You know, I was seriously considering of quitting this fic, but I guess I’d better resolve it soon.

 

Sorry for it being on the back burner so long! I was more interested in finishing CCA.

 

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo, Game FREAK, and 4Kids, Shogakukan Comics…

 

Notes: I know that I said that ‘Destiny’s early life’ was the prequel to CCA. Well, it can be the prequel for this one, too. Just letting you know.

 

<> Is telepathy, ** is thoughts, and () is poke speech or Authoress’ notes. And I know I use italics for poke speech in other versions, but I’m too lazy to change it in this one. After all, I have School. *_*()

 

Woohoo! I actually finished this in 2 hours of cramming! Thanks to the reviewer who prompted me with a pitchfork. :)

 

Chapter 7

 

            Ash sat in his room, black fire swirling around his body. Flareon stood next to him, its ears pricked back and alert.

 

            < Is there anyone coming? > Ash asked telepathically.

 

            < No, not that I know of. > Flareon replied. < Why are you so worried? You could just erase their memories. >

 

            < But I’m afraid. I mean, Blaine is a nice person, and I’d rather not hurt him, you know? >

            < Ah, I see. > Flareon said. < Well, isn’t that why I’m keeping watch? >

            Ash sighed. < Why does Gary seek me out? How come he keeps finding me, no matter what disguise I’m in? Does he have a homing beacon on me, or something like that? >

 

            < Why don’t you just eliminate him? >

 

            “Well…” Ash’s eyes dilated to gold for a second before turning blue-green again. Then he sighed.

 

            “Perhaps it is because of my mother. No, not Change, though I know she meant well. But Delilah… I know that she wasn’t my real mother, yet she sacrificed her life to protect me from May, and I know she would not want me to… kill him.”

 

            < But I thought… you know, you could get rid of Gary for what May did? Revenge. Something like an eye for an eye? >

 

            “Perhaps…” Ash said thoughtfully. The flames ebbed away, shrouding the room in darkness again.

 

            Flareon yawned. < Well, you don’t need me to stand guard anymore. I’m going to bed. >

            < All right, Flareon. > Ash said. Flareon padded off.

 

            Ash’s eyes closed. * I used to be innocent. Strange how I think about it now, but… it’s true. As a child, my wings were pure white, but as I learned about darkness and shadows, evil and darkness, they slowly turned darker, until they were jet-black. Am I truly becoming dark inside as well? *

 

            For the first time, he wasn’t sure about anything anymore. The feeling frightened him.

 

           

 

            “Well? How do I beat Ashura?” Gary asked.

 

            “You can’t.” Drake said simply.

 

            “WHAT?! What kind of answer is that?!” Gary asked, enraged.

 

            “Ashura does not seem to be merely a good trainer. It lies deeper than that. More complex analysis is required before a conclusion can be drawn.”

 

            “Well, why didn’t you say so earlier? What sort of analysis?”

           

            “I have a hunch…” Drake said. He turned to Gary and asked him a question. “Do you believe in magical beings?”

 

            “You mean besides pokemon?”

 

            “Yes.”

            Gary rubbed his chin. “Well, yes.”

 

            “Good. Then my explanation won’t sound too far-fetched. The thing is that this world is sparsely populated by magical beings, sprites, faeries, nymphs, and genies… Those who have magical blood in them are usually more talented in the art of pokemon as well as possessing longer life spans and other abilities.”

 

            “So you’re saying Ashura is a genie or something?”

 

            “Precisely.” Drake said. “My father was a sprite. I inherited limited powers from him, namely detection and evasion, but it has still been helpful. I believe that Ashura is most likely either half-magic or a full magical being, probably a fire faerie or a fire sprite, which explains how he can command fire-type pokemon so well.”

 

            “It is possible.” Gary admitted. “But that’s, well, unfair to the rest of us.”

 

            Drake shrugged. His brown eyes were serious. “Perhaps you should abandon your quest for the Volcano badge until we come to the bottom of this mystery.”

 

            “Good idea. I’ll take a vacation.”

 

            “Excellent.” Drake said. “A month should be sufficient. Train your pokémon well. By the time you return, I should have the information you require. However, the price…”

 

            “My grandfather’s rolling in money.” Gary said truthfully. Even after Professor Oak had been fined for Team Rocket’s theft at the reserve, he was still a multi-millionaire.

 

            “Then I will await your return.” Drake said.

 

            “What about Kelly? Do you need her help?”

 

            Drake shuddered. “She’s too genki for my tastes. I will be researching the rest on my own.”

 

           

 

            Ash was helping Blaine in the laboratory again.

 

            “Beautiful…” Ash said, staring at the glowing golden crystal.

 

            “Isn’t it? The sun stone is truly hard to obtain, buried deep in mines, but the result is well worth it.”

 

            “Doesn’t Kireihana evolve from Gloom using this?”

 

            “Correct. So does Sunflora. But the other possible evolutions of this stone have never been explored.”

            “Oh! So you want to see what other types of pokemon can evolve from this stone?”

 

            “I was thinking about testing it on an Eevee, actually.” Blaine said. “That way, there is a greater chance of a successful evolution.”

 

            “Shall I hit a breeding center then?”

 

            “Yes. There is a reputable one Pewter, actually. I only need two or three Eevees.”

            “All right.” Ash walked outside the volcano, using a secret passage known only to him and Blaine. Actually, the whole area was riddled with secret passages and escape routes, in case the volcano ever erupted.

 

            “Fearow, I choose you!” Ash said. The pokemon popped out and landed in front of him.

 

            < Yes? >

 

            “I need a ride to Pewter to get some Eevees for our next experiment. Don’t worry, we’re not trying to hurt them! I’ll ask for volunteers.”

 

            < Hop on. > Fearow said. Ash climbed on. < I hope you don’t mind some aerial acrobatics on the way there. >

            “Nope.” Ash said. Fearow smiled, and took off. First, she did a series of loop-the-loops, followed by two whirlwind spins and a cartwheel through the air. When they finally landed at Pewter, as was happy to be on good solid terra firma again.

 

            “Now where’s the breeding center?” He asked, looking around.

           

            < I assume it is that large building over there? >

 

            “That’s the gym, Fearow.” Ash corrected. “But it ought to be close by. I’ll ask somebody.” Fearow was recalled and Ash started walking down Main Street.

 

            “Do you know where the breeding center is, miss?” He asked a little girl with purple hair.

 

            “It’s over there. My daddy is one of the breeders.” She said, pointing at a large grass-green building.

 

            “Thanks.” Ash said. He gave her a lollypop and walked in.

 

            The front desk was empty.

 

            “Hello? Anybody here?”

 

            “Coming!” A nurse Joy hurried up. “How may I help you?”

 

            “Professor Blaine sent me to pick up the Eevees he ordered.” Ash said, handing out his identification card.

 

            “Oh! I’m terribly sorry, but we’re behind schedule. Only two of them are ready, the third is still in training.”

 

            “I’ll ask about it.” Ash said. He walked over to a videophone and called Blaine.

 

            “Well, you can spare some time to pick up the third Eevee when it is ready, right?”

 

            “Right.” Ash said. He picked up the other two Eevees and headed back to the lab.

 

           

            Drake watched from behind a boulder as Ash typed a seven-digit password into the wall of the volcano. A secret panel slid open and he walked in. The door began to close.

 

            Drake dashed over, his power as a sprite concealing him from view. He slipped in behind Ash. * All right, now I’m in. That’s good. *

 

            Ash walked down the hall and deposited the two sleeping Eevees next to the habitat where the other eevelutions were kept.

 

            “We’re not experimenting until tomorrow, right?”

 

            “Right.” Blaine said. His voice was coming from an odd place. Ash looked around, but didn’t bother to check.

 

            “Well, in that case, I’m going to go train.”

 

            “Fine by me. I’ll call you if anything comes up.”

 

            “Great!” Ash left the ‘lab’ portion of the gym and headed to his rooms. He left his lab coat and heavy canvas pants hanging neatly from little hooks set into the rock wall, while his boots leaned against the floor. From another hook hung two pairs of goggles and a force field generator.

 

            Ash changed into a light blue t-shirt and jeans that contrasted nicely with his silky white hair. It was odd how nobody ever noticed that he looked very much like he had five years ago when he had won the Indigo championships, but he had gotten used to it. Since nobody had been able to get past the elite four anyways, Ash did not have any challengers for his title yet, and he intended for it to stay that way.

 

            Some of the pokemon were still sleeping, so Ash left them in his room. He slipped the beaded belt around his waist and headed outside.

 

            Drake was struck with indecision. Should he follow Ash or snoop around? Finally, he decided to snoop around for half an hour and then go find Ash.

 

            Ash left.

 

 

            Drake materialized. His dark brown hair was the first to appear, followed by his eyes, face, and then the rest of his body. He slowly tiptoed around.

 

            “If I were Ash, where would I keep my most prized possessions?” He wondered. Finally, he noticed a niche in the wall, slightly open. He reached in and extracted a small black pouch.

 

            “Bingo.” Drake opened it and blinked at what he saw. Inside law what looked like a mountain of stuff.

 

            He began removing items one by one. First, there were two pokédexes. A Team Rocket one and the standard red one issued by Professor Oak. Then, there were the eight Indigo badges, neatly pinned to a strip of red felt. A pile of glowing stones, a miniature crystallized tree, some ordinary rocks, evolution stones, sealed test tubes labeled with strange unown symbols, poke balls…

 

            “This is amazing.” Drake opened laptop and began recording information. There were also many magical items, which confirmed his guess that Ash was no ordinary human.

 

            Several hours passed. Drake lost all track of time, but then he heard footsteps nearing the area. He hurriedly stuffed everything back into the bag and winked out of sight.

 

            When Ash came in, he was invisible. But suddenly, a wave of blue fire coated the area and Drake could not stop himself from screaming.

 

            “Who’s there?” Ash asked. His eyes flashed golden and Drake cried out as his magic was forcefully shoved aside.

 

            He landed on his head with a yelp. Ash gave him a sideways glance.

 

            “So, Drake, long time no see.”

 

            “What?”

            “After all, why would I want to see my half-brother, the one who turned my father against me?”

 

            Drake could only stare as Ash walked closer.

 

 

Hahaha! End Chapter! Review or else I won’t post! *Evil grin* I expect about 6 reviews for each chapter before I post the next one.