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Awakening 5

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Awakening

Chapter 5: The Shadows In Your Eyes (Part 2)

After they more or less got Meowth to calm down, Ashimi and Jonathan continued on their way just outside of Saffron City where she would continue her training. Jonathan put Nya down and she became fascinated with a stray leaf, swiping at it to toss it in the air. She rolled, ending up on her back below the falling leaf which landed on her nose, she looked cross-eyed for a moment trying to look at it, before blowing and causing the leaf to jump up from her nose and fall slowly once again. She swiped at it with her paws as the leaf fell, until a breeze blew it off course. Rolling right side up she jumped, trying to catch it, but the wind blew it away. Nya landed with her paws cupped over nothing. She lifted one paw and the then other, marveling at the lack of leaf. She spun around looking for her lost plaything and caught sight of her tail instead, occupying herself in chasing it until she was dizzy.

During her stay with Delia, Giovanni had observed that the Purrloin he obtained from his deceased mother was not the sharpest knife in the drawer and wondered aloud if she ingested the pink dye used on her fur. Delia was about to scold him for being mean, but stopped when she saw the Purrloin rubbing against his leg affectionately. He had not spoken harshly, his voice taking on an almost joking tone and she took it to mean a good thing. As long as she wasn't yelled at, she would take everything as well meant. Delia wasn't sure if the Purrloin was fully aware that pokemon that spoke the human language were particularly rare, or if she even noticed that Meowth was unusual. She was used to wearing extravagant hats and accessories at her previous trainer's whim and nothing seemed odd to her.

Purrloin's fur stayed pink, making Delia later conclude that Giovanni's mother must have injected her with something that mutated her that way. Her child was expected to be the  normal violet color of a Purrloin, though she ended up being lavender, her paler fur attributed to some pigmentation mutation from her mother. Meowth had suggested the name Nyarth, but her mother had taken to calling her Nya, so he settled for that. She was a curious kitten, displaying the need to know of her father, comically paired with the scattered brained distraction of her mother, which made most of her investigative endeavors utterly unsuccessful... but still cute.

Nya finally got dizzy from chasing her tail and plopped down on the grass, her limbs stretched in every direction and her head moving from side to side.  Jonathan let Foxtrot out of his pokeball, instructing him to keep an eye on Nya, then turned his attention to Ashimi. "What did you have in mind for training?"

"I need to get a feel for electricity," Ashimi removed the rubber cover on the rod's handle and tossed it in her bag.

"You're going to really fell it if you use it like that..." Jonathan observed.

"Yup," Ashimi agreed, as if getting electrocuted on purpose was a perfectly normal thing to do. She explained how her battle with Sabrina went and her training made a little more sense, but still looked a tad extreme, yet fitting for Ashimi's impulsive tendencies. "Okay Pichu, give me a little shock." The Pichu shook his head, refusing at first, but Ashimi managed to coax him into attacking her. She cringed at the feeling of electricity coursing through her but forced herself to be strong. "More..."

Little by little, the electric charge increased until Jonathan began to worry. He tried to share his concerns, but Ashimi wouldn't hear it. Nya looked at the light show, smiled and ran towards it because it was pretty and shiny. Foxtrot snatched her back before she got hurt, but they were close enough to the flow of electricity for their fur to become comically fluffy and charged with static.

Ashimi used the rod to redirect the electricity, getting a feel for what it was like for electricity to gather at a specific point. It was the end of the rod attracting it, but at least she could feel the flow of its movements, even if it was rather painful. Exhausted and sore, Ashimi collapsed in a mess of static and twitching, her hair just as fluffed up as the pokemon's fur. As Jonathan tried to help her up, he ended up getting a jolt of leftover electricity too. Ashimi laughed despite her pain, "you should see your hair."

"It can't be any worse than yours, puffball." Jonathan was relived to hear her joke. If she could still poke fun at him, then she couldn't be that bad off.

"Okay, I think I have a feel for the flow of electricity, now I just need to work on not getting shocked. That should be less painful," Ashimi stumbled, her head spinning from all the shocks.

"Maybe you should take a break first," Jonathan suggested.

Ashimi let out a breath and tried to steady herself. "Okay, but only for a little while." Something bumped into her leg softly and she looked down to see a lavender ball of fluff, any shape beyond the roundness being imperceptible; she couldn't help it but to laugh.

After a short break, Ashimi went on to the next part of her training. This was significantly less painful for her but challenging for Pichu. She had the pokemon use electricity around her, but not on her. At first Pichu slipped often and shocked her, though she encouraged him and claimed she was slowly getting a feel for what it was like to be surrounded by electricity without actually being shocked. Pichu also gained more control because of the exercise, which would certainly come in handy. There was a secret move that could be done with electricity, yet few pokemon could perform it. It required very precise control that Pichu was trained for by his mother, but ultimately was too young to master. Ashimi knew of this and tried to continue the training though she didn't push Pichu too hard, being aware that even if he came close, a perfect move was simply not something a Pichu could do.

The ability was not designed for battle, but as support for the Rockets of the tech department, hackers and machine experts. The goal was to output a very precise stream of energy in a near perfect straight line, rather than the zigzag pattern electric attacks usually took. This would allow small components to be powered without affecting the machinery around them. In infiltration situations, it could mean avoiding detection by short-circuiting key elements and leaving the rest functional to prevent alarms. Yet even if it wasn't originally made for that purpose, it could also be used in battle and it was powerful. The superficial damage would be hard to perceive,  but the way the nervous system would react would be extremely painful. The target would experience pain well beyond the truth of the damage, allowing opponents to be defeated without serious injury. It was also quite convenient for interrogations, but Ashimi wasn't really aware of that part. As an extreme, the ability code named lightning laser could be used as a way to attack the heart, causing irregularities in its beating, which could potentially provoke a heart attack, but Ashimi wasn't aware of that part either.

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After taking some more time to train, Ashimi felt that she had done all she could do. She could practice more and Pichu could get stronger, but that wasn't the problem anyway. Sabrina was testing her endurance and mental capability to see if she could feel what a pokemon felt and deal with it. This was a test of mental strength rather than physical strength. When Pichu was fed and well rested, it was again time to try to win a marsh badge.

Once again, Ashimi marched towards the main street, this time with Jonathan at her side. As they left the wooded area in the city outskirts and entered the main street, the person following them looked around for a hiding spot. "What? Aren't you going to follow all the way?"

Realizing that she had been discovered, Dorme stepped out of hiding. "I'm not following you, I'm just passing by!"

"And you happened to be going to the gym?" Ashimi suspiciously asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am," Dorme crossed her arms over her chest and firmly planted her feet on the ground, her nose in the air.

"I won't stop you," Ashimi voiced. "If you want to see my battle that's fine by me."

"C'mon Dorme, let's cheer her on together," Jonathan gave Dorme a friendly pat on the back to encourage her to join them in a way that would hopefully make the two girls learn to get along.

Feeling his hand on her shoulder, Dorme smiled, her cheeks taking on a slightly pink hue. "Okay..." Then she realized what she had agreed to and jumped back as if she had been burned. "No way! I don't want to cheer her on!"

"Not that I need it," Ashimi continued her determined march to the Saffron gym. She knew the battle that awaited would be difficult, but she had a feeling that if she put it off any longer Sabrina would make it even harder. The psychic didn't like cowards and Ashimi certainly wasn't one. " This is it, It's time for me to battle Sabrina!"

Dorme's eyes went wide. "You mean you're not battling her lackeys? Sabrina may be an ally to Team Rocket, but judging from what I heard she won't go easy on you just because you're Giovanni's granddaughter. "

"I know... But I have to do this, I already challenged her," as for having already lost to her once before, Ashimi felt that Dorme didn't need to know that.

"I'm not going to play cheerleader for you, but I want to see this," Dorme was visibly excited to see the famous Sabrina in action. "You're going to lose so badly! Ah! Ha ha ho ha ha!"

"We'll see about that!" Ashimi could feel her determination growing along with her annoyance.

"Ashy..." Jonathan spoke in a distinctly non-confrontational tone. "Don't get mad at me for saying this, but if you need a high level of focus, then this isn't the time to lose your temper."

"I haven't lost my temper!" Ashimi shouted, proving that she had indeed done the opposite of what she claimed. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Focus... focus... concentrate... deep breaths... calming breaths..."

Dorme grinned quietly as she watched Ashimi try hard to calm herself, she could be pretty loud and distracting when she wanted to be. The blond noticed Jonathan giving her a suspicious look and smiled innocently, as if she hadn't been plotting anything at all.

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At the Saffron City gym, Ashimi stepped forward towards the arena. She figured Sabrina would notice she was back and arrive soon enough. This was true, though her arrival was not what Ashimi and her companions expected, as the psychic teleported into the opposite side of the arena. "Let us begin..." Sabrina's voice echoed.

The same dark mist from before invaded the arena. Jonathan and Dorme could no longer see Ashimi or each other. The blond stepped closer to where she thought he was and reached for his hand in the darkness. She thought she felt something and grabbed at it, in her haste not paying attention to the fact that it wasn't hand-shaped. She suddenly jumped forward and both her hands flew to cover her behind. "Johnny, did you just grab my tail?" She shouted in shock. After the surprise faded, she wasn't sure if she should be angry or happy. "Johnny? You can stop hiding in the creepy mist, I won't slap you, I promise." No reply came and she reached into the darkness again, stretching her right arm forward. She felt the hand on her backside again and grabbed at the wrist with her left. She felt someone grab her right wrist at the same time and screamed.

Dorme pulled her hand back and felt who she had assumed to be Johnny trying to free himself from her grip. She refused to let go and as she held on, she felt the grip on her other hand become tighter. She looked back and noticed something strange, the hand she held had a glove like hers. Now that she thought about it, the wrist was also kind of thin and... feminine? She tugged at it and felt a tug on her other hand. She let go and moved her fingers. "What?" As her right hand was now free, she pulled it back and looked at it. She turned her head to look behind her and reached out, seeing her own hand emerge from the mist. "Now that's just creepy." Dorme pulled both arms close to her body and hugged herself. "Wait... That means it was just me all along, it was never Johnny at all..." She wasn't sure if she should be relieved or disappointed.

Jonathan was lost in the dark mist also. The silvery points of light looked like little distant stars, but far from being a means of orientation, they were rather disconcerting. He saw the tiny silver specs, but they provided no illumination, the dark fog was as thick as ever. "Ashy! Dorme!" Even if he called out as loud as he could, he could hardly even hear his own voice. The lavender Purrloin in his arms whimpered in fright and covered her eyes with her front paws, hiding her face. "It's okay, Nya, it's not as scary inside your pokeball." Jonathan secured the little pokemon into a capsule and continued his investigation of the surrounding area. He started walking but felt like he wasn't getting anywhere. Suddenly, the fog stretched into tentacles that wrapped around him. He struggled to get free, but couldn't move a muscle.

"Johnny?" Dorme's figure slowly emerged from the darkness and spotted Jonathan. "Johnny!" She ran to him and tried to free him from the odd dark material that held him in place.

"Be careful, don't get caught too," Jonathan warned.

"This place is creepy..." Dorme took a deep breath and tried to be brave. "Go Oddish!" The pokeball didn't respond. "Oddish?" She opened up the pokeball, pulling the two halves apart, and a bright red light came from within, but just as quickly it retreated and the pokeball closed itself. "It's stuck..." She reached for another pokeball from her belt.

"It won't work..." Johnny concluded. "If Sabrina doesn't want you to call out your pokemon you won't be able to." He paused, looking at the darkness beyond, he thought he saw Pichu.

"What can we do?" Before Dorme received any answers, the fog around her stretched and grabbed her, wrapping around her body and holding her in place. "Ah! It's not fair! I wasn't even going to cheer for Ashimi! Sabrina, I'm on your side!"

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Ashimi remained calm while her body went into a trance and her mind connected with Pichu. She couldn't hear Johnny cheering her on or Dorme tossing out annoying remarks, but she assumed they were somewhere in the darkness. Yet this was no time to think about her cheering squad, or lack thereof, she had to concentrate on Pichu and the battle. "Just like we practiced..."

Pichu's electricity began to build up slowly. Ashimi didn't rush it, remembering what it was like to feel the electricity flow. "Ashy, we're doing it!" Pichu's young voice echoed in Ashimi's mind.

"That's right, we're going to win! Thunderbolt!" Pichu dashed forward on the offensive and attacked Alakazam, who quickly teleported out of the way.

"Behind us!"Ashimi called out, taking a guess. Where else would Alakazam want to appear? Appearing behind an opponent was a classic trick and the guess was correct. "Thunderbolt!" This time the attack flowed out faster, with more confidence, but Alakazam disappeared and dodged it again.

Pichu turned around, but didn't find anyone behind him. "Where did he go?"

"Above?" Ashimi guessed. She wouldn't put it past this particular Alakazam to be able to freely levitate with ease, his trainer could do it after all. Sure enough there was Alakazam, floating above Pichu. "Thunderbolt!" Just as they were going to attack again, the image of Alakazam became an entrapped Johnny and Ashimi tried to pull back the power on instinct while Pichu attempted to diminish it to the point of harmlessness. The difference in their  tactics caused the electricity to shock Pichu, but fortunately, it wasn't intense enough to knock him out. "Sorry Pichu, let's stay synchronized from now on." Trying to call back the electricity was a big mistake, but Ashimi didn't think diminishing it would work ideally either, she could feel Pichu's fatigue as he had tried to cancel out the attack, causing the sparks to become wider, but in a much shorter range. "Next time, lets try to redirect the attack altogether."

"Got it!" Pichu looked around, Ashimi's vision following the movements of his head, seeing through his eyes. Alakazam was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, Pichu was lifted off the floor.

"Don't panic," Ashimi advised, both to Pichu and herself. "We can still win this. Feel the flow of psychic power just like you can sense the flow of electricity and follow it to the target... Thunder!" The psychic grip tightened and lifted Pichu higher, then began to descend with amazing speed. The thunder attack reached Alakazam in a direct hit and the psychic force pushing him to the ground was gone, but gravity was still in place; unlike Ashimi's sleeping body, Pichu wasn't floating. "Thunderbolt the ground!"

Pichu reacted fast and aimed his electricity for the mist covered floor below. He looked like a rocket, he wasn't flying, but he was at least falling slower. The yellow pokemon still hit the floor with a thud, but it could have been a lot worse. Sore and tired, Pichu struggled to get on his feet. "Ow... Are we still winning?"

"We're getting there..." Ashimi tried to stay positive.

Out of the darkness, Alakazam appeared, he was looking kind of singed, especially the ends of his mustache, and he seemed to be suffering from a headache. "Following the flow of Alakazam's psychic power to attack him, a clever trick," Sabrina's voice echoed. To sense the flow of energy and ride their current is a precious art, did you know it was I who initially mentioned it to the Rocket tech department while they were working on machines that amplified and utilized my power? They made good use of the concept."

"I thought you didn't want to be hooked up to any machines," Ashimi voiced in surprise. That was what she had heard, Team Rocket trying to convince Sabrina to participate in some project the details of which Ashimi was uncertain of, and Sabrina refusing.

"It is not that I distrust technology, but those who control it," Sabrina answered simply. "You remain unaware of the true power of precise targeting. Even with light attacks in the right spot, the result can be significant, what would happen with strong attacks if they can be made just as precise?" Sabrina didn't wait for an answer to her rhetorical question before making Dorme appear in front of Alakazam. "You don't like this one much, do you? Will you go through her to attack?"

"Pichu?" Dorme looked confused at the image that was suddenly in front of her.

"I don't have to..." Ashimi was determined. "Just like we practiced, Pichu! Surround Dorme with electricity but don't hit her, hit Alakazam."

When Dorme saw Pichu getting ready to attack in her direction, she was alarmed and struggled to get free to no avail. Yet the electricity passed next to her in a zigzagging semi circle and hit Alakazam behind her.

Dorme disappeared into the darkness again. A chuckle was heard in an echo and the warning in Sabrina's voice of, "don't let it go to your head..." Then quickly a command, "psycho cut!"

Unlike in previous occasions, Ashimi and Pichu actually heard Sabrina's order that time, which gave Pichu a warning to react to and dodge. He was able to avoid most of the damage, but got caught on the tip of the tail. The psycho cut was sharper than usual, enough to create a cut and draw blood. Pichu cried out in pain while Ashimi tried to calm him. "It's almost over Pichu, just hold on a little longer, we'll win this soon. I'll focus on the pain and maybe that will pass it onto me and make it less for you, just focus on our final move. They're not expecting us to recover quickly, now's our chance to end this!" Pichu got ready for another electric attack, but strangely, Alakazam didn't move. There was an odd glow around him and once again they had not heard what Sabrina's command had been, she had probably sent her pokemon a private psychic message. "Pichu, pretend to attack with thunderbolt, get close and miss." Ashimi wasn't sure what the glow was, but it was probably a light screen or some kind of counter attack  technique. If it had been a direct psychic attack, they would have already felt it. Pichu did as instructed, pretending not to notice Alakazam's strategy. Just as the thunderbolt missed the target and served as a distraction, it was the opportunity they needed. "Bite!"

Taken off guard and not being used to direct physical attacks, Alakazam dropped one of his spoons as Pichu lashed on to his wrist harshly. The pained psychic pokemon lost his concentration and the glow of his defenses faded, leaving him exposed to an attack. He lifted his other hand with the intention of smacking the electric pokemon away with his remaining spoon, but it was too late.

"Thunder!" With the last of his energy,  Pichu released the final attack. Alakazam twitched wildly as he was electrocuted, then became still, fainted. The defeated psychic pokemon fell backwards and Pichu finally released his wrist, rolling onto his back and breathing heavily, he could no longer stand and soon darkness overcame his senses. As Pichu closed his eyes, Ashimi's vision turned dark, but she couldn't allow it, she gave the pokemon her energy, calling his exhaustion to her, until he opened his eyes again, long enough to utter the words, "we won..." The quiet whisper came out as a simple "pi chu..." Outside of their minds, but it was enough to make it clear which pokemon had stayed awake the longest, enough to prove that Pichu was still conscious when Alakazam wasn't.

To be Continued

What did you think of the battle? Sabrina hasn't entirely lost the sense of humor she developed after meeting Ash in the first season of the anime. I wanted to show that even with all the mystery and power, she still has a fun side to her and was probably getting a good laugh out of picking on Dorme.

There's no mini-bio in this chapter because I haven't introduced any new characters yet. Well, there's the lady from the cake shop, but I don't want to spoil her true identity. Although, if you've been following me at Deviant Art or the other art sites listed on my profile, you've already seen pictures of the whole supporting cast. XD See you in the next installment - Chapter 6: What's an Adventure Without a High-Speed Chase?

I added a poll to my profile. If you've been following me on Daviant Art, you should already know all the characters, but I do I realize that some of the characters have not been introduced in the actual story yet, so I understand if you'd rather vote later.
Summary - Awakening: Ash and Misty's daughter, Jessie and James' son, a cast of peculiar characters and a whole new adventure about friends, life, Team Rocket, and learning to face the complexity of reality... Sequel to Don't Give Me Diamonds. Can be read as a stand alone.

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Awakening on Fanfiction Net: fanfiction.net/s/9698020/1/

Awakening on Deviant Art:
Chapter 1: mikaristar.deviantart.com/art/…
Chapter 2: mikaristar.deviantart.com/art/…
Chapter 3: mikaristar.deviantart.com/art/…
Chapter 4: mikaristar.deviantart.com/art/…

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Fantasy Bit: mikari.piratesboard.net
Deviant Art: mikaristar.deviantart.com
Art Grounds: artgrounds.com/gallery/Mikari/
Fanart Central: fanart-central.net/user/AzureM…
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