The Power of Love

A/N: Finally, I finished this annoying chapter. I've kind of been losing some motivation on this story, but just today, I got a creative boost. Now, I know that this chapter is much shorter compared to the last one, but I only needed to do two scenes in this one.

Let's get on with Chapter 12. Roll it!

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Chapter 12

A Blinded Hostage

Dawn and her followers had finally arrived back at their territory of the Shadow Forest. The large burlap bag that held their prisoners had stopped shaking after being tossed around in the air a good number of times. They soon entered the mansion's main sitting room and Dawn sat down on her large chair at the front of the room, the Shadow Trainees cheering from their successful ambush.

"Bring me the prisoners." Dawn ordered. The bag was gently lowered down to the stony ground.

"I get to clip his wings off." Someone said eagerly. Others were gathered around, suggesting their methods of torture.

"No one is clipping anything!" Dawn shouted at them, disappointing the bloodthirsty Trainees. She may be cruel and cold, but she isn't completely merciless. Besides, she had something else in mind for them.

Piplup and Ambipom went over to the bag and untied it. Immediately after that, Ritchie shot straight up into the air, with Sparky holding tight to his shoulder. His eyes were still closed, but he had his sword drawn out from its sheath.

"Who are you?" Ritchie demanded. "Where am I? Why did you bring me here?"

"Open your eyes, and you'll get your answers." Dawn said.

"No way, unless you want a mushy, persistent, lovey-dovey stalker." Ritchie said, turning towards the direction of Dawn's voice.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

Sparky quickly tied a dark blue blindfold around Ritchie's eyes. "He was hit in the face by that stinking love potion of yours!" He said, making everyone gasp in horror. "The only thing that's keeping him from falling for one of you traitorous beings of filth is that he can't open his eyes."

Dawn immediately flew up to him, her sword drawn out. Ritchie heard it and made his blade clash with hers. "Who are you?" She demanded.

"You want my full name, or what people call me?" He snarked back as he pushed away the blade.

Dawn ignored it and tried again to swipe at him. But somehow, Ritchie managed to block it again. "I will ask this one more time. Who are you?" She commanded.

"I'm Prince Ritchie of the Kanto Kingdom." He answered.

Everyone gasped. "The prince?" Dawn asked.

"The prince?" Dawn's mother, Johanna came into the room. Her daughter rolled her eyes at how excited she sounded when Ritchie declared his status. She'd better not try to play matchmaker now.

"One of them." Ritchie answered. "I guess my twin brother was just too tough for you to handle."

Dawn gritted her teeth and swung her sword again. But Ritchie managed to block it with his own sword. "I could've handled your brother easily." She gloated.

Ritchie scoffed. "I doubt it." He said, flying over her and swinging his sword. "He might clip your wings if you're not careful."

"That was the feisty one." Quilava said. "Well, he was more feisty than this one."

"Oh, I can be plenty feisty on my own." Ritchie called down to the Volcano Pokémon.

Dawn tried once more to hit Ritchie with her sword, but he still dodged it. But the blade was a little too close for Sparky, so he had to jump off his Trainee's shoulder to avoid getting sliced. However, he missed the landing and he was captured by one of the Shadow Trainees down below. He tried to shock him, but apparently his special ability was repelling Electric attacks.

"Ritchie, help!" He called up to him.

The younger prince was holding Dawn's blade back with his own when he heard his friend's cry. Dawn quickly took the opportunity and slammed the end of her sword into his stomach. When he slightly wobbled in flight, a Tangrowth from below used its vines to grab hold of his arms, making him drop his sword.

"Let go of me!" He shouted.

"Take them both to the dungeon!" Dawn ordered.

Ritchie and Sparky both struggled to get free of their captors, but to no avail. "And be careful." Dawn added. "They're our bait."

Johanna came up to her daughter. "Well, he seems like a good match." She said. "Handsome, strong, and certain a worthy sparring opponent, even when blindfolded."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "I hate royalty." She said. "Besides, his ability might have something to do with how easy he can fight without seeing."

Johanna sighed heavily as Dawn sat down in her chair. "Well, even if I have to look under every rock, I won't let you die all sad and alone." She vowed.

Dawn had enough of it. "Bring me Diancie!" She called angrily, banging her fist against the armrest of her chair. It was loud and hard enough to where everyone could hear it echoing in the room.

Meanwhile, at the border of the Kanto Kingdom and the Shadow Forest, Ash had arrived with Pikachu on his shoulder. He landed on the ground, looking cautiously at the darker than usual forbidden land.

Pikachu could sense his Trainee's hesitation. "You okay, Ash?" He asked.

Ash took a deep breath. "I, I can't turn back now." He said. "Not when Ritchie is in danger. But still..." He trailed off when he continued holding his gaze at the forest.

"Hey." Pikachu said, getting his attention. "It's gonna be okay. Besides, you have me with you. I got your back."

Ash smiled at his partner, and then looked back to the Shadow Forest. He then unsheathed his sword. "I'm coming, Ritchie." He said.

Then, with a powerful flap of his wings, he and Pikachu entered the Shadow Forest. They flew past old hollow trees and creepy Bug types hanging from their branches, who were watching them with wary eyes.

When they saw a Gengar suddenly appear in front of them from out the darkness, Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and fired a Thunderbolt at it, paralyzing it for the moment. But then, some Ariados appeared from some hollow trees and used String Shot, attempting to hold Ash in place mid-flight. While Pikachu quickly dealt with the Bug and Poison types, Ash cut himself free from the sticky threads.

Once his Electric type partner was done, Ash then sliced the branches where the Ariados were hanging, making them fall down to the ground. Pikachu jumped back onto his Trainee's shoulder as he decided to gain some more altitude.

"Well, you wanted adventure." Ash said to himself. "And now, you've got it." With that, he and Pikachu continued to fly through the forest.

A/N: Anyone want to take a guess at what Ritchie's special Trainee ability is? One hint that I'll give is that it will come in handy later in the story.

Hopefully, I won't take freaking forever on the next chapter. I really gotta rewatch the movie to get some of my motivation back.

Until next time! Please leave a review about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)