Suddenly the whole area became unseasonably cold and there was a big explosion of black light. When it faded there was a tall armored figure standing in the middle of the field.

"Who is that?" asked May

It took Ash a minute to remember the nightmare he had on the eve of his birthday.

"No… I can't be! This can't be real!"

"Who the hell is that?!"

Adena looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Xanrai…"

"Who?" asked Dawn.

"Misty, we need to get out here now!"

Xanrai must've heard Adena despite the distance, because his empty eyes flew in that direction. All of a sudden he vanished and reappeared right beside the group.

"Whoever you are, put your hands in the air!" exclaimed one of the nearby G-Men.

If Xanrai wasn't wearing a mask they would have seen him grin. He raised his hands and waved them. Just like that all the G-Men exploded, leaving a huge splatter of blood and body parts.

"HOLY SHIT!"

He reached out with his hand and sharply pulled it back. The next thing they knew Adena was sent flying through the air toward them. When he spoke his voice sounded as cold and unfeeling as a ghost. In fact he might as well have been a ghost for there wasn't even a shred of humanity left in him.

"You've made quite a mess of things Adena… "

"How is it possible that you're here?!"

"My dear Adena… It's like you don't know me at all… My spies are many; through them I learned of your little quest to undo the future that is mine."

"But how did you come back in time? Only Celebi or Dialga can manipulate it."

"It's quite simple; I knew that it would be fruitless to search for either legendary Pokémon since they didn't come to my aid when I needed them before. So I decided that if I couldn't find a Pokémon that could manipulate time, I'd make one instead. I tracked down your friend Mewtwo and had a little chat with him."

"What did you do to him?!"

"I persuaded him to share his expertise in cloning Pokémon. After that all I needed was a little strand of hair that your Celebi left behind."

A million things were going through Adena's mind at once. Without Mewtwo the resistance wouldn't have won half their battles. If Xanrai had a cloning machine then he could create an army of Omegamoahs, and the resistance had trouble when there was only one.

Xanrai looked at the bump on Misty's stomach. If he had even a shred of his past life left in him he would have broken down crying, but he gave up his humanity for power a long time ago. Now all he cared about was the security of his rule. He was one step away from becoming a god, so he didn't need an heir.

"As heartwarming as this conversation is… I have an agenda to keep. Never send old enemies to do your dirty work."

Xanrai raised his finger and electricity began dancing around it.

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! I WON'T LET YOU!" yelled Adena jumping in front of Misty "Don't you see, I can set you free!"

"What the hell are you people talking about?" asked Jessie.

Since he was the only one who had seen Xanrai before, Ash was the only one who could understand. Xanrai didn't want to risk exposing himself, otherwise he could pop right out of existence, so he spook to Adena using telepathy.

"So that's what this is about? You think you can succeed where I failed, and in doing so save billions of meaningless lives and change me back… Ash Ketchum is dead, now stand aside."

"No!"

"Stand aside Adena..."

"You wouldn't… you don't have the guts."

"Do I?"

BANG!

One minute Adena was standing there beside the others, and then she was on the ground with a big bloody hole in her breast.

"ADENA! NO!"

Adena was hanging on by a thread, a thread that was quickly unraveling.

"He killed me… his own daughter… I thought I could save him… I've failed… I let them all down… Brock… Mewtwo… May… Dawn… Cynthia… Grandma… Mom… Daddy…"

"BIIIIIIII!"

"Celebi?"

Adena hadn't released Celebi from her Poké Ball, but somehow she was hearing her voice. Everything was going dark fast, but through it Adena heard and saw a happy young couple playing with their children, a boy and a girl. Suddenly a last rush of hope flooded through her.

"ADENA! HANG ON! IT'S GONNA BE OKAY!"

"PIKA!"

Adena's sight and hearing were quickly failing her, but she could tell who was at her side.

"I… I… I… love… you… Da…dee."

"Almost breaks my heart… if I still had one."

Any doubt Ash had was shattered. His teenage daughter had just died in his arms. Over the course of the past few months Ash had found out that his father was alive and was an international criminal, he had become a pariah, he had gotten Misty pregnant, and now the bubble popped.

"How dare you… HOW DARE YOU! I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

"Ash, he'll kill you too!"

Xanrai wasn't going to admit it, but Misty was wrong. Killing his past self would only guarantee that he would never exist. He was going to have to bluff him.

"Ignorant worm! I have destroyed millions for less!"

"If you're so powerful, then you won't mind proving it!"

Now Xanrai was actually laughing, and it made everyone shiver.

"And why should I waste my time with an insignificant cur like you?"

Ash didn't care that this guy was from the future, he didn't care that he had just killed over half a dozen men with a wave of his hands, he didn't care that any Pokémon he may have brought with him were probably infinitely more powerful than his, he was going to make him pay.

"Are we going to fight, or are you a coward."

Xanrai could just zap Misty and be done with it, but by the looks of things Ash might need a little extra motivation to become the man he was destined to become. Crushing the Pokémon he had spent so much time training against Omegamoah might just do the trick.

"Very well… I accept your foolish challenge."

Ash didn't know how the hell he was going to win, but as long as his Pokémon had breath in their bodies he was going to make this monster pay for what he did to his daughter. Suddenly…

"What in the…"

The Omega Ball began to shake and crackle with energy, and then a huge burst fired out of it and struck all the other Poké Balls on Ash's belt and Pikachu. Even Xanrai looked surprised.

"What trickery is this?!" exclaimed Xanrai.

"Pikachu, are you okay?"

Pikachu was bathed in an eerie red glow, but he was actually smiling.

"Pi-ka-chu!"

Max, who had finally snapped out of shock, was with fiddling with something he had pulled out of his pocket.

"Ash! I don't know what happened, but Pikachu's power just went through the roof!"

"Omegamoah must be giving them a boost! Now that's what I call being a team player."

Xanrai didn't know Omegamoah had this power. He wondered what other powers he might be hiding. But that would have to wait until he returned to the future.

"Are you sure you're okay Pikachu?"

"Pi-ka!"

"Okay then… let's kick my ass..."