All for You

Chapter 69

When the timer hit 0, the room filled with the brightest, hottest flash Ash had ever seen or felt.

He put up a wall of aura all around the explosion, containing it in a massive but weak aura sphere. He could feel Lucario helping as well, both of them forcing out aura to feed the explosion. Ash struggled to keep up with the demand of the explosion, throwing out more aura as it ever asked for more. 

He hadn't realised beforehand, but forcing aura into and around the sphere tamed it. Unfortunately, the explosion was so large that more heat and fire continuously replaced the already-tamed, forcing Ash to continuously send out more aura.

Ash could already feel the effort straining him, but he couldn't stop now, not with all his friends in the room. No, he couldn't just hold it back like he'd previously planned. He had to completely contain it.

If not for himself, the for all his pokemon in his pokeballs who fainted fighting Arceus, who had won him so many battles and he had become great friends with.

He would have to keep fighting for Paul, who always brought calm-headed logic and reason to any scenario, a battle or a life-or-death explosion. Even if he wasn't the most loyal or kind person, Paul had finally become a friend to Ash. Even now, he stayed even when he could have tried to escape the explosion. He gave Ash a nod so small he wasn't sure if he had really seen it, but he knew what it meant. 'You'd better not mess this up'.

He had to do it for Gary, who had turned from a childhood rival to a friend, then to a best friend. Ash needed the chance to thank Gary for all the times he had helped him, whether it was (painfully) shopping for a suit to setting up dates. Gary held up one arm to protect his face (and hair) from the explosion, using his other to give Ash a thumbs up when they made eye contact.

He would destroy the explosion for Lucario, who had taught him so much about aura and battling, who helped win the dodgeball tournament and plan his (terrible) prank on Gary and Paul, and dealed the finishing blow to the Alpha pokemon less than an hour earlier. He was fighting as hard as he could, too, protecting everyone else just like Ash.

He slowly felt himself losing energy, forcing too much aura into the explosion. But he couldn't quit because in the room was Pikachu, who had been his partner for the best 5 years of his life. Pikachu was his first pokemon, his first best friend. They had journeys together, fought together, and won together, and Ash couldn't let Pikachu die because he wasn't strong enough to prevent it. Pikachu gave Ash and enoucouraging smile and a "PikaPi!" which Ash barely heared over the roaring explosion.

But mostly, he had to do it for Serena.

Serena, who had been there for Ash from the very start.

Serena, who was always kind, cheerful, and thoughtful.

Serena, who had come to mean so much to Ash in the last week.

When Ash saw Serena giver him a large, teary smile, he pushed even harder. He couldn't let the explosion take any of his friends. He fed all the aura he had into the explosion, and every time he thought he couldn't keep going, he glanced at Serena and somehow found more strength. 

He finally felt the explosion tempering, starting to give out. He glanced at Lucario to see if he was alright was well.

Lucario gave Ash a weak smile, but then something happened that made Ash's heart drop.

Ash watched, horrified, as Lucario shivered painfully, a line of glowing aura travelling down him.

He immediately flashed back to the Tree of Begining, where the same thing had happened to Sir Aaron's Lucario.

No. 

NO.

NO!

Lucario was not about to meet the same fate. Ash wouldn't let it.

________........________

Ash slowly walked towards Lucario, though each step was an effort. When he arrived closer to Lucario's side, Lucario gave him another weak smile, thinking he had come closer to encourage each other.

But when he looked in Ash's eyes, he saw something else. Sorrow, remorse, and... guilt?

Guilt for what?

"Sorry, Lucario." Ash gave him a sad smile.

And then shoved Lucario to the ground.

Lucario hit the ground with a heavy thud, looking back at Ash with hurt in his eyes.

Why would you do that? He wanted to ask, but he barely had enugh aura left to stay consious, let alone talk to Ash.

All he could do was express his confusion, hurt, and shock on his face, asking the question as best he could with his eyes.

But Ash could only smile back sadly as he took on the full weight of the explosion. 

________........________

It was almost done, but Ash felt himself slowly slipping away. He couldn't give up.

He wouldn't give up.

He would fight for Paul, Gary, Lucario, Pikachu.

Serena.

WIth everything Ash had left, he finished bottling up the explosion, the aura sphere exploding into a million sparkles of harmless light.

________........________

Serena stared at Ash as he held back to explosion. He was giving everything he had into holding it back, and then some more.

Serena's heart was simoutaneously higher that she thought possible and lower than it had ever been, a strange feeeling indeed.

Ash had told her she loved her. How long had she wanted to hear those words? How long had she wanted to tell them to the selfless boy in front of her? She had waited for this moment for years.

But Ash was in more pain than she had ever seen. He was putting so much into holding back the explosion, even though he had put in so much for everyone already.

Serena could only watch as he walked glanced to Lucario, who gave him a grin before shivering in pain.

Even though it was taking all he had to hold back the explosion, he put in some more to get closer to his pokemon.

Then, to Serena's complete shock, he shoved his pokemon to the ground.

"PIkapi!" Pikachu cried, stunned.

"Ash?!" Serena yelled. Why did Ash do that? He would never push Lucario for no reason. Did he do it to-

No, but that would mean that he thinks containing the explosion will-

Ash only gave his pokemon a weak smile before the aura sphere exploded.

Serena hid her face with her arm for a moment before glancing at the explosion and realising it wasn't going to kill her.

Ash had turned the explosion, the bomb big enough to blow up Lumiose tower, into a shower of sparkling aura. It glittered and floated throughout the room, a much, much larger version of what Ash had made for her the night he asked her to the dance.

Serena smiled and held out a hand, holding the sparkles for a moment before they shrunk out of existence, leaving only a cool and relaxing feeling on her palm.

"Ash, you did it!"

"Pikapi!" Pikachu echoed excitedly

The blond Kalosian turned her attention to Ash, but found he was not standing where he was before.

He was colapsed on the ground, unmoving.