Chapter 14: Purpose of the Fight
Deep in Hippowdon Temple…
"You face us on your own? Pitiful Ranger," Heath laughed.
"Thomas, I'm proud to say that you were personally my greatest adversary," Hocus informed the Ranger/Trainer.
"Don't count me out yet! We haven't even started this brawl," Thomas countered. He was feeling defiant. He wasn't about to lose to them. "Hocus, I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Thomas!" Hannah's voice exclaimed as she fell into the deepest part of Hippowdon Temple to join them.
"Hey, Hannah," Thomas greeted. "As I was saying, Hocus, you know who you're fighting against, but what are you fighting for?"
"I fight for the Shadow Master, the being of darkness who can reshape the world!" Hocus answered.
"In other words, you're fighting for your own death! The Shadow Master will kill or enslave everything once the Multi-Verse is his! I feel compelled to stop him, not just because I'm the Space-Time Warrior of Palkia, but because I've seen the kind of world the Shadow Master intends to create! I've seen that future in the flesh! It is a horrible future! The sun never rises. Morning never comes. Auroras are a nonexistent memory. No gentle breezes. Dewdrops and pieces of hail alike suspended in midair. A future like that is no future at all. Ever since I saw this kind of world, I vowed to prevent it, even if it costs me my life!"
Hannah gasped. She knew that he felt strongly about it, and she knew what he was talking about. It nearly happened long ago in Mystery Dungeon, long before she had joined Team Poké Pals, but that was another story. It was a story that had moved her friend greatly. Out of Thomas, Hannah, Edd, Ben, and Summer, Thomas had been the only one to see that kind of future. The five of them had seen it as the present: the Netherworld, realm of the Shadow Master.
"And as a Warrior of Dialga, I vow the same!" Hannah spoke up.
"How noble," Hocus said halfheartedly. However, Thomas' words did move him. He thought to himself, Am I really fighting for my own destruction?
"Ranger pulp! My favorite victory food!" Heath laughed.
"I'm going to pretend your trash talking makes sense!" Hannah declared. But before a battle could break out, sand began to seep in from the ceiling.
"Hocus, your presence is causing a huge sandstorm. If we don't get out of here, we'll be buried alive!" Thomas shouted.
Deep in Boyle Volcano…
"Ben!" Summer called. She found Ben face to face with her greatest adversary, Kasa, as well as Lavana. Entei's Involith was still glowing on his forehead.
"I'm telling you hags that you're not going to find what you're looking for here!" Ben insisted. He turned and found Summer. "Hey! Right on time!"
"My, my, if it isn't my old friend, Summer," Kasa said.
"Kasa, you have to get out of here! Your presence is causing this place to go crazy. Why do you think Ben's forehead is lit up like Las Vegas?" Summer pleaded.
"Do you really expect me to believe such a desperate claim at face value?" Kasa asked.
"Did he just call us hags?" Lavana glared at Ben.
"Pichu, Chu," Pichu said. Translation: Delayed reaction.
"Word, brother," Ben said to Pichu. He knelt down, and they fist bumped.
"If you two stay, you'll be the cause of your own destruction!" Summer argued.
"Then you'll perish with us!" Kasa countered.
"You're a pair of impossible women!" Ben shouted. "That felt good." Summer rolled her eyes. She had brought a bow and some arrows with her, and notched and arrow, ready to fire at Kasa.
"A mere arrow?" the older woman asked.
"Either way, you'll die because of your own actions!" Summer explained. She fired the arrow, and it sailed through the air, missed Kasa by a fraction of a millimeter, and was embedded in a wall of rock.
Is she right? Is she really telling me the truth? Kasa considered what Summer said.
There was a huge tremor. The symbol on Ben's forehead grew brighter. It was the Involith of Entei. Entei was said to have made volcanoes erupt with each roar. It was fabled to be incredibly powerful and wise. The instincts of Entei surged through Ben. He notified them, "We have to get out of here! This whole place is going to blow!"
"That means I won't have a face to put makeup on!" Lavana panicked.
"Stop being such a drama queen!" Summer snapped.
"Summer…I see what you are trying to tell me. There is only one thing to do. That shred of dark magic I kept from the Golden armor—I have to let it go," Kasa decided. A black aura flowed out of her. "You were right. Until now, I thought I was going to end up on top, but I see that either way, I'll have been nothing but a pawn. Thank you."
"NO!" Lavana screamed. A fireball formed in her hands.
"I didn't see that coming!" Ben panicked.
"Kasa, you fool!" Lavana shrieked. "I'll roast all three of you!"
Hippowdon Temple…
"You want to release the dark magic from your body?" Hannah asked Hocus.
"I'll still have magic, just not the dark, forbidden stuff," Hocus elaborated.
"It's so crazy, it just might work!" Thomas stated.
"Thomas, thank you for showing me the way. I wish I had considered that before this mess happened." A dark aura flowed out of the elderly magician. "There we go!"
"FOOL! NOW, YOU'RE THE ENEMY!" Heath bellowed and charged at Thomas, Hannah, and Hocus at full speed. They dodged him, and his fist slammed into a wall, creating huge cracks.
"Heath, stop! You'll bring the whole temple down!" Hannah pleaded. Her Torchic looked uneasy.
"Hocus, if we combine our powers, we can either save the temple or get ourselves and all of the Pokémon out!" Thomas theorized. He radiated a magenta aura, the color of Palkia.
"I'll try and freeze time on the building," Hannah said. She glowed with a light blue aura, the color of Dialga.
"Thomas, Hannah, just get out of here! I can stop Heath without a problem!" Hocus insisted.
"Are you sure?" Thomas asked.
"Trust me! I have to right some wrongs anyways. I'll start now!" Hocus assured. He cast a spell on Heath. The yellow clad menace froze in place.
"Let's go!" Thomas said and the three of them warped out of Hippowdon Temple.
Boyle Volcano…
"BURN WITH ME!" Lavana shrieked. She lobbed fireballs at them. Summer finally snapped.
"No more!" Summer decided. That was when her wizardry powers were unearthed. She learned she was an air elemental when a fierce wind picked up around her. She blew out Lavana's next fireball with a mini tornado.
"What?" Lavana gasped. The volcanic activity seemed to be unstoppable, because the magma was rising and stalactites were falling from the ceiling. One blocked the path out.
"I don't need an open sky to use Entei's powers. Blade of the Hero let us demonstrate our bond with Pokémon!" Ben, with the Involith still glowing on his forehead, swung his sword, and he became a ball of fire. He smashed the rock stalactite in his path.
"That was impressive," Kasa was wide-eyed.
"PICHU!" Pichu squeaked and ran on all fours. Translation: COME ON!
"Summer, let's go!" Ben called behind him. Summer flew toward them on a stiff wind. When they finally made it out, Kasa cast a spell and sealed the entrance with a rock wall. Ben looked at her with curiosity. "But I thought—"
"That wasn't dark magic, Ben," Kasa explained.
Ranger Union HQ…
Prof. Hastings noticed that all four of his Top Rangers did what had to be done, and they went above and beyond to turn two members of the Societea away from the dark side. He said to them, via voicemail, "The four of you did excellent work! Mission Clear!" While he couldn't see them, he was sure they were doing their Ranger Poses in triumph.
"Professor, there is something we must tell you. This is Hocus, by the way. Guard the Golden Armor with your life. We scattered to distract the Rangers so you'd send your best far away, so we could steal the Golden Armor. Kasa and I have been shown a better path, so it would only be right to tell you," Hocus reported.
"What?" Prof. Hastings asked in outrage. "Who is coming?"
"Dr. Edward and Kincaid."
"Summer, Hannah, Thomas, Ben, get over here immediately!"
"Yes, sir!" they all said.
Later…
The four Top Rangers returned with Hocus and Kasa. Ash, Misty, Cilan, Iris, and Chris were all present. Kellyn and Keith were there, too. Prof. Hastings and Chairperson Erma led them to the conference room, where business would be discussed. Prof. Hastings began the discussion. "Double-D and Nema haven't reported in a few hours. They last claimed that the ice encasing Almia Castle is building up."
"But if we go to help them, who will stay here?" Summer asked.
"Hey, don't count us out," Keith gestured to himself and Kellyn.
"We'll stay, too," Ash promised.
"Arley and Ice are formidable on their own, but together…we should be very worried for Double-D," Kasa reflected on what she knew. "Arley could snap his neck and who knows what Ice is capable of!"
"This mission is perfect for my Mew-Mew form!" Hannah claimed.
"Yeah…, did I forget to mention I may eventually shut the project down?" Thomas asked sheepishly.
"WHAT?" Summer, Misty, Hannah, and Iris asked in unison. "WHY?"
"Well, we got the information we needed to give to its original creators, Elliot and Wesley, not to mention Dawn and Lyra were kidnapped because of it. Besides, you girls don't need it."
"Can you at least wait until the mission is over?" Hannah asked.
"Sure! No rush!"