Ch.22

Ash hid his eye under his cap, staying relatively quiet. Pikachu sensed his trainers oddly low key attitude, especially before a gym battle.

"I hate it, I really do." Ash's hand curled into a tight fist, "he's a powerful trainer. There's no denying that." Ash the looked straight ahead, his eyes closed. "I can't fall behind."

"Hey Pikachu." Pikachu's ears perked at his trainers voice, "let's make sure we win this."

"Pika-Pi!"

"Alright Ash, it look like you're ready. How many Pokemon do you plan on using?" Grant stood crossed armed, with a pokeball in his right hand, waiting for Ash's answer.

"Two," Ash said without a second thought.

"Very well then." Grant nodded to the referee.

"This will be a 2 on 2 battle between the gym leader Grant and the challenger Ash Ketchum. The victor will be declared until either sides Pokemon are unable to continue. Begin!"

"Rhydon, help me out," Grant said, showing no loss of vigor from his first battle. A Rhydon appeared on the battle field, the ground already giving way to its weight and strength.

"Rhydon is the evolved form of Rhyhorn," Serena said, "it's natural strength might be a problem for Ash. He needs to avoid a battle of strength if he wants to win."

"I almost forget about your impressive knowledge about Rhydon. " Clemont said.

Serena gave Clemont a nervous smile, "oh yeah, I guess so."

Without hesitation, Ash chose his partner for this first battle. Froakie then appeared on the field, its' eyes showing a similar determination as its trainer. "Let's show them what we can do Froakie."

"Froa-kie," Cried the Bubble Frog Pokemon.

"Now, go!" Ash took the first move without hesitation. Froakie responded without hesitation and sprinted across the field on four legs, quickly closing the distance between it and Rhydon.

"Rhydon, Hammer Arm!" Rhydon roared and raised its thick arms over its head. Its arms then glowed white. Once Froakie got in close, Rhydon attacked.

"Froakie dodge!" The Bubble Frog Pokemon avoided the attack with its great speed before bouncing off Rhydon's head and launching itself into the sky.

"Water Pulse, now!"

"Rhydon, Rock Tomb!"

Froakie launched the attack straight down from the air while Rhydon raised large chunks of the earth. Foakie's Water Pulse collided with the Rock Tomb, disintegrating the stones on impact. Froakie landed back on all fours, staring down at the opposing Rhydon and its rugged body.

"It is vital for a gym leader build a defense for attacks that are strong against the type they specialize in. Grant definitely has that skill" Clemont adjusted his glasses, while Serena continued to look on nervous, and Bonnie looked on excited.

"Froakie, double team!" Froakie quickly knew what to do as the Bubble Frog Pokemon created illusionary copies of itself and charged towards Rhydon. Rhydon was soon surrounded by a mob of identical Froakie, making deducing the real one nearly impossible.

"Rhydon, Rock Tomb!" Grant ordered. The horde of Froakie was moving so quickly that is soon became a blur. Rhydon scattered the attack all around.

"Go Froakie, jump." The horde of Froakies leaped into the air simultaneously. They began bouncing on top of the large stones created by Rhydon. One by one the illusionary copies of Froakie disappeared, leaving one Froakie hopping on the stones with ease.

"Go Froakie, finish it, Water Pulse." Having gone through Rhydon's only defense against water type attacks, Froakie took aimed and fired a concentrated pulse of water at Rhydon. The Drill Pokemon quickly crumbled as the water type attack hit it straight on. There was no doubt, Rhydon was finished.

"Rhydon is unable to continue, Froakie is the victor" Declared the referee.

"Good job Froakie!" Ash said. Froakie responded with a confident cry.

"Good effort Rhydon," Grant said while he returned the Pokemon to its Pokeball.

"That Froakie of yours has impressive ability. To be able to traverse our attack so easily." Opened his arms wide, "but don't worry, I have more up my sleeve than that.

"Bring it on, we're ready for anything" Ash said. Froakie followed with an aggressive cry as it looked across the field with a bored look.

"Very well then," Grant sent out his next Pokemon, "Amaura, come on out."

Ash's expression flashed with a moment of confusion as he looked at the light blue Pokemon which had a pair of beautifly colored sails above its deep blue eyes. Ash then realized he was looking at a Pokemon he had never seen before. He took out his pokedex and scanned the Pokemon, "This ancient Pokémon was restored from part of its body that had been frozen in ice for over 100 million years. It lived in a cold land where there were no violent predators."

"Wow" Ash gaped in wonderment, "it's another fossil Pokemon."

"Wow, Amaura is so cute!" Bonnie gushed.

"I'd be careful Bonnie," Clemont said, "Amaura are known to have really cold bodies. You might freeze into a block of ice by just touching it."

"I don't care, it's so cute, I want to hug it!"

Clemont smiled, before turning to Serena "I guess it isn't surprising for Grant to have another fossil Pokemon. I wonder how this one battles compared to Tyrunt."

"If it's anything like that, Ash might have trouble." Serena then put her hands on her p to her face, "Ugh, I know I'm not the one battling but I still feel nervous. I wonder if he feels the same when he's in the trainer's box."

"That dumbass probably is too much of an idiot to notice his own nerves." Paul lazily slung himself onto the rails, disturbing the flow of conversation between the three."

"I thought you were being a loner over there" Serena responded, as coldly as Amaura's skin to the touch.

"Yeah!" Bonnie followed. While Clemont just decided to look forward as his glasses fogged up.

"Huh? I thought you were all buddy buddy with everybody. Don't worry, I just need to get a closer look at this Amaura."

Serena and Bonnie gave Paul a quizzical look before turning back towards the battle.

"Froakie, Water Pulse let's go!" Froakie focused its energies in between its hands before firing the concentrated orb of water.

"Amaura, Echoed Voice" Gran ordered. Amaura's sails glowed a beautiful pinkish color before it let out a high pitched cry which distorted the air to create a forceful sound based attack. Both attacks collided in mid air and exploded on impact, sending a shockwave that could even be felt by the spectators.

"Froakie, let's go!" The bubble frog Pokemon exploded and charged on command.

"Amaura, Rock Tomb!"

"Rock Tomb again?" Clemont looked on intently as though he had a stake in the battle, "he knows that's going to get countered."

"Double Team and jump Froakie!" Froakie repeated their counter attack to Grant's Rock Tomb and soon enough a swarm of Froakie were jumping from rock to rock, completely nullifying any effect of Grant's strongest strategy.

"Amaura, Echoed Voice, tear them all down!" Amaura let out a high pitched cry and released another sound distorting attack, and like the last attack was ice blue in color. Amoura sprayed the attack and completely demolished the stones, creating a dust cloud of debris, hiding the battle from all eyes.

It didn't take long for the smoke to clear up. When it finally was, it revealed a worrying sight for grant. Amaura was surrounded by a multitude of Froakie as the illusionary copies ran in a circle.

"Good job Froakie, let's do this!" Ash said energized.

"Not so fast Ash" Grant said cutting Ash short, "I hope you don't think I'm a one trick Ponyta. Amaura, Icy Wind!" In response, Amaura's sails glowed a beautiful shade of pink and mix of other colors that resembled an aurora. The Tundra Pokemon then realease a cloud of freezing air from its body which covered the area around Amaura as well as Froakie. Suddenly, Froakie's Double Team slowed down to the point where the illusionary copies disappeared, leaving Froakie moving at a slow pace, and exposed.

"Amaura, Echoed Voice!"

"Froakie, dodge!"

Froakie was too slow to react to Amaura's sound distorting attack, and the Bubble Frog Pokemon was sent back flying towards Ash's side of the field. Froakie hit the ground once before landing on all fours.

Pieces of ice and snow covered Froakie who was visilbly shaking. "Froakie, are you okay." Froakie responded with a weak cry as it shivered.

"That Icy wind slowed Froakie down." Ash said before clenching his fist, "Fine then will just power through!"

"Water Pulse!" Froakie focused its energies in its palms, creating a concentrated pulse of water. This time though, the Bubble Frog Pokemon struggled to complete the attack as it shivered non-stop.

"Amaura, Echoed Voiced." Grant and Amaura countered with their attack. The sound based attack barreled down on Froakie who still struggled to fire its Water Pulse.

"You can do it Froakie." Ash's encouragement willed Froakie to the last stage of attack, and the Water Pulse was successively fired, but to no avail. Amaura's attack plowed through Froakie's Water Pulse, cutting right through it, and Froakie took the brunt of the attack. The earth underneath his feet crumbled as the Echoed Voice proved to significantly stronger than the previous times, and Froakie laid in a pile of rubble, unconscious.

The referee raised his right arm towards Grant and declared Amuara the winner of the battle.

Ash returned Froakie back to it's pokeball, and before putting it away praised it for a job well done.

"Clemont, why was that Echoed voice so much stronger than the other ones?" Serena said.

"Echoed voice increases in power every time it is used." Clemont said.

"Wait so that means-"

"That Amaura has an insanely strong Echoed Voice locked and loaded" Paul cut in, "that dumbass let that Amaura raise its power and now what ever gets hit next is going to take a devastating attack."

"I don't think that's all" Clemont said, "check your pokedex and look at Amaura's special ability."

"Uh, okay" Serena said as she took out her pokedex. She scrolled through the entries until she found Amaura. "It says here that Amaura's special ability is refrigerate. It turns all normal type moves to ice type attacks and boost the power of those attacks…" Serena slowly cut herself off, as she began to realize the trouble Ash was in.

"It's a tight spot he's in. It'll depend largely on what Pokemon he chooses if he's going to win." Clemont said.

"Go Baleef, I choose you" Ash let out as he threw his Pokeball onto the field, catching the rational blond inventor of guard.

"Bay! Bay!"

"Go Bayleef! You can do it! Show them what you can do!" Bonnie cheered on from the sideline.

"Looks like Bonnie and Bayleef have become good friends" Serena said with a smile.

"Heh, I guess so" Clemont followed.

"You see Bayleef, they're cheering us on, we can't lose" Ash said confidently.

"Bay!"

"That bayleef of yours looks pretty strong Ash. This should be fun" Grant said.

"It should" Ash said with a smile.

"I guess this isn't so bad" Serena began slowly making sure of what she was saying, "Bayleef is a grass type, so it has an advantage in a rock type gym, right?"

"That's usually the case, but Amaura's strongest attack is very effective against Bayleef. But obviously, that hasn't fazed Ash." Clemont said, "I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

"This will be the final battle" the referee raised both arms, "Amaura Vs. Bayleef, begin!"

"Amaura, Echoed Voice, now!" Grant didn't waste any time and neither did Amaura, by the time Grant ended his command, Amaura had fired the sound based attack headed straight for Bayleef.

"Jump!" Ash responded. Everybody suddenly became eye wide at Bayleef who a split second ago was on the ground, now was soaring in the air, even Paul couldn't help raise an eyebrow.

The Echoed Voice missed it's target completely, and Amaura stood gawking at Bayleef.

"Vine Whip!" Ash commanded. Bayleef cried in agreement and stretched out its retractable vines and swung them with full force, slamming into Amaura, and disabaling the ice and rock type.

"Follow up with Energy Ball" Ash commanded with force. Amaura was still sprawled and the floor when Bayleef fired a ball of grass type energy at Amaura. Defenseless, Amaura cried at in pain as the attack hit. Then the action abruptly stopped. Amaura layed motionless and Bayleef landed on all fours, still in a battle stance.

Nothing. Amaura looked done, the ref looked ready to make a call before Grant cut him off, "is that all?" he said looking at the fallen Amaura, "this is unlike you Amaura, you don't give up this easily."

Flashback

"We are grateful that you came to visit us Grant. We are sure that your expertise on rock type Pokemon will help us immensely" said one of the scientists.

"Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your research. I'm always happy to help in our understanding of Pokemon, especially the rock types" Grant said as he followed the two scientist down a long hallway that led to a metal door.

"It's amazing to think that we can revive Pokemon fossils back to their former splendor" Grant said.

"It is, though there is something important to note. So far, across the regions, only ancient Pokemon with rock type properties have been found in fossils. This certainly limits our understanding of the world of Pokemon before our time." Said the same scientist. Grant listened intently, and as a result, he didn't notice they had made it to the door yet.

Once they had reached the door, the second scientist inputted a lengthy password. Whatever computer was behind the doors mechanism began to process the password and the door was unlocked. The three walked forward and the soon entered a completely different world.

A white sheet of snow blanketed the entirety of the field. Trees stood, randomly throughout the area, and they too were blanketed by the pure white snow.

They entire area was encased in a steel dome, completely shutting out the outside world. No doubt, whatever they were keeping here, it was considered extremely valuable.

That extremely valuable thing was not hard to miss. A large, blue Pokemon could be seen in the distance. Covered by small, diamond shaped ice crystals that looked like they could pass for real diamonds, and two large sails that ran down its long neck; this Pokemon gave off a majestic quality.

Surrounding this majestic Pokemon was a group of similar Pokemon. Much smaller in size, and looked to not be fully mature. They were joyfully playing with one each other. They gave off a good, peaceful vibe.

Even with his winter clothes, Grant still felt how cold it was. The sight of the Pokemon however helped him keep a soft smile despite that.

"We've come up with the name 'Amaura' for the little ones and Aurorus for the evolved form. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me" responded Grant as he moved forward to get a better look at the Pokemon, "I've never been good with names so I'll leave that up to you. So, what have you learned about them."

"Well, we have a hypothesis of their original habitat. Due to their passive and trusting nature, we think that this species lived in an area with few predators, thus they lacked the need to be aggressive against threats and unlike many Pokemon, their first instincts is to be open, not defensive."

When the scientist finished, Grant heard something strange to the right of him. Through a somewhat heavy patch of trees he could see one of them shaking unnaturally. Each shake was followed by a muffled cry. Grant went towards the direction of the sound.

What Grant found surprised him. An Amaura continued to charge a single tree, one of the larger ones, and head-butt it continuously; it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon. Grant just stared; Amaura didn't even notice him it was so focused on the tree.

"Ah yes this one" said one of the scientist, "this is what we call the outlier."Grant heard him but didn't reply. The scientist continued, "remember when we said that the Amuara line is a passive Pokemon? It seems like this one didn't get the memo. Ever since we revived it, it was definitely more aggressive than the others. It tried to pick fights with the others, but they did not take too kindly to it and scolded him for it, and from then on, he has been a bit disconnected from the rest of the group. He seemed content to take his frustrations on this tree. It doesn't seem to hurt him and its unlikely that he will take down the tree, so we just allow it to blow off some steam.

On cue, a loud snapping sound came from the tree as Amaura used one final head-butt. The tree gave way and Amaura gave a loud piercing cry, a battle cry, and it sails lit up in a pinkish color.

The two scientists stood frozen in shock, and Grant just stared in admiration.

End Flashback

To the surprise of all, Amaura forced itself to stand. Amaura Grunted as its body screamed at it to stop, but the Tundra Pokemon ignored it. With a final Grunt, Amaura finally got all four legs under it, damaged but ready to battle.

Amaura's sails suddenly lit up into a hot pink color, before letting out a high pitched battle cry into the light blue sky, a light blue unlike the color of Amaura's icy cold skin.

"I knew you could do it Amaura. Now show me your undying fighting spirit."

Ash looked on, still focused, and not as surprised that Amaura had stood up. "This Amaura is tough. We better get aggressive."

"Bayleef, Energy Ball!" Ash commanded. The Leaf Pokemon launched the grass type assault at Amuara who looked like it was still struggling to stand.

"Echoed Voice!" Grant commanded in response. Without hesitation, Amuara used the sound based attack once more, and it completely overpowered Bayleef's attack.

"Jump!" Using its vines ones more, Bayleef soared into the sky. But Grant quickly responded this time,

"Amaura, Rock Tomb, focus the energy under your feet." Amaura tensed and widened its stance, becoming motionless like the beautifully chiseled statues found throughout Kalos.

Ash saw this as an opening to attack and ordered Bayleef to use Vine Whip. But before Bayleef could get a hold of Amaura, the Tundra Pokemon shot toward the sky, a huge chunk of the battlefield underneath it, a small floating island.

"What the?" Ash gaped. Both Amaura and Bayleef were now in the air.

"What a way to use Rock Tomb! That was what they were planning." Clemont said.

"Amaura, Echoed Voice, don't hold back!" Amaura quickly fired the ice type blast of sound. Bayleef cried in pain as it was hit, the attack assaulting both it's body and ears. The attack was so strong, that an explosion followed soon after.

"Bayleef!" Ash yelled in worry. Bayleef didn't respond, it fell back to the earth with a thud. The previously fierce Pokemon warrior now lay in a heap, with no sign of consciousness.

Amaura followed, the piece of the battlefield it had taken up to the sky returned to the exact same place. "Good job Amaura."

"That was the first time we used that move in a real battle" Grant said to himself, "I'm really glad that worked. Would have been a bit embarrassing if it didn't." he said with a smile.

"Bayleef, get up you can do it!"

Ash's yelling caught the attention of Grant, "Don't tell me…"

At Ash's pleading, Bayleef began to get up. The Leaf Pokemon pushed with all its strength, and was standing once more, damaged but ready to go.

"Heh, they are just as tough as the two before."

"Looks like that Bayleef of your is a stubborn one" Grant said with a confident smile.

"I can say the same about Amaura" Ash responded, with a similar smile.

"I hope you realize it won't get any easier from here Ash. Amaura, Echoed Voice."

"Bayleef, dodge" Ash called out hurriedly. Bayleef narrowly evaded the ice type attack, grimacing as the ice had a freezing burn quality to it.

"Bayleef, Vine Whip now!" Bayleef extended its vines and shot them across the battlefield, ensnaring Amaura, as if it had been trapped in a net.

"Reel it in!" Ash ordered. Using its natural strength, Bayleef pulled Amaura in. Amaura struggled, but to no avail, Bayleef's strength was too much.

"Good job Bayleef, now Body Slam!" Bayleef let out a battle cry and threw its body on top of Amaura. Amaura's knees buckled as Bayleef proved to be heavy enough to immobilize the rock type.

"Amaura, Icy Wind!" Grant was quick to give Amaura an order and Amaura was quick to respond. The Tundra Pokemon began to release a chilling fog that quickly surrounded both Pokemon.

"Bayleef, get out of there!" The fog had hidden Bayleef from Ash's view, causing him to grit his teeth. After a few but drawn out seconds, the fog dissipated into nothing, and both Pokemon stood. Both had clear signs of a hard fought battle on their bodies, but Bayleef looked like it just had walked through a blizzard and was shivering uncontrollably.

"Looks like you were too impatient Ash," Grant said with a small smile, before his mouth became a hard line across his face again, "let's end this," Grant gestured with his right arm, "Echoed Voice."

Amauras's sails lit up once as it prepared to attack, opening its mouth and preparing to finish the battle on the highest of notes.

"Now!" Amaura let out a high pitched cry, and its vocals distorted the air. But on the sideline, Clemont noticed something,

"That Echoed Voice…it reset."

"Bayleef, Light Screen!". Right before the attack hit Bayleef, the grass type's body became covered in a mysterious layer of energy. Bayleef was hit straight on, but held its ground.

"Bayleef!" Cried out the stubborn Pokemon. Its body suddenly began to glow with a dark green aura, an aura that could be mistakenl for flames if not for the color.

"Uh…whats going on with Bayleef?" Serena said with confusion in her voice and a bit freaked out.

"That's Bayleef's, ability, overgrow." Clemont said slowly, looking on in surprise.

"Alright Bayleef!" Bonnie said, the battle sending her excitement through the roof.

"Let's end this, Energy Ball!" Ash threw his arms open while Bayleef powered its attack, a larger, more powerful version of the Energy Ball it used earlier.

Bayleef fired the grass type attack and it shot across the field towards Amaura.

"Echoed Voice" Grant ordered in response. The ice type fought back, putting everything into its attack, but it proved to be in vain as the Energy ball proved to be too much. Amaura's attack gave in and all Trainer and Pokemon could do was go eye wide as the pure energy of the grass type slammed into Amaura, leaving no doubt, this battle was over.

The ref called the battle, declaring the challenger from Pallet Town the victor. The reaction from the sidelines turned from shock to glee.

Seeing that there was no reason for him to be there anymore, Paul walked away without anyone noticing,

"Looks like he isn't as brain dead as I thought."

"Why is there nothing to do in this town." The sun was beginning to set in Cyllage city, but the sea side city was still alive, with people still coming to and fro, especially in the shopping district.

"Hijole, I'm so bored. Why did I come here of all places." A small ringing sound could suddenly be heard, which easily caught the attention of the man nearby. That ringing came from a nearby building, a Boutique

"Hmmm?" The man grabbed his coat and looked down his body. "I guess I could use a new shirt."