Chapter 14:
Ash and Clemont stared at Malva in utter disbelief at what she had told them, their mouths agape. She must have been lying. "You're lying!" Ash accused, pointing at her. "There's no way anything you've told me is true!"
"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt," Malva chastised mockingly. "You've undoubtedly heard that saying. I know it's old, several centuries old, in fact, but it rings true here. You don't have to like it; you just have to realize that it's true."
"No!" Ash cried. "I refuse to believe that everything Serena has done and felt has been due to mind control!"
"Not everything was," Malva explained. "Some of her feelings were, indeed, genuinely her own. However, her dreams were the ones we made for her. She was supposed to be the hero that was destined to defeat us. Thanks to the Malamar Cult, she ignored her destiny to follow a false dream that was never her own."
"But why would you do that?" Clemont demanded. "How would having Serena be a Pokémon Performer and idol help your cause?"
Malva merely scoffed. "You know, for a genius, you sure are an idiot." That statement took Clemont aback, but he did not lash out at Malva. When she saw him keep his composure, she decided to elaborate on what she meant. "She didn't help our cause directly. She helped by not being there to stop us. She helped by not being a battler that would have been able to defeat us in battle. By not being able to defeat us in battle, it made it so others would have to step in to fill her shoes; people like Calem, Shauna, Trevor, Tierno, Leaf, you."
Both Ash and Clemont gasped at the revelation. Malva then continued, "But we were able to deal with all of them." Turning to Ash, she declared, "You, Ash, were perfect for dealing with Leaf. Your betrayal of her was a pleasant surprise, and, it kept her out of our hair and likely dealt with her permanently. She will never be a threat to us again. And for the record, she's not actually a criminal." That admission brought another gasp from Ash, something that caused Malva to grin. "We disguised ourselves as Sina and Dexio and caused you and Sycamore to think that she was a criminal, manufacturing evidence against her. With your help, Team Rocket was able to capture her, and if they aren't complete brain dead morons, they'll kill her. As for anyone else that could oppose us, we already killed Calem, Trevor, Tierno, Shauna, Alain, and Mairin. Again, the fact that Shauna was a Pokémon Performer was also a big help since it helped turn Serena away from battling, but the Malamar Cult began their work on her long ago, before you had even come to Kalos. The big thing, though, was that Serena could not support Calem. That isolated him. The Heroes of Kalos went their separate ways early on, just as we knew they would. Just as we intended," she added with a grin.
Ash could scarcely believe what he was hearing. Malva had admitted to deceiving them into betraying the one person that could stop them. Even worse was that he was the reason she was captured by Team Rocket. He was the cause of her likely demise. It was all his fault.
"How did you know this?" Clemont asked while Ash was still musing about what he had learned.
"You'll have to ask Lysandre," Malva shrugged. "He's the one with all the secrets."
"I still don't believe you," Ash declared, even though his belief in that statement was wavering.
"That's your problem," Malva retorted. "Either way, you managed to beat me, technically speaking," she added with a knowing smile, "so you can go on ahead, if you wish."
She then stepped aside, allowing them to pass, and gave a grin, which caused the two teens to wonder what she was talking about. She then pointed behind them and they turned to see a large number of Pokémon pressing Meyer's Mega Blaziken, Ampharos, and Professor Sycamore's Mega Garchomp back into Geosenge Town. They also noticed Meyer and Professor Sycamore engaging Team Flare Grunts in hand-to-hand combat on occasion. "Or, you could stay and help your father and friend," Malva added, looking at Clemont.
Ash looked over at Clemont and nodded. He then took out his remaining Poké Balls and told Clemont, "I'll go and help Serena. You help out your father."
"But Ash, what about you?" Clemont asked, looking worriedly at Ash, knowing that alone, he would have lost to Malva. Clemont had a feeling that Lysandre may have been even stronger than the former Elite Four member.
"I'll be fine," Ash answered. "I've got my Pokémon team to help me against Team Flare and Lysandre. We'll be fine."
Clemont then went over to Ash and gripped his shoulders. "When you get to Lysandre, do whatever it takes to stop him," the Gym Leader told his friend. Clemont then gripped Ash's shoulders. "Whatever it takes."
Ash nodded almost grimly. He knew that there was a chance that deadly force would be required in order to stop Lysandre. The question was when the time came, would he be able to do what was needed to stop the Team Flare Boss? He had a feeling that Leaf or any of the other heroes would have been able to do so. He was the one he was not so sure about. Either way, he knew what he had to do. Before leaving, though, he turned to Clemont and told him, "You take care out there, Clemont. You have a sister who's eagerly awaiting your return."
"Don't worry Ash, we'll make it," Clemont assured him. "All of us." He then gave Ash a confident grin.
Ash returned the grin and gave him a thumbs up. Clemont returned the thumbs up as Ash then turned to follow Talonflame, Pikachu, and Greninja towards Team Flare's Secret Headquarters. With Ash leaving the scene, Clemont and the rest of his team headed over to support Meyer and Professor Sycamore, Clemont letting out his Pokémon so they could all face off against the Team Flare force arrayed against them.
Meanwhile, back in Lumiose City, in Professor Sycamore's lab, Bonnie sat in a plush chair situated in the lab's main room. Cosette was doing some scans and doing everything she could to keep track of the news, listening for any indications as to what was going on in Geosenge Town since it had been a few hours since Ash and the others had left. So far, there were no news reports coming in of any strange activity. There was even a lack of reporting on the attack on the Pokémon League and later, Leaf. Cosette had figured that Malva had something to do with that, especially if she was still loyal to Team Flare.
As for Bonnie, she kept looking out a nearby window towards the west. She had tried to get some sleep, having washed up already and having dressed in her Tyrantrum pajamas, but she had been unable to sleep and had returned to the main room. Dedenne popped out of her satchel as she gazed into the distance, praying for her big brother's safe return, but fearing that he and the others were in over their heads.
"De-den-ne?" Dedenne asked Bonnie as she stared off into the distance.
It took her a few moments to realize that Dedenne had asked her something. She looked down at the Pokémon, her expression showing her fear that her father, older brother, or both might die on their mission. While a part of her wanted to join them on the mission, in her heart, she knew that her father and Professor Sycamore were right to keep her back at the lab.
"Sorry, Dedenne, I'm just worried about Big Brother and the others," she eventually answered her Pokémon friend.
After a moment, she noticed Sophie rush down the stairs seemingly in a hurry to talk to Cosette when she caught sight of the girl in the main room. Seeing that Bonnie seemed ill at ease, she entered the room quietly and watched for a moment before deciding to interrupt the girl.
"Hello Bonnie, am I interrupting?"
Bonnie looked back at Sophie and shook her head.
"Is it okay if I come in?" was the assistant's next question.
Bonnie nodded.
Sophie then entered the room and looked out the window. Despite it being late at night, the city was lit up, completely oblivious to the fact that Ash, Serena, Clemont, Meyer, and Professor Sycamore were fighting for the fate of the region, and possibly the entire world. People were walking from place to place, and the atmosphere caused Sophie to smile wistfully. For a second, she wondered if it was better to be ignorant of the threat facing the region, or if it would be better to have full knowledge of what could happen if Ash and the others failed. She then looked at Bonnie and could tell by the expression on the girl's face that she would likely have preferred the former.
"Can't sleep?" Sophie asked quietly, trying to make some small talk and get Bonnie's mind off of the danger her father and brother was facing.
"I'm worried about Father and Big Brother," the girl answered.
Sophie gave an audible sigh. "Yeah, me too."
She had more reason to worry than Bonnie, though, for she had discovered some disturbing facts that made the mission far more difficult for the heroes than it would have been otherwise. She looked down at Bonnie again and saw the fear in the girl's eyes, wishing that she could do more to help. A part of her did not want to make the report to Cosette that the evidence against Leaf had been manufactured and that it had been nothing more than an elaborate plan to get rid of the World Champion after their assassination attempt had failed. After all, Leaf was likely too far away for them to be able to help, assuming she would actually return to help them and not simply thumb her nose at them and let them face the danger on their own.
In the end, she decided to tell Cosette what she had discovered, though she wanted to keep it out of earshot of Bonnie since the girl had enough on her mind already. If she learned that her brother and father had given Team Flare its biggest victory this night and made the mission that much more dangerous, it may well break her.
"I have to go do one final patrol before turning in," she told Bonnie. "Tell me if you need anything."
"Thanks, I'm fine," the girl answered, though the anxiety in her eyes belied her true feelings.
Sophie then left and headed over to Cosette where she told Cosette everything that she had learned about the evidence against Leaf, speaking in a hushed tone so that Bonnie would not hear her. Cosette had let out an audible gasp as she heard the report. What the two assistants did not know was that Bonnie had decided to walk around the room and had caught enough of what the two were talking about to know that they had discovered that Leaf was no criminal and that someone, likely Team Flare, had manufactured the evidence against her.
"Oh no," she murmured as she heard the two women talking. Any chance of getting any sleep went out the window as she heard the report and she went back to the window, staring into the night, dreading that the worst would happen.
Meanwhile, back in Geosenge Town, down on the lowest level inside Team Flare's Secret Headquarters, Pyroar stood next to Lysandre, panting as Lysandre administered a Potion to him, a satisfied grin crossing the Team Flare Boss's face as he turned to see the battered and beaten Pangoro lying on the ground next to Serena, who was on one knee, soot marks and burns marring her clothing and exposed skin. The battle had been a slaughter. Pyroar had proven himself to be far stronger than Pangoro, who was the only Pokémon besides Swampert who had any real fighting experience or desire, despite his love of performing.
"Excellent work Pyroar," Lysandre congratulated as the fatigue immediately left the leonine Pokémon after the Potion had been administered. "But then again, I must say, it isn't much of an accomplishment beating up on a performer. Prepare yourself for the real challenge which is soon to come, albeit too late to stop the plan."
Serena struggled to stand, having taken a direct Flamethrower to the torso at the conclusion of the short battle, which had brought it to an unceremonious end, miraculously not catching on fire from the attack. Eventually, she managed to stand and stagger forward, managing to keep herself from falling. Lysandre smiled wryly at the girl's determination.
"So, there is a spark of the original Serena still inside of you," he noted. "Perhaps I was too quick to execute the Malamars."
"Why did you?" Serena asked.
"Because they had become liabilities," Lysandre answered. "They had a great deal of knowledge of the inner workings of Team Flare and, despite being part Dark-type, information could still have been tortured out of them. In addition, two of them had engaged and lost to Leaf and she knew that they had done something to her twin brother. She would have figured out what they had done to you, too, soon enough."
"What did they do to me?" Serena asked, her curiosity piqued.
Lysandre grinned. "They made you," he answered in a sinister tone.
"What do you mean by 'they made me'," she asked sternly.
"I mean that they made you into what you are today. They turned you into the Pokémon Performer and idol that you have become. You owe everything to them."
Serena's eyes went wide at the revelation. "What do you mean? Why would you have them turn me into a Performer and give me a successful life, allowing me to fulfill my dream?"
"Because, your dreams of becoming Kalos Queen and an idol, are actually my dreams of you becoming Kalos Queen and idol," Lysandre answered, giving a sinister grin.
Serena gasped at Lysandre's statement before scowling. "I don't believe you!" she declared forcefully.
"It doesn't matter," Lysandre shrugged. "You don't have the strength or skill to defeat me. Your true destiny will go unfulfilled and the world will be destroyed because of it."
"Why do you want to destroy the world?" Serena demanded.
"Because if humans and their legacy remain on the world, it will eventually be destroyed. I am saving the Earth."
"How? By wiping out all humans save for Team Flare?" Serena rebuked. "Team Flare consists of murderers, thieves, and people who are so narcissistic that even narcissists would gasp in horror!"
Lysandre gave a knowing grin. "Yes," he answered. "How funny it is that they are fighting for their own demise and they don't even know it."
"Then you don't want anyone to survive," Serena accused. "Anyone except you," she added.
"If I survive, it will only be due to my exposure to the energy of Xerneas," Lysandre admitted with a shrug, indicating that he did not care about his potential fate.
"And you're okay with that?" Serena blurted in utter disbelief.
"Yes," the Team Flare Boss answered casually, almost in disbelief that Serena could be so dense. "Why wouldn't I be? As a human, I am also part of the problem."
"You're definitely part of the problem, alright," Serena scoffed.
Lysandre gave no answer and simply turned to walk away. Delphox attempted to use Psychic to pull Lysandre towards her but Pyroar rushed towards Delphox, using what looked to be Tackle, but was merely the Pokémon rushing to attack with a non-Pokémon move. The attack knocked Delphox off her feet, though, forcing the Psychic-type to use her telekinesis to keep herself from falling backwards. She then levitated herself back onto her feet and stared at the leonine Pokémon. Lysandre then looked back at Serena, a frown crossing his face.
"Why do you want to destroy humanity?" Serena demanded.
"Why would I not?" Lysandre countered. "Look around you. The world is bracing for attack due to a war that it started. Criminal organizations run rampant all throughout the Pokémon World. In Kanto, Team Rocket runs unchecked save by the intervention of Leaf. And even then, they come back due to the corruption inside the government. In Unova, Team Plasma attempted to separate the world of humans and Pokémon because humans treat Pokémon as nothing more than slaves, which is, sadly, understandable since humans created Pokémon."
"What?" Serena gasped, not believing the Team Flare Boss's statement. "No way. Humans didn't create Pokémon. Pokémon have been around since prehistoric times!"
"Ah, so that's what they're teaching right now."
"It's not being taught, so to speak, since it's common knowledge. Look at all the fossil Pokémon!"
"What of them?" Lysandre inquired.
"They're evidence of Pokémon existing in prehistoric times!"
"Are they?" the Team Flare Boss challenged. "How do you know that they're not there simply due to some humans traveling back to the past and engineering some Pokémon back there with the Pokémon getting out of control, killing the humans, but being too few in number for the species to become viable?"
"That's absurd!" Serena declared.
"Is it?" Lysandre challenged again. "Then answer me this; why is it that Pokémon did not start appearing in biological taxonomies until the year twenty seventy-four?"
"What do you mean?" Serena asked, beginning to worry that Lysandre may have actually known something that she did not.
"Pokémon did not appear in biological taxonomies and textbooks until the year twenty seventy-four," Lysandre answered. "United Earth has more history on this, but from what my research has gathered, humans engineered Pokémon to be soldiers for them in World War Three. They came about to battle-readiness too late to have any significant impact on the war, but they were there for the War Against the PSI Aliens, which may explain the appearance of prehistoric Pokémon since various projects had humans either traveling off world, or to the past to escape the PSI Aliens onslaught and hopefully to give humanity warning of the impending invasion. So you see, humanity has committed many sins, not the least of which is playing God."
"And so the humans and Pokémon of today must die for a potential crime that was committed centuries earlier, in a time and culture that was entirely different from our own?"
Lysandre looked at the ground and gritted his teeth. Serena then thought she saw a tear escape his eye. "It is terrible that such magnificent creatures like Pokémon must perish along with the humans, but they are also a part of humanity's legacy. To ensure that humanity's legacy can never destroy this world, Pokémon cannot remain alive and roaming the Earth, and at a later date potentially make the same mistakes that humanity made. After all, Pokémon are fully sentient beings, a fact that United Earth has acknowledged since their initial creation."
Serena could scarcely believe what she was hearing. Lysandre was willing to condemn all humans and Pokémon on Earth to extinction because of the crimes of pre War Against the PSI Aliens Earth. Lysandre then turned back to the two Legendary Pokémon behind him and a screen soon lit up the entire basement room. On the screen, a large tree could be seen with vines drooping from its branches.
"Excellent, the Mortality Tree has blossomed."
"What is that?" Serena asked.
"It is one of the Mortality Trees, one of many spread all around the Pokémon World," Lysandre answered. "With these trees, I shall destroy the world, even should the Ultimate Weapon somehow be stopped." He then paused and turned back to Serena before continuing, "But I will not let the weapon be stopped. After all, the power up and firing sequence has already begun and cannot be stopped, not even if I wanted it to be."
Serena's mouth was agape. Had they failed already? What could she do? She quickly saw that there were several conduits that seemed to lead up towards the ceiling. An idea soon came to her mind. If she could destroy the conduits, then she could possibly deprive the weapon of the power needed to fire it, or at the very least, keep the damage from the weapon's firing to an absolute minimum.
She quickly went over to Delphox and whispered, "Delphox, use Psychic on those conduits behind the Legendary Pokémon and destroy them. Be as discreet as possible. I don't want to have to face off against two Legendary Pokémon."
Delphox did not nod, merely concentrating on the conduits behind the two Legendary Pokémon, which was more difficult than it looked since it appeared that Dark-type energy was flowing through the conduits. Yveltal must have either had its energy powering the weapon, which fit with what she had heard about the Ultimate Weapon. Unfortunately, as Delphox was attempting to damage or destroy the conduits, her actions were detected by Pyroar, who let out a roar to alert Lysandre to Serena's plans.
Lysandre took one look at Delphox and ordered, "Pyroar, use Dark Pulse on Delphox now!"
Pyroar nodded and fired off a pulse of purple energy at Delphox. Serena saw the attack and cried, "Delphox, dodge it now, and use Psychic on Pyroar, get it out of the way and continue to attack those conduits!"
Delphox nodded and levitated over the Dark Pulse, allowing it to pass harmlessly underneath her. Serena grinned. She may not have had much experience with Pokémon battling, but it seemed as if Lysandre did not have all that much experience, either, and she could learn quickly if need be. She would win this battle and stop Team Flare, or at least slow down his plans enough so that Ash and/or the others could finish it off.
As for the battle, Delphox attempted to use Psychic on Pyroar, but he was making Delphox's life difficult as he unleashed another Dark Pulse, forcing the Fire/Psychic-type Pokémon to go on defense and evade the pulses of Dark-type energy. "Delphox, keep trying to use Psychic!" Serena commanded. "If we can take him down, we can get back to trying to damage those conduits!"
"That won't happen," Lysandre countered. "Pyroar, use Hyper Voice!"
Pyroar gave a grin and emitted a piercing howl that seemed to cause visible ripples in the air in front of the Pokémon, coming straight for Delphox. The extreme noise forced Delphox to cover her ears to try to block out the pain while she had to use her psychic powers to block out the damage to her hearing. Even Serena had to cover her ears, the girl clasping her hands over her ears in an effort to try to get the sound to a level where it would not damage her hearing. She also prayed that she, herself, did not suffer any permanent hearing damage from the Hyper Voice.
While Delphox and Serena were dealing with Pyroar's Hyper Voice, Lysandre grinned, seemingly immune to the attack. He then looked over at Pyroar and nodded. Pyroar then approached Delphox until he was at point blank range of the bipedal fox-like Pokémon, the leonine Pokémon still emitting the piercing howl.
"Pyroar, finish it off with Dark Pulse," Lysandre cried over the din.
Pyroar obeyed without skipping a beat, almost as if this was his plan from the beginning. He powered the Dark Pulse in front of him, Delphox noticing the powering of the attack too late to do anything about it. Pyroar then fired the pulse at point blank range, scoring a direct hit on Delphox's chest. The pulse was too close for Delphox to be able to avoid it and the hit sent Delphox flying through the air. She landed on her back almost five meters away with a thud, skidding along the ground for a couple meters before coming to a rest. Serena went over to her and the first thing she saw were the swirls in Delphox's eyes, signaling that she had fainted. Lysandre grinned.
"This is what I meant by you not being able to fulfill your destiny," Lysandre explained. "You should have been able to defeat Pyroar. You should have been smart enough to know that Delphox was at a disadvantage against Pyroar and exchanged her for one of your other Pokémon, I think I would be right in naming either Swampert or Pangoro as suitable substitutions. As it is now, though, you have little chance of defeating us."
"We'll see about that!" Serena retorted. She then went over to the fainted Pangoro and administered a Max Revive to it. The moment, she revived the Pokémon, she pointed to Lysandre's Pyroar and cried, "Pangoro, enter stage front!"
The massive panda bear-like Pokémon then rose and rushed out in front of Serena, staring at Lysandre's Pyroar. Lysandre looked indifferently at Serena. "So, a spark of the original Serena still remains. Soon, that spark will be extinguished."
"I'd like to see you try," Serena challenged as she took a fighter's stance, as did Pangoro, eager to start the battle.
"You will," the Team Flare Boss noted casually as he looked over at Pyroar and said, "They're all yours."
Pyroar then gave a confident grin and approached Serena's Pangoro. He had beaten Pangoro once, he could do it again. Serena and Pangoro then steeled themselves for the battle that would decide the fate of Kalos.
Back outside, Ash made his way towards Team Flare's Secret Headquarters, having managed to catch up to Talonflame, Pikachu, and Greninja. Unsurprisingly, there were a number of Team Flare Grunts in front of him that still had some fight left in them up ahead. He figured that they must have hidden themselves, allowing whoever was inside the base to deal with Serena since they did not seem to view her as a threat. He shook off the thought. That would be the epitome of arrogance and foolishness. After a moment, though, he thought back to what Malva had said and began to wonder if she was, indeed, telling the truth. It could explain why the Team Flare Grunts had been hiding and she only faced a token defense, just enough to not arouse any suspicion of any ulterior plans being in the works. He ignored the feeling. He knew that he had a job to do and he would do it, even if he only had half of his team at the ready.
The Team Flare forces opened up the battle by letting out an assortment of Pokémon, mostly consisting of Golbats and Litleos. Ash could only grin. This would not be too difficult for him to deal with.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on the Golbats," he commanded. "Take out as many as you can, as quickly as you can. Greninja, you use Double Team and then use Water Shuriken to deal with the Litleos. Talonflame, you help out Pikachu against the Golbats."
The Pokémon nodded and went about executing Ash's battle plan. The Litleos and attempted to attack first, only for Pikachu to unleash a series of Thunderbolts their way, electrocuting them and causing many of them to fall out of the sky before they could even launch an attack, the Pokémon crashing to the ground, unconscious, electricity still arcing across their bodies.
The Team Flare Grunts swore at the sight and then pointed at Ash's Pokémon, screaming, "Golbat, use Confuse Ray on them!"
The remaining Golbats obeyed, unleashing a volley of Confuse Rays on Ash and his Pokémon. Fortunately, though, Ash and his Pokémon were able to evade the attacks, the Pokémon closing their eyes and going evasive, Talonflame taking flight with Pikachu on his back so that the flashes of light passed underneath them. Greninja avoided the attack by having one of his illusory copies take the hit. He then feigned confusion by dispelling the Double Team and throwing Water Shuriken everywhere. As the Litleos went in to take on the 'stricken' Water/Dark-type Pokémon, Greninja revealed his deception as she unleashed a barrage of Water Shuriken at the closest of the small leonine cub-like Pokémon. The stars of water completely engulfed one of the Litleos and sent it flying backwards into another, both Pokémon taking the Water Shuriken and being knocked out. Greninja then tossed a volley of Water Shuriken all around himself, managing to tag each of the Litleos, rendering them unconscious. As for Talonflame and Pikachu, the two finished off the remaining Golbats with a barrage of Thunderbolts and a stream of Flamethrower. Within seconds, the battle was over, all of the Team Flare Pokémon having fallen to Ash's team. However, the Team Flare Grunts were not going to take this defeat lying down.
The leader of the Team Flare Grunts immediately took out an orb that looked like it could have been either grenade or a bomb of some sort and prepared to toss it over towards Ash. Pikachu and Talonflame saw this, though, and instantly fired off a Thunderbolt and Flamethrower respectively at the Grunt. The Grunt was instantly annihilated and the grenade also exploded, shredding the surrounding Team Flare Grunts with shrapnel from the blast, the few Team Flare Grunts not killed by the grenade's detonation lying on the ground, unconscious or clutching their wounds. Ash and his Pokémon did not care about their fate. He had to worry about the fate of the world. To that end, he rushed towards the entrance to the Team Flare base, Pikachu, Talonflame, and Greninja following close behind him.
Meanwhile, over in Kanto, Leaf, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Captain Falcon charged towards the mysterious tree. As they walked over the now seemingly desolate landscape, they noticed that the trees almost appeared to be turned into stone or a stone-like structure. She carefully made her way over towards one of the stone-like trees and examined it closely. She had heard that the power of a Legendary Pokémon from Kalos had the ability to drain the life energy from a life-form and turn its body to stone. Apparently, this tree had the ability to do this to a surrounding forest as well.
"Careful," she heard Captain Falcon caution as he approached, his Beam Sword ignited, the glowing red energy blade springing to life and emitting a low thrum. The blade also served to function as a flashlight that could illuminate the pre-dawn landscape. Captain Falcon, however, intended it for use against anything that attempted to accost any member of the party. He also had his Ray Gun at the ready, just in case they fell under attack from a distance. He wished that he could use his F-Zero Machine to take them closer, but they would not have all fit inside, and he also had a bad feeling that the tree would have reacted more violently to a vehicle approaching, rather than someone on foot.
Leaf took out three Poké Balls and proceeded to let out her flight capable Pokémon: Garchomp, Starmie, and Chandelure. "You three keep to the air," she told them. "While we're able to step on the ground, so far, I'm not sure that's going to last. If that changes and the ground starts becoming dangerous, I don't want you having your life energy drained."
The Pokémon nodded and Garchomp immediately took to the air, spreading her arms out like wings and rocketing forward. Starmie and Chandelure quickly went on ahead in order to cover Garchomp as well as try to scan the tree for defenses and report back to the group. Still, Leaf had a bad feeling that if the tree did have attributes of Xerneas and Yveltal, that it would be exceedingly difficult to identify a weakness and take down since it would be able to block or confuse any of Starmie or Chandelure's scans. It also did not help that if it did have active defenses that they would have a type advantage over both all three Pokémon that she had just sent out. Still, she did not want to risk the rest of her team on potentially dangerous terrain. She would take the potential hit before risking them.
As the group moved forward, they began coming across more disturbing scenes, for the petrified forms of life were no longer limited to the dead trees and bushes that it had been before. Now, they were coming across the stone outlines of numerous Pokémon, mostly Weedles and Caterpies, but there were the outlines of a few Pikachus as well as some Pidgeys. Leaf and Captain Falcon stopped for a moment to offer a silent prayer for the petrified Pokémon, hoping that when the tree was dealt with, that they could be saved. As they continued on, they began to see the petrified forms of Trainers. Leaf approached the Trainers to see if she could find any identifying characteristics on them, being careful not to touch any part of them, lest she risk being petrified just as they were. Two of the Trainers appeared to have uniforms with stylized Fs on them. She began to wonder if these petrified Trainers had been members of Team Flare, for the Fs resembled the stylized F on the helicopter that she had shot down in Kalos.
The moment she saw the Fs on their uniforms, she called out to her Pokémon friends, "Starmie, Chandelure, scan the area for any Team Flare Trainers. I just found two what look to be petrified Team Flare members down here."
Starmie and Chandelure nodded and proceeded to scan the surrounding area. As they did so, Leaf looked back to the Kongs and Captain Falcon, informing them of the situation. "Guys, I just found what looks to be two Team Flare Trainers petrified here."
Captain Falcon rushed over to join her and closely examined the petrified form of the Trainer, careful not to touch him, and he was able to make out the F on the uniform as well. "This definitely looks like a Team Flare member," he said, looking over at Leaf.
"You've heard of them?" she asked.
"A bit," Captain Falcon nodded. "They made the news a year or so back. It was said that they tried to destroy the world, only to be stopped by a small group of Trainers, one of them being named Ash Ketchum, who was on that datapad we received two years ago about Chosen Heroes." His mention of Ash's name caught Leaf's attention and she raised an eyebrow.
"Ash stopped them?" Leaf asked, her eyes flashing with surprise. She never would have expected Ash to have stopped a criminal organization like Team Flare if they were competent, at least, not the Ash she saw when she was in Kalos.
Captain Falcon nodded, though he was quick to note that Leaf seemed to recognize the name. "You know him?" he asked.
Leaf immediately gasped and blushed, uncertain of what to say. "A bit," she eventually admitted. "He has the potential to be a great Pokémon Trainer; one of the best, but he never uses his strongest Pokémon on one single team. That has always held him back and he doesn't realize it. In addition, his IQ changes daily. One day, he's brilliant, the next, he's a complete moron."
"So you know him pretty well, it seems," Donkey Kong commented.
"Not that well," Leaf answered, crossing her arms and looking back at DK, suppressing a scowl. "At least, not anymore," she muttered inaudibly, but Captain Falcon seemed to pick up on what she had said. She then looked around and told the others, "Anyway, we'd better head on over to the tree. If that thing's the problem, and I'm almost certain it is, we've gotta find some way to stop it and/or destroy it before its life-draining effects spread towards any nearby towns or cities."
The others nodded and quickly followed Leaf as she led the group towards the tree. As they made their way closer to the tree, she found more petrified human figures. They looked to be of Pokémon Trainers, for she could see Pokémon League caps on the heads of several Trainers. They all had expressions of horror on their faces as they were looking down their feet or at their hands. Some were even looking at each other or appeared to be running from the scene. They also came across several pieces of what would have looked to be stone statues. They were easily able to make out the heads of former Trainers as well as shattered bodies lying on the ground. Leaf's eyes went wide with surprise and an uneasy feeling came over her. Looking back, she could see that Captain Falcon and the Kongs felt the same way. The group then slowed down, fearful that every step closer brought them closer to whatever force had petrified the Trainers and shattered some of them.
Leaf reached into her backpack and took out her Pokédex and used it to scan the petrified bodies, hoping to find out what may have petrified them. She knew that it was a long shot, but since her Pokédex had been modified to be able to identify residual energy signatures, she may have been able to identify what they were either facing, or about to face. She scanned the bodies and, much to her surprise, as well as concern, the Pokédex was able to identify the energy signatures. The signatures were that of Flying-type energy, which surprised her. She would have expected it to either be Fairy-type or Dark-type in nature. She knew that Yveltal was part Flying-type and known as the Destruction Pokémon, but she had not expected the energy used to drain life from living things to be Flying-type in nature.
She then input a series of commands to the Pokédex to identify what Pokémon that had this energy signature. She was almost certain that it would come up as Yveltal, but she wanted to be absolutely positive. After a second, it did, indeed, come up as Yveltal. Captain Falcon and the Kongs came over and looked at the information on the Pokédex. She then had the Pokédex give her a readout on all known information on Yveltal. It was a Dark/Flying-type Pokémon of tremendous power. It could wield a wide variety of moves but among its strongest was Oblivion Wing, which could drain the life of an opponent and either cause it to wither or turn to stone. The party grimaced. The ground here must have been affected by Oblivion Wing. The only question was, how it had been delivered. Further information from the Pokédex indicated that Yveltal had an alternate form, that of a cocoon, something that surprised Leaf and the others.
"Hey, check out the entry for Xerneas," Donkey Kong eventually suggested. He wanted to test a hypothesis.
She input a new series of commands and the information soon came up on Xerneas. It was a Fairy-type Pokémon that was said to be able to share eternal life. Its entry also said that it could sleep for a thousand years in the form of a tree, something that the group was quick to take note of. They then looked up at the massive tree before them, scarcely believing that a Pokémon that was capable of sharing eternal life would be taking it from people.
"You sure the Pokédex didn't mix up its entries?" Diddy Kong asked.
"I updated it two days ago," Leaf answered. "And it already had all of the Kalos Pokémon entries before the update. It wouldn't have such a glaring error. These entries are real."
"Then why is this tree draining life if the sleeping form of Yveltal is a cocoon while the sleeping form of Xerneas, which is supposed to grant life, is a tree?" Captain Falcon asked.
"I don't know," Leaf answered. "If I had to venture a guess, I would say that someone genetically engineered that tree, and probably the other trees like this around the world as well, with DNA from both Xerneas and Yveltal. Genetic engineering of Pokémon has been done before. The Fossil Pokémon, Genesect, even Mewtwo are all examples of Pokémon that are either cloned or have been genetically engineered. Who's to say that someone couldn't engineer a Pokémon, or other life-form, to have both the attributes of Xerneas and Yveltal?"
"Who indeed?" Captain Falcon echoed. "Now the question is who would do such a thing?"
"Who cares about that?" Donkey Kong blurted. "What we need to do now is take that tree down!"
"How?" Captain Falcon asked. "We don't have the firepower for that!"
"Guys, I think we need to be asking ourselves a bigger question," Leaf chimed in.
"Such as?" came the others.
"Such as, why we aren't having our own life energy drained from us when all of the other life-forms around here have."
The rest of the group stopped their pseudo argument and looked around, quickly echoing Leaf's question. The group still had a bad feeling that they were going to get an answer far sooner than they had wanted. They were proven right when the ground began to shake underneath their feet.
"Steady everyone," Captain Falcon called out to the rest of the party. "Be ready for anything." He then drew his pistol and Beam Sword hilt, igniting the blade.
The rest of the party followed his lead and drew their weapons, ready to engage against anyone, or anything that may have been coming at them. Leaf's flight capable Pokémon also either flew holding patterns around them or floated above them, ready to cover them at a moment's notice. As they approached the tree, the ground began to shake and the quartet immediately went on guard.
In less than a second, several root-like structures erupted from the ground and lashed out at the heroes. The heroes retaliated by swinging their Beam Swords to cut the root-like structures that lashed out at them as they came. The energy blades easily sliced through the wooden roots, causing the severed ends to fall to the ground and cease moving. The root ends that were still connected to the tree, continued to lash out at them, but they seemed to move more slowly, almost as if they were in pain. Still, that did little to stop the next onslaught of root-like structures.
The heroes quickly took advantage of the situation and leveled their Ray Guns at the next wave of roots and fired at them, the beams burning through the roots and causing them to fall, almost as if they had been shot through the heart. Still, for each root they felled, two more took their place. That was when Leaf's Pokémon attacked from above.
Starmie initiated the counterattack by firing an Ice Beam straight at the ground, covering it in a sheet of ice. Several roots appeared to try to rise up from the ground, only to hit the ice and bounce off of it. A second series of root-like structures lashed out at Garchomp, who quickly went to cut them with Dragon Claw. However, when she went to cut them, something happened that she did not expect. Her claws struck the root and inflicted no damage to them at all. It was as if Garchomp had hit them with a Nerf bat. Leaf looked up at the scene in shock before realizing that Garchomp was basically helpless against the roots if they latched onto her, which they did. The roots ensnared Garchomp and wrapped around her body and began draining her of her life energy.
Starmie would not stand for this, though, and stopped firing its Ice Beam and targeted the roots, unleashing a Thunderbolt on them. The bolt of lightning struck the roots and electricity arced across them as they writhed before withering before the attack, allowing Garchomp to break free. Still, she was too weak to remain aloft and she fell towards the ground. Leaf took out her Poké Ball and immediately recalled Garchomp to the Poké Ball. Once she had recalled Garchomp, she stepped aside and let Garchomp out of the ball once more. Once Garchomp was out, she went over to the Dragon/Ground-type Pokémon and administered a Full Restore to her. Once Garchomp had taken the Full Restore, she gave a cry, indicating that she was ready to continue the fight. Still, the incident had taught Leaf something valuable about the tree and its roots. They were also brimming with the energy of Xerneas as well. That meant that they probably had an advantage when dealing with Dark-type attacks and were likely effective against Dark-type and Psychic-type Pokémon, but would not be all that effective against Poison-type or Fire-type Pokémon. She grinned. It was time for her to bring out her not so secret weapon.
"Venusaur, stand by for battle!" she cried as she tossed Venusaur's Poké Ball into the air. The ball opened and out came Venusaur, who landed on the ground with a thud. "Venusaur, use Sludge Bomb on those roots," she commanded quickly. Since the roots were laced with Fairy-type energy as well as the Flying and Dark-type energies of Yveltal, she suspected that Poison-type attacks could do a great deal of damage, and if they poisoned the roots, then they may also have a chance of poisoning the tree, itself. She then considered something and amended her order. "Venusaur, scratch that last command. Use Toxic on the ground. Make the ground toxic to the roots. Use that to clear a path to the tree, itself." She then looked up at Starmie and told it, "You cover the rest of us with Thunderbolt." Looking over at Chandelure, she continued, "Chandelure, you use Calm Mind to boost your Special Attack and Special Defense. I have a feeling we'll need everything we've got pretty soon."
Both Pokémon acknowledged her order and she then called out to the rest of the group, "Form up with me. Venusaur's going to clear a path to that tree and hopefully neutralize its threat in the process."
The Kongs and Captain Falcon did not have to be told twice, especially considering the fact that the charge on their Ray Guns was beginning to run low. They formed up with Leaf and the group followed Venusaur as he let out a Toxic spray that covered the entire area surrounding the group. Venusaur then trudged forward, letting out more of the Toxic spray, poisoning the ground. The group could see the roots retreating from the group, keenly aware of the danger posed by the Toxic spray. Leaf grinned. Venusaur's Toxic was like Roundup, only for supernatural trees and taken to the next level. Her plan was working.
The group continued to approach the tree, getting closer as Venusaur continued to spray Toxic around the entire area, making certain to douse the entire ground. Any roots that rose from unaffected areas were instantly blasted by Starmie's Thunderbolt. And those that managed to get through the barrage of Thunderbolts were met with a barrage of Ray Gun fire from the heroes. Slowly, but surely, the quartet was making their way towards the tree.
As they got close to the tree, they could see that it was the size of a small town and had numerous large branches on it that could hold houses on them. The group did not pay much attention to that, though. All they cared about was the fact that the tree was draining the life of the surrounding area and that it was growing in size. If left unchecked, it could be a threat to not only Viridian City but eventually to the entire Kanto Region as well.
As they were within visual distance of the tree's trunk, as well as a series of vines on it that they could use to climb it, they heard a loud cry from one of the branches. Looking up, the group saw a large reindeer-like Pokémon with multi-colored antlers stare down at them. The Pokémon was immediately recognized as Xerneas. Xerneas immediately jumped down from its perch and landed in front of the quartet. Soon, there was another cry coming from above the tree.
"Look alive, dudes," Donkey Kong heard the voice of Funky warn over the radio. "I've got the mother of all birds comin' straight at ya!"
The group looked up and saw the red and black form of Yveltal swooping down towards them. "We see him, Funky," Donkey Kong answered.
"You dudes be careful down there," Funky spoke over the radio. "Call me if you need any help."
"Stand by on that," Donkey said cautiously. "We'll probably be needing it soon."
As for Leaf and Captain Falcon, they stared at the two Legendary Pokémon and grimaced. Leaf looked over at the others and then told them, "Let me deal with this. I'm a Pokémon Trainer and am trained to handle these situations. Also, these aren't the first Legendary Pokémon I've come across, either."
The others nodded and backed off, giving Leaf room to fight. She then took in a deep breath and, taking out her two remaining Poké Balls cried, "Jolteon, Tyranitar, join the fight!"
She then tossed the Poké Balls into the air and out came Jolteon and Tyranitar, who landed with a massive thud that shook the ground. The rest of Leaf's Pokémon then descended to the ground to support their friends.
"Venusaur, you, Chandelure, and I will deal with Xerneas. The rest of you, take down Yveltal," Leaf directed. She knew that it was a risk to send a part Psychic-type Pokémon in Starmie against Yveltal, but she trusted Jolteon, Tyranitar, and Garchomp to be able to assist it if needed. And besides, its Ice Beam and Thunderbolt would be super effective against Yveltal anyway. And if Starmie could freeze Yveltal with Ice Beam, all the better. Still, she had no illusions that this would be an easy battle. This would be the battle of their lives. She stared at the Legendary Pokémon and then looked back at her own team and cried, "Engage!"
With that, her Pokémon team initiated combat against the Mortality Duo. The battle for Kanto, and possibly the Pokémon World, had begun.
Back in Kalos, Ash made his way through the Team Flare Secret Headquarters, having powered his way past the Team Flare scientists and Grunts standing in the main chamber. Despite the Team Flare forces having Electric-type Pokémon, they were no match for battle hardened Pokémon like Pikachu, Talonflame, and Greninja and they had been taken down with contemptuous ease. Once the Pokémon had fallen, Pikachu used Thunderbolt on the scientists and Grunts and rendered them unconscious.
After the first easy battle, Ash made his way through the twisty corridors of the base's sublevels. He faced significantly more resistance than Serena had, Lysandre rightfully considering him to the greater threat of the two heroes. The first band of resistance came in the form of a Team Flare Admin and a Grunt, who let out a Toxicroak and a Liepard.
Needing to get past them as quickly as possible, Ash did not give the Team Flare forces a chance to attack, merely commanding his team, "Everyone attack! Take out those Pokémon now!"
Pikachu, Talonflame, and Greninja obeyed, unleashing a withering barrage of Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, and Water Shuriken at the Pokémon. The combined assault was more than enough to take both Pokémon down as Talonflame swept his Flamethrower from Toxicroak to Liepard once the former had been beaten. Both Pokémon quickly fell to the metallic floor, electricity arcing across their bodies as they lay there, unconscious. Once the Pokémon fell, the Team Flare Admin and Grunt decided to take matters into their own hands as they reached into their jackets to pull out two guns to level at the boy and his Pokémon. Their plans were cut short, though, as Pikachu hit them both with a Thunderbolt, electricity arcing across their bodies, with the Grunt's muscles seizing up and her reflexively pulling the trigger, which caused the gun to discharge straight into her heart. The Grunt fell over to the ground, dead, while the Admin merely fell to the ground, unconscious at the very least. With that pair of Flares having been dealt with, Ash and his team surged down the corridor.
After a set of stairs and some twists in the next corridor, he came across the next source of resistance: another Team Flare Admin/Grunt duo. This duo grinned at the sight of Ash and quickly deployed their Pokémon: Manectric and Mightyena. Ash grimaced, suddenly wishing that he had not left Hawlucha back with Clemont. Still, he knew that these Pokémon would be no match for three of his best Pokémon that he had ever trained. Pikachu, Talonflame, and Greninja were quick to prove him right as they initiated the battle, catching the Team Flare Pokémon completely off guard. Pikachu started by firing a Thunderbolt at Mightyena while Talonflame and Greninja double teamed Manectric, Greninja using Double Team to create multiple illusory copies while Talonflame fired a Flamethrower at the Electric-type Pokémon, scoring a direct hit and taking it down with a single blow.
The Team Flare Admin grimaced but the fight was not done yet, for Mightyena had withstood Pikachu's Thunderbolt and was counterattacking, having used Take Down on Pikachu, the electric mouse deftly dodging the Take Down and retaliating with Iron Tail, which connected with Mightyena squarely on the head. The Team Flare Grunt, knowing that he had to at the least weaken Pikachu or one of the other Pokémon, cried out to Mightyena, "Mightyena, use Dark Pulse on that Pikachu. If we can weaken him, then the others can finish him off!"
Mightyena nodded and readied a Dark Pulse, firing a purple beam of energy at the electric mouse. Pikachu, however, deftly dodged the attack and fired off another Thunderbolt at Mightyena. Mightyena dodged this one, though and was going to fire off another Dark Pulse, only to run into a Water Shuriken hurled by Greninja. The Water Shuriken was more than enough to finish off the wolf-like Pokémon, Mightyena fainting from the attack. A couple of Thunderbolts from Pikachu later, the two Team Flare operatives were also down for the count. With two more Flares having been dealt with, Ash and the others continued their trek deeper into the base.
Not too far into the next area, Ash and his Pokémon came across the next Team Flare duo. This one was already prepared and had already sent out Houndoom and Scrafty. Upon laying eyes on Ash's Pokémon, the Flares cried, "Houndoom, use Flamethrower on that boy! Scrafty, use High Jump Kick on that Greninja!"
The Pokémon obeyed and Houndoom immediately unleashed a Flamethrower attack on Ash directly, while Scrafty attempted to use a High Jump Kick on Greninja. Ash was not caught unawares, though.
"Greninja, use Double Team to evade the attack and then use Water Shuriken on Houndoom. Talonflame, use Brave Bird on Scrafty. Pikachu, you help out with Scrafty as well with Thunderbolt!" Ash cried in counter.
His Pokémon obeyed and suddenly, there were over a dozen Greninjas in the corridor. Talonflame positioned himself in front of Ash and he intercepted Houndoom's Flamethrower, suffering minimal damage. Apparently, this Houndoom was not nearly as well trained as expected. As for Scrafty, it's High Jump Kick struck nothing but an illusory copy of Greninja, who then targeted Houndoom with a Water Shuriken, hurling the barrage of watery throwing stars right at the demonic-looking dog-like Pokémon. One volley was more than enough to finish off Houndoom and cause it to faint. Scrafty did not last much longer, crashing with its High Jump Kick, nearly breaking its own kneecap when it slammed its knee into the ground after missing Greninja. Talonflame finished the fight with a single Brave Bird, the flaming blue aura surrounding Talonflame as he collided with the stricken Scrafty, knocking the Dark/Fighting-type Pokémon unconscious. Electricity arced around Talonflame's body as he endured the recoil from the attack but he did not take too much damage, and with the Team Flare Pokémon having been dealt with, Ash had plenty of time to administer a Potion to him.
With the two Pokémon having been dealt with, Pikachu then knocked out the two Flares with a Thunderbolt attack. With the Flares having been beaten, Ash went over to administer the Potion to Talonflame, knowing that he would need the bird as he proceeded further into the base. Once his team was ready, he proceeded to make his way past the fallen Team Flare Grunts and headed further into the sublevels of the base.
He did not meet much further resistance until he reached the lowest level of the base. After traveling down to the lowest level of the base, he was met by four Team Flare Admins, who cut off his access to the room beyond. They already had their Pokémon deployed as well: Swalot, Golbat, Liepard, Manectric, Mightyena, and Houndoom. The Flares grinned.
"You're not gonna get past us as easily as that girl did," a female Admin warned. "We were ordered to hold back and let her pass. After all, the boss had somethin' he wanted to tell her in private." She then grinned. "As for you, however, we're free to do whatever we need to in order to stop you."
"Then give it your best shot," Ash challenged. "You don't look any tougher than the rest of the rubbish we've already dealt with."
"You're about to see just how wrong you are," another Admin cried.
"Everyone attack!" the four Admins cried in unison. "Swalot, use Sludge Bomb! Golbat, use Confuse Ray! Liepard, use Body Slam! Manectric, use Thunderbolt! Mightyena, use Dark Pulse! Houndoom, use Flamethrower!"
Ash could only grin as they called out their attacks. "Everyone go now!" he cried. "Take them down before they finish receiving their orders!" There was an advantage to having battle-trained Pokémon that had experienced numerous battles. His Pokémon, while not nearly as independent as Leaf's, were still able to use their main moves without being given orders. Pikachu opened the battle by unleashing a Thunderbolt on Golbat, taking it down with one hit before it could fire its Confuse Ray. Houndoom was next to fall, being felled by Greninja's Water Shuriken. Talonflame targeted Manectric due to it having a type advantage over both him and Greninja, firing off a Flamethrower. The Flamethrower scored a direct hit on Manectric and caused it to recoil, but it was not enough to finish off the Electric-type Pokémon.
The rest of Team Flare's Pokémon went to launch their attacks on Ash's Pokémon, Swalot firing off a barrage of Sludge Bombs on Greninja, hoping to score a lucky hit. Unfortunately, though, they only struck a group of illusory copies. This opened Swalot up to a combined attack by both Pikachu and Greninja, who unleashed a Thunderbolt and Water Shuriken respectively on the Poison-type Pokémon. The combined attacks were enough to finish off Swalot and cause it to faint. While Pikachu and Greninja dealt with Swalot, Talonflame finished off Manectric, his Flamethrower colliding with Manectric's Thunderbolt, the attacks stopping in midair for several moments before Talonflame's Flamethrower overpowered Manectric's Thunderbolt and the Flamethrower hit the Pokémon. The second Flamethrower was enough to finish off Manectric. That left only Liepard and Mightyena.
Mightyena had fired off its Dark Pulse on Talonflame, managing to score a direct hit on Talonflame. The force of the attack knocked Talonflame back a few feet but it did not inflict too much damage to the bird-like Pokémon. The same could not be said about Talonflame's retaliation.
"Talonflame, use Flamethrower on Mightyena!" Ash cried.
Talonflame obeyed and fired off the Flamethrower on Mightyena. The stream of flame scored a direct hit on Mightyena, as Mightyena had been powering up another Dark Pulse to fire on Talonflame. The single Flamethrower was more then sufficient to knock Mightyena unconscious.
As for Liepard, it attempted to charge Pikachu and Greninja and use Take Down to at least damage the Pokémon. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt; Greninja, use Water Shuriken," Ash cried.
The Pokémon obeyed and launched their attacks on the sole remaining Team Flare Pokémon. The end of the battle came swiftly, for Liepard was no match for the combined might of Pikachu and Greninja. With the Pokémon having been felled, Pikachu then shocked the Team Flare Admins into unconsciousness. With Team Flare having been dealt with, Ash made his way to the door and entered.
When he entered the room, he saw Lysandre standing before him. No longer was Lysandre merely in his standard uniform, he was wearing a machine that greatly resembled Clemont's Aipom Arm. In one of its claws, he held Serena, who was weakly struggling to get free. Her clothes looked to be covered with soot, indicating that she had taken a direct hit from a Flamethrower, or worse. When she turned her head and saw Ash, he could see tears streaming from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said weakly. "I wasn't good enough."
Lying close to where Lysandre had grabbed Serena were all of her Pokémon, either unconscious or dead, given that some of the Pokémon, particularly Sylveon and Delphox had their eyes open and their expressions looked to be that of shock and/or pain, he feared the latter. Lysandre looked at the boy, his stern expression not wavering.
"She put up more of a fight than I would have expected of an idol," he stated nonchalantly. "However, she was, indeed, just an idol, not a real Pokémon Trainer. Not like you or Leaf. Besides, she had a lot on her mind. But then again, so do you. After all, you betrayed your greatest ally to your most hated enemy, and look what it's gotten you."
"Let Serena go!" Ash commanded, ingoring Lysandre's statement about his betrayal of Leaf. His Pokémon then stepped forward to reinforce his command.
Lysandre shook his head. "No," he answered curtly.
Ash did not back down. "You want to destroy the world and kill everyone in it. Why are you holding up Serena as a hostage?"
"Because she means a great deal to you," Lysandre answered. His answer caused Serena's eyes to flash. "Despite the tampering by the Malamars, your feelings for Serena were, indeed, real, if not necessarily romantic. The fact that you care about her gives me leverage over you."
Ash seethed. The Team Flare Boss was right. He looked past Lysandre and was able to make out the forms of Xerneas and Yveltal as well. He gritted his teeth. He knew that he was in an uphill battle against Lysandre and the two Legendary Pokémon arrayed against him. Still, he had a chance, albeit a slim one, to stop Lysandre.
"Lysandre, I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!" Ash proclaimed loudly. "If I win, you let Serena go and shut down the Ultimate Weapon!"
"And if I win, I will destroy all sentient life in the world," Lysandre finished. "In addition, I will keep Serena and have the two of you watch as the world ends for humanity and Pokémon, at least allowing you to spend your last few moments of life together. As for the battle, we will use all of our Pokémon that we have here. No outside interference will be allowed."
"Deal," Ash growled as he stood ready for battle.
"Then let the battle begin," Lysandre proclaimed. With that, the battle to determine the fate of the world had begun.