Amourshipping || Life And Destruction

• 4 •

Chapter 4
Signed Up

The end of my open forearms and fingertips began to feel numb. I tried moving my fingers through each other, hoping it'd cause some heat, but that didn't work.

I stood up from the obsidian bench and exhaled loudly, patting my hands down onto my jeans and sticking them into my pockets. I decided to walk around the room.

Kicking my feet in front of me, my eyes wandered across the area. "If only I could find a damn person to change the temperature of this goddamn place," I muttered to myself, placing my eyes on a black figure soon afterward. "Hey, you mind turning up the temperature in here?" I asked, continuing to walk towards him. He was standing next to one of the computers in the computer room.

The figure turned his head around, his bright yet dark mane bouncing over to the side. "No."

I almost made a scoff under my breath. "Why not?"

"Don't bother me right now, Alain." He seemed to almost growl. He took the seat next to him and let the screen's glow light his face. "I'm focusing," he finished, his eyes dissolving into the color of the light; a red, some blue, and some grays.

I inhaled this time, taking another step closure towards Lysandre. "Sir, if you won't change the temperature, I'm going to ask you if it is alright that I may leave."

Lysandre pursed his lips before slowly turning his eyes towards me, standing up and towering over my figure. "You're going to stay here until I say so. Go-" He stopped talking.

I tried to speak as his eyes trailed off to someplace else. "Sir-"

"No, no, Alain, you may leave." He continued to stare at the wall behind me for another few seconds then moved his eyes back to my face. "I want you to go and find someone for me."

• ~ • ~ •

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," Diantha closed her eyes, her nose facing her lap. "I'm sorry that it's so sudden, but I need all the help I can get," she looked back up, "and I know you're more than capable of winning a few Pokémon battles... although, this might not exactly be the same thing."

Ash sat there, arms tensed. His fists gripped his jeans. He had his eyes closed and had the rim of his hat point toward his lap just like Diantha had before. But there was one thing different about him. It ran through his veins. Passion.

"Diantha, you don't even have to think twice." Ash smiled as Pikachu pounced up onto his trainer's shoulder. He looked up and looked her directly in the eyes. "I'm in."

Diantha smiled back and nodded. "It's settled then. We set out tomorrow." She stood up from the fallen log she sat on.

"Wait- can I... can my friends come along as well?"

"Your friends? Meaning Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont?"

"Yes." He stood up with her. "I think the journey would so much greater with them- not to mention their own abilities on the field. They'd be great-"

"Ash, believe me when I say I have no doubt in my mind that they will offer great help. In fact, I was going to ask Serena and Clemont right after this... just not Bonnie. It's too dangerous for her."

"That's right," Ash sighed. "That's fine though."

"Alright then! Let's go tell everyone else."

They left the area and headed back toward the resting area. Luckily, Ash could find it easily because of the leftover scents from breakfast.

He waved toward his friends.

Bonnie was once again the most excited out of the group and ran up toward the trainer and champion.

"What did you guys talk about?" Bonnie gleamed.

Ash held his breath and looked down at the young girl. "We're gonna have to talk about that with everyone else, Bonnie."

Serena and Clemont walked up from behind Bonnie just at the right moment and stood there patiently.

"What is it then?" Clemont asked, fixing his glasses.

Ash stared at Diantha.

"It's about Team Flare," Diantha sighed.

• ~ • ~ •

     "Him?" I scrunched his face at the sight on the computer screen. "Why?"

"Because we need him, Alain," Lysandre said sternly. "We already have the old man... but he won't speak. That's why, for now, we have to resort to this."

Ever heard of patience? I thought, pulling my hands out of the pockets of my jeans and crossing my arms. "You think he's the one that's connected to the both of them?"

"I don't think that, Alain, I know so. I've been working with my men for weeks and everything shows the connections. We've gathered samples of everything we could get our hands on. It shows something we haven't seen in anyone else."

"Fine, I'll be going then." I flung my arms back at my sides. This isn't what I signed up for. "Where can I find him?"

• ~ • ~ •

"What about Bonnie?" Clemont asked, shuffling his hands underneath the wooden table.

Ash responded quickly, "She won't be coming along."

Clemont exhaled in relief. "Good."

"I'm sorry," Serena interrupted, "but I don't think I understand. I get that Team Flare is out there, doing... things... But why? What's the point? The point of... changing the world, I guess."

Diantha's eyebrows softened. "He thinks the world needs changing... in a way that doesn't exactly make too much sense to our ears, yes... but his view is unique. He wants the world to start over."

"But why?" Serena asked again.

"He thinks this world is ugly to put it simply. He thinks that we've... failed in a sense."

"That sounds ridiculous," Clemont scoffed.

Ash sat up straight to look at his friend. "It is ridiculous."

"He lives ignorant and blind, that man." Diantha looked over at them with her pale, sky blue eyes. "He's going to destroy the world."

•~•~•

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| 975 words |
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I'm sorry that I haven't been updating. I've been exhausted as of late; I have a lot of work on my hands. I commend all of you for your patience and I hope to reward every single one of you with this book, as well as the rest of my works. I hope they can make you smile. I hope they can give you something to anticipate as you take on the rest of your day. Though that may not be true for all of you, I pray it may be for those that need it.

Life gets hard.

I hope someday the waves soothe.

It pains me that I have not been able to give my all because of recent happenings, but believe me when I say I do this for you guys. You guys make me feel happy, you make me feel special in a way I'd never be able to find otherwise.

Thank you.