A New Chance For Adventure

by ARCEUS-master

Sequel to A New Chance At Life. Finishing the Johto region while traveling with two Legendary Pokémon, Latias and Latios, was certainly a joyous experience for Ash. With that region behind him, Ash has now set his sights on a new tournament: The Hoenn League, a journey that promises new challenges, new friends and rivals to be met, and a powerful evil ready to rise…

10. Hunting The Hunter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Telepathy"

Author Notes: Here it is… chapter 10!

Last Revision: December 23rd, 2016.

Chapter 10 – Hunting the Hunter!

---

"So, what do you have against that Rico guy?" Officer Jenny asked her underage passenger with an inquisitive voice, her eyes never leaving the road as she skillfully maneuvered the jeep through the wooded area. "You seem very eager to fight him."

Ash growled slightly at the mere mention of the poacher's name, tightly clenching his hands around his seatbelt. "He's a crook, and he has the mom of one of my Pokémon!" Ash answered the officer, his voice tainted with a mixture of bitterness and fury. "I want to beat him so I can free her."

Officer Jenny nodded slightly, understanding the motives behind the trainer's participation in her mission. "I understand," she simply responded, stepping on the accelerator to increase the vehicle's speed. "Have any of your Legendary Pokémon found Rico?"

Ash closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts on the tiny presence the Eon dragon had left in his mind as a means of telepathic communication. 'Latios? Any luck yet?' he inquired.

"Not yet, I'm searching the outskirts of the forest, but it's like looking for a needle in a green haystack. We know where Rico was roughly fifteen hours ago, but he could be anywhere by now. It's almost an impossible task…" Latios answered telepathically, his mental voice clearly filled with frustration.

"Calm down, brother. If we get all riled up and frustrated, we'll only mess up our chances of finding him even more," Latias gently reminded him, trying to calm her brother down.

Ash shook his head, sighing sadly as he opened his eyes. "Nothing yet, Officer Jenny," he answered the police officer, clearly disappointed at the dragon's response.

Officer Jenny frowned at his revelation. "Dammit. We definitely need to find him by the end of today, because after that, it's a lost case," she stated, her eyes firmly locked on the road ahead. "If we don't find him quick, then it's likely we'll never catch him at all."

Somewhere else, Latios growled to himself as he scanned the ground below, hundreds of feet high in the air and cloaked to prevent being spotted by any nosy humans below. He could see a vast portion of the landscape, but he couldn't see anything that remotely resembled what they were searching for, a jeep-style vehicle with several cages tied to it. 'Hell, I don't even know if he's anywhere near the general area I'm looking in right now…' Latios lamented. He was deeply eager to defeat Rico and get Larvitar's mother back at last, but in order to do that, it was imperative that they find him first.

His sharp eyes managed to spot a flock of Swellow and Taillow flying towards Petalburg Woods. Hoping to gather some useful clues, he silently flew near them as his pupils emitted a bright shade of blue light, a sign that he was tapping into his psychic powers. He scanned their memories quickly to see if any had seen Rico while flying around but to his dismay, nothing useful or relevant was gathered. Latios looked around his environment, picking a different area to search and hurriedly flew towards it. As he sped towards his destination, his eyes continued to survey every inch of the ground below. Sadly, all he could see were the rivers, roads, trees, the many wild Pokémon inhabiting the wilderness, and the occasional human or two but he could not find what he was looking for. He gained some altitude, gazing towards the distant terrain. He could spot a handful of towns in the surrounding area, the vast forest that was Petalburg Woods, and beyond that he could see small hints of blue from the ocean. The dragon's gaze went back to some of the towns. Could Rico be hiding in one of them? Deciding to investigate there, he took action.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past Latios, nearly knocking him out of his flight. "Whoa!" the Eon Pokémon cried out in surprise. He quickly diverted a bit more mental power into his levitation and easily stabilized himself in the air. "What was that?" he questioned out loud, looking around for an answer. For some reason, that breeze had felt… quite abnormal, as if it wasn't a normal gust of wind. He shrugged, deciding to dismiss it as nothing special until a second breeze hit him, though in a more gentle manner this time around. Latios hummed to himself, gazing around. "Okaaaaay…" he muttered uneasily, feeling slightly intimidated by the inexplicable event.

The breeze blew through the sky once more, gently caressing his feathers as the wind passed by, but for some strange reason, Latios felt an odd presence within the wind, as if there was a manipulator behind the movement of air. It was almost as if it was compelling him to follow it. Eerily enough, the sound generated by the wind felt like there was a very subtle whisper in the current. Latios, after pondering it for a few moments and realizing he really didn't have any other ideal options, decided to follow the wind's direction. He looked down at the forest below him and his eyes noted that the rustling of leaves from the trees and bushes indicated the wind was actually blowing in a completely different direction in comparison to the one he had encountered a few seconds earlier.

"Latios, you're heading in the wrong direction of our planned search pattern," Latias warned him, her gentle voice ringing in his head. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"I think I have something. It's weird, but my instincts are telling me to follow it. I'll report my findings in a bit," Latios answered to his little sister as he started following the strange breeze at an accelerated pace. "Huh. The wind is taking me to the ocean," he commented, wondering if the unexpected guidance was correct or simply a farce. He stopped to ponder the situation for a few seconds or so. 'We did say Rico was most likely going to move inland, not towards the coast,' he thought before shaking his head slightly. However, just as he started to return inland, a stronger breeze passed by and brushed his feathery body, forcefully pushing him towards the direction of the ocean. "Okay, fine!" Latios shouted in an annoyed tone while still feeling extremely confused about the gale's bizarre attitude.

Latios resumed his flight path towards the coast, making sure to remain invisible to the naked eye. It wasn't long before a vast ocean sparkling with endless blue greeted his eyes, meeting the land at the soft brown sandy beach that ran alongside the coastline. The Eon Pokémon frowned slightly, looking around for any potential clues. He began to follow the beach at the insistence of the odd turbulent breeze until he spotted something that appeared to be a large, dark object contrasting with the light brown color of the sand. He squinted at the target, focusing his gaze to the best of his abilities. His eyes widened at what he witnessed. The target resembled a human vehicle, with a single cage behind it packed to the brim with various Poison-type Pokémon. He gasped loudly, and then a small grin drifted across his face. He had located Rico.

Latios retained his position in the air, pondering the options at hand. He could attempt a surprise attack and quickly solve their current dilemma, but if this poacher was as dangerous as Jessie and James claimed, perhaps it was better to execute the plan with the support of the police officer as well as his friends. He inspected the terrain once again, noticing several large rocks jutting out of the sand and surf past the poacher's position. "Ash! Latias! I've located Rico! He's at the coast, near some large rock formations!" he alerted them telepathically, projecting an image of his location. Almost instantly, he received Latias' reply that she was on her way. Latios nodded and flew into the tree line to prevent his cover from being blown, just in case Rico possessed a tool that could neutralize his invisibility like Annie and Oakley had in the past.

While waiting, Latios wondered, how did the wind guide him to Rico with such precision? What had happened? It was extraordinary; was it some odd natural occurrence… or perhaps a Legendary Pokémon? He glanced around, spreading his senses, but he did not find anyone. He shook his head rapidly to dismiss those thoughts. He had no time to place any concern on that matter, since a potentially dangerous battle was imminent. Latios scrutinized the criminal's features. He looked exactly like the one he had glimpsed in the three poachers' memories back in Johto. Accompanying him was Meowth in a small cage on the jeep, and behind him was a rather tough-looking Absol. Behind the all-terrain vehicle, all the captured Pokémon were stuffed in a single cage, making it look painfully packed, and he could identify Jessie and James' Pokémon in the bunch.

Back at Officer Jenny's patrol vehicle, Ash's eyes widened as he gasped loudly, catching Jenny's attention in an instant. "What happened!?" she asked the trainer sharply.

"It's Latios. He's found the poacher guy," Ash answered. "He's located on the beach, near some big rocks."

Officer Jenny nodded. "Thankfully, we haven't gone too far inland. I was en route to Rustboro, so we're still close! Hang on kid, the ride's going to get rough!" Jenny warned as she swerved into a sharp left turn before stepping on the accelerator, skillfully cutting through the forest as she sped towards the beach. "I've got you now, Rico…" she expressed quietly, her voice perhaps sounding a bit too excited. She did wonder why Rico had gone to the coast; she had assumed he'd head towards land, not the sea. 'Unless his client is picking up the poached Pokémon by boat…' she pondered, narrowing her eyes.

Officer Jenny reached for the radio that was installed in the jeep, prompting a confused look from Ash. "What are you gonna do?" he asked curiously.

"Wait and see," was Officer Jenny's blunt response as she spoke into the radio. "This is Officer Jenny to Rustboro City Police Headquarters. I have a dangerous poacher about to deliver an illegal Pokémon cargo. Send reinforcements by sea to Petalburg Woods' coastline. I suspect that his benefactor may be nearby or approaching, it's a good opportunity."

"Roger that, sending in the coast guard and any necessary backup," the voice on the other end buzzed in reply.

"Affirmative, Rustboro, but use caution when approaching; suspect is known to be predisposed to violence and is likely to be in possession of dangerously aggressive Pokémon, over," responded Jenny.

"Ten-four," came the singular reply.

Ash blinked as he glanced at Jenny and then at the radio confusedly. "What was that for?" he asked curiously.

"If Rico is on the coast, it means that whoever hired him to capture those Pokémon will come to pick up his prize by sea. By dispatching police forces to the area, we can hopefully apprehend the customer too. It is equally imperative to catch the hunters and poachers as it is to detain the people who hire them, Ash," Jenny explained. "Otherwise, if we just arrest the poachers, they'll just hire new outlaws for the task and the problem will continue." Ash nodded in understanding. His gaze returned to the road, feeling more eager than ever to find and defeat Rico.

…

"Aaagh! Where the fuck is he!?" Rico growled angrily as he raised his arm and gazed at his wristwatch, his patience wearing thin. "That bloody idiot was supposed to be here half an hour ago!" Waiting was definitely not something he enjoyed.

"Maybe da guy decided he didn't want us after all," Meowth quipped hopefully, looking up at Rico from the cage he was stuffed in, currently placed on the passenger's seat of the jeep. "Dat means ya can free us all!" he said excitedly, hoping that what he was saying became a reality.

The bad-mannered poacher snarled at the talking Normal-type. "Shut up before I feed you to my Absol!" he threatened, making Meowth shriek in terror and cower within his cage. The Absol, who was calmly sitting in the back of the jeep vehicle without uttering anything the whole time, turned his head and looked at Meowth with his dead eyes, wondering if his master was going to let him devour the Meowth. "Who would've thought that a talking Pokémon could be so freaking annoying!" Rico added. Fearow, who was currently roosting on top of the cage where the poison-type Pokémon were imprisoned, squawked in agreement.

Meowth scratched the back of his head. "I get dat a lot," he replied embarrassedly. "Now let me go!" he wailed, desperately tugging and pushing at the bars of his cage, rivers of tears trailing from his eyes. He had never found himself wishing more for Jessie and James than at this very moment.

Rico sighed in exasperation. "You better be worth a lot of money because you're not exactly proving your worth at the moment," he spat with a growl of irritation, wondering if the feline Pokémon was really worth the annoyance involved in carrying him around.

The Absol's head rose and tilted towards the forest, his powerful senses tingling as he detected the danger that was approaching their position. He leapt from the jeep and released a rough and monotone vocalization of his name from his lips, his head locked firmly towards the direction of the forest. Rico turned to look at his Absol, frowning, and then focused his glare on Meowth. "What did he say?" he asked, his tone clearly telling Meowth that it would be better for his health to answer truthfully.

"Someone's comin' here!" Meowth yapped instantly, cowering in his confinement.

Rico growled. His employer was supposed to arrive by sea, not land. The fact that his Absol was acting defensive towards the forest meant he had potentially unwanted company. "Dammit," he cursed, walking towards his jeep and reaching for his firearm, just in case. "Absol, remain on high guard," he ordered firmly. The Absol responded with a single nod, still glowering at the woodland with unwavering attention.

Suddenly, through the green foliage of the woods bordering the sandy beach, a blue and white colored jeep with a pair of sirens on top and several police logos adorning it emerged, skidding down the small hill that marked the forest's end and the beach's start. The police vehicle stopped about two dozen feet away from Rico, its occupants stepping out of it. "Freeze right there, Pokémon Hunter Rico!" Officer Jenny demanded in an authoritative tone. "Go, Arcanine!" She shouted, hurling a Pokéball forward and releasing a large canine Pokémon. It had a large cream-colored mane and tail, and the rest of the body sported a vibrant mixture of red and black stripped fur. The Arcanine looked very well-trained and had a powerful well-muscled physical build clearly made for combat. The Pokémon crouched low on all fours and let out a menacing growl at Rico.

Rico snorted at the sight, trying not to laugh. "Oh, if it isn't Officer Jenny, how cute," he scoffed sarcastically. "Listen up, girlie, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. Recall your pathetic excuse of a mutt, take your little friend there, get back in your car, and leave. Otherwise I'll take great pleasure in having my Absol spill both you and your Arcanine's guts all over this beach and having him feast on them while you're still alive," he threatened, a dark grin on his features.

"Ew," Ash said, making a face.

Officer Jenny stood defiantly next to her Arcanine, her face displaying anger and determination. "Pokémon Hunter Rico, you are under arrest on the charges of Pokémon poaching, illegal trafficking of Pokémon, suspected murder, evading previous arrests and possession of a firearm," she announced with a clear tone of professionalism.

Rico paused, stared at Jenny, and then exploded into a state of raucous laughter. "Oh, tell me something I don't know," he sneered mockingly, not interested in hearing his long list of crimes. "And I think you missed some crimes you don't know of," he taunted, making Jenny growl angrily in rejoinder. "Like four or five, maybe? And I'm pretty sure you forgot littering, jaywalking, and not washing my hands after I'm done using the bathroom. Oh, and I don't recycle, and use a real gas-guzzler of a vehicle! Can't forget that!"

"Hey, you! Release those Pokémon now!" Ash screamed angrily, glaring at Rico as Pikachu's cheeks sparkled dangerously with electricity.

Rico stared at Ash incredulously. "Okaaaay… Jenny, let me get this straight…your partner's a nine year old boy?" he asked disbelievingly. "I knew the Police force was a joke to begin with, but this takes it to whole new levels. What, are they so desperate for new officers they'll pick up random kids off the street?" he jeered. He had to admit, the kid seemed oddly familiar, like he'd seen the child somewhere before, but he couldn't quite remember where.

"Hey, twerp!" Meowth called out, eyes shining with hope at the sight of the very person he had been attempting to steal from for years. "Get me outta here!" he yelled, grabbing the bars of the cage holding him and shaking them, sobbing. Despite his pleas, no one paid an ounce of attention to the Scratch Cat Pokémon.

"Surrender this instant, Rico," Officer Jenny warned, glaring daggers at the green-haired Pokémon Hunter. "It's over for you. You're not escaping from me again."

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Rico asked, holding back a chuckle. He raised his automatic firearm slightly, making Arcanine bark and growl loudly at the Pokémon thief. "I can blow your face to pieces before you can even move a muscle. So unless you want me to ruin that pretty face with a severe case of lead poisoning, get in your car and drive away. If I'm in a good mood, then I might let you leave alive," the hunter warned, his voice leaving no doubt that he would do it as his finger was secured around the weapon's trigger.

"Police Arcanine are trained to disarm criminals, Rico. Arcanine would have neutralized you before you pulled the trigger," Jenny said confidently, placing her complete trust in her loyal companion. "Now surrender already and make this easier for everyone. Unfortunately, you don't have a pretty face I can ruin with a flamethrower."

Rico responded to her comment with a savage-looking smirk. "You really want to test your Arcanine against my gun?" he asked daringly, his hands tightening their grip on his submachine gun, which was still held against his side.

Ash gulped nervously. He had witnessed weapons only a few times in the past and learned that they were very dangerous objects that should not be toyed with or underestimated whatsoever. He had to admit that he'd be terrified if it wasn't for the fact that his two psychic dragons were right behind him, cloaked of course. 'Latias, Latios, can you take the gun away from him with your powers?' he asked them in his thoughts so Rico would not become aware of the fact that there was an active conversation between them.

Latios narrowed his eyes as he inspected the scene. He and Latias were levitating behind Ash while remaining invisible, their psychic powers sharp, focused, and at the ready. "We can do it easily, but there's a big problem here… the Absol. You see, they are Pokémon that are very closely related with the supernatural, especially things that are related to disasters and danger around their surroundings. He's also a Dark-type, which means if we utilize anything that relies on psychic energy, he might detect it and retaliate. That's why we're waiting for Jenny and Arcanine to be ready first. This Absol looks tough and his guard is anything but down," the psychic dragon answered his trainer telepathically.

'Absol?' Ash asked, confused.

"The white Pokémon with the scythe on his head, Ash," Latias answered, her eyes warily focused on the dark-type Pokémon. She couldn't help but shiver slightly at what her empathy felt from him. The Absol wasn't feeling anything… no anger, no resistance, not even excitement or lust for battle, just faint echoes of past pain. Ash nodded slightly at her response, although he was unaware of her unease at the Absol.

Officer Jenny narrowed her eyes, and her hand made a small signal to Ash, something they had discussed on their way to the beach. "Arcanine…get ready," she whispered. The canine Pokémon nodded, his eyes locked on the gun in Rico's hands.

The poacher, noticing Jenny's whisper, instantly tightened his grip on his automatic weapon as he shook his head at the officer's foolish gesture. "Don't try anything, bitch," Rico hissed threateningly.

'Now, take the gun away! Arcanine will back you up!' Ash yelled in his mind. Both Latias and Latios nodded as their irises emitted a glowing shade of blue, initiating their psychic assault against Rico in an effort to deprive the criminal of his firearm. The next few seconds would be crucial.

The Absol's gaze moved towards Ash as his senses flared. The instant Latias and Latios exerted their powers, the two dragons' presence became known to him thanks to his disaster and danger sensing, and as one of his permanently executed orders by his master was to protect him at all costs without a fault, he did just that. Just as Latios and Latias' telekinetic powers reached out to disarm Rico, the Absol's mouth opened and a ringed orb of purple and black-colored energy amassed in his maw. The Disaster Pokémon reared back and then tossed his head forward violently, shooting a potent Dark Pulse towards the space his senses told him the two mysterious hidden attackers were.

Rico, upon seeing Absol respond offensively towards the challengers facing him, realized that they had decided to take offensive action against him. He clutched his gun harder and immediately began to raise it to fire at Officer Jenny and Ash. The second Rico's arm motion began, Arcanine immediately sprang to action. He leapt forward and used ExtremeSpeed, reenacting his training in disarming criminals by attacking them at unbelievable speeds before they could fire.

Latias and Latios' eyes widened in shock, as the Absol's Dark Pulse had created such a powerful dark aura that it threw their psychic powers into absolute disarray near the Pokémon and the poacher. This effectively prevented them from utilizing any Psychic-type techniques against Rico, thus negating their psychic assault. They quickly moved apart from each other, making the Dark Pulse pass harmlessly between the two siblings.

The Absol's eyes shifted slightly, seeing the Arcanine begin the attack against Rico. He made a quick judgment, either keep attacking the mysterious psychics or turn and defend against the more direct physical attack aimed at his master. The decision was made in milliseconds. With Arcanine's physical attack posing a more immediate danger, the Disaster Pokémon decided to focus on him first. Absol closed his mouth quickly, ending the Dark Pulse instantly. His body still cracking with dark energy from the previous attack, the Absol quickly shifted moves to Sucker Punch. The Dark Pulse seemed to shift into a massive shroud of darkness which instantly wrapped around Absol.

Absol then shot himself towards the incoming Arcanine, a veil of terrifying darkness enclosing him. He barely managed to get in between the Fire-type and Rico due to ExtremeSpeed's greater speed, making Arcanine skip a heartbeat in shock at the Absol's astonishing speed. Terror struck his disciplined mind when he came to the realization that with the psychic dragons' failure and Absol intercepting him, nothing would prevent Rico from using his firearm now. The two Pokémon crashed head-on violently in an explosion of darkness, with Arcanine taking the worst part of it since he was caught completely off guard. Shockwaves rippled through the sandy ground of the beach as a result of the sheer force of the collision between both Pokémon.

Latios let out a short gasp when he sensed the protective aura of darkness of Absol edging away from Rico, signaling him that now was his chance. "Latias, get the gun! I'll get any bullets!" he yelled out psychically as his eyes began to glow. Milliseconds afterwards, Latias' own eyes released a candid white glow.

In the narrow second the offensive and defensive exchanges of attacks between Absol, Latios, Latias and Arcanine had occurred, Rico had finished raising his submachine gun. He pulled the trigger, holding the firearm tightly in anticipation of the recoils that followed. Three loud bangs echoed along the beach as the gun opened fire. But, before it could fire more bullets, the barrel imploded upon itself and crushed the firing mechanism, courtesy of Latias' psychic powers.

Latios' eyes widened as he was left to deal with the three bullets that had been fired. As fast as his mind was, he was still a psychic in development, still being relatively young and untrained. His mental powers were still worlds apart from what they would be if they reached their full potential. To the dragon's horror, his senses completely lost track of the bullets, as he couldn't even detect them at all due to the speed they flew at. They were far too small and fast for him to stop. They were going to hit their target.

The wind unexpectedly passed by, grazing past the blue Eon dragon. It carried the same feeling as when it had guided him to the hunter's location. And to the dragon's shock, another three sharp whistling sounds echoed, followed by three small impacts that lightly made some sand ripple right in front of Ash and Jenny, making Latios freeze completely. He certainly had not done that. It had not been his powers that had stopped the bullets. It was that mystifying force yet again.

"Great, brother! You did it! I'll go after Rico!" Latias praised quickly, hovering a few feet forward and moving with confidence now that Rico was no longer armed; she realized now was the time to incapacitate him for good. Latios did not reply as he was still shocked as to what had halted the bullets. While it was clear Latias thought it had been him, it certainly wasn't.

Latias' eyes began to shine brightly with a white glow as she prepared to launch a Psychic attack against the Pokémon Hunter, who was still recoiling in shock from the destruction of his prized weapon. Absol immediately eyed the invisible Latias, his senses pinpointing her location with deadly precision. Dark energy began to ripple around his furred body, sputtering like arching thunderbolts of pure blackness as he was once again coated in an aura of malice. Almost instantly, with the assistance of Sucker Punch, he crossed the distance between his master and Latias, crashing violently headfirst into the Eon dragoness.

Latias unleashed a shrilling cry of pain as the dark energy blasted her harshly, smashing her into the invisible Latios, snapping him out of his thoughts as he too screamed from the aching force of the impact, the dark energy from the Absol coursing through both of them and disrupting their invisibility. A shockwave of darkness blasted from the Absol, throwing the twins roughly into the sand behind them.

Ash and Jenny gasped while Rico stared, dumbfounded. Everything involving the Pokémon had happened so quickly the humans had barely been able to keep track of the basic details. It had been a few instants of tense counterattacks between Latios, Latias and Arcanine towards Rico's gun and Absol's defending against them. The outcome had left Rico with a completely unusable weapon in his hands, a slightly battered Arcanine rising from an indentation in the sand, and a wobbly levitating Latias and Latios, both a few dozen feet behind Ash and Jenny. Pokémon were truly wonders of nature.

Rico's jaw dropped slightly as he stared at the two dragons. "Holy shit… what the hell!?" he questioned, stammering from the sheer shock of what he was seeing. He turned to glare at Ash wickedly. "I knew I've seen you somewhere before! You're that Silver Conference brat with the Latios! Perfect! I could sell a Legendary Pokémon for millions on the black market!" the Pokémon Hunter cackled sinisterly, a depraved grin tracing his lips.

Ash growled with his fists clenched. "You're not taking my Pokémon! It's the other way around. I'm freeing all the Pokémon you've stolen!" he said determinedly.

Rico laughed loudly in reply. "Sure, kid. Absol, use Night Slash on the dragons before they get up!" the poacher commanded, pointing towards the downed but not yet out Eon twins.

"No, you don't! Pikachu, quick, hit Absol with Iron Tail!" Ash countered immediately.

The Absol nodded and sprang to action wordlessly and without objection. A force of darkness swirled wildly around the scythe that protruded from the Disaster Pokémon's head, coalescing into a sleek, solidified black veil of evil energy that made the scythe appear double its length and jaggedness. With fast and long strides, the Absol charged toward the downed dragons.

"You're mine!" Pikachu yelled as he jumped from Ash's shoulder and charged towards Absol, his tail shining a bright white as it hardened. Just as the Absol was passing the midpoint on his approach towards the twins, Pikachu lunged at him and spun, smashing a potent Iron Tail right into his midsection and knocking him off course. The Absol uttered a small grunt as he sank his knife-like claws into the sand, skidding to a stop a dozen feet away from the collision with the Electric-type. "You should have paid attention to me instead of attacking two distracted opponents, coward! Don't you have honor or something!?" Pikachu taunted, standing between Absol and the two eon siblings protectively.

"…" The Absol blinked and stared at him with a completely emotionless and uninterested stare.

Pikachu shifted uncomfortably. "You know that bad guys are supposed to make stupid boasts and comebacks after they are insulted, right? And then brag about how superior they are and how they are going to win the battle?" Pikachu said, awkwardly gazing at the Absol.

"…" the Absol said nothing again and stared at his adversary blankly.

"Okay, there's something officially wrong with this thing," Pikachu said confusedly.

"Careful," Jenny's Arcanine wheezed as he made his way back to them, sand matting his fur from the attack he had sustained. "That means he bites more than he barks," he said, wincing when dark energy rippled through his body slightly. "And he bites hard. Damn Sucker Punch."

Pikachu blinked blankly. "But he didn't bite you, he just tackled you while being all darkish," he said, even more puzzled than he already was.

"I was talking figuratively!" Arcanine barked back in frustration.

"Oh," Pikachu said, embarrassed.

Rico growled harshly and shifted his attention to the cracked and irreparably destroyed automatic weapon in his hands. Throwing it into the sand, he returned his focus towards Ash before savagely voicing, "Your Legendary Pokémon will be mine, kid," with a sadistic smirk.

"Rico, your gun is useless, surrender now! You've already resisted arrest, attacked a police Pokémon, and committed attempted murder of a police officer; don't make it any worse for yourself!" Jenny shouted at him, feeling slightly relieved that the criminal was now at least deprived of his killing tool.

Rico laughed loudly and shook his head before saying, "Oh, that's rich, you trying to get me to surrender on threat of further legal punishment. With a rap sheet as long and illustrious as mine, what's a few more offenses, all things considering? They'll lock me up and throw away the key, regardless, so really, I got nothing to lose by fighting you," he finished.

Jenny, unable to come up with a response, knowing Rico was right, only lowered her head and narrowed her eyes, realizing now that the only way of subduing Rico was by force. There would be no surrender from him.

Rico laughed at her feeble attempt to get him to surrender and then shook his head, much to Jenny's irritation. The poacher gave a sideways glance towards Latias and Latios, already giddily thinking about how many millions he'd get for selling them. 'I need to disable their psychic powers, and fast,' Rico thought, analyzing the situation. As eager as he was to snare them, he was aware of the risk involved. 'Last time I messed with a psychic Pokémon it did not end well on my end, and I already lost my gun to their powers…I need to weaken and shut them down.' He reached down and grabbed a pair of Pokéballs. He wordlessly hurled them forward, releasing a pair of Pokémon.

When the two flashes of light faded, the Pokémon from within were revealed. The first was a black and humanoid doll-like Pokémon with three spikes on its head, purple eyes with black pupils, and a zipper-like mouth. The Pokémon had long three-fingered hands, stubby legs and a yellow spiky tail. At first, the Pokémon was slightly transparent, indicating it was a ghost. After a few instants it began to solidify and became fully visible.

The second was a small Pokémon that resembled a cicada. It was mostly gray and black-colored on its body with a dull-toned yellow head and two gleaming red eyes. Two gray-colored insect arms extended from the Pokémon's chest with two inward facing yellow claws. The Pokémon had two large insect wings with triangular red tipping.

"Absol, come back here!" Rico ordered. The Absol instantly followed his master's order and ran back to him and turned to face the attackers in a line beside the two Pokémon Rico had sent out.

Ash released a soft growl from his mouth. Rico possessing this many Pokémon meant that dealing with him was not going to be as easy as he thought it'd be even with his firearm neutralized. The Pallet Town trainer pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it towards the first Pokémon, the one Latias had informed him was Absol. The miniature computer beeped, displaying Absol's image and stats on the screen as it began to explain in a monotone, robotic voice. "Absol, the Disaster Pokémon. Absol live in steep mountainous regions, and rarely venture down into areas inhabited by humans, but should an Absol be seen by humans, it is said that catastrophe is soon to follow." Ash nodded once and directed it towards the second Pokémon. The Pokédex quickly changed the displayed information and resumed its verbalization. "Ninjask, the Ninja Pokémon. Ninjask moves around at such a high speed that it cannot be seen, even while its crying can be clearly heard. For that reason, this Pokémon was long believed to be invisible." Ash winced slightly at how tough that sounded and moved on to the last one. "Banette, the Marionette Pokémon. A cursed energy permeated the stuffing of a discarded and forgotten plush doll, giving it new life as Banette," the Pokédex finished, now displaying Banette's information.

"Seems like they're tough opponents," Ash commented, gazing at each one closely for several seconds as he studied them.

Pikachu walked towards him and stood in front of him, displaying great protectiveness as he faced Rico's Pokémon. Arcanine did the same with his police trainer. "And he has a Fearow, I hate those," Pikachu added, gazing at the avian Pokémon roosting behind the Pokémon Hunter as unpleasant memories from past encounters flashed into his mind.

Latias slowly levitated towards Ash, shaking her head a couple times to rid herself of the numbing sensation of the dark energies she had been attacked with. "And there is something very wrong with those Pokémon, Ash. My empathy can't feel them correctly. They are empty, they have no feelings, no real emotions, just… shadows of them… they just willingly obey without caring for anything, like they're mindless… it's very creepy…" she said, shivering from discomfort.

"… And that means?" Pikachu asked confusedly, his eyes never leaving Rico's Pokémon for even a second.

"I have no idea," the Eon dragoness answered, much to his and Ash's dismay.

"Wait a minute, where's Tyranitar?" Ash asked, noticing the absence of the Pokémon he had been so desperately searching for.

"Doubt she'd want to fight us or serve Rico. Maybe she's in a Pokéball?" Pikachu guessed.

"Latios, can you find out where she is by reading his mind?" Ash requested.

Latios, who had just finished recovering from the painful Sucker Punch, shook his head as he approached Ash. "I haven't been able to get my mind near his. And when I tried I couldn't because a certain Absol beat me silly. And I'm not eager to try again." Ash, Pikachu and Latias collectively sweatdropped at his statement.

"Jenny, I'll be the one to tell you this time, surrender now and have the kid hand over his Legendary Pokémon, and I won't kill you," Rico warned, his voice clearly backing up the fact that he'd do it.

Ash shook his head. "I already said that I'm gonna be the one to free all the Pokémon you've captured, you crook!" he shouted, reddish eyes shining with determination.

Rico shook his head sadly with a cruel-toned laugh. "Oh well, guess I'll have to take them the hard way, typical." He faced his opponents, grinning sinisterly. "But then again, I think I prefer it this way! Ninjask, kill Officer Jenny. Slash her neck open!" he ordered, causing Ash to gasp in horror at his words.

Ninjask's claws began to glow white as energy gathered on them, increasing their length and sharpness. His wings buzzed and the next second he was gone, completely invisible from the sheer speed of his movement. The humans were unable to track the insane speed of the super fast Pokémon's movement, even to Arcanine and Pikachu it was way too fast. It seemed as if Ninjask had vanished… and then crashed into the sand behind Rico, lifting a large amount of sand a few feet in the air.

Latios glared at Rico angrily, his body now beside Jenny with his clawed arm inches in front of her neck protectively. Arcanine and Jenny gasped, barely reacting to the motion, but thankfully, the police officer was safe thanks to the dragon. Latios growled at Rico, flying a few feet forward and levitating before him defiantly.

Rico smirked. "Banette, use Curse, first on Latios and then on Latias," he said, knowing he had played the dragon right into his hands. Banette let out an inhumane and earsplitting ghostly shriek while the ectoplasm in his body began to quiver harshly as an eerie, purple-colored wraithlike glow began to surround his body. The excruciating sounds of the Banette cracking apart became audible as bright purple fractures began appearing all over the Ghost-type's body. Gradually, a sphere of black-colored ethereal energy crackling with power began to form between the Banette's arms. As the orb began to grow in size, additional horrifyingly painful sounds of the Pokémon's body being ripped to pieces echoed as chunks of the Banette's body were torn off from the ghost-type to form the Curse attack.

Latios glared at Banette, knowing the attack he was using was dangerous. He opened his mouth and spat a powerful stream of green fire in the form of a Dragon Breath attack towards the ragdoll Pokémon. The Banette quickly moved to the side, evading the dragon's attack. He let out a ghostly chuckle as the Curse attack was finished. The Banette's creation of the Curse clearly took its toll on him as his body was badly torn and damaged, tattered strings and purple ectoplasm oozing from the multiple cracks and chunks of his body that were missing.

Latios narrowed his eyes, eyeing the Banette's moves carefully, not willing to allow himself to be hit with the Ghost-type attack. Suddenly, Banette disappeared from view and from his senses as the ghost turned intangible and invisible. The dragon growled, his heart racing. "Dammit!" he yelled in frustration at the lack of any indication of where Banette would attack. He was not skilled at tracking spectral beings yet.

Rico smirked at the success of his plan. "I got you this time, Latios. Just for your information, I knew you'd defend Officer Jenny from Ninjask. That was merely a ploy to bring you out of the group and into the open," he taunted. "And if it failed, at least I got the bonus of Jenny's head. Seems like you took the bait…"

A whistling sound was the only warning the Eon dragon received before Banette materialized right behind him, thrusting the orb of horrid Ghost energy right into him. Latios roared in pain as the orb sunk into his body, disappearing completely. A blast of purple Ghost energy erupted from the dragon, the energy waves pushing everyone at least a couple feet back. Like a swirling mass of lavender-toned mist, the cursed energy span around the dragon until a solid orb of Ghost power surrounded the legendary psychic dragon, glowing darkly until it all disappeared inside the Eon Pokémon. "Aaaaahhh! Noooo!" Latios cried out while clutching his chest, wincing as the energy disappeared. The Banette panted in pain and exhaustion from the technique, but managed to fly away from the dragon to gather his energy and prepare another Curse.

"Latios! Are you okay!?" Ash cried out in concern, gazing at the dragon with a worried expression.

"… Yes, Ash. Don't worry, I'm perfectly okay," Latios said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, that's good, the attack looked like it'd hurt a lot," Ash said, feeling relieved while remaining oblivious to the sarcasm in the dragon's voice.

A vein of anger pulsed on Latios' forehead. "No, Ash! I'm not okay! I was being sarcastic!" he yelled angrily at his trainer. "This damned thing is messing up all my powers as well as-gyaaah!" his words breaking off as an intense wave of pain racked his body. Clutching at his chest and panting, his eyes closed through the pain, Latios just managed to grit out through clenched teeth, "-giving me constant pain! It hurts."

"Ah…" Ash said, sounding utterly embarrassed. Pikachu sighed and facepalmed at his trainer's cluelessness. "Anyway, we need to stop Banette! Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash commanded, pointing dramatically at the ghost. Pikachu nodded and then dashed towards Banette rapidly, taking a mighty leap towards the Marionette Pokémon as his tail began to solidify into steel.

"This is for hurting Latios!" Pikachu screamed as he swung his tail towards the Ghost-type while airborne. A very loud clashing sound of steel against steel ripped through the beach as Pikachu's Iron Tail struck Ninjask's Metal Claw just a few inches in front of Banette. Pikachu gasped in surprise at the Bug/Flying-type's interception. '…I didn't even see him move!' he thought, stunned, but then he realized they were making contact. Pikachu smirked at the initial advantage he had. "Making physical contact with a Pikachu is dangerous!" he yelled as he released a potent Thunder attack from his body. The Ninjask, noticing Pikachu charging the electricity, instantly pulled back while pushing Banette away as well, successfully helping the pair dodge Pikachu's electrical assault.

"Latias, Dragon Breath!" Ash followed up quickly. Latias nodded and inhaled a deep breath before firing a large stream of emerald-colored flames towards the retreating Ninjask and Banette, forcing both Pokémon to speed up their pace, barely evading the dragoness' draconic strike.

"Arcanine, use Flamethrower!" Jenny yelled all of a sudden, forcing Rico to tear his eyes away from Banette, Ninjask and Pikachu and turn his attention to the rest of the group.

"Dodge!" Rico blurted out of reflex, having been completely focused on the other set of Pokémon earlier. Both Absol and Fearow moved to the sides, and Rico himself had to sidestep rapidly in order to avoid the jet of blazing flames that the Arcanine had launched. The Pokémon Hunter narrowed his eyes as he examined the situation to come up with his next move. 'Banette is charging the second Curse for the Latias. I need to make sure it hits…' he thought, quickly analyzing the situation. Behind him, Banette was already emitting a nightmarish purple hue, more cracks and horrifying wounds tearing his ectoplasm-based body apart as he readied another Curse.

"Arcanine, use Flamethrower again!" Jenny ordered quickly, not wanting to leave Rico any time to prepare further strategies.

Unfortunately for her, Rico was already one step ahead of her. "Fearow, use Quick Attack!" the poacher countered, directing his hand towards Arcanine. The normal and flying-type Pokémon took flight and rushed towards Arcanine with the speedy move.

"Dodge that!" Jenny cried out. Arcanine closed his muzzle, cancelling the Flamethrower and quickly leaped sideways, making Fearow pass by without hitting him.

Rico turned his head slightly, gazing over his shoulder and noting that Banette's second Curse was almost ready. "Absol, use Night Slash on the Latias!" Rico ordered quickly. 'Time to put my plan in action,' he thought eagerly. Absol quickly charged towards Latias, his scythe lengthening as a sleek gleam of darkness surrounded it.

The moment Latios saw his sister in danger, he immediately leapt into action. "Oh no, you don't!" he yelled irately, protectiveness literally dripping from his voice. He darted towards the Disaster Pokémon in an attempt to intercept him before he reached Latias. Before Latios even managed to reach the halfway point, a blast of corrosive spectral energy exploded from him as Banette's Curse activated, making the Eon dragon roar in pain as the wraithlike essence ripped through him and inflicted tremendous amounts of damage.

"Latios!" Latias cried out in concern, turning her attention to him with a worried expression.

"Latias, the Absol! Quick, use Psychic to make a sand wall to shield yourself!" Ash called out quickly, snapping the psychic dragoness out of her distraction.

Latias gasped slightly before looking forward, seeing the incoming Absol. Her amber eyes generated a blue glow as she exerted her psychic powers into the grit below her. Instantly, a large and thick barrier of sand erected itself in front of her. The Absol extended his claws and dug his paws firmly into the sandy ground, skidding to a halt, though his preemptive measure failed as he crashed straight into the sand wall constructed by the Legendary Pokémon. However, she had paid no attention to her rear, opening her to an unexpected ambush.

Pikachu's eyes widened, knowing what was about to happen to her. "Oh, no… Latias, watch out behind you!" he warned loudly.

Pikachu's warning came too late. Latias was completely unable to react to the Electric-type's alert before Banette smashed the Curse orb into her back, creating a massive detonation of ethereal force that enveloped her body. Latias cried out as the energy began seeping into her, completely dissipating into her body. "Oh… no…" she uttered slowly, eyes widening. She let out a pained cry as the Curse inside her created a constant feeling of pain that resembled something tearing through her body at every angle.

Latios growled at Rico angrily for what the latter had just done to his sibling. "You'll pay for that," he snarled dangerously, clenching his teeth as he tried to resist the pain that the Curse attack had wreaked upon him.

Rico smirked. "Retreat for now," he said simply. Absol, Banette, Ninjask and the Fearow all went back to their master's side quickly. "I suggest you surrender now, kiddo. I just eliminated your Latias and Latios from the game. Give them up and you'll be able to walk back to your mommy on your own two legs."

Ash growled, his hands balling up into fists. "No… I'm going to make you pay…after I free all the Pokémon you've captured. I won't lose to a crook like you."

"He's better at battling and strategizing than I thought, no wonder I've never been able to catch him," Officer Jenny commented, narrowing her eyes at the criminal. "He's a smart one."

Rico shook his head sadly. "Of course I am. That's why I'm one of the top criminals in Hoenn," he boasted arrogantly. "But this battle is already mine. Curse will prevent your two psychic friends from being annoying. It'll slowly knock them out cold for me to stuff them in a cage and be on my way," the bad-mannered man laughed. All he needed to do now was buy himself more time.

"Latias, Latios, can you handle fighting with that attack on you?" Ash asked with a hint of concern, gazing at each of the Legendary Pokémon siblings.

"I think I'll be fine for a while," Latios answered as he tried to regulate his breathing at a steady and controlled pace from the nerve-shattering pain. "My powers are all messed up due to the Curse attack in me, and it inflicts a lot of pain periodically… I think I can deal with it for now, but we better not take too long," he added. The male dragon gazed at Latias worriedly. Latias huffed and nodded defiantly against the constant pain the Curse brought to her, signaling she too was ready to continue. Latios couldn't help but feel proud at her will to fight against this criminal.

Ash gazed at Rico, checking out the situation. "I agree with Officer Jenny… he's a tough opponent," he said in dismay, having expected an easier battle. 'With Latias and Latios in trouble thanks to the Banette, I need more help…' he thought to himself, reaching towards his belt. He grabbed three Pokéballs and dropped them. With three bright bursts of light Larvitar, Phanpy and Pidgeot were released from their respective spherical devices.

Rico raised an eyebrow. 'More, eh? This brat sure is persistent,' he thought, gazing at each of Ash's six Pokémon.

Larvitar growled angrily at Rico. The second he laid his eyes on the poacher, a firestorm of pure hatred and spite brewed inside the young infant as faint memories of his mother's tender and loving voice speaking to him while he was just an egg echoed strongly in his thoughts. Faint yet visible feelings and images of how he was maliciously separated and how thanks to the greed of this one man, he hadn't been able to reunite with her yet. All of those memories were swirling violently in the child's mind. Just as Larvitar was about to charge at Rico in a state of blind rage, Ash placed a hand on his back and halted his advance. Larvitar released a small breath and looked up at his adoptive father, eyes questioning. "Calm down, Larvitar. I know you're angry. Well, I'm angry too, but we'll beat him soon and I promise to get your mother back, so don't do anything rash, alright? We'll work together as a team and family to win this," Ash said. Larvitar sighed. As much as he'd have loved to tear Rico to bloody shreds, he nodded once and placed his trust in Ash. In addition, Larvitar had to admit that Rico's Pokémon looked tough, and he'd certainly like them to be taken out first.

Pikachu rolled his eyes in amusement. "Look who talks about not doing rash things for once," he commented, shaking his head a few times. Ash ignored him. "At least you make a nice father."

Rico blinked a few times, confused regarding the words Ash was saying to the Larvitar, but he decided to pay no heed to it. That wasn't his current interest at the moment, snagging the Eon dragons was his primary concern. "So, are you ready to fight my little slave Pokémon, runt?" Rico taunted, holding back a small laugh.

Ash gasped in shock. "Slaves!? That's terrible! Pokémon aren't meant to be enslaved, they're our friends, teammates and family, not tools or slaves, you jerk!" the young Pokémon trainer reprimanded him angrily, shaking his fist at him.

"How cute," Rico mocked, shaking his head. "I almost forgot what you stupid kids sounded like."

Latios narrowed his eyes, feeling extremely disturbed of the relationship between Rico calling his Pokémon 'slaves' and the fact that they lacked emotions, as his sister had pointed out. "I'll fight the Ninjask, he's extremely fast, just like me, so I'll be the one to keep him entertained," he said, before arching his back as he prepared to speed away.

"Okay, Latios, defeat that Ninjask!" Ash encouraged him, grinning confidently at him. Latios responded with a small nod, his trainer and friend's confidence in him reassuring him.

Rico crossed his arms. "Then so be it. Ninjask, do your job and beat that Latios into submission!" he ordered. Ninjask looked up towards Latios so he could prepare his part in the battle. But before that was possible, he was stunned to find a blur of azure mere inches from him. Unable to react due to the sheer speed at which Latios tackled him, the Bug and Flying-type was blasted backwards by the dragon. Rico gasped and turned to look opposite of the direction he was facing, seeing a large splash hit the ocean as Latios dove into it, taking the Ninjask along with him. "Damn, he's fast," the hunter muttered under his breath before turning back to look at Ash and Jenny.

Ash crouched down and leaned his head close to Larvitar and Phanpy's ears. "Okay, see those Pokémon in the cage behind the bad guy?" he whispered quickly, his voice a small murmur. Both infants looked at it and nodded. "I want you two to dig under the sand, make your way to them, and free them. We'll keep the bad guys busy," Ash whispered once more, making sure Rico couldn't hear his plans. "I trust you two to do it."

"Okay, Daddy! On it!" Phanpy cheerily answered, nodding eagerly and playfully skipping twice in the sand. Larvitar nodded quietly and jumped towards the sand in front of him, literally diving in it as he used Dig. Phanpy jumped inside the hole Larvitar had tunneled into, disappearing into it.

Rico raised an eyebrow at Ash's unforeseen action, as he had been unable to hear what he had ordered the two Pokémon to do. 'Is he planning to have them hide under the battlefield and use them for a surprise attack? If that's the case, then I'll have to keep that in mind,' Rico thought to himself as he pedaled backwards, giving his Pokémon more space. The hunter glanced backwards, briefly observing Ninjask and Latios' blurs as they battled ferociously with their claws and speed. 'Ninjask and Banette's Curse should drop Latios quickly,' he noted as he darted his eyes back at Jenny and Ash. 'I need to separate the Latias and take her out. I'm at a numbers disadvantage after all, and after both Curses, Banette will not last long,' he added to his thoughts as he surveyed between his opponents.

Ash and Jenny glanced at each other and did the same, backing up to give their own Pokémon maneuvering space. Pikachu, Latias, Pidgeot and Arcanine remained where they were, as did Rico's Absol, Banette and Fearow. "Latias, think you can take out the Banette quickly? It already looks tired and weak," Ash asked, briefly glancing at her.

Latias nodded unenthusiastically. "Yeah, I think so," she answered wearily.

"Absol, use Psycho Cut. Separate the Latias!" Rico ordered, pointing at the legendary. "Banette, attack her with Shadow Ball!" Both slave Pokémon immediately sprang into action. Absol's scythe discharged a shade of bright pink as it slowly collected psychic energies, and with a harsh swing of his head, a hemispherical blade of rose-tinted energy was hurled towards the dragoness, specifically aimed to force her to be separated from the group. Latias quickly flew to the side and away from the group, making the Psycho Cut pass harmlessly beside her.

As Banette began to slowly charge the Shadow Ball, Ash and Officer Jenny immediately counterattacked. "Arcanine, use Flamethrower!" the police officer called out sharply.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash followed, pointing at Banette and Absol.

Rico growled. "Fearow, use Gust! Absol, strengthen it with Dark Pulse!" he countered.

"Pidgeot, use your own Gust too!" Ash rapidly ordered.

Arcanine roared fiercely as he fired a great stream of flames at the same time as Pikachu's cheeks sparkled briefly before potent bolts of electricity emanated from his yellow body. Pidgeot displayed her mighty wings and flapped them with tremendous strength, producing a powerful gale that sped up both of Pikachu and Arcanine's attacks, drastically increasing their force. Nonetheless, they weren't the only ones that exploited this tactic. Rico's Fearow mimicked Pidgeot's move with his wings, sending a Gust of his own at the incoming wave of fiery electrified air. Absol opened his mouth, quickly charging the dark energy required for his own attack. Once charged, he released a ringed beam of purple and black color, which mixed with Fearow's Gust.

The two enhanced Gust attacks, one empowered with fire and lighting and the other with darkness, crashed and reacted violently upon contact, expanding outwards in all directions as an impressive explosion of wind, fire, electricity and darkness. The blast forced Ash, Jenny, and Rico to protect their faces with their arms, grunting and pressing their feet harder against the sand to hopefully resist the unalleviated blowback of the titanic clash.

Latias narrowed her eyes. She had not forgotten that Banette was intent on targeting her with a Shadow Ball. To her dismay, the clash between the powered-up Gusts had created a cloud of dust and debris, decreasing her vision significantly. The Marionette Pokémon suddenly materialized in front of her, holding a sphere of ghostly energy in his arms. Latias reacted to this ambush by amplifying her levitation abilities to full power to dodge… but she was interrupted in the worst of times by an outburst of ghostly energy from her as the Curse cast upon her activated. Latias screeched in pain as the shadowlike power greatly damaged her mental and physical self. Using her momentary disability due to the activation of his Curse, Banette lunged forward and smashed the Shadow Ball into the dragoness' side, causing her to scream louder in pain and hurling her into the sand several dozen meters away from the group.

"Latias!" Ash cried out with concern, turning to look where he had heard her scream. He could not see her due to the low visibility, but her pain-drenched cries had been audible enough.

"She's a Legendary. She'll be fine!" Pikachu snapped at his trainer's distracted state. "Our concern is Rico's other Pokémon. Stay focused, Ash!" the electric-type reprimanded. Feeling slightly distressed, Ash returned his attention towards his own battlefield, placing his trust in the psychic dragoness to fight on her own.

"Fearow, use Peck!" Rico ordered. "Absol, back him up with Night Slash!"

"Officer Jenny, distract Absol!" Ash said quickly at Jenny, a plan already forming in his mind. "Pikachu, get on Pidgeot's back! Pidgeot, catch that Peck and use a Peck of your own!" he ordered rapidly, placing high hopes into his plot.

Pikachu smirked and nodded, already catching Ash's plan. 'Ash may get distracted easily and be a little immature at times, but his weird battle plans always work somehow!' he thought as he jumped on the large Bird Pokémon's back. At the moment Pidgeot felt the small weight that belonged to Pikachu on her back, she flapped her wings and shot towards the sky, dead-set on the incoming Fearow.

Absol growled and dashed forward, eyes locked on Pidgeot as his scythe began to glimmer darkly with sinister energy, increasing its length dangerously. "Arcanine, block the Absol's path with Fire Spin!" Jenny ordered, following Ash's directions. She did feel a little irked at being ordered around by a twelve year old boy, but now was definitely not the time for adult pride.

Arcanine nodded before opening his muzzle as a spiraling torrent of fire danced from within, which quickly transformed into a raging tempest of blazing heat. The Dark-type skidded to a halt and propelled himself backwards to avoid the sizzling firestorm that spiraled wildly in his path, his purely battled-trained mind knowing that jumping into such an attack was potentially dangerous.

Ash smirked, seeing his plan to isolate one of Rico's Pokémon and take it out quickly had worked. "Pikachu, Pidgeot, take Fearow out," he spoke calmly.

Rico huffed in annoyance. 'That stupid brat! He used my own trick against me! I isolated Latias and Latios and he's doing the same to my Pokémon!' he realized, astonished.

Fearow soared towards Pidgeot, his beak covered with solid, white-colored light and extending to considerable lengths, preparing the attack he was instructed to use. Pidgeot flew towards her adversary, eyes carefully tracking his every movement to make her strike successful. "You're going down," she hissed darkly.

"Screw you, bitch!" Fearow retorted as he flapped his wings fiercely, increasing his speed with full intent of ramming beak-first into Pidgeot with absolutely no remorse.

Pidgeot spread her wings wide open, the drag resistance they generating rapidly decelerating her, much to the Fearow's shock. She pulled her lower body forward, her feet extended with her elongated talons pointing forward. With a move of pure precision, she clenched her clawed feet around his beak before he could crash into her. The inertia of the Fearow's movement pushed Pidgeot back, but this was easily dealt with by her wings, which were broadly spread apart.

Pidgeot's own beak glowed and extended as she executed a Peck attack of her own. Pulling the other Normal/Flying-type upwards using her feet, she lunged forward with her head. Pidgeot proceeded to aim at the weakest portion of the Fearow's wing, the delicate joint in the middle of the wing, before striking her target savagely.

A cruel cracking sound followed by Fearow's muffled screeches of agony, due to his beak being forcefully closed shut by Pidgeot's feet, were heard as his delicate wing was broken by Pidgeot's beak. Pikachu scrambled up Pidgeot's back, and jumped onto the squawking and struggling Fearow. "Pidgeot, toss him to the Absol!" Pikachu shouted to her.

Pidgeot nodded and went into action. She spun in midair as a means to gain momentum and then released her grip on the badly injured Fearow, sending him and Pikachu flying straight at the Absol. The Electric-type made sure he was on the opposite end of Fearow's body when the latter smashed into the police Arcanine's residual flames from the Fire Spin he had utilized to halt Absol from interfering with Pidgeot's efforts against Fearow any further.

Rico's eyes widened in alarm as the battle unfolded before him. His Pokémon were being divided and conquered relentlessly. "Damn it!" he cursed angrily as the battle was rapidly slipping out of his favor.

"Surprise, surprise!" Pikachu shouted as Fearow crashed into Absol, making the Fearow wail louder and the Absol grunt. The electric-type's cheeks sparkled with electricity a brief second before a massive pillar of lightning erupted from him as he used Thunder. Everyone was forced to cover their eyes and look away from the sheer brightness and intensity of the attack. Absol's roars of pain along with Fearow's screams of equivalent agony were the only sounds barely audible over the booming mayhem of Pikachu's assault. Once the attack finished, Pikachu sprinted back to Ash's side, smirking at his handiwork.

"A little harsh, don't you two think?" Ash asked, feeling a little guilty at how badly they had beaten up the Fearow, who now lay unconscious and very injured on top of the Absol.

"No," both Pidgeot and Pikachu recited simultaneously, making Ash sweatdrop. As bad as the young trainer felt for the Fearow, he had more important matters to attend to.

Much to the shock of Ash and his allies, the Absol began to regain his footing from underneath the Fearow. He partially dug his scythe into the Fearow's side, making some blood ooze down his blade. Without care, the dark-type then tossed his head to the side harshly, coldly throwing the unconscious Fearow off him, not even caring for his ally's wellbeing in the slightest. He turned to face his enemies with a death-inducing expression, awaiting his next orders. "…He… stood up!? But your Pikachu's Thunder… knocked him out cold!" Officer Jenny cried out, shocked by the Absol's resistance. Her Arcanine released a small growl, his stance shifting into an aggressive one.

"That's too harsh, you know!? You could at least show some care or worry for your friend's wellbeing. You only hurt him further, you jerk!" Pikachu reprimanded the Absol, utterly disgusted by the dark-type's contemptuous action.

"…" Absol just stared at Pikachu blankly.

"… Okay, he's creepy," Pikachu said flatly.

"I really should replace that weakling with a slave Pokémon soon," Rico muttered under his breath as he recalled Fearow back to his Pokéball. He turned to look at Pikachu and Pidgeot. 'And those two are a lot stronger than I anticipated. I'm in a big number and power disadvantage right now. I need to do something or they'll overwhelm me… time to cheat and end this little game!' he turned and began walking to his jeep. "Absol, fight those three and keep them busy!" he ordered as he walked to his vehicle. He knew slave Pokémon were trained to be extremely powerful battlers even without guidance or supervision, so we wasn't too worried about leaving Absol to his own luck, as he had already done with Ninjask and Banette.

"You're not gonna escape, Rico!" Ash yelled at him.

"I'm not going to escape, stupid brat!" Rico snapped at him angrily. "Not without Latias and Latios, that is." He glanced towards the sea, where he could see Ninjask and Latios fighting, and then glanced towards where Latias and Banette were fighting. 'Latios is too far out and his battle is speed-based, so I'll take out the Latias instead,' Rico thought, leering sinisterly as he reached towards the trunk of his jeep.

Absol growled, and, following Rico's order, charged at the heroes. "Here he comes!" Ash called out to his Pokémon. "Use Thunder and Air Slash!"

"Arcanine, aid them with Flamethrower!" Jenny ordered, backing up Ash's assault. The three Pokémon fired their respective attacks, which cruised rapidly towards the incoming Absol. The Disaster Pokémon slid to a halt and jumped backwards several times to dodge the moves.

Rico smirked as he pulled something out of his jeep, turning to face the group again. Rico was now holding an oddly-shaped shiny green and black rifle with a metallic finish. Ash's eyes widened at the sight of the firearm. "He… has another gun!?" he cried out, scared.

Jenny narrowed her eyes, noticing the dart with a bright red tuft in the back that Rico was loading into the rifle. "That's not a bullet gun, it's a tranquilizer rifle!" she said.

Ash blinked in confusion, having no clue what the weapon that the police officer described was. "A what?" he inquired.

"It basically fires a ballistic-style dart loaded with a powerful chemical agent to immobilize or sedate a Pokémon. It can be used to paralyze or put to sleep any kind of Pokémon depending on what compounds are used in the rounds," Jenny explained. "He intends to put our Pokémon to sleep to reduce our numbers. Typical…"

Rico walked forward, grasping his loaded rifle in his arms with confidence. "Absol, keep those three busy!" he commanded before he faced the ongoing scuffle between Latias and Banette. He lifted his rifle and began to carefully aim.

Latias had been faring well against Banette, with the Ghost-type barely keeping up due to a double use of the Curse move, putting him in an extremely poor state to go head-to-head against her. Unfortunately for the Eon dragoness, she wasn't exactly in the best of shapes either. During certain intervals, the Curse would become active and hurt her badly, chipping more of her precious energy and power while inflicting horrendous amounts of pain on her. Meanwhile, the Banette was fighting primarily on a defensive level, constantly evading and trying to buy more time to provoke more activations of its Curse.

Remaining calm, Latias took a deep breath and launched an Ice Beam attack. The beam of sapphire-highlighted subzero energy sped towards the specter rapidly, forcing the Marionette Pokémon to quickly glide sideways. She then changed to a potent Dragon Breath attack, forcing the Banette to levitate away from her to dodge the jade-tinted flames.

"Latias! Watch out! Rico is gonna try to put you to sleep with a dart gun!" Ash cried out to her, warning her of the imminent danger.

Latias turned towards Rico, spotting him out the corner of her eye. "You won't hit me!" she exclaimed, fully intent on dodging the dart.

"Banette, use Ominous Wind! Keep her in one place!" Rico ordered sharply. Banette quickly flew towards Latias, arms spread, making the wind around him undulate. With a forward thrust of his arms, a titanic wave of sinister wind materialized vibrantly with lavender-colored energy and was launched at the red dragoness. Banette's powers caused the wind to circle around Latias, trapping her and making her scream out in pain as the wind slashed her harshly, the phantomlike powers in it further injuring her. Banette seized control of the energy, making it coil around the Latias painfully. It was at that moment that Curse activated yet again. A dark corona of energy ignited from within the red dragoness, making her shriek even harder from the misery it brought to her. Rico smirked when he saw Curse had frozen Latias on the spot, and lining her up in his sights, readied the shot.

Ash growled lowly, seeing that Latias was in a terrible position and was clearly not going to be able to dodge the dart on her own. She was in desperate need of assistance, and fast. 'With Banette and Rico attacking her, she'd have a hard time dodging. I need to destroy that gun… but how?' he thought to himself, thinking of all his options. He knew Pidgeot, Pikachu or Arcanine would have to get through Absol first, and Latios was too busy dealing with the tricky Ninjask. Ash's eyes widened as an idea clicked. He closed his eyes, spreading his senses. He smirked when he sensed that his two adoptive sons were near where Rico was, right beside his jeep. "Larvitar, quick, emerge and use Rock Smash on Rico, he should be on your right!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"One dragon down…" Rico whispered with glee as he pulled the trigger of the tranquilizer rifle. Compressed air within the gun ejected the potent dart. Completely immobilized, there was nothing Latias could do as the dart struck her in the neck, immediately injecting a large dose of sedative agents into her systems and beginning the process of neutralizing her. Seconds after he fired, the sand a few feet to his right caved in as Larvitar emerged, all too happy to follow Ash's order of punching the snot out of Rico.

"This is for my mommy!" Larvitar roared with all his might as he ran towards Rico, his arm shining white as he used Rock Smash. He jumped towards Rico, swinging his shining arm at him.

Rico gasped as he turned towards the infant's roar, seeing Larvitar already lunging at him while rearing his arm back. "What the fu-" Rico began, and out of a pure instinctual reaction, the poacher used the gun in his arms as a pseudo-shield, which was exactly what Ash had hoped for. The tranquilizer dart rifle completely shattered the second Larvitar's punch had connected with it, and the force of it was enough to make Rico fall on his back. "Absol!" Rico shouted desperately.

"Larvitar, that's enough! Continue what I asked you to do. We'll deal with Rico!" Ash shouted, seeing that Larvitar was ready to resume attacking Rico further, and worse still, the hunter's slave Absol was dashing to the aid of his master, gaining a clear lead over Arcanine, Pidgeot, and Pikachu.

As much as Larvitar wanted to stay and beat Rico to death with more Rock Smashes, he placed his trust in his daddy yet again and immediately dove into the ground, vanishing as he used Dig to reunite with the still subterranean Phanpy in their mission to free Rico's prisoners. Rico seethed in anger when he observed the Rock Skin Pokémon disappear into the sand again and his Absol come to a halt in front of him. "Dammit, I completely forgot about those two runts," he said angrily.

Ash glanced towards Latias when he saw the Ominous Wind and Curse subside, and the Banette back off. "Oh no…" he muttered in dismay when he saw the anesthetic dart lodged in the dragoness's neck.

Latias snarled and tore the empty dart out of her neck with her claws and tossed it aside. She glared at Rico, her eyes flaring with anger, which simply earned a smirk from Rico. "You're going down," the poacher taunted. "That round can easily put down a Gyarados in less than a minute. I was unsure how much to use due to you being a Legendary Pokémon, but that should be enough!"

Latias winced as she felt her energy rapidly being depleted, her eyes feeling heavy along with her mind and body slowly going numb. Each coherent thought was becoming harder to keep track of than the previous one. "N-n-no…" the dragoness whispered through half-lidded eyes as her levitation began to falter. She was defeated.

Meanwhile, Latios had been locked in combat against the Ninjask for the last several minutes. As much as the dragon hated to admit it, this battle was turning out to be a lot more complicated than he initially thought, specifically because the bug and flying-type was speedier, smaller, and had a lot more maneuverability than he possessed. Latios had sustained more damage so far since many cuts and gashes graced his body. This was thanks to the courtesy of repeated attacks from the Ninjask's claws, such as Fury Attack, X-Scissor and Shadow Claw.

The fact that Latios' greatest asset, his formidable psychic powers, were completely ineffectual and he was stacking constant damage from the Banette's Curse attack was only making the battle all the tougher for him. Latios dove into the ocean with a moderate splash, using it as cover to move underneath the Ninjask's airspace. After rapidly moving some distance away, he surfaced and rocketed towards the Ninjask as his wings began to glow and solidify in the form of Steel Wing.

The Ninja Pokémon reacted rapidly, suddenly blurring and disappearing completely from the dragon's line of sight and easily skirting around the attack. Without wasting a single moment, Ninjask reappeared behind Latios as his wings began to buzz at ridiculous speeds, sending out several shockwaves in the form of Bug Buzz. Latios suddenly darted out of the path of the waves, making the sonic attack disappear into the ocean harmlessly. "You're not the only one with high speed!" Latios taunted as he turned around, spewing out a powerful stream of Dragon Breath. To the dragon's disappointment, the Ninjask effortlessly dodged once again.

Latios sighed as he felt the familiar surge of malevolent energy within him. "Oh, great. Here we go again…" he muttered sadly, bracing for the incoming pain. A huge blast of ghoulish essence surged through him, enveloping him in a sphere of violet energy that incurred a great amount of pain and damage to the dragon, his screams echoing across the battlefield. The Eon Pokémon panted when the wave ended. "I need to end this fast…" he commented to himself with a growl, aggravation welling up from within.

He glanced towards Ash and his friends to make sure they were fine… only for his eyes to widen in shock and fear when he saw Latias slowly collapse in the sand, completely unconscious. The mere sight of that was enough to throw him into a state of uncontrollable anger. "I'm going to rip him to pieces for that!" he yelled before charging back towards the shore, pure anger clouding his mind and destroying his self-control. Ninjask took the dragon's distraction as an opportunity to strike him. The dual claws in his forelegs began to emit an eerie glow of black as they collected energy for a Night Slash attack.

Latios had anticipated that the Ninjask would try to attack him while he had his back turned and had already prepared a counterattack in his mind. Latios quickly dove towards the ocean, submerging beneath the waves. The blue dragon craned his neck upwards and spat an Ice Beam, freezing the seawater directly above him. Once that was finished, the Eon Pokémon's blade-like, streamlined wings began to solidify and glow white as he used Steel Wing. The blue-colored dragon then charged upwards, using his powerful levitation force to generate a massive speed spurt directly into the sheet of frost over him.

The Steel Wing easily cleaved through the ice in an explosive collision that shattered the ice, sending a myriad of icicles and ice shards directly at the space above the dragon. The Ninjask buzzed in pain as the attack battered him and knocked him away. Once the Ninja Pokémon was stunned by the move and sent away, the Eon dragon resumed his rapid angry charge towards the beach. 'You are so dead, Rico…' was the only thought swirling through his hate-filled consciousness.

Completely oblivious of the Eon Pokémon's rapid approach, Rico laughed mockingly. "Oh, well. I might have lost my rifle, but at least I took down one of those pesky dragons," he stated. "Kid, you should really give up." Absol and Banette gathered near Rico, awaiting their next orders.

Ash shook his head once in response to the poacher's claim as he returned Latias to her Pokéball, the red beam of energy sucking the downed dragoness back into her Pokéball. "You were amazing, Latias. Take a good, long rest," he whispered comfortingly to her Pokéball as he tucked it back to his belt. He chuckled when he saw Latios approaching. "You're in big trouble. Beating Latias was a bad mistake Rico, and you'll pay for it. Her brother will make sure of that."

Pikachu nodded with a small smirk. "Don't mess with Latias if you value breathing," he added.

Absol's senses flared when the angry dragon approached, causing him to bark and glance toward the incoming dragon, alerting Rico of his presence. "What!?" Rico cried out, shocked. "Ninjask should have beaten the crap out of it!"

Ash narrowed his eyes, an idea rapidly forming in his mind now that Rico was distracted due to the appearance of Latios. "Officer Jenny, please tell Arcanine to go around Rico from his right. Pikachu will take the left and Pidgeot the front," Ash said.

Officer Jenny nodded. She ultimately decided to place her trust in Ash, seeing as he was the one that was doing most of the fighting with his Pokémon. "Arcanine, do what he requested!" she commanded.

Pikachu, Pidgeot and Arcanine all nodded before splitting up and began to round the distracted Rico, whose back was turned to them. Arcanine began circling around towards Rico's right and Pikachu going towards the left, while Pidgeot went airborne above him.

"Absol, use Dark Pulse on the Latios! Banette, use Shadow Ball!" Rico ordered rapidly, pointing towards the rapidly incoming Latios. This way, he was hoping to knock him out decisively with two simultaneous attacks. Banette put his ragged-doll arms together, rapidly charging the orb of shadow energies. The Ghost-type flung the shady orb forward as the Absol began to charge a ringed beam of darkness.

Latios roared in anger, a pure and bright light beginning to swirl around his streamlined body. The Curse that had plagued him for so long began to activate again, seeking to further ravage the dragon physically and spiritually. However, the Eon Pokémon roared even louder as his eyes flashed with frenzy, and with incandescent light surrounding his body as his power skyrocketed, his Luster Purge became so powerful even the Curse was unable to contain it. The dragon tossed his head forward and fired the eye-blinding force of psychic energy the instant the Absol also released his Dark Pulse. The sand below both beams cleaved apart from the sheer power both offensive moves possessed.

Pidgeot, who had been flying over them, realized that Latios' Luster Purge was in a terrible disadvantage against the Dark Pulse, plus, Banette was holding a Shadow Ball in his arms, waiting to use it. Thus, the avian felt the need to aid her dragon friend. Her sharp eyes narrowed dangerously as a wicked idea crossed her mind. 'This is for Latias!' she thought as she used Aerial Ace and dove towards Rico, Absol and Banette. The Bird Pokémon's movement was so blindingly fast and came from a blind spot so none of the three were able to react to it until it was too late. The second Pidgeot neared the sand, she spread her wings wide to slow down her descent as she landed in the middle of the enemy group heavily. After making contact with the ground, she activated Steel Wing and then twisted around while flapping her white-shining wings with tremendous force right into Banette's back.

The ghost let out a cry of surprise as he was swatted forward, completely taken off guard by Pidgeot's sudden attack and making his Shadow Ball disappear. The ghost glanced sideways as two very familiar beams of energy, one of a candid white light and the other of a black and purple energy, rapidly approached him from both sides. It dawned onto him what had happened. Pidgeot had tossed him right in the path of both Latios and Absol's attack. The ghost released an otherworldly screech of utter pain and suffering as the Luster Purge and Dark Pulse collided into him, utterly destroying and tearing through his already damaged body and ectoplasm and obliterating most of his remaining energy. The resulting explosion of light and dark energy forced everyone to shield their eyes.

Not to be fazed by a simple flash or by the fact that Banette had just been mortally wounded before his eyes, Rico's Absol immediately took action against Pidgeot as she represented a direct threat to him and Rico. Absol's scythe began to glow a faint shade of white as wind began to spiral and twist violently around it, and with a quick sideways motion of his head, a crescent blade of energy surrounded by blistering winds was quickly fired at point blank range right into Pidgeot's midsection.

The Flying/Normal type cried out as she was forcefully sent flying backwards from the strike, but her face hardened as she extended her wings to stop herself. "You'll need a lot more than that to take me out," she taunted determinately.

Once the flash of energy from the collision of Absol and Latios' attacks was over, Ash smirked when he saw Arcanine, Pikachu and Pidgeot were surrounding Absol in a triangular position, just like he had planned. "Pidgeot, use Giga Impact! Pikachu, use Iron Tail, and add electricity to it! Let's finish this battle already!" Ash ordered, shouting dramatically and excitedly, knowing this would take Absol out for sure.

Officer Jenny caught up with the plan rapidly and followed up with her own move for her Pokémon partner. "Arcanine, help them with Flare Blitz!" she bellowed.

Pidgeot, Pikachu and Arcanine immediately attacked without hesitation or mercy. Absol never stood a chance; Pikachu sprinted towards the Disaster Pokémon, his tail hardening and shining brightly as he used Iron Tail and soon after that, bolts and arcs of electricity began to spark from the tail as Pikachu added his elemental power to it. Pidgeot flapped her wings and flew towards the Absol, streaks of golden energy surrounding her, followed by a mighty veil of lavender energy. Arcanine dashed towards the Disaster Pokémon at the same time, spewing out flames that rapidly coated him, turning him into a burning projectile with explosive force.

The Absol glanced around in all directions as the three Pokémon approached rapidly, their attacks shining and blazing brightly with power. None of the hundreds of battle strategies and plans the Absol had carved into his skull could prepare him for a way to get out of this, and with his master still shaken from the Luster Purge and Dark Pulse collision and thus unable to give any order to him… The Absol was left hopeless and all alone.

The combined attacks smashed into the Absol with inexorable force and precision, creating yet another potent explosion of energy. The detonation displaced a large amount of sand and forced everyone, even Latios, to guard their eyes again and be pushed backwards. For several instants, everything was a confusion of the attacks detonating and countless beams of energy blasting outwards until everything went quiet. An additional plume of dust and smoke obscured the battlefield as a result.

Latios blinked, gazing at the damage done. "Wow, talk about power," he mumbled. He shook his head as his psychic powers started to reactivate and feel normal now that, with the Banette defeated and his own Luster Purge's cleansing, the Curse was gone from him. Still, the psychic dragon could feel exhaustion and pain riddled all over his body and mind. It was clear he was very tired and injured. "Huh, where is the Banette?" he wondered, gazing around and looking for the ghost that had caused him and his sister so much suffering. He couldn't see or sense the ghost anywhere nearby. "Maybe he wandered away or was sent flying somewhere from the blow he took… oh well," he mumbled, putting it out of his mind.

As the smoke and dust began to clear and settle, the three Pokémon that had attacked Absol slowly became visible. They all had some small injuries marring their bodies due to the collision and nature of the triple attack they used and were all panting, but overall they looked fine. In the center of the triangle the three Pokémon made was a medium-sized sand crater, inside of which was a knocked-out Absol. "Oh, hello Latios," Pikachu said as the Eon Pokémon glided closer. "You're not all angry and pissy about Latias anymore are you?"

"I'm still pissed, but I'm no longer blinded by rage over it. Rico is defeated, we'll deal with him soon enough, no need to go out-of-control over it," Latios answered.

"Good. You scare me when you lose control like that," Pikachu said, shaking his head. "Hey, what happened to the ghost?" he questioned, looking around for the Banette.

"I don't know," Latios replied, glancing around, along with Pikachu. "When Absol and I blasted him, he simply disappeared. Maybe the blast flung him away… or killed him, I don't know."

Pidgeot blinked in confusion. "Aren't Ghosts technically dead already? You killed something that's already dead?" she asked.

"Technically, you tossed him into the attacks, Pidgeot," Pikachu said, making Pidgeot flush.

Latios shrugged. "I don't know how Ghosts work, so I have no idea what happened. Anyways, he's not our worry anymore," he said before glancing downwards at the defeated Absol. "And neither is he."

Rico released a few harsh-sounding coughs, using his arms to clear the sand out of his face and neck. He slowly stood up, feeling a bit dizzy from the blast, but aside from a couple of singed hairs and charred bits of his vest, he was fine. "What the hell is up with that kid's Pokémon!?" Rico exclaimed in frustration. They were certainly a lot tougher than he could have ever expected. He gazed up and froze at the sight that greeted his eyes. Pidgeot, Arcanine, Pikachu and Latios were all around the crater in which his defeated Absol rested. 'If the Latios is here… that means he beat Ninjask… and I saw Banette and Fearow being destroyed… that means…' His face went pale as the full realization of what that meant struck him. He had lost. He had no more Pokémon or guns left. He was at the complete mercy of the kid and Officer Jenny now. 'Oh shit…,' he thought, feeling horrified. He turned around to make a cowardly run towards his jeep as a last attempt to flee with his skin intact, but Officer Jenny, Larvitar, Phanpy and Ash didn't allow that to happen. All of them blocked his path to the vehicle.

"As I was saying before you decided to make this complicated, you are under arrest, Rico. It's all over," Officer Jenny said confidently, her tone authoritative and firm. In one of her hands was a pair of handcuffs.

Rico growled. "Oh, no, it's not over yet! I still have hostages!" he declared boldly as he reached for his vest and took out a small remote control from one of the pockets. "With this, I can kill all the Pokémon in my cage with one deadly electric shock! So stand aside or I'll kill them all!" he shouted defiantly, putting his finger on the button of the controller.

"Ah," Ash said, not really worried. "You mean those Pokémon?" he asked, pointing towards a long file of liberated poison-type Pokémon slowly moving out of the beach and disappearing into the woods.

Rico looked where Ash was pointing at and then sighed, utterly dismayed. "Yeah, those Pokémon…" he said bitterly as he let the remote control drop to the sand.

Ash smiled, crouching down and petting Larvitar and Phanpy on their heads. "Good job, kids. I'm very proud of you both," he praised them. The two kids nodded happily and pressed to their daddy's touch.

Officer Jenny smirked as her shadow was cast over the defeated poacher. "So, what do you think of my 'nine-year old sidekick'? Weren't you making fun of him earlier?" she taunted.

"Go to hell, you bitch!" Rico snarled back.

"No, that's your trip, not mine," Jenny rectified him. "A hell called prison, that is." Rico growled angrily at her statement. Latios, Pidgeot and Pikachu made their way towards their trainer, joining his side. Arcanine, however, remained behind Rico to keep him trapped.

Latios glanced towards the sea. "With my psychic powers, you are no match to me," he said darkly, his eyes emitting an intimidating glow. Unbeknownst to everyone, the Ninjask was rapidly making their way to them. Latios had only stunned and hurt him with the ice chunks, but the Flying/Bug-type was still capable of battling. Latios smiled sinisterly as he grabbed thousands of individual grains of sand with his mind, and quickly calculated the exact moment to strike. 'This will put him out for good.'

Ninjask buzzed as he rushed at massive speeds back to the group, claws shining in preparation for a Night Slash attack as he executed his order of protecting his master at all costs, unaware of his impending doom. Latios used his senses to pinpoint the Ninjask's moving position, and when he was in the right spot, Latios attacked. Instantly, thousands of grains of sand shot like bullets from the sandy beach and right in the Ninjask's path. While the bug's exoskeleton protected its main body from damage, the thin membranous wings were not. They were instantly shredded by the sand grains. With its wings completely destroyed, the Ninjask collapsed to the sand, crashing and skidding a couple of feet before coming to a total stop. The Bug/Flying-type struggled and buzzed futilely as it tried to get up, but its body went limp the instant Latios' eyes glowed. Within seconds, the Ninja Pokémon fell into unconsciousness. "There, all done," Latios coolly spoke, turning to gaze at Rico.

Ash winced. "A little harsh, don't you think?" he said, glancing at Latios unhappily.

"Sorry, Ash. But I'm not in a good mood right now," the dragon answered, his agitated voice barely concealing a growl.

Ash frowned but didn't say anything else to the Eon Pokémon. He stepped forward, gazing at Rico with hard eyes, which looked odd since he was a kid staring off an adult, and a dangerous one at that. "Where is Tyranitar? Do you have her?" he demanded sharply.

Rico blinked at his sudden question. "Huh? That's an odd thing for you to mention," he commented, rather freaked out. How did the kid know he owned a Tyranitar a week or so ago? Didn't the kid mention Tyranitar back before the battle started?

Ash growled. "Answer me!" he yelled angrily, his voice quivering. Behind him, Latios and Larvitar's glares hardened considerably into murderous expressions.

Rico let out a low-toned chuckle. "All right, I did have a Tyranitar several days ago, a week maybe, but it was too much trouble to handle. Controlling it was an absolute nightmare, so I sold it to Team Magma and used the cash I received to buy myself a trio of Slave Pokémon and some new equipment. It was useless, so I got rid of it," the poacher answered, his voice hiding a sick taint of pleasure. "Just like I'll get rid of you now, kid!" he shouted as he reached towards his vest, taking out a small pocket knife. In an act of spite, he tried to attack the trainer that had defeated him.

Fortunately, attacking Ash was way out of Rico's capabilities. Before his attempted attack was even halfway in its deadly cruise towards Ash, Pidgeot's Steel Wing, a thick psychic shield courtesy of Latios, and a jumping Pikachu with an Iron Tail blazing brightly were already there to stop the poacher's unexpected assault. Pikachu swatted the knife away from Rico's hand with the Iron Tail, sending the weapon flying sideways and into the sand harmlessly. Seeing the poacher disarmed, Latios lowered the psychic shield and Pidgeot lowered her Steel Wing, but both still remained highly protective of Ash.

"How dare you!?" Larvitar roared, tears of pain and sorrow dripping down his eyes. He charged at Rico and jumped, his arm glowing white with Rock Smash. Rico let out a scream of pain as he was punched in the chest by the strongest Rock Smash Larvitar had ever done in all his life. All his love for his mother and his hatred for poachers were packed into a single attack that discharged all those feelings right into Rico.

Rico hacked up blood, which made his screams come out in gurgles. He fell backwards onto the sand, clutching his badly injured chest as he winced pitifully in pain. Several ribs were easily shattered, and in addition, some internal organs had been damaged by the angered child. Had it not been for Rico's protective vest, the extent of the damage would have surely been lethal. Jenny and Arcanine gasped.

Larvitar collapsed face first into the sand, loud cries and wails accompanying the tears that streamed down his cheeks. It was just too painful for the child. Just a few hours ago he had been so hopeful when he heard there was a possibility of rescuing his mother, every minute that passed was a ton of hope that was added to his failing spirit, and now, all of that had collapsed in a single instant. His mother wasn't rejoining him today. Memories of her tender and loving voice speaking to his egg filled the child's memory, only for them to be gone, replaced by the hopelessness that she wasn't there. Ash didn't even spare Rico a glance, and immediately crouched down to hug the weeping infant, pressing against him and offering the kid his support. Larvitar cried harder, pressing against the only true parental figure he had at the moment.

Latios snarled, glaring down at Rico with cold, merciless eyes. "I am going to kill you very painfully and slowly… you will suffer," he said darkly, the dragon's eyes giving off a faint blue hue, not caring in the slightest that Officer Jenny and Arcanine were watching.

"Latios, don't," Ash said, looking up at the dragon. "Killing him won't heal Larvitar or get us his mother back," he said firmly. "He is a bad person, and we all hate him, but that is not a reason for us to kill him. We are better than him."

Latios sighed, frustration welling up in him. "Ash, let me end it and be done with it! We all want him dead and I'd be damned if anyone wants him alive. Sometimes, it's bad to be as sparing and forgiving as you are. Remember the fact that this man was more than prepared to take your own life, purely out of spite," the dragon countered, eyes narrowing.

Ash closed his eyes. "Latios, we've had this argument before. No, I will not excuse you killing someone, even in this situation. Rico is arrested now, he'll be sent to jail, where he belongs. Latios, just… don't… okay?" he said, his arms wrapped around the crying Rock/Ground-type infant Pokémon. "I love Larvitar, but killing Rico isn't going to bring us his mom."

Latios released a breath of dismay and turned away, completely frustrated and exasperated. "Fine…," he sighed, upset with his trainer.

Ash tried to pick up Larvitar, but recoiled at the fact that the child was very heavy. Latios released a small bit of his energy, helping Ash cradle the child with his mental powers. "Shh, Larvitar. I'm so sorry we won't get your mother back today… I really am, but… you still have us, your family…" Larvitar clutched Ash's shirt tightly, burying his head into his chest and only cried harder, impotence and helplessness at his inability to bring his mother back ripping the child's emotions apart with each moment that passed.

Pikachu and Pidgeot looked at the child with sad expressions before turning to Rico with fierce glares of anger as Jenny handcuffed him and took him into custody. "Let's go, Ash, back to the Pokémon Center. Latias is knocked out and Latios looks very bad too, and Pidgeot and I could use some recovery," Pikachu suggested. "There's no reason to stay here with Rico any longer."

Ash sighed but nodded in agreement. "Officer Jenny, we're leaving," he spoke to the police officer.

Officer Jenny nodded. "Alright, Ash. I have this situation under control. I'll take Rico to a hospital in Rustboro and then get him ready to be transferred into a penal facility, though you may be called upon to give a statement and testify at a later date," she announced, and then smiled slightly. "Thanks a lot for your help, I would never have defeated and captured Rico without your assistance. I'm sorry for doubting you."

"It's okay," Ash replied, returning a half smile. "Always glad to help. What about them?" he asked, glancing at the defeated Ninjask and Absol.

"I suspect they are what are known by criminals as 'slave' Pokémon. It's such a horrible and sad fate for them, but I'll take them to special rehabilitation centers to try and get them back to normal. Don't worry about them," Officer Jenny answered as she took some Pokéballs off Rico's belt and recalled the beaten mons. She frowned, noticing Banette was still missing. "Hmm…one is still out there…I'll have to send some officers to look for it once I get back to the station. In its current condition, it won't last long out in the wild."

Ash frowned, not liking the sound of that. But, as much as he was curious to hear more about those Pokémon, he had a feeling more information was only going to anger him further. Plus, his beloved Larvitar was his top priority now. "Good-bye, Officer Jenny," Ash said before looking at Latios. "Let's go."

"Okay." The Eon Pokémon nodded once, his face still reflecting his unhappiness. Latios lowered his neck, slid it between Ash's legs, and lifted upwards, sliding the trainer onto his back. A quick exertion of his psychic powers lifted Pikachu and Phanpy up and then deposited the Electric-type on Ash's shoulder and the Ground-type in front of the trainer.

"Let's go, Latios… Larvitar needs to recover," Ash said to him. Latios nodded and began to fly in the direction of the Pokémon Center in a sedate pace.

"Hey, what about us!?" Meowth hollered loudly, shaking the bars of the cage he was trapped in roughly while sobbing. "Get me outta here!" he wailed.

"We're trying!" Arbok snapped as he resumed trying to bend the steel bars with his muscular tail, but it was all proving unsuccessful in freeing the Normal-type.

Pidgeot sighed and glided over to her adversaries. Arbok and Weezing immediately cowered backwards at the sight of the massive avian approaching them. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you guys," she assured them, her tone passive and relaxed. She lifted one wing high above Meowth's cage as it began to glow brightly with her use of Steel Wing. She then brought down the wing hard. The cage split apart without much effort the second Pidgeot's blow connected.

"Ya know, it's a lot better to have ya on our side than against us," Meowth commented as he stepped out of the cage, still remembering how Pidgeot had proved to be too strong for them when they fought her and the rest of Ash's team at Petalburg City. Plus, memories of dozens of fights against her when she was still a Pidgeotto back in the Kanto region were still fresh in Arbok, Weezing and Meowth's minds.

"If you guys didn't try to constantly steal Ash's Pokémon, I assure you we wouldn't be on opposite sides so often," Pidgeot replied truthfully. "It is completely up to you and your trainers if you desire to be our enemies. Anyway, follow us back to the Pokémon Center." Without another word, she flapped her wings and rejoined Latios and Ash. Arbok, Weezing and Meowth glanced at each other and then quickly followed the Latios, who was thankfully flying rather sedately, allowing them to keep up with him, barely. They still kept their distance from him, just in case. They knew Latios had a foul temper that they didn't want to mess with.

Back on Latios' back, Ash rubbed Larvitar's head tenderly. The kid's sobs quieted down lightly, but it was clear he was still very badly shaken up. "It's… not fair…" Larvitar whimpered between sobs. "I want my mommy…"

Ash frowned sadly, feeling completely torn at the sight of his child in such a terrible emotional condition. "I know you do, and I wish that I could do something about it… but we… can't," he said miserably. "We were too late." He shook his head, trying to clear away the feeling of impotence that dawned on him. "But Larvitar, I promise you that one day we will find her. Rico said she is with Team Magma, and when we know more about them, we'll take them down and rescue your mother too. Larvitar, you are my adopted son. I feel… weird, to be a father to you and Phanpy when I'm only twelve years old myself, but I promise I will always love you as a father would. I can't replace your mother in your heart, but I'll still do my best."

"Larvitar, if it makes you feel better, I know we can't fill the hole in your heart your mother left, but we are your family in every way that matters. We love you and will always look out for you. Whenever you are sad, scared, hungry, in need of advice, or simply in need of listening ears, we are always there for you, because we are your family," Latios said tenderly, his voice filled with a caring kindness that normally only Latias would be a target of.

"We all love you, Larvitar," Pikachu said, smiling down at him. "We might not be your mother, but each and every one of us will always look out for you just like she would have done."

Phanpy nodded. "Yes, brother Larvitar. We are brothers and nothing will change that, even if I also didn't know my parents…Ash is my true and only daddy and he loves me and you a lot! We are a family, and families always stick together until the end!"

Pidgeot, who had caught up to them a few minutes ago, nodded and contributed her own thoughts. "Larvitar, I've been a mother figure for several Pidgey when I was flock leader back at Kanto. I understand how important a mother's love is. And I feel terrible you lack that, but know that each and every day, we will all try to make up for Tyranitar by loving you just like she would have."

Larvitar's eyes filled with tears again. "Uncle Latios… Uncle Pikachu… Auntie Pidgeot… Brother Phanpy… Daddy…" He gazed up at Ash. The trainer smiled and gently wiped Larvitar's tears away with his thumbs. "But… my mother…" he stuttered sadly while looking down, still heartbroken.

"Larvitar, I perfectly understand the emotions that you feel," Latios began, letting out a slow breath as his own painful memories were brought up. "Just like you, I had friends who posed as my family and helped me grow up and mature in place of my parents."

"You… did?" Larvitar said, confused, still clinging to Ash's shirt tightly.

"Latias and I are orphans. Our father died before we hatched… and our mother… we never knew who our mother was. Just like you, Larvitar, we had to grow up without knowing either of our parents… with just friends helping us and taking care of our needs when necessary," the dragon said, his voice reflecting a bit of his own sadness. "But look at me and Latias now. Our childhood was anything but easy, but even so, we're free of it now. We still have dozens of questions plaguing our childhood memories, but both of us are, at least to some degree, well both in body and spirit at the present."

Larvitar shook his head, wiping his tears in Ash's shirt. "Still… I want my mommy…" he said, his little voice despairing and shaky.

Latios nodded. "I know you do, and I am not trying to justify anything. I am only saying how we, your family, love you as a whole. And how some of us truly understand what you feel. And that no matter what happens you will always have a family willing to receive you with open arms. Us."

"It's not fair… why… why can't I meet her and be happy with her… like so many other children are…?" Larvitar lamented sadly.

"Unfortunately, life is rarely fair, Larvitar," Latios said with a slow shake from his head. "The best we can do is move forward in spite of the hardships it flings at us."

"And Larvitar," Pidgeot began, moving closer to him. "You don't have to cope with it alone. You have us, your family."

Pikachu nodded. "We'll be there for you all the time, because that's what families are for."

Larvitar smiled softly, letting out a small sob, and buried his head in Ash's shirt once more, some tears still needing to be shed by the very emotionally wrecked child. "Thank you… thank you… everyone…"

"You're welcome, Larvitar," Ash returned with a gentle smile. "And it's not just us, Larvitar. You also have Latias, Bianca, Brock… You have a full family to love you and to care for you."

"Just like how friends helped pose as our family and helped raise me and Latias since we were hatchlings, we will help you all the way, Larvitar. And if necessary, into your adulthood too," Latios said firmly. "Of course, we certainly hope to rescue your mother way before that."

Larvitar glanced at all his family. Pikachu, Pidgeot, Phanpy, Latios and Ash. "Uncle Latios?" he asked with a small voice.

"Yes, Larvitar?" Latios answered, glancing back at him.

"Who… who were your family-friends that raised you?" Larvitar asked curiously, leaning into Ash's chest for support.

Latios sighed, remaining quiet for a few seconds before answering. "Several Legendary Pokémon…" he answered, his voice trailing off. "I'm sorry, but I'm sure you're aware that Latias and I don't exactly like to talk much about our history in Alto Mare…"

"Why not?" Ash asked, curious. Ever since he had met Latias and Latios and gotten closer to them, he had often asked questions about their past and their childhood, but always, both siblings were strongly defensive of their past and their secrets. The only time he had learned something new and significant about their past was when they had met Ho-Oh back at the Johto region before Ash embarked on his new journey to Hoenn. Maybe today was the day he might receive the opportunity to learn something new.

"As you know, we had a very complicated childhood, with our father being dead since the day we were born. I've had plenty of arguments and verbal fights with Ho-Oh and a couple of other Legendaries about many topics. Things like why they never answered me when I asked them who my mother was… or why they never let me and Latias outside of Alto Mare's city boundaries, telling us to keep guarding the Soul Dew so fiercely. Why they sometimes put so many restraints and rules on us. Some things are very complicated, Ash. There were times I cried for nights, times I wished to leave Alto Mare with Latias and find a new home, but still, something always compelled me to remain where I lived and protect Alto Mare and my father's soul," Latios explained, shaking his head once. "They're all very complicated things that are why I don't like to talk about our past. Still, past all those arguments, they were all still my friends and family who helped raise me and Latias since we were babies."

"Who were your friends, your family?" Larvitar asked, curiously, listening in on the dragon's tale. He truly felt Latios could connect to him, someone who truly understood exactly how he felt deep in his soul.

"Well, I've told you of Ho-Oh. And a small meeting I had with Kyogre, though she's just an occasional friend. There are several more Legendaries that kept watch on us, visited us very frequently and helped raise us. Ho-Oh was the main one, but she was never alone in that role," Latios explained.

Pikachu and Ash both listened in, very interested. "Think you can tell us a bit about them? You can trust us, Latios," Ash requested, smiling. In his arms, Larvitar wiggled and pressed up to him.

Latios sighed. "Only if Latias agrees to it when she wakes up, and even so, I don't think I want to talk about all of them, alright?" he said. Ash, Pikachu, Phanpy and Pidgeot nodded. Latios frowned, his mind bringing back memories of the Legendaries he knew, Legendaries that alongside Ho-Oh did their best to make their status as orphans less painful.

"Let's return to the Pokémon Center faster. I'm sure Bianca and Brock are worried sick already," Pidgeot suggested. At Ash's nod, Latios sped forward, with Pidgeot accelerating to match his faster pace as well, which was quite a challenge for her.

"Hey!" Meowth screamed as he watched the psychic dragon speed away. Suddenly, Meowth, Arbok and Weezing were surrounded in a blue outline and dragged along by the dragon's psychic powers.

Larvitar gazed at Latios, his eyes thoughtful for a moment. "Uncle Latios, thanks… for everything… please… one day, you'll get my mommy back, right?" His voice was small but hopeful. His eyes were still stained with tears.

"I promise I will," Latios said firmly, a painful ache in his heart lingering at how badly this ordeal had shaken Larvitar up, how hopeless and broken the kid looked. "I hope that talking about our past makes you feel better Larvitar, so you can see that your friends can truly be your family. Okay?"

Larvitar nodded slowly, letting the feeling sink in. "Okay, uncle Latios." The Rock Skin Pokémon felt a lot better now, because, as he realized, his friends, no, his family were a lot more precious than he had taken them for. Perhaps he could truly get over the ordeal about his mother, but still, he knew deep in his heart he would always mourn for her.

Latios frowned as he picked up the child's thoughts. 'Rico will pay dearly for this. Ash, I am very sorry for this. But what you don't know won't hurt you. I know what it is to grow up without a mother, and I can't stand Larvitar's pain. Ash, forgive me for going against your word,' the dragon thought to himself as he lowered his head. His eyes were already glowing due to dragging Team Rocket's Pokémon behind him. No one would suspect what other reason he would use his psychic powers for. This was a secret only he and no one else would ever learn of.

Meanwhile, driving in a completely opposite direction to the one Latios was flying in, Jenny was driving her jeep with the handcuffed Rico on the backseat towards Rustboro City's hospital. Rico was constantly moaning and grunting from the pain of his injuries, exasperating Officer Jenny. The officer was greatly relieved that such a dangerous criminal was finally captured, and she hoped that the coast guard and police she dispatched to the area would arrest his employer, too. 'Wonder who hired him, anyway…' she thought.

Suddenly, Rico's moaning stopped completely. The poacher froze as Latios' presence entered his mind. Quickly, Latios read his mind, checking for anything useful regarding Slave Pokémon and the villainous organizations known as Team Aqua and Team Magma. Once Latios had read and memorized everything that was to his benefit…he finished what he had planned from the start. The dragon went for the kill.

Rico screamed in pain, startling Officer Jenny and her Arcanine, as Latios telekinetically crushed his chest, breaking all the remaining ribs and puncturing his vital organs. The poacher's death was nearly instantaneous. Officer Jenny stopped the vehicle and glanced backwards at the poacher, who now lay unmoving in the back seat, a mixture of blood and saliva dripping from his mouth.

Officer Jenny gulped, wondering what had happened. She had seen the extent of Rico's injuries, but what the Larvitar had done shouldn't have been enough to kill him. But then what had happened? The police officer thought back to the conversation the dragon and Ash had. While she couldn't understand anything the Latios said, she heard Ash mention several times something about not killing Rico, which meant the Pokémon had the intent to murder the poacher.

Officer Jenny turned her gaze to the road ahead, her head running through multiple thoughts. The cause of Rico's death was all but obvious. It was either that the Larvitar's punch did more damage than she expected, or the psychic dragon had somehow done it, which left Jenny in a dilemma between morality and what she swore by as a law enforcer. Ash was a goodhearted and law-abiding child; she had seen that, but one of his Pokémon was clearly capable and willing to kill people. 'And… the law is clear as to what has to be done with trainers who possess Pokémon that are willing to murder…' Jenny thought as she closed her eyes for a moment. As much as it pained her, the law was clear and no one was above it or deserving of special considerations, not even a good kid like Ash. 'The law… is of equal application to anyone and everyone without bias…'

"I'm sorry, Ash," Jenny said, as she began to turn her jeep around to drive back to the Pokémon center. "It really hurts me to do this, but if your Pokémon can kill whether by accident or intention, as a police officer, I have to do something about it." As much as it pained her, this was something she couldn't ignore.

…

Meanwhile, miles high in the sky, higher than the clouds above the vast green landscape of the Petalburg Woods and bordering the blue landscape of the ocean, was an observant deity. A draconic being of titanic proportions was calmly floating in the air, completely silent and unmoving. Shiny black scales glistened brightly under the sunrays and piercing yellow irises calmly gazed to the earth below in a relaxed and contemplating manner. The stillness and silence of the scene seemed to go against the dragon's very intimidating size and frightening appearance. The Legendary Pokémon's powerful eyesight easily allowed the creature to see the forest below with perfect detail, down to the smallest thing. With astounding ease, the dragon kept track of a distinct group of humans and Pokémon it was intently observing. It was far too high and away for the young Latios and Latias to see or sense it, something the dragon was clearly aware of.

The dragon released a soft peaceful sigh. The way it was watching the Eon siblings seemed almost fond and caring, protective and kind, yet distant and reserved simultaneously. After many quiet minutes passed by, the dragon shook its large head once in distaste. "Frost," the black dragon spoke in a soft, airy and clearly feminine voice that resonated with deep age and power. The dragon's gaze was still firmly locked and scanning the forest miles below.

The air all around seemed to still even further as the temperature dropped several dozen degrees swiftly. From seemingly out of nowhere, a gust of freezing, icy wind blew by, circling the dragon a couple times and causing the temperature to plummet even faster. The wind began to spiral tighter and tighter until it coalesced together a dozen feet in front of the massive dragon. As the frosty wind compressed a graceful figure could slowly be seen within the swirling blizzard.

The wind blasted outwards in a magnificent display of snowflakes and ice as the figure finished materializing before the dragon, levitating gently like a soft hazy wind. Floating in the air was a four foot tall Ghost Pokémon with a pure snow white body resembling a hollowed kimono dress coupled with a red band wrapped around her waist like a sash. She had a sideways-turned tear drop-shaped head with a pair of ice crystals growing from the top of it that resembled horns. The white face had two oval holes which revealed a pair of crystal-blue eyes with a yellow sclera and a diamond-shaped hole from which purple skin could be seen. The Pokémon had a pair of long, white, thin arms that sprouted from the sides of her head that dangled elegantly off her sides that flared at the waist with icy-blue markings on the tips that furthered the kimono look. The Pokémon, a gorgeous and elegant Froslass, bowed slightly to the draconic being before her after the entire flashy entrance was over. "Hey. You summoned me?" she asked in a lean, cold, quiet voice that sounded like an icy breeze on a cold night.

Despite the freezing manifestation of the ghost, the dragon seemed completely unaffected by the cold temperatures, as if she didn't mind it at all. However, a soft laugh escaped her lips at the Froslass' dramatics and elaborate entrance. "Yes," the large black dragoness answered to the Froslass, whose named was identified as Frost, before giving her a greeting smile. "I did. Thanks for the fast response… and the show."

Frost nodded once, kindly smiling back. "What do you need, my Princess?" she asked, putting a teasing emphasis on the word 'princess' while gazing curiously at the legendary dragoness floating before her.

The dragoness rolled her eyes. "No need to call me that."

Frost flashed her a faint smile. "So, what's going on?"

"Well, my little Latios friend down there made a really bad mistake," she began, shaking her head once in disapproval. "He broke a human law, which will get him and his friends in a lot of trouble."

"Should we really care about human laws?" Frost asked with a frown.

"As long as it concerns the twins? Yes, we should. But, not care about following them. Just care that the twins and what they care about is completely untouched by them," the gigantic dragoness answered. "Anyway, he killed a human when said human was right beside what appears to be some sort of human authority figure."

Frost frowned, having some trouble understanding the situation due to her lack of knowledge about human customs and laws as she rarely paid much attention to humans. "I don't quite get it, but, they won't try to harm them for it, or would they?" she began, trailing off and gazing at the black dragoness.

"I don't know. That's where I want you to step in, Frost," the large dragoness began, tilting her head slightly towards the Froslass. "I'm not psychic, and mortal minds are generally too weak and tiny for me to tamper with using my normal powers without accidentally and irreparably pulverizing them. I want you to possess the human authority figure, analyze her thoughts, and then edit them into something that puts no guilt or suspicion on my friend or his humans." The gigantic, black-colored dragon turned her head to gaze down at the forest, her eyes easily pinpointing Officer Jenny as she drove her police jeep through the woods. "There she is."

Frost turned to look downwards at the forest, squinting as she tried to see it, but it was complicated due to the large distance involved. The dragoness' eyes flashed slightly with ghostly energy, aiding the smaller Ice and Ghost-type's sight. Frost nodded once she spotted Officer Jenny and her jeep with the extra aid. "Got it," she said, and then she let out a low hum. "What exactly happened?" she asked, curiously.

The dragoness remained posed neutrally as her gaze shifted from the forest towards the ghost. Slowly, a faint glow of purple energy surrounded the jet-black dragoness. Suddenly, her eyes flashed powerfully in a purple shade and instantly, the entire sequence of events that had happened between Ash, Latios, Latias and Rico had been imprinted in the Froslass' mind down to the smallest detail. "That happened," the dragoness answered straightforwardly with her voice calm and thoughtful. "I don't like the way the authority human reacted and I am not certain what her thoughts against the group may be. So, I want you to make sure there is no blame pinned on them."

Frost nodded in confirmation. "I'll change her thoughts… maybe to her thinking it was her who killed the human, so it counts as self-defense during the capture. I'll see what I can come up with." The Froslass bowed. "Anything else?"

The black dragoness thought for a moment, and then nodded her large head. "Yes, Frost. Analyze the thoughts I imprinted in you and you'll see that during the battle, the human killed by our little Latios used a ghost that was in an extremely odd condition, and I am very concerned about him," she said, voice holding a pang of sadness hidden inside it.

The Froslass tilted her tear-shaped head slightly. "Odd… condition? Like what?" Frost asked as her mind checked the sequence of events. She too could see something was wrong with the ghost, but she couldn't figure out what exactly.

"Hurt, tortured, mangled, screaming…" The dragoness shook her head. "It was painful just to see it. He was badly beaten up in the battle, and should still be somewhere in the area, wandering about in confusion and pain due to the damage he sustained and his badly tortured mind. I want you to find him and bring him to me. He is a young Banette, as you can see. Something horrible must have been done to him, and I want to get to the bottom of this."

"I wouldn't expect less from our beloved Princess of Ghosts," the Froslass said, her voice kind as she gazed at the dragoness.

"Calling me that again?" the dragoness asked, giving the Froslass a bemused look. "It's my title but you don't need to keep calling me that," she said playfully.

Frost let out a short chuckle. "Your reactions to it are fun. Anyway, why don't you go get him yourself?" she asked.

"I don't want to get too close or extend such a noticeable spike of my powers in the area. Latios has been extremely eager and excited to finally meet his children. It's been a long time since I last paid a visit to the pair in Alto Mare. If they see or sense me, they'd ask questions and with them being free from the curse that tied them to Alto Mare, I could get in trouble if they ask too much or want to follow me around. I don't want to spoil any of the big surprises Latios has planned for the family reunion that is to take place soon. All in good time, Frost."

Frost nodded. "I understand. I'll deal with everything here, don't worry," the Froslass promised with a friendly smile. She hummed. "Do I tell the Queen?" she asked.

"Mother doesn't need to know anything for now," the dragoness said simply. "I'll tell her what needs to be told later." With nothing else to say and having heard the dragoness' reply, the Snow Land Pokémon vanished in a haze of icy wind, rapidly descending towards the forest.

The dragoness released a soft sight as she watched her Froslass friend disappear in the forest, carrying out her assigned task immediately. She flared her levitation, rising a couple thousand feet higher into the sky in mere seconds. 'Latios asked me to put a protection around his kids… let's see… Aha!' She paused. "This will do," she whispered under her breath. The dragoness's vivid, yellow-colored irises began to glow in a deep shade of violet-tinted spectral energy. Slowly, an eerie aura began to form around the dragoness, the yellow runic markings that lined her body pulsing with a vibrating force of spiritual energy. "With their underdeveloped senses and minds, they'd never detect this. Even so, I'll make sure to thin it as much as possible…" she commented to herself as the ghostly aura that had surrounded her exploded outwards. The energy spread all over the general area in an invisible and impossible-to-sense shield of dark ghostly energies, using the location of the Latias and Latios twins as reference to center the energy sphere that had in seconds coated the area.

The dragoness flew a few hundred feet higher, her supernatural sight easily allowing her to see her handiwork. The shield's mechanics were quite simple. The energy shield was to move along with the twins, always keeping them in the center of the protective sphere. Yet, it was so thin and its power so hidden that the twins would be unable to sense it at all, nor would any mortal Pokémon or human.

The black dragoness breathed a soft sigh of sadness, her thoughts drifting to the evil being that had initiated this entire painful ordeal…the twins' cursing and imprisonment in Alto Mare, and Latios' death and entrapment within the Soul Dew. She knew that now with the twins under her protection, the evil being would never touch them, the two little twins she adored so much.

"One day, we'll find you… and when we do, we'll make you regret everything you've done in the most horrible and painful of ways," she whispered, her promising voice filled with barely contained anger and rage. She gave a small quiet nod as she gazed at the two Eon Pokémon miles below her, completely unaware of her godly presence, her snout curled into a small loving smile. She did wonder if they needed a more constant watch and protection, seeing as she did need to help the young untrained Latios find that human he was so desperately looking for, and she also had needed to protect the group from the human's dangerous weapon when all else they tried had failed. She pondered the option for a few seconds, but then she shook her head, deciding that aside from this incident with the poacher known as Rico, they would be fine. Plus, her ghostly safeguard was protecting them from the real danger they had no knowledge of. She turned, and with her work taken care of, rocketed out of the area, a powerful sonic boom erupting in her wake. She had many other things to help and do for Latios and his mate, the twin's mother, in preparation for the family reunion that was rapidly approaching…

…

"Hmm, this should do it…" Frost said with a small nod, her lean voice calm and collected as her spectral body left Officer Jenny and her Arcanine, releasing them from her possession. Both mortals were unconscious in the police jeep.

The powerful ghost had rewritten their memories as to what had happened during the last moments of Rico's apprehension. Now, both Jenny and Arcanine's memories would dictate that in reality, after Rico had been arrested, he had tried to escape and attacked Officer Jenny, and Arcanine had been forced to use lethal force on him to protect her. As such, Rico's death was to be written off as due to resisting arrest and at Arcanine's doing. As far as either of them was concerned, never had any of Ash's Pokémon done anything harmful to the foul green-haired human.

Frost glanced at the two mortals for a couple of instants, before her gaze drifted upwards, seeing the shield now covering the area. 'The Princess left already…' Frost noted. The Froslass glanced at the surrounding forest, readying to start her second assigned task, recovering the injured wandering Banette. She turned around and with each of her long elegant arms, tapped Jenny and Arcanine's foreheads, making both of them begin to wake up from the trance she had put them into when she had possessed them. And before they could see the enigmatic ghost, she was gone in a quiet icy breeze…

---

Author Notes: Chapter finished! For those who are wondering, Rico's employer was most likely captured off-screen by the coast guard and police.

I hope everyone likes it! How was it?