A Journey's Link

Chapter 59 - Freed

A gasped in disbelief. He had suspicions that his master had some form of connection with Ash, but not so much that he was his parent. "Are you really Ash's father?" A asked Aaron, who had stood up in excitement from explaining everything. Aaron nodded and got closer to the cage, grabbing onto the iron bars.

"I look familiar now, don't I!" Aaron exclaimed dramatically, showing his full face to A. Once he revealed his true identity, A could see how Aaron was Ash's father, as he had tiny lightning bolts on his cheeks and unkempt raven hair, a sure tell sign of someone related to Ash.

While A knew he was correct, he still had a million questions about some things that simply didn't add up. "Why did you want us to stop Ash by hurting him? And why did you want to use Zygarde to stop him?" A asked, unable to keep up with the onslaught of questions his brain conjured. Aaron just chuckled at A's scrambled behavior and sat back down.

"I need Zygarde to stop Ash from getting closer to Giovanni, " Aaron explained with his arms crossed. "It would be foolish to try to stop him again. Giovanni's gotten a lot stronger since then," he said, his tone making Ash seem incompetent. "Since then?" A repeated. "When was then?" Aaron shook his head and waved his hand at the question. "Just a long story involving Giovanni and a powerful weapon that is no longer under that horrible man's control," he said, clearly not wanting to talk about this altercation.

A frowned and remembered back to the few times Aaron had referred to Ash in such a harsh way. "You called Ash immature and foolish for having a kind heart," he exclaimed, accusingly pointing at Aaron as he said this. Aaron shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah. So?" A stared at him in disbelief. "He's your son! Aren't you proud that he's become a good person?" He exclaimed, confused as to why he thought this way.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders again. "Good people usually have bad things happen to them," he said matter-of-factly. He stood and walked towards A's cage again. "I tried to do a good thing years ago by leading the charge in taking down Team Rocket from the inside, but look how that turned out," he angrily said, his face becoming hardened and angry. A back into the corner of the cage, scared of Aaron's presence.

Aaron must've noticed his effect on A and cleared his throat, relaxing his body. "S-Sorry," he apologized, surprising A. "I'm not trying to be revengeful, I'm just angry that years of my life with my family were taken away from me," he said solemnly. Before, A didn't feel bad for Aaron, but he now could understand why he was doing the things he was doing.

"I get it," A whispered, causing Aaron to furrow his brow. "Not the whole family part," A quickly corrected himself, knowing he would never understand what it would be like to lose a wife and son. "I just...I never had a life before you gave it to me, so I understand not being able to live a normal life," he explained further. Aaron grunted slightly, feeling guilty for creating A in the first place; he had only done it to see Ash again, even if it was a fake one.

There was an awkward silence, mostly because A was now grabbing onto the iron bars, making both of them realize the dynamic of their situation. "I can help you, Aaron," A insisted, trying to distract Aaron from the fact that he went behind his back and found his personal information. "I can help you reunite with the real Ash and your wife! You just need to let me out!" He pleaded, wanting desperately to be released from his imprisonment.

Aaron was silent for a moment, mulling over A's offer. Finally, after a few minutes of thinking, he shook his head. "No, I can't let you help me anymore," he spoke definitively. A was about to ask why he couldn't help when Aaron started explaining. "You look like him," he said. "Ash. My son. I can't let you help when you're a constant reminder that he's out of my current reach," he whispered, the sadness visible in his voice.

A was silent as Aaron spoke, understanding the situation. "So, then what?" A asked, not sure as to what would happen to him. "Should I just continue on my scouting missions?" He suggested. Aaron shook his head again and sighed. "Unfortunately, I have no use for you anymore. If you are used in my plan at all, I run the risk of you exposing me and everything I've built up," He explained reluctantly.