The Aura is With Us

Chapter 31: Break Out

Pi pi pi pi pi pi pi..."

The soles of his sneakers were clomping loudly on the cave floor. Ash held the mini aura sphere steady. Goh was right behind him, puffing as he moved. Pikachu and Riolu were a few steps ahead. The yellow mouse like Pokémon's cheeks giving tiny sparks, forming crackling light in the shadows of the cavern.

"Do you even know where your going?" Goh panted.

"We'll have to run into something eventually," Ash answered.

They made a turn in the cavern and entered a corridor. Ash immediately noticed something different, while there were still electric lines and currently dark lights on the ceilings there were also little metallic things sticking out of one side of the cave wall in an even spaced pattern. Ash slowed to a stop and took a curious look at the unfamiliar object.

It was old, that was for sure. A little metal cone, turned upside down with the tip chopped off, made of metal netting. Like thick prison bars looping in a circle, around tilted metal posts that flourished into spikes at the top. The metal itself was long rusted, almost looking like the dirt and stone it was embedded in. Ash reached a handout to touch the object and a spark of static jolted up his spine as his finger lightly traced the rust.

"Whoa," Ash breathed, blinking in surprise.

"What?" Goh said, walking up after catching his breath.

"You know that feeling you get when you touch something and get zapped?" Ash asked.

"Yeah," Goh said.

"Imagine that, except it doesn't fade away and you now feel the entire mountain buzzing through your skin."

Goh raised a very confused brow, "Yeah, I don't know that."

"Well, that's what I just got."

"From touching a hunk of metal in the wall?"

"Another weird aura thing...Goh does this thing look old to you?"

"It's a rusted torch holder of course it looks old. Useless too with all the lights that were put up."

"So, then this came before the lights?"

"Probably?"

Ash patted his friend on the back at started to run again, "C'mon we're close."

The dark-haired trainer was soon proven right, the cave corridor gave way to only what could be described as that of a prison block. The cave rock was carved into a more rectangular shape, more like a hallway and not a tunnel. On the right side was a wall of doors. Their metal gleamed with fresh polish every time the glow of the mini aura sphere hit them. The bolts around their edges were uniform, clearly machine made. These things were like the lights on the ceiling; brand new.

Ash felt a buzz in the back of his head, and his mouth was suddenly dry. Something was clawing at the edges of his mind, begging to be let in. The young aura user had never felt it before, but he knew what it was instantly.

Riley.

"He's here, help me find him," Ash said, not looking at Goh.

Over the recent events, Ash had gotten used to the little pulls or subtle links between his soul and Sir Aaron's. It was a natural thing that happened between aura users who were either family and living close together. With them being both things, those links forged strongly and quickly. Amanda's weren't as strong, hell they were barely there, but that was because she never reached out and shut down and attempts Ash made. Riley's...even an amateur like Ash could tell it was weak. Really weak.