered why that was happening. If it somehow makes it any better, I always took the Pokemon that weren’t killed and released them if they hadn’t seen me.” Auren said quietly.

“Oh? So that’s how they kept finding their way to us. We wondered if the trainers had seen their deaths coming and released most of their Pokemon or something.” Frank said, seeming to lose interest in the topic.

“That’s even more proof that you’re not the person we thought you were. Any evil or cruel person would have taken them and sold them, or worse.” Alandra said, seeing that Auren was beginning to look uncomfortable.

“I guess so.” Auren said half-heartedly. Then he felt an electric charge travel through him, causing him to hop forward and yelp. “What the hell was that for?” He turned to find Tonitrus smiling at him.

[Mesprit said to quit blaming yourself, remember? You promised me you’d smile, and the self-pity you’re feeling right now is far from a smile.] She lightly scolded him through the bond. He glared at her for a moment before he started to chuckle.

“You’re right, sorry about that. I’ll try not to let it happen again.” He said, getting strange looks from the other members of the group. “Don’t worry about it.” He told them, smiling slightly. Their conversation had made the journey much shorter for Auren, and before he knew it his surroundings were becoming very familiar. Eventually he led the group down a road that looked like it hadn’t seen use in many years. After a few minutes on this road, he stopped. “If you two wouldn’t mind, Tonitrus and I need to do this alone. This is something important to us.” Alandra nodded immediately, and released Mercury.

“I understand. We’ll be fine here until you get back. Do whatever it is you need to do.” She gave him a warm smile as she said this, then sat down on the side of the road to wait. “We’ll be waiting, just don’t take to long.” At this Auren nodded, then turned to Tonitrus.

“You ready for this?” He asked the Thunderbolt Pokemon.

[As ready as I’ll ever be.] She responded, beginning to walk the remaining distance to their destination.

He walked beside her, nervousness building up in his gut. Soon they came to a large clearing and memories flooded Auren’s mind. He remembered playing in this field as a child, remembered going on imaginary adventures with his father’s Pokemon. He thought of all the times he had played hide and seek with his father’s Gallade, knowing even then that the Pokemon could easily find him if it had tried. Then he remembered less pleasant things. He remembered breaking his arm jumping out of a swing his father had made him, and remembered being chased by angry Beedrill after venturing near a nest. For a few moments he just stood there, memories from his childhood running though his mind.

Then he looked to one corner of the field. The spot he had come out of when he’d seen the fire. He remembered the Pokemon he had become friends with, all dead. He remembered his house burning along with the small ranch his father ran. He remembered his father, lifeless and being held like a doll by a monstrous Nidoking. He felt his hands form into tight fists. His mind was assaulted with images of Tonitrus being cut open in front of him. Anger began to cloud his mind, fury at his helplessness and at those who had taken almost everything from him. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

[What they did to me was not your fault, Auren. I know you blame yourself for not being able to stop them, but there was nothing you could do. I blamed myself as well, but I learned to let it go. There was nothing either of us could do. Those people, they were very strong. I don’t know why they came here and I don’t know why they did the things they did. Your father’s Pokemon were all strong as well, I remember thinking I wanted to be that strong one day. If they couldn’t do anything, we had no chance.] She said through the bond, causing Auren to let some of the guilt go.

“You’re right, I know. We weren’t strong enough to do anything then. I wasn’t strong enough to stop them from killing dad, and I wasn’t strong enough to stop them from hurting you. The boy that passed out never woke up. When I came to, I was someone else. I took you through the league winning those badges, but my heart was never in it. I’m sorry for that. That boy is awake now, though, and he’s telling me who the real enemies are here. While he was sleeping, we’ve grown strong enough to fight almost anyone. I promise you, Tonitrus, that from now on we’re going to really fight for what’s right, even if it costs me my life. We’re going to root out the darkness, and destroy it. Are you ok with that?” He turned to look at his Pokemon, and something he never would have expected happened. Instead of signaling her agreement visibly or through their bond, she stood tall and kissed him. Not a prolonged or intense kiss, just a quick peck on the lips. It was almost so fast that he wasn’t sure it had happened. The only proof he had was the intense blush that he could make out through her fur, and the redness of his own cheeks.

[I’m so sorry, I’m not sure what came over me!] She quickly sent through the bond. He didn’t know what to think. He had enjoyed the contact, of that he was sure. But should he? He had never really considered such a possibility with his closest friend, even when he had asked the details of a mating bond. For a moment he thought about how wrong it was, until he thought about how the legendary Emotion Pokemon herself had practically encouraged such coupling. He looked back to Tonitrus, who was looking away and seemed to be on the edge of tears, confused over what she had done and what she should do.

Auren reached out and pulled her into a hug to comfort her. “It’s alright. We’re both dealing with a lot of feelings and emotions right now. I’m kind of confused as well, but we’ll figure all this out together. I’m not mad at you or anything like that. In fact, if anything, I liked it.” She pulled away and looked up at him, visibly relaxing as he told her the truth. She leaned back in and hugged him more tightly and he closed his eyes. He remembered all the times she had hugged him when they were young, just like she was hugging him now. He loved the way he could hear electricity humming like a generator, when he held her this closely. Auren could tell he was about to start a journey that would be very dangerous, but right now he felt completely at peace. After a moment, they broke apart, never breaking eye contact as they did so. “I think I know why Mesprit wanted us to come here. It was because I needed to let go so that I could really be myself again.” He said to his friend before cracking a huge smile. “And she was probably trying to play matchmaker too, the troublemaker.” Tonitrus blushed again before smiling, rolling her red eyes.

[I think I’m ready to head back if you are.] He nodded before taking one last look at the place he had been raised.

“I’ll make you proud, dad!” He yelled out before turning around and starting the short walk back up the road.

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A/N

That’s it for this chapter! I hope you like it. I think that once again this one is my longest chapter. There was more, but I split it near the 10k words mark. This felt like the most appropriate stopping place near there, after that there isn’t another good break for a while.

Well, tell me what you think? Has anything surprised you at all, or does it seem rather generic? Do I do alright with the emotional scenes, or does it fall flat on its face?

Oh and this is important: Do people like longer or shorter chapters? I could have made this one much longer, but I chose to cut it here in case people would get bored if it was too long. Answer in the review if you want, I’ll take anything into consideration!
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Seeing the Lightning