11. Love and Despair

Chapter 18: Mark learns the truth

Mark and Lillie have left the Kanto Region after bidding farewell to Queen Ilene and the Aura Guardians in the Rota Kingdom, they decide to head towards Mt. Chimney in the Hoenn Region. But just as they arrived at the Mauville City, they meet up with Ash and Serena.

"So how is the gem collecting?" Ash asks Mark, and Lillie says, "Thanks to Queen Ilene, we managed to get the Fighting Gem with ease."

"How about you? Brother? Did she give you a lot of trouble to get the gem?" Mark asks as he glares at Serena, causing her to feel unease.

"Well, she didn't give me some trouble...but..." Ash stops as he doesn't know how to continue.

"But what?" Mark asks, but then he notices a girl hugging behind Ash's pants as she looks around.

"Brother, who is this?" Mark asks in confusion as he didn't know that Ash would keep a human child.

"As you can see..." Before Ash can answer, Saphira notices Mark and she quickly rushes to hug Mark, much to his surprise. "Uncle Mark, you're here as well."

"Uncle Mark?" Mark turns to Ash and Serena, Ash sighs and says, "She is Saphira, and you don't need to tell me about it, just by looking at her you might think that she is my and Serena's daughter. Somehow she has memories for what we did in the past seven years and don't ask me why."

"Is it related to time travel?" Lillie asks. "Your daughter come from the future to help you out?"

"We asked Celebi and Dialga for confirmation, but there are no sign of time travel." Serena says, and it causes them to feel strange.

Ash says, "We think that it might be related to the Electric Gem that we got, it combines our auras with the affinity and she is the result of it."

Mark frowns, as much as he despise Serena due to the fact that she is still a human and she hurt his brother, but this is unexpected for him as Saphira asks, "Uncle Mark, can you show me Swords Dance that you often showed me? I want to see it again."

"Huh?" Mark is confused, but Ash uses his aura to tell him, "Apparently, her memories are somehow modified, it seems like in her memories, you often showed her about your Swords Dance and she also loves it. She thinks that even though we are destroying the worlds, we would also spend some time with her as we played a lot with her as well."

Mark knows what Ash is implying, he says, "I am sorry, Saphira, I didn't bring my swords with me. Why don't you wait until we go back home and I will show you again?"

"Yay, uncle Mark is the best." Saphira cheers as they all smile at the childish aura of the girl. Lillie says to Ash, "It seems like this girl is really a younger version of you, Ash?"

"Really? Even you think so?" Ash asks as he picks her up, giving her a piggy ride. "I don't know why, I feel like I want to be a good father figure for her, maybe it is because that I have never met my father..."

Serena frowns as this is first to her, Mark says, "Yeah...Mother created all of us, and we had to see her being abused to death by those traitors...Which is why I can't forgive those humans, especially those murders who are still alive even after we try any means to kill them..."

This causes Ash to wonder, how come he can't kill those traitors who steal his Pokemon? That is something that he needs to figure out. Ash says, "By the way, have you see Golly or Gladion? I am sure that they are going to Mt. Pyre in this region."

"We haven't seen them yet, but I am sure that they are already there." Mark says. "What about you? Brother? Where are you going for your next gem?"

"Well, I think we should go to Mt. Lanakila for the Ice Gem, so we'll see you later." Ash says as he puts Saphira down to the ground,

"We are going, Saphira." Serena says with a soothe tone and Saphira nods.