Gotta Catch That One

Chapter 41: Aura

Calem had decided to leave, rather than observe what Ash was going to learn from Gurkinn. He had stated that observing another trainer's training would be an unfair advantage to him. He had left fairly quickly and then Gurkinn wanted to get straight to business and called for everyone to follow him to the Lucario statue.

As Gurkinn lead Ash, Dawn and Korrina out from the battlefield and towards the centre of the tower where the Lucario statue was, Dawn walked beside Ash. "What was that with Pidgeot?" She asked. When she had seen Pidgeot preparing to counter Fearow's attack, she had noticed Ash's eyes had seemed to roll to the back of his head, showing just the whites. It was terrifying to see, but then she had noticed Pidgeot become much calmer. She definitely got the feeling that it was connected.

Ash closed his eyes. It was as if he was wishing her away. "Nothing." He said. "It was nothing. Pidgeot's strong, ok? Nothing more to it."

Dawn narrowed her eyes. "I'm not blind, I saw your eyes. It was really creepy. What happened? Did you become Pidgeot or something?" She knew it sounded ridiculous, but when she said it she supposed it might actually be a possibility.

"That is actually very close to what happened, young lady." Gurkinn said, stopping in front of the Lucario statue. Everyone stared at him in surprise. "I will explain soon." He opened a door at the front of the statue and lead the group inside.

It was kind of both an office and a bedroom. There was a desk and a bookshelf on one side and on the other was a bed. Gurkinn immediately headed towards the bed and moved it aside, revealing a trap door underneath it.

"What is that?" Korrina asked in shock. Dawn was pretty surprised, as she'd expected that at least Korrina would know what Gurkinn was up to.

Gurkinn held up his hand. "As I said, I will explain soon." He opened up the trap door and Dawn could see there was a ladder which lead down below. Gurkinn tossed out a pokeball and then looked down. "Blaziken, please light the torches." Dawn heard a murmur of agreement from what she assumed was Blaziken and then noticed light coming up from the hole that was the trap door. Gurkinn recalled his Blaziken and then looked at everyone else. "Follow me down."

Once they had all gone down to the bottom of the ladder, Dawn looked around. It was kind of cramped with everyone in what seemed like a little cellar, but then she noticed the door. It was an old fashioned one with a picture of a Lucario on it. She turned to Ash, about to ask him what he thought of this whole thing, but he seemed distracted. He was staring at the door with wide eyes.

Gurkinn approached the door and unlocked it with his key. Before opening it, he turned around and looked at Ash. "Ash, what I am about to show you is extremely important. I know it may seem strange. To be honest, I am unsure what to think myself. Regardless, I know that this is something you must learn, because of what I have sensed in you." He turned to Dawn. "I sense that I can trust you. I hope I am correct?" Dawn nodded and then Gurkinn turned to Korrina. "And Korrina, do not be upset that I have not taught you any of this just yet. It is something that requires time. Ash is just a unique case. Very unique."

Korrina nodded. "I'm more curious than jealous right now, grandfather."

Gurkinn smiled and then opened the door and lead the group in. It was a pretty large place. There were book shelves in one area, beds, a lounging area, a kitchen and even some sort of training area. Around the whole room were pictures of people dressed in various old style outfits, standing alongside Pokemon. At the far end of the room, in the centre, were six other pictures that seemed to be the most important.

Suddenly, Ash started moving forward quickly, surprising everyone. Dawn followed him. "Ash, what's wrong?" She called. He ignored her and kept walking until he was staring closely at the pictures. Dawn walked up behind him and also looked at the pictures. Her eyes widened, noticing something about them. "Sceptile, Infernape, Charizard, Pidgeot, Greninja and Pikachu." She said, listing off six of the seven Pokemon in the pictures. "You're strongest Pokemon, right?"