Ash vs. Tobias
By: Saphroneth
Ending Scene by Me
Ash helped Infernape back to the stand. The tough Fire-type was nearly exhausted from his battle with Paul's Electivire, but triumphant - and Ash felt the same.
After all... it seemed like they'd changed Paul's mind as well.
"Nice work!" Brock said, grinning. "You've seen who you're facing next?"
"No, I-" Ash turned, as the match was generated.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding!" Barry moaned. "Isn't that the guy with the Darkrai?"
Ash's final companion hid a smile. "I'm sure Ash will do fine."
"Thanks, Leah," Ash said, then frowned. "But... okay, I think I know how I can do this."
"You'd better!" Barry folded his arms seriously. "Or you'll owe me a lot of money!"
Leah raised a finger. "We should talk."
"Uh... sure," Ash agreed.
Brock glanced down at Infernape. "You should get him to the Pokémon center first."
"Right." Ash adjusted his grip. "Come on, Infernape."
"What was it, Leah?" Ash asked, some time later.
Pikachu quirked his head in identical confusion.
Leah hid a smile at the sight. She'd met the looping versions of these two before, and enjoyed the company - so when she found herself in place of Dawn, it had been a natural progression to just tag along with the group.
Besides, Brock could be quite... devoted.
"Right," she said, getting to the point. "I found more details about this guy - this Tobias. And... Ash, if you want to win this, pull out all the stops."
"I've already got a plan, don't worry!" Ash said.
"Yeah, you've got a plan for his Darkrai," Leah agreed. "But that's not his only Pokémon."
Ash nodded, looking thoughtful.
"I don't know what else he has," the erstwhile werewolf and current Anchor continued. "But I do know he's got a Latios."
As she'd half-expected, the news made both Ash and Pikachu do a double-take. "Say what?"
Leah shrugged. "That's about all I know."
"Right. Thanks for the warning, Leah." Ash frowned again, then visibly had an idea. "Where's the nearest PC? I need to call Oak again - and Liza."
As he hurried off, Leah hid a smile.
That was all the help he was getting. But - hopefully it would be enough.
Her Swanna fluttered over from the pond, landing next to her. "He's a good kid."
"Don't talk like that, chief, someone might hear you," Leah replied easily. "Enjoying being a living pun?"
Charlie ruffled his feathers. "More than I was expecting. Still not too much of a fan of the dancing, though."
"Hey, I'm the one who has to wear the outfits."
"Okay, guys, ready?" Ash asked.
The half-dozen Pokémon nodded, enthusiastically, and gave their own cries, roars, squeaks or quiet agreement.
"Now, remember... we don't know what else he has." Ash looked at Charizard, especially. "So don't set me on fire or anything if I don't send you out against the first one..."
Charizard made a hrumph noise, looking ostentatiously away.
"And no matter what..." Ash smiled. "Let's do the best we can."
One by one, red beams of light recalled the five other Pokémon into their Pokéballs.
"Let's go, Pikachu!" he said, to an answering smile from his starter, and they headed out to meet the crowd.
"I hope Ash does well," Brock said.
Leah leaned into him, smiling. "So do I."
She'd run out of degrees to do back home some time ago, and had instead started doing what she called 'popular culture loops'. Pick something, go to university for four years, pretend to study while actually watching TV and playing games to her heart's content, and then turn in one of her Masters' thesis from a previous loop at the end of it all.
The experience had been made all the more interesting – or surreal – by the knowledge that just about everything was a world out there. As real as her own.
And that also meant there were things which struck her as unjust.
Perhaps it was the perspective of the anime, but – well, she didn't like Tobias much. As far as she was concerned, he should have led off with anything but the Darkrai. And Charlie was right, Ash was a sweet kid. He deserved a better chance.
And if she'd used the opportunity of her loop here to also date the unawake Brock... so what?
"Here we go," she said, as both trainers raised their first Pokéballs.
"A Heracross?" Tobias asked. "Interesting choice! Darkrai, use Dark Void!"
Silently, Darkrai raised his arms and released a pulse of dark energy. It swept over Heracross, who promptly fell asleep.
Ash grinned. "Here goes! Heracross, Sleep Talk!"
Tobias raised an eyebrow.
Heracross muttered something incomprehensible. He stood up, swaying, and began to stumble forwards.
Tobias directed his Darkrai to use a Dark Pulse, which shot out – and missed, as Heracross used Sleep Talk again and tripped over a hunk of turf which happened to result in the attack going wide.
Leah watched, avidly. So far it was almost the same, but-
Ash paused a moment, then ordered Heracross to use Sleep Talk.
Yes, she wasn't imagining it. Watching it, without the camera angles of the anime, she could tell – Ash was timing when he gave the orders, so that Heracross was able to keep dodging and weaving without letting Darkrai land a hit.
It was fascinating to watch.
Brock squeezed her hand, and she absently squeezed his right back.
Ash was barely aware of the crowd, focusing all his attention on the positions of his Heracross and the Darkrai he was fighting.
Amazingly, those Megahorns and Focus Punches which had connected had knocked Darkrai about – a lot. In fact, as far as Ash could tell, the Dark type was looking tired.
"Sleep talk!" he called, and Heracross did a peculiar forward roll – then his eyes snapped open.
A light gathered in his mouth.
With a dull, bass sound that seemed to be heard in the chest rather than the ears, a Hyper Beam speared out and clipped Darkrai on the shoulder.
Tobias blinked. Darkrai was taking one hell of a beating.
"Dark Void again!" he ordered. "Then Dream Eater!"
The Pitch-Black Pokémon raised his arms, and Heracross – panting from the effort of the Hyper Beam – was unable to get out of the way of the soporific attack. Then Darkrai pulled energy from the Bug's dreams, finally knocking him out for good.
"You did great," Ash whispered. Then he took out his second Pokéball. "Okay. I know you're tired, but you don't need to do much. Just like what we discussed."
He threw the ball. "Infernape!"
Tobias looked interested. The Infernape... that was a powerful Pokémon.
But, it was plain to see, still tired from the battle from a short while ago. Foolish of Ash Ketchum – he'd thought the boy a more caring trainer than that.
"Dark Void," he instructed.
Infernape's lip curled in a grin.
He knew he was tired. But he also knew – Ash was counting on him.
"Dig!" Ash ordered.
Infernape needed no second instruction, and rapidly tunnelled into the ground. The Dark Void attack pulsed out, but passed over the hole without connecting.
"Okay, Infernape!" Ash called. "Three, two – now!"
Darkrai only had time to look down when the ground under it erupted upwards. Infernape came out with his fist glowing, and volleyed in a powerful Mach Punch.
Infernape landed lightly, expression still full of energy.
This was battling. The kind of situation when you felt that the whole battle turned on your actions – and, today, it did.
The predictable Dark Void attack came again. Infernape tried to dive back underground, but was unable to, and the attack rolled over him.
Chimchar was alone.
Lost, in a forest. Abandoned by the one he'd thought to be a friend.
Forever alone.
Why did people always abandon him?
Ash's fists clenched until his nails made red marks on his skin.
He knew what Darkrai did, knew that his poor Infernape had to be having a nasty nightmare.
And, as Darkrai absorbed the nightmare, it was starting to look healthier.
"Infernape!" Ash called. "You're not alone! You never will be!"
Chimchar heard the words, distantly, in the middle of his dream.
Monferno stood up, drying his tears-
And Infernape woke up.
Blue fire erupted around his form as Darkrai's Dream Eater collapsed.
A glance back at Ash's stand, and Infernape knew just what to do.
Blue fire focussed around him, and he lunged forwards.
Darkrai raised his hands, preparing another Dark Void to put Infernape to asleep again, but the attack had barely formed when an almighty Flare Blitz hit like a bullet train. That was on fire.
"Whoa!" Barry said, shading his eyes.
Leah nodded silent agreement. That had been spectacular.
When the smoke and flames cleared, it revealed a circle of scorched grass, and an unconscious Infernape, driven too hard by his powerful attack... and a sight which made the crowd gasp.
Another KOed Pokémon.
Tobias' Darkrai was defeated.
There was a moment of silence. Then Barry stood up, applauding. "Yeah! Nice one, Ash!"
Leah and Brock exchanged a glance, then started clapping as well.
The wave of enthusiasm ran around the stands – perhaps driven in part by people who had wanted to see Tobias at least forced to put in some effort.
Ash recalled Infernape. "That's all I could have asked for," he said softly, and Pikachu nodded next to him.
"Nice work!" Tobias called across the stadium. "You're the first to defeat my Darkrai, which deserves recognition."
Ash smiled for a moment, then the expression was replaced by determination.
This wasn't over yet.
"As both Pokémon were knocked out," the referee went on, "Both trainers must now send out their next Pokémon at the same time. Three, two, one – now!"
Ash scooped up another Pokéball. "Swellow!"
"Latios!"
Murmuring ran around the stands. "He has a Latios too?"
Ash heard the commenter giving an explanation for what a Latios was, but tuned it out. "Swellow!" he called. "Quick Attack – into the sky! Then Aerial Ace, and don't slow down for anything!"
Swellow called out his battle-cry, and shot off into the sky.
"Tackle!" Tobias instructed, willing to take a wait-and-see attitude for now.
Latios followed Swellow, almost as fast, and an instant breeze ruffled hair around the stadium.
Squinting into the sky, Ash called out commands.
"Double Team! Now – dodge, and get back down low!"
Swellow shimmered, splitting into a dozen images. His tail flagged in the slipstream, each image moving differently, and the images opened up like a flower.
Latios tried to get one of them, aiming to intercept. Closing in on a Swellow, he came in for a high-speed impact – and passed through.
"Use telepathy to tell which one it is!" Tobias called.
Swellow was already down on the deck, the remaining Double Team images crisscrossing with him over the arena floor.
Latios frowned, then began to move with more purpose – closing in on one of the Swellow in particular.
"Left!" Ash called. "Now down – right to the grass!"
Trusting his trainer, Swellow flew closer still to the arena floor. His wings clipped the grassy surface, blowing up a mess of green grass-tips behind him. The Double Team illusions faded away, no longer needed or convincing with the grassy trail pointing out his position.
"Right!"
Swellow's right tail tip went down, scraping the grass. His left tip went up, his tail as a whole slanted, and he turned a brutally tight corner – making Latios' attack miss, and the Legendary hit the surface of the field with a noticeable thud.
Tobias frowned. "Okay, Latios, we'll have to do this the hard way," he said, as the Eon Pokémon rose back up from the floor. "Luster Purge!"
"Right at him!" Ash said, the moment the attack began to charge. "Aim for the nose!"
Swellow screeched, brazenly charging his opponent as the attack built.
Ash watched Latios carefully, remembering Alto-Mare. If he could-
"Down!"
Ash misjudged the moment slightly, and ordered Swellow to change direction a moment too late. The Luster Purge clipped his wing, sending him spiralling out of control into the grass.
"Swellow!" Ash called, heart in his mouth. "Are you-"
The Flying type gave a tired-sounding chirp, waving his wing from next to the scorched grass left by Infernape, and relief washed through his trainer.
"Finish him off," Tobias instructed. "Tackle again."
Needing no further instruction, Latios bored in at full speed.
"Cancel the Double Team!" Ash called. "And Wing Attack!"
The Swellow that Latios was aiming for vanished, revealing that the real Pokémon was coming to his feet right in the middle of the ash-scar. With a cocky chirp, the Swallow Pokémon raised his wings, facing down the oncoming legendary.
Then brought his wings down. Not at Latios – at the grass.
The burned, scorched, crumbly, powdery grass.
Latios didn't have time to react. He hit Swellow, sending the tired Pokémon flying – and clearly out for the count – but did so flying into a cloud of ash and dust, which got in his eyes and obscured them. Just like a Sand-attack, except on a far larger scale.
Tobias frowned, concerned. That could be worrisome.
Ash caught Swellow as he came down, and lowered him the rest of the way. "You were amazing," he said, then returned him. "Gible!"
Gible took a stance, eying the larger dragon, and growled.
Latios stared back, blinking red-rimmed eyes to try and clear the grit in them.
"Okay, Gible!" Ash called. "Dragon Pulse!"
"Left!" Tobias called, and the handicapped Latios hovered sideways out of the way of the attack.
"Go invisible!" he added. Latios complied, using his feathers to bend light and disappear.
"Great," Ash said, then pointed. "Gible – use Dig!"
Gible nodded and tunnelled into the ground, throwing up spadefuls of dirt. He vanished entirely within seconds, ahead of a return Dragon Pulse by Latios which went a little wide.
Ash frowned, thinking.
Neither Pokémon could hit the other at the moment, and when Gible came out from underground neither would be able to hit very easily. But Latios had the advantage, since his trainer could see Gible.
Wait...
"Gible!" Ash called. "Remember what Latios looks like?"
Gible replied in the affirmative, though his voice was muffled. "Gib gib!"
"Don't you think it's a bit like a giant Piplup?"
Tobias blinked. Pardon?
Barry gaped. "He's not going to-"
"He is," Leah confirmed.
Piplup hid under a seat.
"Dig!" Ash commanded.
The ground erupted, revealing the Dragon/Ground type.
"Now, Draco Meteor!"
Gible nodded, and spat out a glowing orb of energy. It rose into the sky, and detonated – then began to fall.
Towards one side of the arena in particular.
"You're kidding," Tobias said, softly. "How does that-? Latios! Light Screen!"
The Eon Pokémon glowed, forming a shield around itself which revealed its position. Just in time, as well, as the hail of meteors crashed home and blew the shield apart again before hitting Latios with incredible force.
Amazingly, the Dragon/Psychic type was still capable of battling. But his opponent was not only perfectly fine... he was better.
The white glow receded from Gabite's rough skin, and he gave Latios an appraising look.
"Dragon Pulse!" Ash ordered.
"Latios – use Giga Impact!" Tobias countered. "Left a bit – there! Now attack!"
Ash gave a second command. "No, wait – use Dig!"
Gabite bashed his claws into the floor. Instead of Dig, however, he produced a shower of rocks from the floor, and sent them flying at Latios.
"That's a Stone Edge!" Brock said, recognizing it.
He winced, as Latios ran straight into it. He still hit Gabite, but was visibly slowing, and the other Dragon-type was largely unharmed by the impact.
"Whatever it was, it certainly handled Latios," Leah pointed out. "What a battle!"
Piplup poked his head out from under the chair, keeping one eye firmly on the sky.
"Well done, Gabite!" Ash called, relief in his voice.
Gabite glanced back at him, and threw what was clearly a thumbs-up.
"Even more impressive," Tobias said. "Your Gabite's Draco Meteor is very strong. I'll have to use my most strongly defensive Pokémon."
Ash watched intently as an Aggron materialized.
"Okay, Gabite, you can do this," he said, then blinked. "Wait, what's-"
The Aggron glowed, light emanating from a small crystal in one big rocky paw.
Tobias adjusted his cape, and the button holding it closed began to glow in response.
When the light died away, Aggron was... different. Steel armour covered every inch, and spikes had grown from its wrists to match the ones on its head.
"What the heck is that?" someone shouted from the stands.
"I've never heard of that before!" Barry said, standing up. "Foul!"
"It's a Mega Evolution," Leah explained. "I've never actually seen one before."
This has got to be cheating, she thought to herself.
"What does that mean?" Barry asked, looking back.
"Well... for one thing, it's even tougher than before."
Ash looked the new evolution over. It seemed to be all steel and no rock, now...
"We'll get it anyway!" he called. "Gabite, Dig!"
"Mega Aggron, use Iron Defence!" Tobias ordered.
As Gabite vanished underground again, the giant Steel-type glowed with bluish-silver light.
A tense silence filled the arena for the next few seconds. Then Gabite burst through the ground again directly underneath Mega Aggron, delivering the attack with a clang.
"That was a lot less damaging than I was expecting," Brock said. "Even with the Iron Defence, an Aggron would be more damaged than that."
Leah nodded, trying to remember what it was about Mega Aggron she was forgetting...
"Wait!" she said, realizing. "It's not a Rock-type any more, just a Steel-type. And it has an Ability that means its weaknesses aren't as much weaknesses as they normally are."*
"So Ash is in trouble?" Barry said, wincing.
"Maybe," Leah hedged. "But Aggron are mainly tough physically. I hope Ash remembers that..."
"Rock Smash!"
Gabite jumped over the sweep of an Iron Tail attack, used it as a platform for a jump, and volleyed home a Rock Smash attack into Mega Aggron's front.
Once more, there was a loud clang, but very little actual harm done.
"This is taking too long," Ash said to himself. "Gabite's getting tired..."
Nothing had actually connected with Gabite yet, apart from the side-splash of an occasional Mud Slap, but that couldn't last forever.
"Heavy Slam!" Tobias instructed.
Gabite jumped backwards, almost managing to get out of the way of the belly-flop in time. One arm was hit, and he yelped in pain before snarling as Mega Aggron gradually stood again.
"Nothing's working..." Ash said, then brightened. "Gabite! Use Draco Meteor again!"
Gabite nodded, favoring his left arm, and inhaled.
"Get him before the attack fires!" Tobias snapped. "Automize, then Iron Head!"
A series of whirrs and clanks emitted from within Mega Aggron. Then he jumped forwards, much faster now.
Gabite jumped forwards, still charging the Draco Meteor, and kicked down with both feet at Mega Aggron's forehead as it came in. Both Pokémon were visibly injured by the impact, and Gabite went flying high into the air as his much lighter form was knocked about like a toy.
"Gabite!" Ash called out. "Are you-"
Gabite gave his answer. A globe of orange energy shot down from overhead, split just ten feet above the arena, and hammered into Mega Aggron like a shotgun blast.
The Dragon landed on one leg slightly before the other, and stumbled with the impact. He panted heavily, turning to face his opponent.
Mega Aggron was heavily dented, but still ready to battle as well. He shook his head, and advanced in a lumbering run.
Gabite watched the attack coming in, leaning to take the weight off one leg.
"Dragon Pulse and Dig!" Ash called.
A ring of green energy formed, and pulsed outwards. Mega Aggron ran into it, the attack finding better purchase on the dents in his armour, and kept coming.
About ten yards from Gabite, he stumbled and fell. His speed and weight kept him coming in a skidding, blundering rush, until he came to a stop just in front of the hole Gabite had dug.
"Whoo," Barry exhaled. "That was close!"
"Does that mean you owe Ash a million dollars?" Leah teased.
"Nope!" the energetic trainer replied, shaking his head. "But Gabite's really tired now. What else does this guy have?"
I'm wondering that myself, Leah agreed silently.
"Well, I am surprised!" Tobias congratulated. "Very few Sinnoh trainers have seen a Mega Pokémon, let alone know how to beat them."
"I've never seen one before," Ash replied. "And I'm from Pallet, in Kanto."
"My apologies." Tobias recalled his (now reverted) Aggron. "I can see I will need to handle your Dragon before progressing further. Metagross!"
"Okay, Gabite," Ash said, as soon as his opponents' Pokémon was out. "You're already underground, now use Dig!"
"Magnet Rise," Tobias ordered coolly.
"Great..." Ash winced, as Gabite burst out of the ground and failed to hit anything. "Try a Rock Smash!"
"Meteor Mash."
Gabite's Rock Smash was unable to hit home, as Metagross grabbed him with one claw and then hammered him back into the ground with the other three.
That finally finished off Ash's gallant Gabite, and he recalled him as soon as the dust cleared.
"That was so cool," Ash told Gabite. "Rest now."
He picked up the final Pokéball. "Okay, Charizard, your turn!"
Charizard exploded out of the 'ball before it hit the ground, roaring something which sounded an awful lot like 'finally!'
"Light Screen." Tobias watched the Fire-type, concentrating. "Scary Face – slow him down."
Charizard roared laughter, not intimidated at all, and raked Metagross with a Flamethrower. The Steel/Psychic type endured it stoically, and countered with a Psychic.
"Whoa!" Barry said, on the edge of his seat. "I knew Ash's Pokémon were strong, but this is a whole different league!"
"You should have seen him back in Johto," Brock told them. "At one point, he actually attacked an Entei – and he was winning."
Fire speared across the arena again.
"Light Screen!" Tobias said again, as yet another flame attack broke on the shields – getting a little further into them this time. "Try to catch him in your Psychic!"
Metagross raised all four arms, levitating above the arena floor, and exerted considerable force on a Psychic. Mental force plucked at Charizard's wings, trying to foul them and prevent his soaring flight, and he gave an amused snarl before rolling and accelerating – leaving the psychic attack behind.
It readjusted, rotating smoothly to keep Charizard in its sights, and Charizard accelerated further.
This was honestly a little unsettling. The trainer, Ash, had a strong link with his Pokémon – that much was certain. But this Charizard... it was fighting alone.
Did that mean it was harder to control? Or just that they thought so alike that there was no need for instruction?
Tobias made his mind up to force the issue.
"Metagross! No more Psychic. Use Zen Headbutt!"
A glow built around Metagross' head-shield. It lowered to the floor, pivoting to face the flying Charizard, then kicked off with incredible force and shot skywards.
"Flamethrower!" Ash said, breaking his silence for the first time that match.
Charizard unleashed a burst of flame onto Metagross as it ascended, then spread his arms and took the blow with a grunt.
"Hang on!" Ash added. "Now, mix Flaming Seismic Toss and Skull Bash!"
Charizard blinked for a moment, parsing the complex command, and enveloped himself in flame before carrying Metagross on a trajectory straight back towards the ground. He released the Psychic/Steel type just before reaching the arena floor, and bottomed out so low his tail lit the grass on fire.
"Wasn't that just basically Flare Blitz?" Brock asked.
Leah shrugged. "Like I keep track. That Charizard knows more moves than Pikachu does."
Metagross clambered out of the crater in the ground, noticeably slower now.
"Keep it up," Tobias said. "Hyper Beam!"
"Overheat!" Ash ordered.
Metagross acted first. Its eyes glowed, then the big metal X on its face. Light beams came together from the four points of the cross, and fired.
Charizard's own Overheat was only a fraction of a second behind. It roared out, a great spiralling gout of flame within flame which went on and on and on.
The two attacks met, and formed an unstable ball of energy. Both Pokémon kept feeding in more and more energy, and the ball grew and crackled before exploding into a cloud of smoke that covered the stands.
Ash squinted through the smoke, then raised his voice. "Charizard! Dragon Rage, to the left of where you attacked last!"
The blaze of energy rocketed down through the smoke, blowing it in all directions as it hit.
"Flamethrower! Left a bit – there! Now use Fire Spin around it!"
The tornado of flame sent the last of the smoke away, revealing Metagross trapped inside the curtain of flame.
Ash exhaled. He'd been doing a bit more than guessing, but it had still been a gamble. "Okay, now use the most powerful Fire attack you have!"
Charizard's reply was that his tail blazed up like never before. He briefly stopped the Fire Spin, and then sent a massive spear of red-orange flame directly downwards.
The Eruption attack was too much for Metagross, which finally collapsed, unable to battle further.
"I see you've been saving the best for last," Tobias complimented. "If your Pikachu is stronger than this, I can see how you got this far! But I'm afraid your Charizard will have a little trouble with my next Pokémon."
A fifth Pokéball came off his belt. "Go!"
"Suicune?" Ash asked, watching the blue feline pacing coolly around the arena with an easy gait. "This is getting ridiculous."
Pikachu nodded, flipping an ear. "Pi..."
"Okay, Charizard," Ash added. "I don't need to tell you – stay high, and stay out of trouble."
Charizard roared an affirmative.
"And use Dragon moves if you can."
Putting action to words, Charizard fired down another Dragon Rage ball. It headed straight for Suicune, who blurred into motion and ran ahead of the attack.
Once it hit, blowing a further crater in the abused floor, Suicune slowed once more and resumed the easy pace – casting an occasional glance skywards.
Charizard scowled, and he snarled a challenge.
"Easy, Charizard," Ash called up. "Don't let Suicune provoke you. Stay up there, where it's safe."
"Extremespeed and jump!" Tobias called. "Then Hydro Pump!"
Suicune moved. The big blue Pokémon seemed to use the air itself for leverage, coiling and then springing off into an enormous vertical jump, and ascended as high as the surprised Charizard.
She unleashed a colossal rush of water, and Charizard folded in both wings to dive out of the way. Some of the attack clipped his wings, producing a hiss of pain and steam, and then he was below and mostly clear.
Wings hammering, the orange Fire-type fought to regain altitude as Suicune dropped back down, firing more Water attacks after him. Another two hit, both glancing blows, and then he was back above her.
"Higher!" Ash called. "Higher than she can jump!"
Nodding, Charizard climbed to the very limit of the stadium's dome. Any further, and he'd be leaving the arena entirely.
Suicune tried to jump for him again, but the greater distance gave Charizard more warning, and though his Dragonbreath didn't connect it effectively warded her off.
For a few seconds, the two Pokémon circled warily.
"Suicune!" Tobias called. "Rain Dance!"
Suicune accelerated, leaving a shimmering trail of bluish mist behind herself. It wafted skywards, spreading and thickening, until it reached the top of the arena and began to pool into heavy grey clouds.
Charizard had few options, but tried one of them anyway. He unleashed a gout of Flamethrower into the streams of mist, attempting to burn them off, and added to that with a Wing Attack to disperse them.
Despite this, the mist joined up into an unbroken blanket of cloud across the whole top of the stadium.
Drops began to fall. A few at first, then more and more until a torrential rainstorm was hammering down.
"Charizard!" Ash called into the sky. "This isn't working, you'll have to come down!"
A roar answered him.
"Try and hit her with a Steel Wing!" Ash added, squinting into the rainstorm. It was really very intense rain, drumming loudly enough that he worried if Charizard could hear him.
For a long moment, he wondered.
Then an orange shape blew past, mouth roaring with Dragonbreath and wings shining with steely light. Ash caught sight of the tail, wrapped up into a coil which kept the flame itself out of the storm.
Probably something he'd learned in the Valley.
Suicune met the attack with one of her own. Blurring out of sight with Extremespeed, she vanished from where Charizard was aiming.
Ash had a brief flash of her running alongside the attack run, then – as Charizard decided to abort and headed skywards again – she jumped, landing on his back.
Charizard reacted nearly instantly. Aborting the abort, he flipped over to try to throw her off.
Clinging on with all four paws, Suicune fired a Hydro Pump at point-blank range.
Amazingly, Charizard managed to turn it into a kind of Seismic Toss. He rammed himself into the ground Suicune-first, and she was forced to let go.
He rolled back upright, climbed a few dozen feet, staggered in the air, and landed with a slithering crash which nearly hit the retaining wall.
"An impressive show!" Tobias said, applauding, as Ash returned Charizard. "I take it he trained in the Charicific Valley?"
"That's right," Ash agreed. "Pikachu!"
Pikachu needed absolutely no instruction whatsoever. He jumped off Ash's shoulder into the arena, landed, and released a huge Thunder attack.
The rain which had helped Suicune defeat Charizard became her undoing. Untainted by mud due to her mystical ability to purify water, the heavy rain saturating the ground offered no resistance whatsoever to the Electric attack, and Pikachu knocked her out in seconds.
"I'll be honest, Ash Ketchum," Tobias said amiably. "That's more or less what I expected to happen. Still, it had to be done."
With Suicune gone, the rain petered out and the clouds dissipated.
"This is my final Pokémon! You were doing better than anyone else so far when you got to my second, but to push me to my last is a truly amazing achievement!"
Tobias picked up his final Pokéball, weighed it for a second, and threw it.
Leah blinked. "Okay, I'm not sure what I expected, but a Blaziken isn't it."
"Those are the Hoenn starters, right? The final form of Torchic?" Barry asked.
"Yeah," Leah confirmed.
Brock touched her arm.
"What?" she asked, turning to him.
"Leah," Brock said urgently. "He's got three legendary Pokémon. This was his last Pokémon."
"...and must be how he managed to catch them," Leah agreed, slowly. "That bird must be dynamite."
"Ready, Pikachu..." Ash said.
Pikachu nodded, all his attention on the Blaziken opposite.
"We got stopped by a Blaziken in Johto, we won't let it happen here!" Ash exhorted. "Okay – whoa!"
Blaziken shot forwards, sending up splashes of mud and water from the still soaked ground. His feet flashed into fire as he ran, and he aimed a kick at Pikachu at full sprint.
Pikachu jumped out the way, barely making it clear of the Blaze Kick in time. He landed on a relatively dry patch, and launched a Thunderbolt off at Blaziken.
A great wave of muddy water went flying everywhere as the Blaziken skidded to a halt and lashed out with another kick. It connected with the Thunderbolt in mid-air, dissipating much of the force, and two stray arcs of electricity hit different parts of the stadium floor.
Blaziken slowly lowered the outstretched foot, watching intently. Curls of fire came from the feathers around his elbows, lazily circling his wrists.
Then he darted forward again.
"Agility!" Ash ordered, and Pikachu broke into a run of his own.
Fire and electricity snapped and crashed off one another, too fast to follow, and then mouse and bird came to a halt again.
Ash looked at Pikachu, concerned.
His beloved starter was scorched from the near misses of Fire Punches and Blaze Kicks, and had what looked like at least one bruise from a direct hit. His tail shimmered, as it went back from an Iron Tail to the normal yellow.
Blaziken looked like he'd gotten the better of the exchange overall, but several small injuries on his wrists and ankles showed that Pikachu had been causing a few nicks himself.
After a frozen instant, Pikachu jumped forward again, cheeks flaring.
Tobias and Ash watched, neither needing to give an order, as their highly-experienced starters fenced back and forth across the stadium. Electricity and fire crashed everywhere, with Blaziken always pressing for a closer engagement, and the occasional pulse of displaced air from a Fighting attack being followed by a snapping electrical counterattack.
At first, those in the stands could follow – albeit with difficulty. But both Blaziken and Pikachu kept raising the tempo, until there was nothing but an invisibly fast blur of red and brown and yellow from which attacks crackled and roared.
After more than three minutes of constant combat, Blaziken landed a body-blow with a Fire Punch.
Pikachu bounced across half the stadium, rolled, and came to a halt.
For once, he was far enough to charge an attack, and a grin formed.
Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt, keeping it high to avoid the now-muddy water, and Blaziken dodged with a prodigious skywards leap.
"Thunder!" Ash said quickly. "While he's in the air!"
Pikachu jumped, cheeks sparkling. "Pika-CHU!"
A bolt of blazing lightning connected the sky with the earth.
"Ow!" Barry said, hands over his ears. "I didn't know Pikachu could do that!"
Leah nodded, wincing. That had been one hell of an attack. But-
"Look!" she said, pointing, and the others followed her finger.
Blaziken made a three-point landing, smoke pouring from its feathers, and turned.
Tobias spoke up for the first time in this whole section of the battle. "Sky Uppercut."
Pikachu sent another Thunderbolt forwards, and Blaziken lashed out with a kick so fast it made a blurring crack sound. A wash of muddy water came up, and the attack dissipated.
Blaziken ran forwards, dodging another attack with even greater speed than he had shown up to this point. He lunged forward, going into a handstand, and then slammed his feet down on the ground – hard enough that Pikachu bounced a few inches into the air.
Quick as a flash, Blaziken hooked his foot under Pikachu – accepting a zap from Pikachu's hasty Discharge – and flipped him higher, to a little above head height.
Then came the Sky Uppercut, volleying Pikachu high into the air. Blaziken leapt after him, and caught up at the apex of the climb.
"Seismic Toss," Tobias added.
Pikachu tried to kick off in a Quick Attack, but Blaziken moved faster. Taking the Electric-type in both clawed hands, Blaziken began to fall back towards the arena floor.
"Pikachu!" Ash called.
Then an idea came to him.
"Use Volt Tackle! You've seen Charizard do it often enough! Turn this into a Volt Tackle Submission!"
Pikachu's answer was to blaze into electrical life. His elemental power shone forth, cocooning both Pokémon in electrical current.
"Add Flare Blitz to it!" Tobias countered.
For the last few metres of their fall, the two Pokémon shone bright enough to be seen through closed eyelids. Then they hit, with an almighty boooom that shook the building.
"Pikachu?" Ash called, wiping splatters of mud off one cheek. "Pikachu!"
Nothing.
Then, tail drooping with exhaustion, Pikachu walked slowly out of the crater. His cheeks sparked once, then went silent, and he dropped to sit on the floor.
The sound of indrawn breath went around the stadium.
Finally, the smoke cleared.
Revealing an unconscious Blaziken in the middle of the crater, electricity still crackling around him.
"...Holy shit," Leah said quietly. "That was incredible."
"I'll say," Brock agreed, equally hushed.
"We... won?" Ash asked, blinking. Then a grin broke across his face. "Yeah! We won!"
He scrambled out of the box, and ran across the ruined field to Pikachu and picked him up with both hands. "I am so proud of you, Pikachu!"
Pikachu panted, and smiled. "Pi-ka..." Then he hugged Ash back.
After a few minutes, they became aware that Tobias was looking at them with a slightly stunned expression.
"I... did not expect that," he said, after a moment, and recalled Blaziken. "Well. Congratulations, Ash Ketchum. It seems that at least one trainer from Kanto can see past the might of a Legendary Pokémon, and work intelligently to defeat them."
"Pikachu and the others did all the work," Ash replied, hoisting his partner to his shoulder.
"Perhaps," Tobias said. "Well. I am defeated, Ash Ketchum – good luck in the finals."
Leah watched the little interaction with avid eyes, until Ash turned to walk back to his stand.
Then she stood up. "Okay, chief. We are going to go and get tapes of this battle."
Charlie Swanna emerged from his Pokéball. He gave her a silent, but clearly inquisitive, look.
"Because no-one who wasn't here will believe us when we tell them what just happened," Leah replied. "Heck, I'm not sure Ash – or Pikachu – will believe it."
The Water-type took her meaning, and nodded agreement.
"Hey, Brock?" she asked. "Can you let Ash know I'll be a few minutes late?"
Brock nodded, and she set off at a run.
(Me)
Leah and Charlie skidded to a halt as a figure teleported in front of them. "Well, I did wonder who the Anchor was this time. I guess it was a late Awakening for you then?" they said.
Leah narrowed her eyes. "You're Mewtwo," she noted.
"I am indeed. Nice job back there, by the way," the Genetic Pokemon complimented.
Leah shook her head. "That wasn't me, that was all Ash," she denied.
"Maybe so, but if you hadn't told him about Tobias's Latios, he wouldn't have planned accordingly," Mewtwo pointed out.
"What do you want anyway?" Charlie wondered.
"You were looking for this, right?" Mewtwo asked, tossing them the recording of the battle. "Although, I do have a request of you," he continued.
"Which is?" Leah asked suspiciously.
"I like to think of myself as a bit of a scholar. I'm currently putting together an informed history of the Loops. Of course, to do so, I need sources of information of different subjects. As such, I'd like to request an interview about your Looping experiences," the clone of Mew explained.
"And others have agreed to this?" Leah questioned.
"Yes, including one of the O7. Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that we tend to get a lot of Fused Loops with her," Mewtwo affirmed.
"Sorry, pass. I don't particularly like thinking about my early experiences," Leah refused.
Mewtwo shrugged. "Alright, it's your choice. Now go and celebrate, why don't you? Ash is going to be in high spirits, especially since he'll probably win the whole League," he said wryly.
Leah gave him a look, but she and Charlie ran back towards the group. Mewtwo sighed. He had a distinct feeling he knew why she didn't particularly like him. Sharing a Loop with people like the Volturi probably made her distrustful of psychics in general. Regardless, it was certainly a surprise to him to Awaken in his tank and get no Pings back. He decided to dispense with the plans he had made for the Loop and shadow Ash instead, since he hadn't seen how a true baseline run for him usually went. Imagine his surprise when instead of Dawn, there was a replacement who Awakened just upon meeting Ash.
Mewtwo had to smile at what her very slight interference had done though. Ash and his Pokemon had beaten Tobias using nothing but their baseline skills. That was something they were sure to be shocked about when he told the Looping versions about it as well as something they were sure to treasure.
...Do I really need to say anything about this? Also, I'd like to clarify that nobody on Ash's team, let alone Ash himself, was Awake.
And if Gible ever starts Looping, this is what he'll remember.