Chapter 7: The Past Tells All!
Returning to their vehicle, Hilda and Ethan didn't notice an aged man with a Zoroark at his side. As the two watched Aunt and Nephew drive away, the young fox was curious about what just occurred. She just watched the man she had known for so long hold his own against a user of what many called dark aura, and she had remembered how his father, as well as hers had worked together in the past fighting off those that were part of Team Phoenix who possessed the same power that the "Amanda" girl had utilized. Curious about what they were going to do, she proceeded to ask him "So Daddy, what do we do now?"The man she had known as her father responded "Honestly, I don't know, Selina. But the word's beginning to change, I can almost sense a chemical reaction of old being created, leading to destructive if not catastrophic results."Confused by what her father was saying, she had asked "Uh English, Daddy?""Basically I fear the same entity that destroyed our home all those years ago is making a return." he explained, keeping his cool. "We have a lot of work to do, Selina." Turning to his daughter, he put his hands onto her furred shoulders as he acknowledged in a whisper "And I refuse to let history repeat itself, after what happened in Unova."Tilting her vulpine head in curiosity, she couldn't help but ask "One last question, Daddy. Your real name never was Walter, was it?"Taking a quick look around, "Walter" gestured for her to follow him. As the two walked away, he explained with a smirk "It never was..."***Amanda"Darn." Amanda thought to herself. "I could've stopped him right there and now. And then no one, his cousin, his Aunt, perhaps his mother; no one could dare to oppose Him!" Hearing a communicator go off on her wrist resembling a watch, she pushed a button on it, as she saw a video display of a hooded face. "What can I do for you, sir?" She had asked."Well, I wanted to congratulate you for the display of power you had shown off against Ethan...""But you're disappointed that I didn't kill him, and you're probably going to off me for it?" Amanda had questioned, anticipating the worst.Hearing a laughter on the other end, the figure replied before exaggerating his arms and asked "What makes you think I'd do such a thing to you? Did you really believe that I'm just like those 'tyrants' such as Joseph Stalin or Adolf Hitler, killing off my own followers that have failed me, or out of my own fear and paranoia! Rest assured, I do not want him dead...yet, so no, you haven't failed me. However, I do want to see him BREAK...""Whatever it takes, Master. But eventually, we will reveal ourselves to the Guardians once more, and we will have our revenge!" She declared proudly."Take it easy, Darth Maul. It's still too soon to reveal ourselves." Her leader responded jokingly. "Although I'm curious; why
do you hate Ethan so much?"Hoping she would never be asked that question, she replied if rather coldly "Let's just say that you'd never understand, Sir...""Actually, I think I do...." She then heard before their conversation ended rather abruptly. What did he mean?"****Ethan*After the three had gotten back into the vehicle, with Beleza having slithered into the back seat, Ethan had asked "Did you just summon a bolt of lightning powerful enough to black out a town, Tia?"Turning the vehicle on, Hilda explained "Yes, what I just pulled off....you could say was the full power of my electrokinesis! And if it isn't obvious, I have never liked having to use that much power at once. It gets...exhausting...""I can imagine." Ethan. "But one thing's on my mind. You had gasped when she had said of the name Phoenix...what do you know about them?" Ethan had asked her as they drove off, even though he probably had already known the answer.Pulling over, Hilda couldn't help but stop the vehicle as she grabbed a few tissues, and blew her nose. "They're the ones that had slain your father, Ethan." she explained. "All I really know of them is that they're made up of former members of the various groups we've heard about in the past, most notably Team Plasma. And they had discovered a form of power known as dark aura. We'll have to ask Nathan what he knows of it, given that I'm sure as an Aura Guardian, he's taught how to fight against them." Noticing how Ethan was taking in everything she was saying, she continued "What I best know of dark aura users is that they're far more destructive than any normal guardian, and it's power can corrupt humans and Pokémon. And on top of that, anybody can learn and master dark aura. I MEAN ANYONE.....""Guess that explains why Amanda's Galvantula had looked unorthodox." Ethan interrupted. "As well as it shooting black lightning.""In a nutshell." Hilda explained. "And we only got lucky with fighting Amanda due to her having possibly learned it recently. Put this in comparison, Ethan. I've had twenty to twenty five years of practice with electrokinesis, you've had a consistent ten...and given what we saw her pull off, I'd guess at least a year. Maybe two.""Two?!" Ethan asked, terrified at the thought. "She just used what almost took me ten years to practice!""Mind you, we have morality; regard of the lives of humans or Pokémon alike. Just the mere teaching of dark aura requires you to put all of that to the side, or just forget it altogether." Hilda replied. "And it's known of dark aura users being able to pull off tricks that normal users couldn't.""Translation: Amanda has manipulated her power over dark aura in a way to appear as lightning, no doubt an excuse to mock me for my own power over lightning, Tia Hilda." Ethan had guessed. She could only nod. "Great, so she's an electricity manipulator, but she can take baths without hurting
herself." "If it makes you feel better, I had to take sponge baths for about fifteen years, or until I was able to control my own power effectively." Hilda replied sympathetically."What? Didn't you say that you weren't able to produce it on your own? And you're only able to manipulate it from existing sources.." Ethan was about to ask, until it him. "Oh...""Yup. Even water can be a nasty thing." she responded. Remembering how Beleza was in the backseat, hearing everything; she continued "No offense, Beleza.""Milo." she quickly replied.Being the translator, Ethan acknowledged "She says 'None taken.'" Proceeding to put all of the pieces together, he then asked "Now that I've...no we've, got a better idea of what I was going up against, I just realized that brat had interrupted your story about how my parents met."Laughing at that thought, she continued "That's a very good point....let's just get home first, and I'll continue there." Ethan nodded in response. Beleza just lowered her head, and took a nap, finding the movement of the vehicle rather soothing for the serpent.***It was a rather quiet car ride back, in spite of what had just occurred. As soon as they had gotten home, Ethan woke his serpentine companion, and they and Hilda walked back into the house. Strolling into the living room, they noticed Nathan and Christine on the couch, the latter sitting on his lap like an ordinary couple, watching the news as a reporter announced "....and in other news today, a weird phenomenon occurred in the Unova memorial today. Local reports mentioned of multiple bolts of lightning in various colors striking parts of the memorial, some people reported to have seen rather unusual colors, such as black and purple, or even dark blue and red. As of now, we believe it might've been a sudden thunderstorm over New Bark Town today. Will we ever know what caused this, maybe never....that is all for today..."Noticing the arrival of company, the two almost jumped at the sight of Ethan and Hilda in the living room, as Christine hastily jumped out off of her mate, and lunged onto a nearby chair, as she exclaimed with her mental voice "We weren't doing anything, Mrs. Black! I swear!"Hilda just sighed, while Ethan briefly laughed at just how fast his cousin and future sister in law had reacted. As he calmed down, Nathan had said to his cousin and mother "I was curious where you two had gone off." "Basically, we went out to have a talk. And Amanda showed up to get in our way." Ethan explained. "And she learned some kind of power called dark aura." His younger cousin had gasped at the last two words. Even Christine had a look of fear on her canine face.Noticing their reactions, Hilda asked "I take it that you and Christine have learned how to fight users of dark aura, Son?"Looking down, he explained "We've only been taught the basics of defense against dark aura....wait a minute,
how do you know of dark aura, Mom?"Taking a deep breath, she explained "Let's just say that I and my brother had fought those that had mastered it when I was Ethan's age.""You fought those that called upon the darkest ends of the earth?" Everyone heard Christine exclaim."Yes." Hilda replied. "I was also explaining to Ethan how Unova was destroyed, but we can bring you two up to speed." Ethan nodded, knowing his Aunt had been going through a lot.***Several minutes must've passed as Aunt and nephew had sat down, and made a bit of a recap about the events that had occurred all those years ago, the meeting of N and Team Plasma, Hilbert's discovery of being related to the Hero of Ideals, his failure, and Team Plasma's victory with their King. Hoping he'd remember all of that, Nathan asked "So what does all of this have to do with what happened today?""I think it's safe to say everything." Ethan interjected, as he created a controlled pulse of dark blue electricity before vanishing in his hands.Hilda replied "He's right, Nathan. Now I think I can continue my story..." Noticing how everyone had his or her attention to her, she continued "After my little brother failed to stop Team Plasma, I saw everything that followed. I, Cheren and the Unovian Champion at the time Alder, had ran through the castle of Team Plasma, determined to help out Hilbert. And it wasn't until we finally found the throne room, where we saw the aftermath. My brother was exhausted, a look of defeat in his eyes when he saw me, and his party, even Zekrom herself, were lain across the battlefield, all of them unconscious. Out of desperation, I pulled out my own team, ready to fight N, only for him and Reshiram standing before us convincing me that it wasn't my fight, even if I was the other descendant to the Hero of Ideals. Even Hilbert told me that it wasn't worth fighting his fight. Up until then, I had never heard him sound so defeated from a fight. While Hilbert went to revive his team, a man by the name of Ghetsis came in, boasting of how proud he was for his supposed son on the victory; and then he called out my brother and I for getting in their way of ruling Unova. Insulted, my team and I got ready, and tried to challenge him only for Ghetsis to say mockingly that battling and even besting him would've proved nothing. What surprised me was Hilbert agreeing with the words of that madman. His servants, the Shadow Triad, had come, ready to attack us for interfering. Having said farewell to his team, Hilbert fired a blast of lightning at them, telling Cheren, Alder and I to get out of there...."Noticing his Aunt taking a breather, Ethan then asked "Let me guess; this Shadow Triad group fought back, and they had beaten my Dad, turning him into a prisoner of Team Plasma."Her eyes getting watery, she replied "Yes. They had fought him, and overpowered him. After the three of us escaped, Cheren and I feared that he was
killed. My mom was hysterical when she saw me come back without Hilbert. It didn't help that neither of us knew whether he was still alive or not. We wouldn't know the truth until a week later from a broadcast N held where he declared himself the new ruler of Team Plasma, and then Ghetsis had decided to rub it in of my brother's loss, and show him, battered and beaten to the world...." Bringing up the memories had jabbed into Hilda, leaving a pain that couldn't even be described as she began bursting into tears. Ethan and Nathan silently agreed that she had for now said enough as they hugged their Aunt/Mother in an attempt to comfort her."Thank you, both of you." Hilda said feeling better, as she rubbed her eyes. "I just need some time alone, please." Nodding, the two cousins had recalled their Pokémon, and walked out of the living room.***Agreeing on heading outside, Nathan had asked as the two went for a walk "So what do we do now?"Curious to what his cousin was asking, Ethan replied "What do you mean?"Throwing his trench coat on, he explained "Well, we've got a dark aura manipulator possibly running loose around New Bark Town. And we'll have problems if she's left unchecked.""I don't know actually. I suppose just keep training ourselves, cousin. And brace for the worst." Ethan acknowledged. Looking around, he brought his hands together as he produced sparks of dark blue electricity before dissipating it. He asked as he looked at his cousin "From what I've researched, there are at least seven different colors of what we call Aura, each generally with their own meaning. From your own experience as well as what you've learned, how true is that?""It's actually very true." Nathan explained as he created a sphere of light blue energy, before withdrawing it. "And blue on it's own generally represents intelligence.""How fitting." Ethan joked. "And I'm guessing that auras can have different shades of the same color, too."The both of them continued walking as the younger explained "That is also true. As for your power over lightning, I believe that in itself could be a form of aura manipulation.""That's...interesting.." Ethan replied, unsure of how to really respond to that knowledge. Thinking his cousin would like to change the subject, Nathan had asked "How about a Pokémon battle? Just my two Pokémon against yours."Despite not being the biggest fan of battling, he thought it'd be an okay idea, and replied "Why not? Let's just find someplace that we can go to." While there wasn't really a problem with holding battles out in the open in the past, it had recently become illegal to do so, so local battlefields had been built were anyone could use them as a compensation. Granted, there were some attacks that were highly frowned upon for use, no doubt thanks to their destructive abilities. But they became an ideal place for new and upcoming trainers that wanted
some battle experience in before they headed out of New Bark Town with their starter Pokémon.Continuing their stroll over to the arena that had been set up in the far south, Nathan had brought up "Now that I think about it, darker aura colors generally represent any sign of negativity that dwells within us. And dark blue is theorized to represent fears that we hold." Noticing a look of concern on his cousin's face, he asked "Is there something you're afraid of, Ethan?"Looking around, Ethan responded "I don't really feel comfortable saying it here, but I had these nightmares sometime back...in the first, I was fighting the people that Tia Hilda had called Team Phoenix, as well as some light manipulator. Then in the next....Beleza...and Phosphora....were killed....I was able to save Beleza....who had died in my hands hating me for what I had become....I looked at myself, and I looked like a wreck..." Noticing there weren't any people around, Ethan produced another spark of electricity from his hands as he asked "Was I looking...into the future...?"As much as he wanted to sympathize with his cousin, Nathan didn't really know what to really say, but then he remembered something. "Now that I think about it, Sabrina was said to have become in tune enough with her psychokinetic abilities that she boasted she was able to see into the future...perhaps you tapped into something similar when you had trained with her to control your powers." he acknowledged."Sounds like I should pay her a visit, she had given me her number back when we were dating. I'm sure that she still has mine." Ethan replied. "She should be able to read my mind, and see what I had dreamed.""That sounds rather awkward." Nathan remarked, if jokingly. "Having Scarlet Witch probe your mind and stuff. Or would she be more similar to Jean Grey?" Laughing, Ethan replied "I don't know how to answer that one." Continuing to walk, they soon found themselves at the front door of what was titled "New Bark Town Training Grounds". Sure, it was rather generic, but it got the job done for telling people what kind of place it is. Not to mention the place even offered a membership of sorts, which their family had a joint account. Although Hilda and Cheren really didn't see much of a use for it as they got older, they decided to continue training Pokémon as a just in case. And it didn't hurt to come in to give their companions a refresher. After using their cards to sign in, the two cousins had walked across a hallway littered with many doors, most of them generally leading to separate training stations. There was one room the two were familiar with, looking oddly similar to a basketball field in size, which the two were very fond of. Sure that might sound too massive to hold a Pokémon battle, but then again, it never hurt to play it safe. Much to their pleasure, said room was empty as the two walked in. Smiling, Ethan acknowledged "Yeah, this sounds
about right for size.""It's just a two on two, Ethan. We should probably- eh, never mind. Let's use this spot." Nathan responded, as he sent out Christine, who showed a rather blatant look of surprise on her face at the change in scenery. Phosphora showed a similar expression on her face as Ethan sent her out, even if the young sheep couldn't see her surroundings. Noticing his cousin explaining their plan to the Ampharos, Nathan turned to Christine asking her "I understand if this sounds random, but how does a battle sound?"Her ears perking up, she responded "That sounds nice." Proceeding to whisper, she then asked "It's obviously a sparring session isn't it, given whom I'm going up against?""Of course it's a sparring session!" Ethan responded with a controlled yell as he and Phosphora walked onto the other side, the latter posed for battle, holding her walking cane like a staff.Christine couldn't hep but roll her eyes at Ethan's hearing. Bracing to battle, she turned to Nathan asking "Nathan, I have an idea. Can I see the scarf you're wearing?" Raising an eyebrow, the younger cousin removed the black and blue scarf he was wearing, and handed it over asking "Uh, sure. What are you planning?" Just as soon as his canine mate wrapped it like a blindfold around her eyes, it all made sense to him. "Do you really want to try this?" Even Ethan had looked confused by what he was seeing."Yeah, I want to try this. Does anyone say no to a fair fight?" she responded. Concentrating on her own aura, she was able to see the rather bright yellow aura that surrounded Phosphora, as well as Ethan's dark blue aura. Not hearing anything, she then boasted "Good. Let's roll!"Shrugging his shoulders, Ethan exclaimed "I'll go first. Phosphora, Electro Ball!"*Cue Battlefield Ver. 2 from Super Smash Bros Brawl*Thanks to being able to "see" where Christine was standing, the Ampharos generated a sphere of whitish yellow electricity from her rather stubby hands, before using her cane as a baseball bat to strike the sphere, and hurl it in the jackal's direction. "Christine, defend!" Nathan said quickly, surprised at how fast the ball of lightning was moving, before remembering lighting itself was a form of light. Using her aura sight, Christine saw where the ball was moving, so she proceeded to create a bubble of blue aura as the electrical sphere had made contact. Unfortunately, her defense was thrown up too late as the electro ball made contact, shattering the shield she created as it sent her flying, only to create a sphere, specifically an aura sphere, and fired it like a bullet in Phosphora's direction as she landed on her feet."Protect!" Ethan called out, seeing the aura sphere. On cue, his wooly friend put her arms out as a shield of electrical energy was produced, leaving her well protected from the
attack."Get close and use Bullet Punch!" Nathan called out, prompting Christine to dash, her paws glowing with a somewhat metallic sheen. Despite being an electric type, Ethan knew Phosphora wouldn't be able to take the barrage of punches for so long. Winging an idea on the fly, he said as Christine got close "Phosphora, charge your cane, and use it to block her punches!" Knowing what he was talking about, she concentrated her electricity onto the cane, as it glowed with her power. Spinning the cane like a staff, Christine was almost at point blank range, ready to deliver a punch, only to be whacked across the torso with what had now become a stun baton, the electricity alone being enough to catch her off guard as she was knocked off her feet. Before Phosphora had a chance to follow up with another attack, she felt a leg strike the back of hers as she fell onto the floor. Ready to defend, she heard Christine saying without her telepathy "Need a paw?" The jackal had already removed her "blindfold", and offered to help the Ampharos on her feet. Assuming it was a tie, she took up the offer as she grabbed Christine's paw, albeit with some effort due to her blindness before finally getting up. Seeing their interaction, Ethan and Nathan silently agreed on calling that matchup a tie as their respective girlfriends walked back up to them."You did well, Phosphora. Now for Beleza's turn." Ethan acknowledged as he recalled one girlfriend, and sent out his serpentine companion. "You too, Christine. Let's go, Omega." Nathan acknowledged as she requested to watch the rest of the battle outside of her Poké-Ball, as he called out his walking Playstation 4- I mean, supercomputer known by many as a Metagross. "Friend detected; I shall go easy." the iron spider responded. "Excellent. Let's start this with Flash Cannon!" Nathan exclaimed. As Omega pointed his arm out at Beleza, Ethan noticed that the Metagross was wearing a necklace of sorts, along with a marble like stone attached to the necklace. Seeing a concentrated beam of light coming her way, Ethan replied "Dodge it, and use Water Pulse!" Heeding his words, she dodged ahead of time, as she created a sphere of hydrokinetic energy, only for the both of them to realize that the Metagross' attack was still heading Ethan's way. Not even thinking, he hastily generated a circular shield of electromagnetic energy to protect himself. Much to his dismay, the beam of light he hoped to absorb ended going right through the shield anyway as it struck him, knocking him off his feet, as he flew into the wall behind him, the impact having enough force to leave a major crack in the wall. And theme ends"Ethan!" He heard his cousin call out as he hit the ground with a thud. Ethan couldn't
help but laugh, given that he had taken a direct hit from a steel type attack, and survived. Sure, one of his legs hurt like a sucker, but all in all he was alright. A sight that almost caught everyone in the room off guard. "I'll be alright, Nathan. Probably take a few hours if not a day for this to heal up, but I'll be alright." Ethan responded as he got back onto his feet.Panicking, Nathan said hastily as he ran up to his older cousin "We...are...so sorry..."Ignoring the pain, he responded "Nathan if it makes you feel better, at least it's me getting hit with a Pokémon attack, and no one else.""He's actually got a good point." Christine had remarked, having switched back to using her telepathy. "Why don't we call this a tie for now, and try this again when we both have a full team?" Ethan offered, attempting to walk as if he wasn't on a limp. "Let's just go home. This should heal up by the time we get back." Nathan nodded, hoping his cousin was right as he recalled Omega, and Christine had offered to help Ethan walk. "Thanks, but I should be okay." He replied. After recalling Beleza, the three walked out, returning back home after thanking the workers for the time, and apologizing for any destruction, only to be told that such damage was rather common when Pokémon were using certain attacks. At least they didn't know that a human had crashed into it. Feeling better, Ethan and Nathan walked away, a smile on their faces. Walking back from the training grounds, they immediately stopped in their tracks as they saw a television in a nearby chain restaurant displaying the local news, and a reporter was saying "...just earlier, we had gotten an anonymous tip of a terrorist living down in New Bark Town. I have a rather difficult time believing this, but said tip claims that this terrorist is capable of shooting bolts of lightning from his or her fingertips. Could said person be responsible for the random thunderstorm that took place at the Unova memorial? Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of what this person looks like, but as of now local police forces are getting themselves ready to get this person, wherever he or she may be hiding, and whatever this person looks like!"Fearing the worst, Ethan looked at Nathan and Christine, saying "We should get back home. Tia's probably freaking out right now, assuming she saw the news!"