Brave New World

by Ri2

The end of the world has come and gone, and a new world has been built from the ashes of the old. But just because the final battle's been won doesn't mean new dangers can't come crawling out of the woodwork... Sequel to Latias' Journey

25. Day 2: Tiny Terror

Now that the first anniversary of this story is over with, let's begin the next chapter…and say hello to a new member of Team Aurabolt!

Yeah, we just got another new one a few chapters ago. Got a problem with that?

Sorry if this chapter took a while, but I was busy with work. And going on a trip to Ireland. Yeah, you heard right, I went to Ireland. And it was AWESOME. Though the Internet could have been better.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.

…

It was the second day of the Mt. Battle tenth anniversary tournament, and the Fighting Four's first match of the day was well underway. Or rather, Pikachu's match was well underway, since the match was against the solo Crawdaunt Craw-daddy, so only one of the fearsome foursome needed to compete. As an Electric-type, Pikachu was naturally the best choice to go against the Water-type lobster

"Come on, boy!" the large crimson Crawdaunt shouted, snapping his pincers. "Come over here and take yer beatin' like a good 'mon!"

"Yeah, I don't think so," Pikachu said, standing several feet away from the Rogue Pokemon. "I'd rather not get close enough for you to catch me with those pincers!"

The Crawdaunt chortled. "Boy, if you ain't a-comin' to me, then I'm a-comin' to you! Ain't nobody who can outmatch ol' Craw-Daddy!"

"Then why have you never actually won a tournament here?" Pikachu asked.

The Crawdaunt turned redder. "That's…none o' yer business, boy! Now suck on some o' this!" He put his claws together and formed a Water Pulse, which he hurled at Ash.

"Please, you're not the only one who can do something like that," Pikachu said, swinging his sword and flinging an electric-charged Vacuum-Cut. The energy blade collided with the Water Pulse and exploded. "And mine is cooler, since it's made of electricity rather than some lame water!"

"Hey, I resemble that remark, fool!" Leo shouted from the bench outside the ring.

"Shouldn't that be 'resent?'" Sasha asked him.

"Yes, but since I'm supposed to be a 'gangsta', I'm intentionally using bad grammar, ho," Leo told her.

"Ah," Sasha said. She frowned. "Don't call me a ho, please."

"I meant it in a good way," he assured her. She raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"I'm starting to wonder if all Crawdaunts are like this," Ash commented. "He reminds me a lot of Bruce back home. Except Craw-daddy is a professional fighter, whereas Bruce is…well, a male escort."

"How's that pay?" Leo asked him.

"Pretty good, actually," Ash said. "He's very popular among the single womon back in Pokemon Square." He frowned. "Uh, not that I'm suggesting you go into the same business or anything."

Leo laughed. "Fool, I'da thought that'd be you doing it, what with you being such a playa and all! Hoho, you are such a playa, playa!"

"I'm a what now?" asked Ash.

"You know…all those kids, all those womon in different towns…you know," Leo said.

"No, I don't," said a confused Ash.

Leo sighed. "Oh, never mind."

"I think it's time we stopped talking and started fighting," Pikachu said, charging up his electricity and firing a Thunderbolt at the Crawdaunt.

Craw-daddy laughed and crossed his pincers in front of himself to form a Protect shield that saved him from the dangerous electric attack. "I couldn'ta said it better myself, son! But I don't intend to be beaten by a shrimpy Plusle like yourself!"

"Seems to me like you're the shrimpy one…you know, being a lobster and all," Pikachu commented as he dashed towards the crustacean, sword held out at his side.

"I outgrew that stage years ago!" Craw-daddy replied, opening a pincer and sweeping a Dark Pulse across the ring. Ash flinched as he saw the move, his stomach clenching as it always did when he saw that attack. And just like always, he had no idea why… "Now I'm all mon, all muscle and armor! Ain't nothin' shrimpy about me, see?"

"Except in your brain," Pikachu countered as he jumped over the Pulse and arced into the air towards Craw-daddy, sword raised over his head. He charged electricity into his blade and swung it down…

Only to bounce off the Crawdaunt's Protect. "Who needs a big brain when you got a shell as tough as mine?" Craw-daddy boasted.

Pikachu used the momentum from his deflected attack to launch himself over the Crawdaunt's head as the Protect wore off. "Your shell may be as thick as your head…but unfortunately for you, it's not thick enough!" he replied as he swung an Iron Tail at the lobster's rear.

Instantly, one of Crawdaunt's pincers snapped closed on Pikachu's tail. "Ha! I'm the thickest there is!" Craw-Daddy boasted. He paused. "Now wait a minute there…"

Pikachu smirked. "Yeah, you certainly are!" He let Craw-Daddy have it with a full-force Thunder at point-blank range. Craw-Daddy howled in pain as the electricity coursed through his body. Smoking, he collapsed to the ground, his grip on Pikachu loosening and allowing the mouse to slip free. Landing on his feet, Pikachu charged up his blade again and dashed towards the Crawdaunt, ready to deal the final blow…

When, much to his surprise, one of Crawdaunt's pincers swung up, burning with Dark power, and knocked his sword out of his paw with Knock Off. The sword spun through the air and landed point-down in the ground…outside of the ring, where Pikachu couldn't get it. "Uh-oh…" said the alarmed Pikachu.

"This doesn't look good…" Ash said in concern.

"Eh, he'll be all right, dawg," Leo said unworriedly.

"Ugh…you little…punk…think I go down that easy?!" Craw-Daddy growled as he got back to his feet, snapping his pincers. "It'll take a lot more than a little ol' static shock to take me down, boy!"

"Okay. How about this, then?" Pikachu fired another Thunder at the Crawdaunt.

The lobster shielded himself with another Protect, laughing as the electricity bounced off him. "Not good enough!" One of his pincers glowed and he lunged forward with Crabhammer. Pikachu had to backflip and hop away as the Crawdaunt advanced with surprising speed, smashing his claws into the ground again and again as he tried to hit the electric mouse. Pikachu powered up another Iron Tail and swung it at the same time as Craw-daddy brought down another Crabhammer, his tail smashing into the claw and knocking it away, throwing the lobster off balance. "Gah!" he cried in surprise.

Gritting his teeth, his bones ringing from the impact of tail against pincer, Pikachu slammed into Craw-daddy's chest with a Quick Attack and hugged him as he released Thunder after Thunder into the lobster's body in an attempt to knock him out. Craw-daddy screamed in agony and collapsed again, smoke and static rising from his body. Panting, Pikachu dropped off of him. The crowd started cheering.

"Not bad, folks! Despite the handicap of losing his sword, it looks like Minus of the Fighting Four has…" the MC gasped, along with everyone else. "Wait, what's this?! Craw-daddy's not down for the count?!"

Pikachu's jaw dropped as Craw-daddy, clenching his jaw in pain, managed to pull himself up off the ground. "How the…how are you still standing?!"

"I already…ugh…told you…it'll take…a lot more'n some pretty sparks…to put me down!" Craw-daddy grunted.

"How did he survive that?" asked an astounded Sasha.

"He must've used Harden just before he got zapped, to lessen the damage, yo!" Leo said. "That, or he's just hella tough, fools!"

"Who're you calling a fool?" asked an offended Ash.

"I'm not…oh, never mind," said the annoyed Leo.

"C'mon, boy…let's do this!" Craw-daddy growled. He opened his pincers and fired Bubblebeams at Pikachu's feet, causing him to yelp and hop about to avoid the bubbles. "Hahaha! Dance, mousey, dance!"

"How about you dance the electric boogaloo?" Pikachu retorted, using Agility to evade the bubbles and firing a Thunderbolt at Craw-daddy.

The Crawdaunt promptly shielded himself with Protect. "Don't you ever get tired o' that ol' trick, boy?" Craw-daddy sneered.

"Don't you ever get tired of hiding behind a shield?" Pikachu taunted.

"Why, you…" Craw-daddy snarled, opening his pincers again, gathering power. Much to Pikachu's astonishment, he fired a Dark Pulse from his left pincer, and a Hyper Beam from the right, sweeping them across the stage in an attempt to catch Pikachu in an energy scissors attack of sorts. The mouse only barely managed to avoid the beams by jumping straight up and out of the way with Quick Attack at the last second before they could intersect on him.

"Wow! Two super-strong attacks at once?! Unprecedented!" cried the amazed MC. "Craw-daddy must really be giving it his all!"

"You bet I am!" Craw-daddy snapped. His pincers glowed, and he slammed them into the ground with Crabhammer, levering himself off the floor and into the air.

Pikachu sweatdropped in disbelief. "You can fly now?!"

"Close enough!" Craw-daddy growled as he reared back one claw, which started glowing ominously. With a yell, he shot straight down for Pikachu, aiming for the rodent's neck.

Realizing the Crawdaunt was using Guillotine, Pikachu quickly dashed out of the way, causing Craw-daddy to slam into the ground hard enough to crack the stage and create a large fissure which split the battlefield in two, the strength of the impact knocking Pikachu off his feet and causing him to roll head over heels and nearly fall off the edge of the ring. "Uhhh…"

"Oh, looks like you're in a little trouble there, boy! Mind if I give you a little helping hand…or should I say, claw?" Craw-daddy taunted, opening his pincer and firing Swift stars at Pikachu in an attempt to push him over the edge. Pikachu quickly got up and sprinted around the perimeter of the ring to dodge the shooting stars. He was able to run faster than the big, slow Craw-daddy could turn, so in short order he found himself behind the lobster, and fired a Thundershock at him. Craw-daddy reflexively used Protect, and Pikachu dashed towards him in a zig-zagging Quick Attack before the barrier wore off and the Crawdaunt could attack again. Craw-daddy managed to turn around completely just as Pikachu reached him, and tried to smash the mouse into a yellow smear with a twin Crabhammer. Pikachu easily leaped over the strike, landed on the lobster's head, and hit him with discharge after discharge of electric power, not giving him time to Harden or Protect or do anything else to defend himself. Craw-daddy hollered in pain and collapsed to the ground, but Pikachu, remembering what had happened the last time he had let down his guard, kept shocking him until the Crawdaunt passed out. Pikachu waited for a moment to see if he would recover, zapped him a few more times for good measure, and when he was certain that the lobster wasn't going to be getting back up anytime soon, then and only then did he relax his grip on the yellow star on Craw-daddy's head and get off the big red crustacean.

"And stay down this time," the tired mouse told Craw-daddy. The Crawdaunt didn't respond, so Pikachu felt it safe to assume that the Rogue Pokemon was out for good.

"And it looks like we have a winner, folks! Minus of the Fighting Four has…wait, what's this? Is Craw-Daddy getting back up?!" the MC cried, causing Pikachu to groan. "No, wait, never mind, false alarm. Minus is the winner! And he didn't do anything boring or sappy to win this time, either!" The crowd cheered. Pikachu waved to them wearily.

"That was a tough one," Ash commented.

Leo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I almost thought he wasn't gonna make it a few times! 'Course, if it were me he was fighting, no way dat mouse'd last a minute!"

"Yes he would," Sasha said.

Leo sweatdropped. "I'm bragging to make myself look tougher than I actually am. It's a macho guy thing. Everyone knows I'm just Taurosshitting. That's the point."

"Oh," Sasha said, not really understanding the ways of the male ego. Then again, did anyone, really?

"You did a good job," Ash said as Pikachu walked over to the team, having recovered his sword along the way.

Pikachu nodded and wiped away some sweat. "There were a few close calls back there. He was a lot stronger than I had expected. Good thing I know how to fight even without using a weapon, or I might've been in some real trouble."

"Yeah, you totally trashed him oldskool, brah!" Leo said, patting Pikachu on the back. Pikachu, nerves still a little tense from the battle, reflexively electrocuted him. "Ow…that wasn't really necessary, yo…" Leo fell over.

"Oops," Pikachu said in embarrassment as Ash snickered and Sasha rolled her eyes. "Sorry, King K."

"No problem, bro…just…don't do it again," Leo croaked as he pulled himself off. "Unless I'm wearing rubber…and not just down there, if you know what I mean."

"No," said a puzzled Pikachu. "What do you mean?"

Leo paused. "…I'm not sure either. I was hoping you guys knew." They facefaulted.

…

A little later…

"Dude, I can't believe how much money we made from that last fight! And it's only the second day, too!" Leo said eagerly as he counted the Poke' they had won from Pikachu's fight with Craw-daddy again as they walked down the hall to their hotel room. "I can't imagine how much cash we're going to win if we make it all the way to the end of this thing! It'll be so sick! I bet I could even buy an airship or something, so we won't have to walk everywhere all the time…man, I'm getting sick of walking…"

"Walking is good for your body," Ash said.

"Yeah, but it doesn't take us anywhere fast," Leo pointed out. "We'd be able to move around much quicker if we had some kind of automated transportation, you know? It doesn't even have to be an airship; really, a regular ship would be fine too."

"Except that we would only be able to use it to travel around the coast, and would still have to walk places to reach the interior of the continent," Pikachu said.

"And would you really want to leave a boat untended in a place like Treasure Town?" Ash asked.

Leo grimaced. "Good point…"

They reached the door to their suite. Ash reached for the handle…and hesitated. "Something's wrong."

"What?" Sasha asked in concern.

Ash pressed his ear against the door. Pikachu followed suit. They listened for a moment. "Somebody's inside," Ash said finally.

Pikachu drew his sword. "And making a mess of things."

"Whuh-oh," said an alarmed Leo. "Somebody's broken in?!"

"The door does not look as if it's been forced open," Sasha commented.

"Which means it must be someone who has a key. Someone on the hotel staff must be working for Ford or the Nihilators and is searching our things for evidence that we aren't who we say we are," Pikachu said, rather tense. "Or maybe the map to the Star Badges!"

"Or they might have come in through the balcony," Leo pointed out. "Not that that makes things better or anything, just that it's an option we should consider."

Ash narrowed his eyes. "Whoever they are, if they're trying to blow our cover, then we're going to have to silence them before they tell their bosses who we really are."

Leo swallowed. "Um…by 'silence,' you mean…"

"Kill him," Sasha said. "Or her."

"Not necessarily, but probably, yeah," Ash said.

Leo sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought…"

Ash unlocked the door with their keycard and slowly pushed it open, trying not to make a sound. Cautiously, they crept into the suite, trying not to alert their mysterious trespasser as to their presence. Ash grimaced as his eyes ran over the room; the place had been pretty thoroughly ravaged. The television had been knocked over, the pictures had been knocked off the walls, and most of the beds and furniture had been torn up or completely destroyed. Leo blanched as he saw the damage, relieved that his laptop and games were safe in his shell, and so had been spared the destruction. They froze as they passed the small kitchen area, noticing that the refrigerator was open and somebody or something was loudly rummaging through it, their figure hidden behind the fridge's door. Ash quickly formed an Aura Sphere, Pikachu charged electricity into his sword, Sasha's hackles rose, and Leo hid behind the other three. Slowly, they walked into the kitchen.

The intruder closed the door, revealing it to be a Larvitar holding a milk carton, its body covered in stains from all the other food it must have already looted from the fridge, as evident by the open boxes and splattered fruit littering the floor nearby. The Larvitar turned towards them, drinking straight from the carton…and paused when it saw it was not alone. It stared at them. They stared right back.

It screamed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" they screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" it screamed even louder, hurting their ears and causing the nearby windows to shatter. It threw the carton at them, splattering them with milk, and ran away, hiding in a nearby cabinet under the sink.

Team Aurabolt blinked in astonishment. "Wow," Pikachu said. "That little guy sure has a set of lungs on him, doesn't he?"

"What?" Ash asked, trying to clear out one ear. "I think I've gone a little deaf. Did you say something?"

"I believe it's safe to say that the egg we picked up yesterday has hatched," Sasha said, pointing out the obvious.

"Much earlier than I expected, too," said Leo. He frowned. "Did he have to make such a mess, though?"

"Babies always make messes," said Pikachu. He grimaced. "My little brother still does, for that matter…"

"It can't be healthy for a baby to stay under the sink," Leo observed. "There's all sorts of detergent and dishwashing fluid down there he could drink and die from."

Pikachu nodded in agreement. "That also sounds like my brother…"

Ash crouched to the ground and pulled open the cabinet, allowing light into the dark space and revealing the Larvitar, who was sitting between spare rolls of paper towels. The Larvitar squinted against the light, blinking furiously at Ash. The Lucario gave him a warm, encouraging smile, the same sensation he had felt when he had held the egg earlier stirring within him again. "Hi there, little guy. You don't have to stay in there. We're sorry we scared you, we were just a little surprised to see you, is all. We weren't expecting you to hatch for a while longer!" He stretched a hand out to the Rock Skin Pokemon, who stared at it blankly. "Won't you come out and say hello? We're all dying to meet you."

The Larvitar blinked…then slowly stood up and started crawling towards Ash. The Lucario smiled and pulled him out from under the sink, gritting his teeth a little (Larvitar were HEAVY Pokemon) as he dragged him out into the kitchen proper. A very small smile formed on the Larvitar's face as he got to see Ash properly. Ash smiled back…

And then Leo walked over, whistling as he got a good look at the newborn. "Wow, he's not a very little guy, is he? He's taller than I am by a foot!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the Larvitar screamed, jerking away from Ash, running back into the cabinet, and slamming the door shut behind him.

They all blinked. Leo sweatdropped. "Uh…okay, that was odd. Do I have bad BO or something?" He sniffed under his armpits.

"What was that about?" wondered the confused Ash. "He seemed fine around me."

Sasha frowned. "Hmm…" She trotted over to the cabinet, pulled the door open with her teeth, and poked her head inside. "Hello, little one."

The Larvitar started screaming again. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Sasha slammed the door shut. "Hmm…" She glanced at Pikachu. "You try."

"Me? Why?" asked the puzzled Pikachu.

"I have a theory," she said enigmatically.

Pikachu frowned, shrugged, and opened the door. "Hey there," he said, trying to sound friendly. "You know, I have a little brother who's actually a lot like-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" the Larvitar screamed.

Pikachu slammed the door shut. "Okay, Pichu was never the most well-behaved baby, but he never acted like this…much…"

"Now you try," Sasha told Leo.

"Are you sure? He didn't seem to like me the last time…" Leo said skeptically.

"Give it a shot," she prompted him.

Leo shrugged. "Well, okay…" He opened the cabinet. "Hey, kidd-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" the Larvitar screamed.

Leo slammed the door shut. "Yikes! Geez, what's with this kid?!"

"Now you," Sasha said to Ash.

He frowned. "All right…" He opened the door. "Hi." The Larvitar stared at him quietly and did not scream. Or do anything else, for that matter.

"It's not afraid of him," Pikachu realized in astonishment.

"But why?" Leo wondered. He gasped. "Wait…Ash said earlier he felt a weird bond to that egg! Maybe that bond…I dunno…is why the kid isn't afraid of Ash? Because it feels like they're connected too?"

"I think that's it," Ash said, staring intently at the Larvitar, who stared right back. "I don't know why, but…I feel like he trusts me."

"But not the rest of us…" Pikachu murmured. "I wonder why?"

"I am afraid I do not know either," Sasha confessed. "My own cubs were very playful and social and eager to encounter new Pokemon from the moment they first hatched. This Larvitar, on the other hand…"

"Seems closed-off, reticent, and untrusting," Pikachu finished. "Not to mention that, other than screaming, he hasn't said a single word since we've met him, though admittedly it has just been a few minutes. It's still pretty odd though, since just about all baby Pokemon are able to talk—and boy, do they ever!--from the moment they hatch, possibly due to hearing their parents or other people talking around them while they're still in the eggshell. Curious. Baby Pokemon aren't usually like this, are they? I know that Pichu wasn't, and neither were any of Ash and Misty's kids…they took after their parents, actually, which is rather odd considering that none of them are related to Ash and Misty genetically."

"So…what, are we saying there's something wrong with the kid or something?" Leo asked with a frown. "Could his development have been damaged by his egg being taken away from his mom and finding its way into the paws of that hot dog vendor…or from hitting Ash in the noggin?"

"I hope not," Ash said in concern as he guided the reluctant Larvitar out from under the sink again. "I know my head's a bit hard, but not that hard…"

"Hmm…" Leo took a cautious step towards the Larvitar. The larger reptile focused on him intently. Leo took another step…and the Larvitar screamed and clutched Ash's leg tightly. Leo took a step back, and the Larvitar stopped screaming and relaxed. Leo took another step forward…and the Larvitar screamed again. Leo stepped back, and the Larvitar stopped. Step, scream, back. Step, scream, back. Step, scream, back…

"Leo, cut that out," Pikachu said, a pained look on his face. "I'm starting to get a migraine from all this yelling."

"And my ankle…is starting to bruise…" Ash said through clenched teeth as the Larvitar clung a little too tightly to his leg.

"I think we can conclude that this Larvitar is not a Pokemon person…" Sasha said. "However, he seems to have bonded rather well with Ash. Again, possibly because of this strange 'connection' Ash believes that they share."

Ash nodded as he bent down to gently tug the Larvitar off of his leg. "Yeah. When I'm close to him, I can sort of…get a sense of how he's feeling. Not like Psychic mind-reading or the feelings I get from Aura-sight, but just being around him makes me feel like he…trusts me. Like he knows that I'll protect him. And for whatever reason, he doesn't feel the same way towards you guys."

"That bites…" Leo grumbled. "Guess this means I'm not going to be a godfather, huh?"

"Ash, do you know why he feels this way?" Pikachu asked.

Ash shook his head. "What I'm getting from him is pretty vague and general. I feel that he likes me and not you guys, but I can't tell why. If I could use my Aura-sight, I might be able to figure it out, but…what with this dampening field blocking it…"

"Then why don't we leave the dampening field?" Sasha suggested. "The edge of the crate is outside the field's range. I know that because I was able to use my disaster-sense to its fullest while I was waiting for you to come here. Perhaps if we were to take him there, you could read his Aura to better gauge his emotions and deeper motivations?"

"And I could scan him with my shades and see if he has any brain trauma or something that's causing him to behave this way," Leo said. "His behavior reminds me of autism…except that he's not afraid of Ash and seems to have no problem looking us in the eye. He might have something on that spectrum, though. If I got a good look at his head, I might be able to tell for sure, and then we could figure out how to deal with it."

Ash nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. Let's go!" He paused and glanced down at the Larvitar, who was hiding behind him so that Ash was between him and the others. "And we should probably try and keep him away from other Pokemon…I don't think they'll appreciate him screaming that loudly in public every time someone gets near him."

…

A little later…

After much effort, a lot of screaming, and numerous death threats and angry glares from pissed-off townsfolk who didn't appreciate a baby whose voice could break glass screaming in their ear every time they got within a foot of him (which, unfortunately, was a lot, given the relatively narrow width of most of the walkways in Battlus and the dense crowds on the larger platforms), the harried Team Aurabolt and their new 'friend' reached the rim of Giant Volcano's crater. The Larvitar seemed to become more relaxed as they trekked along the trail ringing the crater, far away from any other Pokemon, save for the occasional hiker or mon out for a jog. Once they reached a spot far from the prying eyes of any passerby, they sat down and got to work.

"Hmm…" Leo said as he examined the Larvitar through his sunglasses (from a safe distance, naturally).

"Well?" Ash asked nervously as he held the lizard two-thirds his height protectively. "Is there something wrong with his brain?"

"Mmm…nope, not that I can tell," Leo confessed apologetically. "According to these readings, his body's functioning perfectly normally. The operations of his brainwaves and cerebral structure are unhindered by any form of physical trauma or stunted development that I can see. He's perfectly healthy…and yet…" Leo cautiously took a step towards his 'patient.'

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the Larvitar screamed, his shrieks echoing for miles around them and stunning some Pidgey flying nearby.

Leo quickly stepped back. "He still does that. There's no physiological reason that I can find, so whatever's wrong with him must be psychological or something else."

"Are you sure?" Pikachu asked skeptically. "Maybe we should let someone more qualified take a look at him. Like, say, Nurse Joy?"

Leo snorted. "Yeah, like the kid's gonna let her anywhere near him. I may not be the miracle healer that Joys are, but I've studied enough about Pokemon anatomy—and trust the information from my shades—to say that whatever's wrong with him isn't biological. It's something else. His vocal cords and the speech portion of his brain are in perfect order, as are all of the areas responsible for higher-end reasoning, so he's completely capable of thinking and talking with us if he wanted to…he just doesn't. I can't figure out why, though."

"I sense turmoil within him…" said Sasha. "A bitter poison of sorts rooted deep within his heart."

"A poison?!" Ash asked in alarm. "What kind of poison? Will our basic Antidote work?"

Sasha sweatdropped. "It's a metaphorical poison, not an actual one."

"Oh," Ash said, embarrassed. The Larvitar blinked a few times.

"What kind of metaphorical poison are we talking about here?" Pikachu asked.

"I cannot be certain, but I think it stems from…a memory of some kind. A trauma from his past. It is this trauma which is the source of his fear towards us and his uneasiness towards other Pokemon in general," Sasha said.

Leo nodded. "That fits with my theory…"

Ash frowned as he remembered the vision he had had the previous day. "A memory…could it be what I told you guys about earlier? How his mom was attacked by some kind of hunters and his egg was taken away from her?"

"It could be," Sasha said.

"Which would explain his distrust of others, since it's because of unfamiliar Pokemon that he was taken from his family!" Leo concluded, drawing upon what he knew of psychology from reading online journals and watching soap operas and cartoons. "And because an unfamiliar Pokemon was going to make him into a hot dog."

Pikachu frowned. "Then why does he trust Ash? Why is there a bond between them?"

Leo shrugged. "Eh, you got me there."

"I do not know either," Sasha said apologetically. "My power only lets me sense chaos and potential for disaster within others, not the reasons why they might feel at ease."

"Maybe because I was able to see his memories, he believes that I'm not like those cruel Pokemon?" Ash asked, glancing down at the Larvitar. The Rocky Skin Pokemon stared up at him blankly, neither confirming nor denying this.

"That could be," said Leo. "But how were you even able to see those memories in the first place? I mean, yeah, I guess they could have been transferred to you when he bonked you in the head yesterday, but how's that sort of thing work if you're not Psychic?"

Ash looked thoughtful. "Those who can use Aura are able to understand the hearts of others. Perhaps because I can use and perceive Aura, I was able to get a glimpse into his heart when we made contact yesterday…and that contact could also be what forged a bond between the two of us and makes him feel comfortable around me, while I feel like I have to protect him."

"I think I've heard of Aura Guardians doing things like that in the past…but bonding with a baby through head trauma?" Pikachu asked skeptically.

Ash shrugged. "Stranger things have happened to us."

"That they have," Pikachu admitted reluctantly.

"If you are indeed bonded in some manner to this child, then perhaps you will be able to not only determine whether this memory you speak of is the source of his suffering…but also, perhaps, how to alleviate it," Sasha suggested.

Ash nodded. "That's what we came up here to find out." He turned the Larvitar around and crouched down so he could look the child in the eye. He gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry," he said. "This should just take a second." He closed his eyes, and instantly was able to see the world through Aura-sight once more. He felt a deep sense of relief. He hadn't realized how much he had missed seeing things this way until his ability to do so had been temporarily stripped away. It was a pity that he'd have to return to being partially blind again when they returned to the stifling confines of Ford's dampening field.

"What do you see?" Pikachu asked.

Ash frowned. "His Aura's…tangled. At the moment it seems mostly stable—if not a little numb, to the point where I can barely detect any emotions coming from him at all—but his heart feels…wrong. It's all jagged and twisted and knotted there, like something important inside of him is broken."

"That doesn't sound good…" Leo said uneasily.

"Is he a Shadow Pokemon?" Pikachu asked.

Ash shook his head. "No, Shadow Pokemon don't occur naturally, so unless he was transformed into one while still in the egg, that wouldn't be possible. In any event, his Aura isn't black, so he definitely isn't one. But I can see why you might think he would be, from what I said about his heart, right? Well, the hearts of Shadow Pokemon looks very different from this Larvitar's. Their hearts are closed to the point that they're almost impossible to see, whereas this one's…" He frowned. "It's not closed so much as…walled up."

"Walled up?" Leo asked. "Who put the walls there?"

"I think he did," Ash said. "The…edges, if you could call them that, of the jagged bits around his heart are pointing outwards, as if to keep others out, rather than inward, which would imply some degree of self-loathing. That fits with how he's been behaving around you guys; his screaming must be a defense mechanism to keep others away. He fears and hates…well, everyone, I guess."

"Then why isn't he screaming around you?" Pikachu asked.

"Perhaps because of this 'connection' that somehow exists between them?" Sasha suggested. "Though we are still uncertain how it came to be…"

Ash nodded, while the Larvitar glanced at him in puzzlement, wondering why the Lucario's eyes were closed. "Yeah. I can see the bond linking the two of us. It's going from his heart to mine…interesting. It seems to be the only part of his heart that's not all messed up." He frowned and stood up, eyes still shut. "Let's try something." He took a few steps backwards from the Larvitar, who blinked at him, puzzled by why he was walking away. "Okay, somebody get close to him."

"Uh, are you sure?" Leo asked. "I mean, he doesn't seem to like that very much…"

"Right now, his Aura is showing faint signs of distress," Ash said. "In comparison to the weird numbness and placidity it had before when I was close to him. I want one of you to go over to him so I can see what his Aura looks like when he gets really agitated."

Pikachu sighed. "All right, I'll do it…" Somewhat cautiously, he approached the Larvitar. The lizard glanced from the false Minun to Ash, faint signs of anxiety appearing on its unusually blank face. Those signs grew stronger as Pikachu got closer step by step…

Until finally he got too close for comfort. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" the Larvitar screamed. Pikachu frantically backpedaled, and the Larvitar immediately shut up.

"That's really getting on my nerves," Pikachu said, wincing as his ears rang.

"Well, he may be a screamer, but at least he has an off switch," Leo pointed out.

Sasha nodded. "That's true, most infants don't have one."

"We still haven't found the one for my little brother," Pikachu admitted. "So, did this little experiment tell you anything, Ash?"

Ash nodded. "I studied the strand of Aura connecting our hearts, as well as his Aura and heart in general. His Aura started getting all shaky as you walked towards him, and when you were close enough for him to start screaming, it became as tangled and spiky as his heart is. The thing connecting us, however, grew stronger…like the one piece of him that still trusts other people, namely, me, was calling to me for help. Or something like that."

Leo scratched his head in puzzlement. "Well, that's interesting and all, but how does that help us find out how to fix him?"

"For one thing, I can see the problem using my Aura-sight, meaning there's a chance that I can correct it using Aura power," Ash explained. "And also…The fact that a bond exists between us at all…and the fact that he was able to instinctively strengthen it when he felt distress…tells me that he may be capable of manipulating Aura as well."

They exchanged startled looks. "What? How can that be possible?!" Pikachu cried.

Leo nodded. "Yeah, I thought only…no, wait, now I remember. We talked the other day about how Riolus and Lucarios were one of the only species of Pokemon that were born with the instinctive power to sense and control Aura, but for unknown reasons certain individual humans or other Pokemon are born with the ability too, right?"

Ash nodded. "That's right. I think he might be one of that very slim percentage of other Pokemon who can use Aura. I don't know all the signs yet, but I can check my book and examine him in-depth later to be sure. Maybe Aaron could give me some tips too…if I ever manage to talk to him, anyway." He made a sour face, frustrated that at long last, an experienced Aura Guardian existed who could teach him more about his powers…and he was on another continent, and the time difference and the fact that the Thunderblades didn't have a home computer and NOBODY in town had a webcamera made it difficult if not impossible to talk to the guy. They had managed to exchange a few emails already, yeah, but it wasn't quite the kind of one-on-one guidance Ash was hoping for.

"So he can use Aura…fascinating…" Sasha murmured. "Or we think he can, anyway."

"That's cool and all, but again, so what? We still don't know how to fix him," Leo said.

"That's where you're wrong," Ash said, giving the Larvitar a reassuring smile. The lizard stared at him blankly, having absolutely no idea what the older Pokemon were talking about. "I don't know if it will work, but…I think I can heal him using an Aura Purge."

Pikachu and Leo looked at Ash in surprise. "I thought you didn't know how to use that technique," said Pikachu.

"Yeah, isn't that why we weren't able to save the Tree of Beginning?" Leo asked.

"What is Aura Purge?" asked the puzzled Sasha.

"It's a special technique where an Aura-user—such as myself—unleashes a wave of positively-charged Aura into someone's body, purifying them and eradicating illnesses and foreign bodies and negative emotions and stuff like that," Ash explained. "If I use it on our friend here, it should banish the negative emotions and numbness swirling around inside of him long enough for him to realize there's more to life than that, and cause him to soften if not eradicate the walls around his heart and start trusting other people."

"Ah, I see," Sasha said.

"But once again, I thought you didn't know that move," Pikachu said.

"I didn't," Ash said. "Until a couple of days ago. Ever since what happened back at the Tree, I've been studying my book harder than ever to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. I think I've made a breakthrough, and I'm fairly certain that I can use Aura Purge now. Of course, I haven't actually tested it on anyone until now…"

They sweatdropped. "And you think a baby Pokemon is the best person to try it out on for the first time?" Pikachu asked skeptically.

"It won't hurt him," Ash assured them. "It'll make him much better, actually. Assuming it works correctly…"

"Why wouldn't it?" Pikachu asked cautiously.

Ash shrugged. "For the same reason it's not able to purify every Shadow Pokemon it's used on. Sometimes the darkness and negativity around a heart is too much for a wave of positive power to destroy. After all, Aura can't really change a heart, but it can convince the heart's owner to change it. By using Purge to temporarily dissipate the Shadow Aura, a Shadow Pokemon is able to clearly see what they have been doing recently and perhaps for their entire lives with utter clarity for a split-second. If they realize that what they have become is not someone they want to be, in that moment they can choose to open their hearts to others and become normal Pokemon again. If not, then they'll still be too weak from the partial purification to be much of a threat for a while. However, if a Pokemon—both Shadow or otherwise—is unwilling to change their self-destructive ways despite their brief epiphany either due to preferring to be evil or twisted inside or because their hearts and minds are too damaged to properly understand what's happened to them and what needs to be fixed, the Purge may not be enough. When that's the case, a stronger technique is needed to save that Pokemon…"

Leo sighed. "Naturally, that means what you're about to do is going to fail and we're going to have to wait until you learn the stronger move to make the kid normal."

"We don't know that," Ash said defensively. "This could work!"

"Yeah, I bet twenty Poke' it won't," Leo said.

Pikachu frowned. "That's incredibly pessimistic."

"No, it's being genre savvy. You want in on this action?" Leo asked.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. Fine."

"You're betting on whether or not I'm going to be able to open this kid's heart?!" Ash asked incredulously.

"Yes," Leo said.

"I won't," Sasha said. "But that's because I don't actually have any money."

Ash frowned and gave her a puzzled look. "Wait, then how'd you get here if you didn't pay a boat fare or anything?"

"Well, after I had the omen which told me I needed to come here, I hitched a ride on a migrating Waillord who had gotten separated from his pod. He took me as far as Sinnorre, and then I stowed away on an airship that carried me here," Sasha explained.

Leo blinked. "But…I thought they threw stowaways overboard."

"They do," Sasha said. "But they can't do that if they don't find you."

Pikachu sweatdropped. "We could have hidden ourselves?! Then does that mean all the crap we went through with Don Wiggly to try and get here was for nothing?!"

"Well, we did get here anyway," Leo pointed out. "And we met Sam and Max, too! So it wasn't a total waste of time, was it?"

Pikachu groaned. "Yep, it was for nothing, all right…"

Leo snorted. "Sez you. Anyway, twenty Poke' on Ash's success with the kid! I say he won't make it."

"And I say he will," Pikachu said stubbornly, though whether it was because he honestly believed that or because he wanted Leo to be wrong was unclear.

Ash sweatdropped. "Gee, thanks guys…glad to see you have so much faith in me…" He turned his attention back to the Larvitar, who was still staring at him. "Okay, I'm going to do something that might make you normal like the rest of us."

"Heh, he called us normal," said the amused Leo.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Just relax and close your eyes. This won't hurt a bit." The Larvitar obeyed, seeing no reason not to. Ash closed his eyes again as well, focusing on the child's Aura, and placed one paw over the Rocky Skin Pokemon's heart, and another on his forehead. He hummed as he gathered power from deep within him, causing his Aura to flicker to life around him, blue flames rising from his body. His teammates gasped in awe as the flames spread down his arms and enveloped the Larvitar, causing him to burn with the same blue flame…and, like Ash, was not burned by it. Ash felt the power of Aura swelling within his body, growing stronger and stronger to the point that he wasn't sure his thin form would be able to contain it. He fed the power by focusing on happy memories, thinking of sparring sessions in Chuck's Dojo, playing with Pichu and Junior and the other kids, being entertained by Raiki's occasionally ridiculous antics, and in general hanging out and going on adventures with Pikachu, his brother and best friend.

He thought of his other friends as well, the reserve members of Team Aurabolt back home, all his many friends and neighbors who lived in the tightly-knit community of Pokemon Square, of Gary and Team Nightshade and Gardevoir and…

Misty. It was inevitable that he thought of her. She was one of his closest friends, after all (and NOT his girlfriend, no matter what anyone else said!). He remembered how she had once been cold and antisocial much like the Larvitar was, but how, with effort, he had managed to get her to lower her defenses and reveal the wonderful Pokemon buried deep within. With any luck, he would be able to repeat that transformation today.

He quickly buried any of the worries and anxieties attached to the friends he was thinking of, not wanting his fears for their current condition to corrupt the positive emotions he was attempting to muster. When he felt that the energy he was gathering had reached its limit, he inhaled deeply and forced the power mustered from his happy memories through his arms and into the Larvitar's body. The Larvitar gasped, his eyes flying open and his pupils shrinking as waves of energy rocked through his form, causing his small frame to shake considerably. Ash grunted and kept pouring on the juice, trying to banish all the fear and doubt within the child with feelings of hope and trust and friendship.

The Aura blazed brighter around them, much to the awe and wonder of their friends. Leo took a picture. "Cooool."

"Yeah," Pikachu murmured, eyes wide.

"Incredible…" Sasha whispered.

Having used up all his energy doing the Purge, Ash gasped and bent over, pressing his paws to the ground to stabilize himself as he tried to regain his breath, his Aura fading away from him. The Larvitar's continued burning brightly, however, as the positive energy Ash had charged him with filled every atom of his being. A radiant smile formed on his face, and his Aura beamed outward with joy, causing Ash to smile triumphantly…

And then Larvitar frowned. The blue flames instantly faded away, his Aura returned to its original 'neutral' setting, and the spikes around his heart reformed, possibly thicker than before. Ash swore loudly. "Dammit!"

"Pay up," Leo said to Pikachu, who sighed and handed him twenty Poke'.

"What happened?" Sasha asked Ash. "It looked as if it was working."

"It was," Ash said. "But his fear and distrust are too strong. I'm going to need something more powerful than an Aura Purge to fully open his heart." He sighed. "Guess I'm gonna have to hit the book again…"

"Or we could take him to the legendary Barney Stone," Leo suggested.

"The what now?" Pikachu asked.

"The Barney Stone! It's a rock at the top of Barney Castle in Oireland, off the coast of the continent of Ameroupe," Leo explained. "According to myth, whoever kisses the stone is blessed with the gift of gab and eloquence, even Pokemon who were born mute or haven't spoken in years! Though sometimes they wind up doing nothing but singing about a purple dinosaur for some reason…" The others sweatdropped.

"Yeah, I think I'll just stick to studying Aura," Ash said. He grimaced. "That's gonna be fun…and until then, Tiny will stay silent--unless anyone gets too close--surrounding himself with walls of fear, distrust, and hatred towards pretty much everyone."

"Look at the bright side," Pikachu said; trying to do the same thing, especially since Leo had been proven right again and he was out twenty Poke'. "He still trusts you, right?"

Ash nodded as he leaned towards the Larvitar to apologize for failing him. "Yeah, I guess-" The Larvitar flinched away from Ash. He didn't scream, he didn't run away, he just flinched. Ash's heart broke. "Not…" he finished, crestfallen.

"…Well, dang. That sucks," Leo said.

"What's wrong now?!" Pikachu asked in exasperation.

"The Larvitar did not like what Ash was doing to him. Now he's not sure Ash can be trusted," Sasha guessed.

Pikachu groaned. "Oh, that's just great…"

Ash trembled, trying not to lose control of himself. "I'm sorry if I hurt you," he whispered quietly to the Larvitar. "I was only trying to help. I just…I just wanted you to be happy. The way you are now isn't healthy for a Pokemon. All closed up and miserable and alone…that's not the way anyone should live. I was just trying to open your heart. I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted…and that it failed." The Larvitar just stared at him blankly. Ash continued. "Whether that's why you're upset—because I tried to change you, or because it didn't work—I'm sorry. I promise that…that I won't do anything like that to you again. Not unless I'm sure that it will work…or that you want it as much as I do. Because nobody should be forced to change against their will. To change or to stay the same…it's your choice, just like it always should have been. I shouldn't have tried to do it without your permission. It won't happen again, unless, like I said, it's what you want. Okay?" The Larvitar didn't say anything, but Ash didn't really expect him to. Cautiously, he leaned towards the lizard again, and when the Larvitar didn't flinch, he hugged the baby Pokemon, sighing heavily with relief. "Thank you for giving me another chance," he said. "I promise I won't let you down."

Leo blinked, somewhat perplexed by the one-sided exchange. "Uh, how did Ash know that that was how the kid felt?"

"They are connected, remember? He must have sensed the source of the child's unhappiness through their bond," Sasha said.

Pikachu shook his head. "It's more than that. He's a good parent. He doesn't need a mystical bond to know what his children need. That's why his kids love him…and part of why we do, too."

"You know, we're going to need to give you a name," Ash said, letting go of the Larvitar. "We can't just keep calling you 'kid' or 'that Larvitar.' Since I'm the only Pokemon you seem to like, I guess I'm the one who should decide what to call you."

"Ooh! Ooh! Call him Gargantua!" Leo suggested. They all stared at him. "What? He's gonna evolve into a giant reptilian monster powerful enough to level cities, or at least small towns, isn't he?"

"Leo, no names," Pikachu said sternly.

"But I stayed up half the night looking up good ones online!" Leo protested.

"I don't care. It's Ash who should come up with the name, not us," Pikachu said.

"I think I'm gonna call you…Tiny!" Ash declared after a moment's thought. The newly christened Larvitar blinked.

Leo sweatdropped. "'Tiny' is better than Gargantua?!"

"I never said Ash was good at names…" Pikachu said, somewhat embarrassed.

"You do realize that 'Tiny' will one day grow to become a very, very large Pokemon?" Sasha asked cautiously.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I know. That's why I picked that name! It's ironic!"

Leo facepalmed. "Wonderful. He thinks he has a grasp of irony…I wonder how many people will pick on the poor kid for having a name like that?"

"When he gets big enough, I doubt anyone will say anything like that to his face," Pikachu pointed out.

"Tiny it is, then!" Ash said proudly. He paused. "Uh, unless you already have a name, or would prefer something else?" The Larvitar stared at him blankly. "I'll take that as a no, then. From this point forward, your name is Tiny!"

"Yay," said Leo. "Can we get something to eat now? I'm hungry. Tiny might be, too."

"After cleaning out half our fridge? I highly doubt that," Pikachu said.

"Aren't babies always hungry?" Leo asked.

"It depends on the baby," Sasha said. "Some of my offspring refused to eat for days when they were younger, no matter what my mate or I tried. It was very worrying."

They all looked at her in surprise. "You're married?!" asked an astonished Ash.

"Mated. And yes," Sasha said.

"You never told us that before," Pikachu said.

Sasha shrugged. "It never seemed relevant to bring up."

"Is he still alive, or…" Leo asked awkwardly.

"He was the last time I saw him, which was about a week or so ago, when I told him I was going to Sinnorre to try and save the world," Sasha said.

"And he was okay with that?" Ash asked.

Sasha smiled. "He understood that these things happen. And in any event, even if he weren't okay with it, there wasn't a lot he could do. Female Absol are the dominant partners in mated couples."

"Oh, just like you and Misty then, Ash," Pikachu said.

Ash's face turned red. "SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"That's what I said when my mate started courting me. It didn't last long," Sasha said.

"Wait, your mate is a girl?" Leo asked. "I thought you just said it was a guy."

Sasha sweatdropped. "Er, I mean that's essentially what I said. Except with the gender reversed. And I was saying he wasn't my mate, not that he wasn't my boyfriend, since that's not really a term we use out in the wild."

"Ah," said Leo.

"Leo has a point, I probably could use a bite to eat," Pikachu said. "We'll have to go to a restaurant or something since the hotel staff is still probably fixing the damage Tiny did to our room." He grimaced. "Yeah, taking a kid with Pokepophobia into a crowded, noisy city…this is gonna be fun…"

"Before we do that, there's one other thing I think we should do," Ash said.

"What's that?" asked Pikachu.

"Go see Ford about letting Tiny join our team!" Ash said.

They gave him somewhat incredulous looks. "You still want to do that?!" Leo cried.

"Are you sure that is a good idea? He just hatched a few hours ago," Sasha said.

"Ash, we don't even know if he can take a hit, let alone fight!" Pikachu protested.

"He's already shown us he's pretty good at Screech. If he just screams like that every time someone tries to attack him, I doubt anyone will be able to land a hit," Ash pointed out. "Plus, we'll make sure to protect him. I'll take full responsibility for his safety."

"I don't know…" Pikachu said skeptically.

"And besides, what else can we do with him?" Ash asked. "We can't just leave him in the room every time we go out to fight. You already saw what happened the last time he was left unattended…"

Pikachu grimaced. "Good point. He's not exactly housebroken."

"Dude, what he did on my bed was totally uncalled for…" Leo grumbled.

"I doubt the hotel people will be happy if he keeps tearing up the place, so we'll have to take him with us," Ash reasoned. "It might not be entirely safe, but at least we can keep an eye on him."

Pikachu sighed. "I suppose so…"

"Do you think Ford will allow Tiny to fight alongside us?" Sasha asked.

Ash shrugged. "I don't see why not."

…

A little later, at Mt. Battle…

"Absolutely not," Ford said firmly, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the Fighting Four and their prospective recruit from behind his desk.

"What?!" Ash cried, not having expected this reply. "Why not?!"

"Two reasons," Ford said, holding up one finger. "One, you've already signed up for the tournament as the Fighting Four. To add a fifth member to your team would make you the Fighting Five, unless you swapped one of your other members out, but either way it would be a breach of the contract you signed when you entered the tournament. And breaking said written agreement would mean I would be legally obligated to kick you out of Mt. Battle, never to return."

"He has a point, dawg," Leo said. "I think I saw somethin' like that in the contract when he gave it to us earlier, yo."

"Then why didn't you mention that part before?!" Pikachu asked.

Leo shrugged. "I forgot, yo. Fo'real."

"Second reason," Ford said, holding up another finger. "If what you've told me is true, that kid is only a few hours old. I can't allow minors to fight in the ring! Do you have any idea how much flak I'd get from the media and parents who watch my games? The Society for Fair Treatment of Young Pokemon would have my head on a platter, and yours too for even thinking about entering someone so young into something as dangerous as my tournament!" Ash fidgeted, suddenly feeling a little guilty for including Junior and the other kids in Team Aurabolt back when they had only been a few days old.

"Then what exactly are we supposed to do with him?" Pikachu asked, trying to sound reasonable. "We can't leave him at our hotel room by himself, he's not housebroken—yet—and he made a big mess of the place when he first hatched. There's no guarantee that he won't do it again if left alone for too long. We can't leave him with a sitter or your daycare facility—why do you even have a daycare facility, anyway?—since he seems to be incredibly antisocial and reacts violently to anyone who isn't Ash, whom he seems to have imprinted on somehow."

Ford frowned. "Exactly how antisocial is he?"

"Watch this, yo," Leo said. He took a few steps towards Tiny, who was sitting on the floor of Ford's office with a blank look on his face. "Hey, little brutha-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Tiny screamed, causing the windows to shatter, along with the glass cases holding Ford's trophies, the covers of some of his framed photographs, and Ford and May's glasses.

"Ah," said Ford. "That's very antisocial. Could someone pick up that phone, please?"

"There is no phone, sir, your ears are ringing," May said. "Does 'Tiny' do that often?"

"Whenever someone who isn't me gets anywhere near him," Ash said. "He may also scream if I leave him all by himself, we haven't tried that yet."

"I see…" May muttered.

"We could try, if you wanted," Sasha suggested innocently. "Though even if he doesn't scream, as we said before there may be a problem with our hotel, seeing as he has yet to be housebroken and has no problem making large messes when unattended…like when he hatched this morning, and nobody was there to stop him from wrecking everything. But we could try again, perhaps he has learnt by now not to do it again?"

"Ah, no, no, that won't be necessary," Ford said quickly, getting a replacement set of sunglasses from a desk drawer. "Especially seeing as I'm the one who's footing the bill for all the rooms used by the participants of my tournament…hmm, let me think a moment." He leaned back in his chair, doing just that. He frowned, a thought occurring to him, and he glanced at Ash. "If I remember right—and I do, thanks to security cameras all over town—you got this egg after a pair of odd Pokemon claiming to be 'freelance police' blew up a hot dog vendor for trying to sell eggs on hot dogs—an utter abomination, I concur—and the egg he was using hit Gonzales in the head, correct?"

Ash nodded. "That's right."

"Why didn't you go to the Pokemon Center after taking such a blow?" May asked.

Leo laughed. "Ha! This mofo here's taken worse blows to the head than that!"

Ash nodded. "Yeah, it only knocked me out for a little while. A minor inconvenience, nothing worth seeing Nurse Joy about."

Ford nodded. "Fair enough. Answer me this, then…after you recovered, why did you keep the egg?"

Ash blinked. "Huh?"

"Why'd you keep the egg, instead of giving it away for adoption, like any sensible individual would have?" Ford asked.

Ash hesitated. "Well…we saved it from being eaten, sort of, so I figured it was my responsibility to take care of it."

Ford frowned. "Is that so? That doesn't sound like you, Gonzales. I thought you were the kind of mon who sowed his seed broadly and paid little attention to what springs up from the fertile soil you've planted in."

Ash gave him a confused look. "Uh, I'm not into gardening, sir." Leo and Pikachu facepalmed and Sasha rolled her eyes.

"He's talking about the dozen or so illegitimate offspring you have all over the place," Pikachu said. "You know, the ones from all those one-night stands?"

Ash blinked. "Oh. OH! Right. Those. Yeah, I have tons of kids who I never see or give a crap about. Yeah."

Ford raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case, then why exactly do you feel so eager to take care of this kid, if you don't even give a crap about your actual biological offspring?"

Ash froze, realizing he had walked right into a trap. Crap. He was terrible at lying, something about it always made him feel awful for some reason. Thinking quickly, he told Ford the truth, or part of it anyway. "Because this kid has potential."

Ford frowned. "Potential?"

"When Larvitar reach their final stage of evolution, they become one of the strongest non-legendary Pokemon in existence," Ash said. "I figured if I kept the kid and trained him, I could raise him to be a powerful fighter and make our team almost unstoppable."

Ford nodded slowly. "I see…yeah, that makes sense. But…how did you know the egg would hatch into a Larvitar, back when you got it yesterday?"

Ash hesitated. "Uh…"

"We looked it up somewhere," Pikachu said. "To help us decide whether to keep the egg or give it away."

"Oh, all right then," Ford said, mollified. "Well, I can appreciate why you might want to hold onto a future fighter as powerful as this little guy could become…although that odd screaming habit of his is kind of a pain."

"We're going to try and cure him of that," Sasha said.

"Okay," Ford said. "But in the meantime…hmm…okay, I think I have an idea."

"Yeah?" said Ash.

"Since we're not sure what'll happen if the kid's separated from you, and since he can't abide for anyone but you to come near him…here's what we're going to do," Ford said. "I can't let you take the kid into the ring and fight with you. However, he can sit on the sidelines and watch the match. That way, he'll still be pretty close to you, and while there'll be tons of other Pokemon around, none of them should be near enough to trigger his screaming fits."

"That's a great idea," said an impressed Pikachu.

"Yeah, I think we could work with that," said a relieved Ash. "Can't we, Tiny?" Tiny just stared at him blankly. "I'll take that as a yes."

"No wonder you're the head mofo of this place, dawg!" Leo said.

Ford chuckled. "Why thank you, King K. However, I must warn you; this little favor comes with a catch. If that kid of yours becomes too much of a problem and his screaming starts interfering with your matches, then I will have no choice but to remove him from the building…and if that causes even more problems, I'm gonna have to boot you from the tournament. I'm holding you responsible for his actions, so if he becomes too much of a handful, you'll all pay the consequences. Do I make myself clear?"

The team nodded. "We understand perfectly, sir," Ash said.

"We will try to make sure Tiny stays well-behaved," Sasha assured the Blaziken.

Ford nodded. "Good, good…now, if our business is concluded, I'd like to ask you to leave. Miss Maple and I have important business to discuss."

"Ooh, what kind of business, g?" Leo asked.

"The kind that's none of yours," Ford said brusquely, pressing a button on his desk. The office door opened and the scarily silent suited Feraligatr entered the room. "My associate here will see you out. Remember that you've got another match in a few hours, so I advise you to make all the preparations you can to ensure that your junior member there won't be a problem."

"We'll do that," Pikachu said. Their crocodilian escort led them from the office.

Ford swiveled in his chair to face May. "Now, Miss Maple…what is it that you needed to discuss with me?"

May frowned, her expression very serious. "There's been another disappearance, sir. A Delibird by the name of Andy…"

…

A few hours later…

After leaving Mt. Battle, the team returned to their hotel room, which thankfully had been repaired by then. They waited there for a while, but received no new messages from their mysterious informant, so just hung out and prepared for their next match. When the appointed hour rolled down, they headed for the arena…but not after making a few…'adjustments' to Tiny.

"That should keep him from screaming and getting us kicked out of the tournament!" Leo said proudly as Tiny sucked on a pacifier he had just happened to be carrying around.

"Leo, why were you carrying a pacifier in your shell?" Ash asked.

"For just such an occasion!" Leo said proudly.

Pikachu sweatdropped. "…You were expecting to need something to quiet a loud-mouthed baby Pokemon?"

"Yep!" Leo said.

"Then why didn't you give it to him before now?!" Pikachu demanded.

"I forgot I had it," Leo said. "Do you have any idea how much crap I've got in this shell? I'm so crazy prepared, even I'm not sure what I have stored in case of emergencies!"

"How do you fit it all in there?" Sasha marveled.

"This thing is surprisingly roomy," Leo said, patting his shell fondly.

"Did you bring that child-sized cheerleading outfit in case of emergencies too?" Ash asked, indicating the brightly-colored cheerleading outfit they had somehow managed to force Tiny into.

Leo paused. "Actually, I'm not sure where that one came from…" They sweatdropped.

With their rather silent cheerleader in tow, the disguised Team Aurabolt departed for their designated arena in Mt. Battle. The waiting audience cheered when they entered the arena, many of the Pokemon present having started to take a liking to the newcomers to the ring. That didn't mean lots of people weren't still betting against them, though, as the growing takes they were receiving from losing gamblers alongside their reward money for finishing each match indicated. Ash couldn't help feeling mildly offended that so many people were hoping they'd lose, but Pikachu told him it wasn't anything they really had control over.

"Ladies and gentlemon, let's give a warm welcome to our favorite fearsome foursome, the Fighting Four! And their new tagalong…who is this strange young Larvitar? And doesn't he look absolutely adorable in that little outfit?!" the MC cried as Ash put Tiny on one of the benches reserved for defeated fighters or extra team members sitting just outside of the ring.

"Awwww," the crowd cooed.

Ash sweatdropped. Tiny blinked. "I guess it's true what they say, everything is better with babies!" Leo commented. "Yo."

Sasha nodded in agreement. "Indeed, the more you have, the likelier it is that your lineage will continue."

Leo frowned. "That wasn't exactly what I meant, ho."

Sasha frowned. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

"What, would you rather I called you a bitch, bitch?" Leo asked, somewhat annoyed.

"Why yes, thank you King K," Sasha said, flattered. "That's very sweet of you to say."

Leo blinked. "Huh?"

"She's a canine. I think. Female canines are called bitches," Pikachu whispered to Leo. "So for them, someone saying they're a real bitch is a compliment."

"Oh, right," said Leo.

"Tiny, I need you to listen to me carefully," Ash said calmly to Tiny, who stared up at him while sucking on his pacifier. "My friends and I are going to go onto that platform over there and fight some other Pokemon. We might get hurt, but it's nothing to worry about, we've probably had worse. So even if it looks like we aren't doing so well, I want you to be a brave Larvitar and stay right here, okay? If you come to try and help us, you'll only get hurt, and we could all be in trouble."

"And if you could please refrain from screaming, that would also be nice," Pikachu said from a safe distance.

"Yeah, what he said," Ash said.

Larvitar blinked and sucked a little harder on his pacifier, but other than that showed no indication he had heard Ash's request. "You know, for some reason he reminds me of the baby from this one show I watch," Leo said wistfully as they turned to head for the ring.

"You mean the Sampsons?" Pikachu asked.

"Oh, you watch it too?!" Leo said excitedly.

"Not willingly," Pikachu grunted. "It's one of my dad and little brother's favorite shows for some reason. I don't really see the appeal."

"Neither do I," said Ash. "But that's because most of the jokes go over my head."

"Who are the Sampsons?" the puzzled Sasha asked.

"This really popular long-running cartoon about a very dysfunctional family of oddly-colored humans living in a town called Springburg," Leo said. "Pretty much every member of the family, and everyone in town, has some severe problem that in any other circumstances would be tragic, but in the frame of the show is utterly hilarious."

"Oh," said Sasha, not really getting it.

"I'm sure we could find it on TV somewhere after we're done here," Leo said. "Or online, if you're interested."

"We'll see…" Sasha murmured noncommittally.

As they stepped into the ring, the MC announced the arrival of their competition. "The Fighting Four's opponents for tonight are the Bells of Doom, the Bronze Bruisers, the Bringers of the Harvest of Pain, the mighty Bronzong Brothers!" The crowd cheered as a pair of Bronzong levitated into the ring.

Pikachu grimaced. "Great, more Psychics…"

"At least these ones won't have Miracle Eye," Sasha said. "So I'll still be immune to most of their attacks."

"Yeah, but they won't be especially weak to yours, due to their Steel-type," Ash pointed out. "And they have pretty high defenses as a whole, so they may be tough to scratch."

"Too bad none of us know Fire moves, yo, or we'd be able to burn call signs into these suckas' hides!" Leo lamented.

"Even if you did have Fire moves, you wouldn't be able to melt us," one of the Brothers, his bronze skin painted red, named Dotaku boasted. "We're Heatproof!"

"And aside from that, we've trained ourselves to the point where almost nothing can break through our Iron Defenses!" the other Brother, Dondon, his skin a natural shiny green, informed Team Aurabolt.

Ash smirked. "No defense is completely unbreakable!"

"Heh, that's what you think," Dotaku chuckled.

"What happens when unstoppable force acts against an immovable object? We may be about to find out, folks!" the MC said. "On the count of 3, both teams may begin fighting! THREE!"

"We're so confident in our defensive power, we'll give you the chance to attack first," Dotaku said.

"But don't think we'll just be sitting here quietly while you futilely waste your strength, either!" Dondon warned them. The Brothers clasped their hands in front of them and started humming, their bell-shaped bodies surrounded by a pink glow.

"They're using Calm Mind to boost their attack power!" Sasha realized.

"And they're letting us have the first move…they're either really stupid…or really strong…." Pikachu murmured.

"Then let's show them we're strong, too! Hit them with our best shot!" Ash decided. He formed his Bone Rush staff. "GO!"

They charged towards the Bronzongs. Well, Ash, Pikachu, and Sasha charged, Leo used Dig, figuring that if the Bronzong were Heatproof, then that meant they must still be affected by Ground-type moves. Sasha hit Dotaku with Night Slash at the same time as Leo burst out from the ground to attack the bell from below, while Ash and Pikachu struck Dondon with their staff and sword. Normally, such a combo would have taken the duo out, or at least dealt some serious damage…

Unfortunately, the Brothers were not normal opponents. "My claws!" Sasha cried in pain as she drew her paw back, her immaculate black claws broken.

"Ow…my head…" Leo moaned as he fell back into his hole, rubbing his head in pain.

"I don't think that was supposed to happen," Ash said, looking at his broken staff.

Pikachu winced as he examined his sword, which was unbroken, but had gotten a rather bad notch in its edge. "This isn't good…"

"It certainly isn't," Dotaku said as his glow reached its peak.

"Not for you, anyway!" Dondon commented. The Bronzongs flipped horizontally so their hollow bottoms faced the group. Bright white Flash Cannon beams charged up and fired from their innards.

"Look out!" Ash fired his own Flash Cannon in an attempt to stave off the Brothers' attacks. The three beams collided halfway between the two teams, the twin beams from the Bronzongs pushing against Ash's own. Ash struggled to pump as much power into his cannon as possible, but the Bronzongs had had the advantage of charging up their attack beforehand, and there were two of them, so they easily began to overwhelm Ash's beam as they pressed in on its sender.

"You look out!" Pikachu said as he fired a Thunderbolt at the point where the three beams clashed, lending his power to try and hold back the Brothers' assault.

"Yeah, we can take care of ourselves, fool! No need to always be lookin' out for us, ya know what I mean?!" Leo asked, firing an Ice Beam. The three combined attacks managed to slow down the approaching Flash Cannons, but the Steel-type beams were still steadily encroaching on them.

Sasha's eyes flashed, and then she jumped above her teammates and threw Psycho Cut and Razor Wind blades at the Brothers. Much to her alarm, the blades ricocheted off their bronze shells with zero visible damage. "My attacks can't even touch them!"

"Can't you use that copy move of yours to help?" Ash asked; sweat rolling down his body as he struggled to pour enough power into his Flash Cannon to hold back the Brothers' twin beams.

"It only works if I use it before my target attacks!" Sash said. "But perhaps…." She ran around her friends and alongside the Flash Cannons, heading towards the Brothers. Since they were focusing all their power against her teammates, they couldn't waste any energy on her. She lunged at Dondon, slamming into the Bronzong with all her might in an attempt to throw off his aim and lessen the power being hurled at Ash, Pikachu, and Leo.

She cried out in pain as she recoiled from Dondon, stars flashing before her eyes and her shoulder throbbing agonizingly. The Bronzong was harder than anything she had ever struck before. The very act of hitting him had nearly cracked her skull and dislodged her shoulder, and she hadn't even managed to budge him by an inch! She was starting to wonder if their boasts of an impervious defense had been more than just hollow bragging.

Seeing Sasha's failure, Leo's mind raced as he tried to come up with a solution to their dilemma. Suddenly getting an idea, Leo stopped shooting his Ice Beam, causing the twin Flash Cannons to surge forward. "King K! What are you doing?!" Ash cried in alarm.

"Saving our asses!" Leo cried as he started digging at the ground.

The twin beams continued pushing forward, overpowering Ash and Pikachu's attempts at a defense and smashing into them with a tremendous explosion. Sasha gasped. "NO!"

"Oh, and it looks like three of the Fighting Four are out of the game! There's no way they could have possibly survived that, folks!" the MC cried as a cloud of smoke engulfed the ground where the trio had been standing. He was forced to change his opinion, however, when the cloud faded, revealing a large hole in the ground, and no sign of Ash, Leo, or Pikachu anywhere! The crowd gasped. "What's this?!"

"Hey! Where'd they go?!" Dotaku asked angrily.

"They must've Dug underground just before our attack hit!" Dondon realized, glancing around. "They're probably somewhere underneath us right now!"

"Not all of them…" Dotaku growled, turning to Sasha, who snarled and raised her hackles. She needn't have bothered, a hole abruptly opened right underneath her, causing her to fall beneath the stage. "Aw, dammit…"

Ash's head popped out of the ground behind them. "Hey ugly, bet you can't hit me!"

"Who are you calling ugly?!" Dondon demanded, swinging a fist at the Lucario only for him to vanish back underground before he could hit him.

"Hey faceless, you need to work on your aim!" Leo shouted, popping out of the ground somewhere else.

"We do too have faces, they're just hard to see!" Dotaku growled, trying to smash the turtle's head in. Leo ducked back underground before it could hit him.

"You'll have to try harder than that to hit us," Pikachu said, popping up briefly before jumping underground again.

"We're very hard to get, you see," Sasha said, appearing somewhere else before disappearing just as quickly.

The Brothers growled and hovered back to back as the heads of the Fighting Four kept appearing from various holes that formed all over the stage and retracting just as quickly, making it impossible to get a bead on any of them and starting to confuse the Bronzongs. "What are they, Digletts or something?!" Dotaku asked incredulously.

"They may think they're pretty clever by playing 'Whack a Diglett,'" Dondon growled. "But there's one thing they didn't count on…we know Earthquake!" The Brothers levitated into the air and slammed down hard on the floor, releasing a shockwave which shook the arena and shattered the stage into jagged, uneven pieces.

The seismic upheaval launched the startled members of Team Aurabolt from the holes they had been hiding in, putting them right where the Bronzong Brothers wanted them. "Gotcha!" Dotaku said, ensnaring Ash and Pikachu with Psychic.

"You can't escape now!" Dondon said, using the same move to hold Leo in the air.

"Aw, crap!" Leo yelled.

"I can't move my body!" Pikachu cried.

"I'm starting to hate Psychic attacks…" Ash groaned.

"You forgot about me," Sasha snarled as she landed on one of the broken slabs making up what was left of the ring.

"No we didn't," said Dotaku.

"We're ignoring you because there really isn't anything you can do to stop us, and once we're finished with your friends, we'll deal with you," Dondon said.

Sasha smirked. "Nothing I can do to you, huh? You might want to rethink that opinion!"

On cue, there was a sudden gust of wind, and the massive Future Sight energy ball she had called for a few minutes ago appeared, slamming into the Brothers from behind and exploding with tremendous force…

Which didn't break their concentration or damage them in the slightest. Sasha's jaw dropped in astonishment. "Wh-what?!"

"How is that possible?! I know Bronzong are supposed to be tough, but not this tough!" Pikachu cried.

"Yeah, that's cheating, yo!" Leo agreed.

"It's not cheating to train yourself to the point where little if anything can hurt you, is it?" Dotaku retorted.

"We've worked so hard on boosting our defensive abilities that it would probably not be bragging to say nothing in this world can damage us!" Dondon said.

Ash sweatdropped. "Wonderful…"

"And now to win this match," Dotaku said, using Psychic to fling Ash and Pikachu away.

"No!" Sasha cried, quickly running after her friends, bounding among the broken slabs and outcroppings of the shattered battlefield as easily as if she were back in her steep and mountainous homeland.

"Stop her!" Dotaku cried.

"No problem," Dondon said, telekinetically hurling Leo at Sasha.

"Waaaahhhh! Not this agaaaaiiiiin!" the Squirtle yelled as he was thrown through the air at his teammate. Sasha quickly used Double Team to make it appear as if there were a dozen of her rushing for the edge of the ring rather than just one, and Leo wound up passing right through one of her illusions and slamming head-first into a rather hard rock. "Ow…not this again, either…"

Growling in frustration, Dondon flipped over and fired a Flash Cannon at Sasha, sweeping it through all the illusions in an attempt to knock out the true Absol. The real Sasha jumped just before she could get hit by the beam, soaring through the air and off the edge of the ring, heading right for Ash and Pikachu, who were on a collision course with a wall. She managed to grab Pikachu's tail in her teeth (Ash, sadly, was too far away) and twisted herself about in midair to fling the samurai back within the boundaries of the stage. There was no way she could save Ash and herself, unfortunately, but at least this way their team still had a chance of winning the match.

That chance grew stronger as Leo, thinking quickly—and no longer immobilized by Psychic—fired an Ice Beam at the wall Sasha and Ash were shooting towards to create a solid patch of ice, spat a Bubblebeam at it, then fired an Ice Beam at the bubbles so that they were frozen solid. Several of the bubbles smashed upon impact with the ice patch, but others were strong enough to rebound off and smack into Sasha, reversing her flight and knocking her back into the ring. Ash was not so lucky and slammed face-first into the wall right beside the ice. "Uhhhh…" He slid down the wall and collapsed backwards onto the floor. Tiny blinked and stared at the Lucario, sucking rapidly on his pacifier.

The audience gasped. "Oh, that looked painful! It seems that Gonzales is out of the match, folks! After all, once a fighter sets foot on the floor—or wall—outside the ring, he is automatically disqualified! Though I suppose the fact that he seems to have lost consciousness doesn't help matters. But at least the rest of the Fighting Four are still in the game, thanks to some quick thinking from Night Slash and King K!"

"That was a very clever move, King K," Sasha complimented the Squirtle. "Thank you."

Leo smirked. "Heh, well, what did you expect from a playa like myself?"

"Yes, very clever…now why didn't you save Gonzales, too?!" Pikachu demanded.

Leo sweatdropped. "Hey, it's not my fault he missed, dawg!"

"He missed?!" Pikachu cried incredulously.

"Yeah, he totally missed my chillin' ice!" Leo insisted. "If he hadn't been so far to the side, he might've gotten blasted back into the ring too! It's totally his fault, yo. It's always a pity when a brutha falls victim to the Worf Effect. Hope that doesn't happen too often in the future, or Gonzales will lose serious street cred." Pikachu's eye twitched.

"What is the Worf Effect?" Sasha asked.

"Where the ostensibly most powerful member of a group is taken out instantly by a villain, establishing that villain as a bad mofo," Leo explained. "If it happens too much and the rest of the team is still able to take out the bad guys pretty easily despite the 'strongest' being removed from the game, then that team member starts looking like a wannabe and suffers serious badass decay."

"Ah," said Sasha, only partially understanding that. "Then let us hope that does not happen to Ash in the future."

"That's what I said!" Leo said.

"That was a pretty impressive move," Dotaku grudgingly told the three remaining fighters as they floated over.

"Yes, too bad it was a complete waste of time, since we're just going to do it all over again," Dondon said as he prepared to use Psychic…

Only for Sasha, who had expected him to do this, to preempt him with Me First, pulling off a Psychic of her own and grabbing the Bronzong with her mind. Unused to using such ability and the exertion required to hold something as heavy as the Bronze Bell, she grunted and swung the startled Dondon into his brother. The two collided with a great clash, their metal bodies ringing loudly upon impact and causing everyone in the arena to flinch and cover their ears. Tiny probably would have wailed, except that he still had his pacifier in his mouth, and didn't really want to spit it out, he liked sucking on it.

Pikachu winced and massaged his ears. "Great, at this rate I'm going to go deaf, considering how often very loud noises have been happening around me today…"

"WHAT?" Leo shouted. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"I said at this rate I'm going to go deaf!" Pikachu yelled.

"WHAT?" Leo shouted.

"I SAID AT THIS RATE I'M GOING TO GO DEAF!" Pikachu shouted.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU; I THINK I'M GOING DEAF!" Leo shouted back. Pikachu facepalmed.

"Ohhhh…that was unpleasant…" Dondon moaned as he wobbled away from his brother, still vibrating and ringing slightly.

"Yes…that felt…uncomfortable…" Dotaku groaned, rubbing his chest. He hesitated, noticing a small crack in his surface that had not been there before. "Wait…that felt…but…how? How?!"

The other three were just as surprised. "They got damaged that time? But why?" wondered the puzzled Sasha.

Pikachu snapped his fingers. "That's it! They're so tough that they're invincible to just about anything, right? Which means the only thing that could possibly damage them is each other, since nothing else could possibly be hard enough! Well, nothing available to us, anyway!"

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU," Leo shouted. "BUT I THINK THAT THEY GOT HURT BECAUSE THEY'RE SO HARD THAT THEY'RE THE ONLY THINGS THAT CAN DAMAGE EACH OTHER!...YO!"

Pikachu sweatdropped. "Why are you deafened, anyway? I'm the one with the big, long, sensitive ears!"

"WHAT?" Leo shouted. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! WHICH IS WEIRD, SINCE YOU'RE THE ONE WITH BIG LONG SENSITIVE EARS, WHILE MINE ARE INSIDE MY HEAD! AND THESE FIN THINGS ARE MAINLY DECORATIVE." Pikachu sweatdropped again.

"So, we are not invincible after all?" Dondon asked, rubbing the crack that had formed on his chest. "This is…unexpected."

"But not reason to worry," Dotaku pointed out. "Their regular attacks are incapable of even budging us. So long as we stay apart and refrain from using Psychic, lest the Absol steal it and use it against us, we should be fine."

"You guys do realize we're right here and could hear all that, right?" Pikachu said.

"Yes, but it's an obvious strategy that you would have figured out anyway," Dotaku said.

"And aside from that, despite this setback, we are still fairly confident that we can defeat you," said Dondon. "After all, we have already taken out the strongest member of your team. What chance do the rest of you stand in his absence?"

"This is that Worf Effect thing King K was talking about, wasn't it?" Sasha murmured.

"Looks that way," Pikachu agreed.

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! BUT IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIGHT THEM WITHOUT ASH, THUS VALIDATING THAT WORF EFFECT THING I WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLIER!" Leo shouted.

Pikachu smirked. "In any event, if you think that Ash was the only thing that's been helping us win so far, you're sadly mistaken. We can take care of ourselves without him."

"Can you?" The Bronzong Brothers levitated a few feet into the air then slammed down hard on the ground, creating another Earthquake that shook the arena and shattered even more of the ring. Sasha and Pikachu bounded from rock to rock as the terrain shifted under their feet, hopping across the stony 'islands' that rose and sank and broke apart under their weight. Leo, much less agile, kept tripping and falling on his face and finally just hid in his shell to ride out the quake. The Bronzongs rose back into the air and fired Flash Cannons right at the ground, blasting more of the platform about. They started flying all over the stage while still firing their cannons, melting the rock into burning slag and tearing up even more of the already severely damaged stage. Sasha and Pikachu had to run all over the place to keep from being hit by the beams, jumping over trails of molten rock in the process. Leo, forced out of his hiding due to the constantly moving beams, had to follow behind at a much slower pace, cooling the heated ground with his Water Gun and Ice Beam since he wasn't agile enough to jump over them.

Then the Brothers decided to make things even more difficult by hovering out just past the boundary of the stage (since they weren't touching the ground, technically they weren't disqualified from the match), flipped over, and fired Flash Cannons at each other from opposite sides of the ring, creating a rather large horizontal beam of white light which effectively divided the stage in two. They then started rotating clockwise, spinning the beam between them and forcing the three remaining members of the Fighting Four to run as fast as they could to keep from getting caught in the immense Steel-type blast.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Pikachu yelled.

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! BUT ISN'T THIS GETTING RIDICULOUS?" Leo shouted. Pikachu almost facefaulted, which, considering that there was a giant energy beam just behind them, probably would not have been the best idea.

"I think I have an idea," Sasha said breathlessly as they ran. "If we can divide their attention, it may be easier for us to trick them into smashing into each other again."

"Okay, but how do we do that?" asked Pikachu.

"By splitting up, of course!" said Sasha.

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! BUT I THINK WE SHOULD SPLIT UP SO THAT IT'LL BE EASIER TO TRICK THOSE GUYS INTO RUNNING INTO EACH OTHER!" shouted Leo, causing the other two to sweatdrop.

Finally, the Bronzongs ran out of Flash Cannon power and hovered back into the middle of the arena, where they tried using Earthquake again to knock them off their feet. All of them jumped at the last minute, however, and the shockwave passed under them, allowing them to safely land on the next bunch of outcroppings that burst out of the ground from the quake. (Well, Pikachu and Sasha did, Leo fell on his face again.) Pikachu hopped on Sasha's back and waved his sword while shouting wildly, the Absol rushing around the far side of the platform in an attempt to draw the Bronzong's attention. The Brothers flipped over and started charging up a Flash Cannon again, but Sasha beat them to it with Me First and fired one back at them, Pikachu assisting her with Thunder. The beam and lightning bolt collided with the Brothers' twin beams with a tremendous thunderclap. The energy clashed, sending bolts of static and sparks all over the place, but the Bronzong beams were much stronger than Sasha's and Pikachu's, and they slowly started pressing their attacks back towards the duo…

Until Leo sprayed his Water Gun all over Dondon. "HEY, OVER HERE! WHY DON'T YOU TRY SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE, TOUGH GUY?!"

"That statement is not only incredibly inaccurate, since you're smaller than me, but I have no reason to attack you, since I am currently engaged in crushing your teammates," Dondon said, an impressive feat considering he was still concentrating hard enough to fire his Flash Cannon at full force. "Once I am done with them, it will be your turn."

Leo laughed. "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU JUST SAID, BUT IT WAS PROBABLY REALLY LAME, YO! YOU'RE ALL WET, SUCKA!"

"Yes, I am indeed all wet, because you sprayed me with a Water Gun. And I do not see what exactly you hoped to do with that move, since, while damp, I am still functioning at full power," Dondon said, rather bored. "Are you just drawing for straws now?"

"WHAT? I DIDN'T HEAR YOU…BECAUSE I WAS TOTALLY WHUPPING YOUR ASS!" Leo shouted, jumping off the top of a nearby outcropping. He took a deep breath and fired an Ice Beam at Dondon. Normally, this would have had no effect on the bell, but since Leo had already covered him with water…

The wetness froze solid, causing a rather large patch of ice to form over Dondon's face, blinding him! (Though how he could see anyway was a question nobody knew the answer to.) "Aaargh! I can't see!" he cried in alarm, flailing around in panic and causing his Flash Cannon beam to swerve away from Sasha and Pikachu and blast through a wall outside the ring. With the pressure from the second brother off, Sasha and Pikachu were able to push Dotaku's Flash Cannon back a bit away from them. "What have you done to me?!" Dondon roared as he thrashed about, trying to clear the ice from his face.

Dotaku stopped firing his Flash Cannon, allowing himself to get hit by Sasha and Pikachu's attacks. It's not like they hurt him, anyway. "Brother, calm down, you might hurt yourself, or me! Let me help you!"

However, Leo didn't intend to let Dotaku get the chance. "HEY METALHEAD! I'M RIGHT OVER HERE! AND THOUGH YOU CAN'T SEE IT, I'M SMACKING MY ASS AT YOU IN AN INSULTING MANNER, BECAUSE I THINK YOU SUCK, YO!' he shouted from right behind Dotaku, wiggling his tail in Dondon's direction.

"YOU!" Dondon roared, bristling with fury. He spun forward in a devastating Gyro Ball, blindly aiming for where he could hear the obnoxious turtle's taunts coming from…

And, naturally, collided right into the startled Dotaku, causing the arena to tremble as the twins rang loudly once more from the impact. The crack on Dotaku's face broke open into a gaping hole as it was smashed in by Dondon's wildly spinning fists. "AAAAAAHHHH! Brother…whyyyyyyy?!" he wailed as the force of the strike flung him out of the ring, where he slammed into a wall hard enough to leave a crater in it.

Dondon recoiled, his body vibrating and his fists dented from striking his brother. The vibrations shattered the ice on his face, allowing him to see and realize the full horror what he had just done. "Brother?! No…NO!"

"HAHA! IN YOUR FACE! I AM DA MON!" Leo roared, beating his fists on his chest.

Sasha and Pikachu sweatdropped. "He certainly is good at annoying others, isn't he?" Pikachu commented.

"Some could say it's his calling," Sasha agreed.

"What an upset! One of the indomitable Bronzong Brothers has just been defeated…by another one of the indomitable Bronzong Brothers!" the MC commented. "Which still counts as a victory for the Fighting Four! Now all they need to do is knock out Dondon…whichwill be no easy feat, considering that the only Pokemon in the arena capable of damaging him, his own brother, was just thrown out of the ring!"

Pikachu frowned. "Uh oh…he's right. We should have thought this through better…"

"WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Leo shouted. "BUT I JUST REALIZED THAT SINCE ONE OF THE BROTHERS IS OUT, IT'S GOING TO BE REALLY HARD TO BEAT THE OTHER ONE! MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT THIS THROUGH BETTER…" The others sweatdropped.

"You…you little, frail pathetic fleshlings! Look what you made me do!" Dondon roared, shaking with fury, and possibly still a little residual vibration from ramming into Dotaku. "You made me hurt my brother! And now I'm going to hurt YOU!" He whirled towards Leo in a Gyro Ball, intending to avenge his brother by taking out the irritating turtle first. Leo, unfortunately, had been looking at his friends when Dondon said this, and since he was still deaf was completely oblivious to their warnings that there was a four hundred pound spinning metal bell bearing down on him.

"HUH? WHAT ARE YOU GUYS TRYING TO SAY? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Leo shouted. "WAIT, WHY ARE YOU POINTING AND GESTURING WILDLY BEHIND ME? IS SOMETHING-" He paused. "OH CRAP, HE'S ABOUT TO HIT ME, ISN'T HE?" He turned around and screamed, seeing Dondon was about to slam into him. There was no way he could get out of the way in time, and hiding in his shell certainly wasn't going to protect him from something like this. It looked like it was the end for him.

"NO!" Sasha shouted, lunging across the stage and knocking Leo out of the way in the nick of time. The Bronzong hit her instead, ramming into her with such force that she flew through the air, slammed into the wall with a sickeningly wet thud, and fell to the ground, bleeding from her head and with what looked like a broken rib or two. There was bone jutting out from one of her legs…

The audience gasped in horror, as did Pikachu and Leo. "N-no…" Pikachu whispered.

"SHE-SHE SACRIFICED HERSELF FOR ME?!" Leo cried, shocked. "NO…SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT!"

"Now you know how I felt when I lost my brother!" Dondon snarled. "Except that I was the one who took him out…by accident…and he wasn't nearly as badly hurt…oh, never mind! You're next, turtle!"

"Oh, this looks like a big streak of bad luck for the Fighting Four! Two of their toughest hitters are down, and now it's just the two lightweights against the much heavier Dondon! What hope do they possibly have of scratching the Bronzong Brother's ultra-strong hide now?"

"That's a very good question…" Pikachu murmured anxiously.

Leo trembled with fury. "NO…NO! I'M NOT GONNA LET IT END LIKE THIS! I WON'T LET WHAT HAPPENED TO GONZALES AND NIGHT SLASH BE IN VAIN! WE'RE GONNA TAKE YOU DOWN, DUMBDUMB, FOR THEIR SAKE!"

"The name's Dondon, and you're the one who's going down, for tricking me into knocking out my brother!" Dondon growled.

"I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU JUST SAID, AND IT DOESN'T MATTER! COME ON, MINUS, LET'S SHOW THIS GUY WHAT WE CAN DO!" Leo yelled.

Pikachu nodded and brandished his sword. "I'm with you, King K!"

"We-hell, it looks like the last two of the Fighting Four still have some fight left in them! Which is good, because otherwise, this would be a pretty boring match, right folks?" the MC asked rhetorically.

"It's going to be a pretty boring fight anyway, because with that Absol out of the way, there's nothing to stop me from removing you from the game with my Psychic attacks!" Dondon said ominously as his eyes started to glow.

"Or is there?" Pikachu commented, quickly throwing his sword at the Bronzong as they began to levitate into the air.

Dondon didn't bother catching it, thinking it wouldn't harm him…and so was surprised when the blade went right through the crack on his face, piercing his otherwise impenetrable skin. "Gah!"

"WHOA, I GUESS THROWING YOUR SWORD REALLY DOES ALWAYS WORK!" shouted the surprised Leo.

As Dondon grunted and tried to remove the sword from his face using his big mitts and Psychic powers—it didn't really hurt, but it stung something fierce--Pikachu dashed over, jumped towards Dondon, and grabbed his sword by the hilt. Pressing his feet against the surprised Bronze Bell's arms, he pushed his sword further into the crack and levered it about, causing the fissure to widen and further mar the Bronzong's largely vestigial features. Crying in pain, Dondon let go of the sword and smacked his metal hands into Pikachu's head, nearly crushing the false Minun's skull and causing blood to spurt from his nose and mouth. Dazed, Pikachu fell off and stumbled backwards as the room spun around him and spots danced before his eyes. Dondon grunted, grabbed the sword again, and twisted…only to break the sword in half, with a great deal of its length still stuck in his face, giving him a rather large headache. He cried out in frustration.

"ARE YOU OKAY, MAN?" Leo shouted, rushing over to try and help Pikachu from falling over.

Pikachu threw up and stared at Leo, trying to get the world moving properly again. "WHAT?" he shouted.

"I SAID, ARE YOU OKAY, MAN?" Leo asked again.

"WHAT?" Pikachu yelled, unable to hear Leo thanks to head trauma.

"WHAT?" Leo yelled, unable to hear Pikachu thanks to being temporarily deaf.

"WHAT?"

"WHAT?"

"WHAT?"

"WHAT?"

"GRAAAAHHH! This thing is driving me crazy!" Dondon roared as his latest attempt to extricate the sword shaft buried in his head only drove it deeper and made the crack in his face even larger. "I'm gonna kill you guys before this thing kills me!" Unable to concentrate enough to use his Psychic power due to the sword piece driven through his 'skull', he resolved instead to spin at them with a Gyro Ball, intending to smash them as a whirling dervish of destruction.

Leo and Pikachu barely got out of the way of his initial charge. "SPRAY HIM WITH WATER, AND THEN I'LL FIRE A THUNDERBOLT! THE CONDUCTIVITY OF THE WATER PLUS MY SWORD SERVING AS A LIGHTNING ROD SHOULD CHANNEL ELECTRICITY INSIDE OF HIM AND KNOCK HIM OUT!"

"WHAT?" Leo shouted.

"SPRAY HIM WITH WATER, AND THEN I'LL FIRE A THUNDERBOLT! THE CONDUCTIVITY OF THE WATER PLUS MY SWORD SERVING AS A LIGHTNING ROD SHOULD CHANNEL ELECTRICITY INSIDE OF HIM AND KNOCK HIM OUT!" Pikachu repeated.

"WHAT?" Leo shouted.

"SPRAY HIM WITH WATER, AND THEN I'LL FIRE A THUNDERBOLT! THE CONDUCTIVITY OF THE WATER PLUS MY SWORD SERVING AS A LIGHTNING ROD SHOULD CHANNEL ELECTRICITY INSIDE OF HIM AND KNOCK HIM OUT!" Pikachu yelled at the top of his lungs.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I'LL JUST SPRAY HIM WITH WATER SO YOU CAN HIT HIM WITH A THUNDERBOLT THAT'LL KNOCK HIM OUT!" Leo yelled.

"WHAT?" Pikachu yelled.

Rather than answering—not that he could, not having heard Pikachu—Leo spat a Water Gun at Dondon. He arced it into the air so that it would hit the Bronzong from above, rather than get deflected by his violent spinning. Surprised by his sudden inundation, Dondon paused in his twirling. "What-"

Pikachu took that opportunity to launch a Thunderbolt. The electric blast was attracted to the wet blade sticking out of Dondon's head like…well, like a wet lightning rod, and was channeled into the Bronzong's body through the crack in his near-impervious metal skin. Dondon howled in pain, his bell-shaped form vibrating and creating a harsh, jangling melody as Pikachu pumped volt after volt of energy into him. Growing dizzy again from his head injury, Pikachu was forced to cut off the flow, but it didn't matter much because Dondon had taken about as much as he could anyway, and passed out, falling to the floor with a loud clang that reverberated throughout the arena.

A hushed silence fell over everyone as they watched Dondon with trepidation, waiting to see if the Bronzong would get back up and keep on fighting. He didn't move an inch. He was completely out cold, which might have been for the best, since if he had kept fighting with that sword in his head he could have gotten permanent brain damage. "Aaaand…he's OUT! The Fighting Four are the winners! The invincible Bronzong Brothers have been defeated! Guess they're not so indestructible after all, huh folks?" The crowd cheered.

"DUDE, THAT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME, YO!" Leo yelled.

"I'M GOING TO NEED A NEW SWORD," Pikachu complained. "GOOD THING THAT WASN'T MY REGULAR ONE…"

"I LOVE YOU TOO, BUDDY," Leo shouted, patting Pikachu on the back.

"I THINK I HAVE A CONCUSSION," Pikachu said, passing out.

"WHAT?" Leo shouted.

Sasha, her chest and legs killing her, managed a weak smile from where she lay outside the ring as Nurse Joys rushed into the room to help her. "Good…job…" she whispered.

Ash, roused by the cheers from the crowd, woke up and found a concerned Tiny sitting on his chest. It hurt. The Larvitar was way too heavy for a newborn. "Hey there," Ash said, slightly dazed. He smiled as he felt warmth pass to him through his bond to the baby Pokemon. "I guess you really do care about me after all, huh?" Tiny sucked on his pacifier and said nothing. "I think I can get used to having you around…" He winced. "As soon as you get off my ribs…" Tiny blinked but didn't budge. Ash sighed. "I see we still have a few things to work out…" He smiled. "But you came to me on your own without trying to hide from others or anything. I think that's a step in the right direction, don't you?" Tiny stared at him blankly. "Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say…" Ash grinned. "You're going to fit really well in this team, you know that? I know you aren't the way you should be now, but…I just know that you're going to grow up into one awesome Pokemon some day. And I promise that I'll be with you every step of the way."

Tiny might have smiled then. Or it could have just been gas. It was hard to tell with him.

…

Meanwhile, in the skies above Sinnorre…

Mickey swallowed, licking his lips anxiously. "G-guys, is dis really n-necessary? I th-think I'm gonna be airsick…" Mickey had good reason to be anxious, considering that he was dangling from a rope hanging from the bottom of Team Rocket's balloon, with nothing but the cord wrapped around his waist to keep him from plummeting to a horrible death on the ground hundreds of feet below.

"Sorry, Mickey, but it's the only way we can stay safe from the demon within you!" Jessie called down from the safety of the basket.

"Taurosshit! You're perfectly safe so long as dese things Wabbaku painted on me work properly! Assuming dey work at all, that is…" Mickey said nervously.

"They will work perfectly so long as you do not mar them or break any of the patterns," Wabbaku called down. "Which is the real reason you are hanging down there: since you cannot wash yourself lest you disrupt my protective spells, your growing body odor would be rather…intolerable if contained within the tight space of this balloon. So it is for our protection both from the demon and from your stench that you are down there, since if we should pass through a storm by accident and my wards are washed off, releasing the full force of the demon's might, we can easily cut you loose and let you drop before you could kill us all."

"And by being so far away, none of us have to smell you!" Gardenia said cheerfully.

"Oh, come on!" Mickey snapped. "Dis is cruel and unusual punishment! Jimmy, come on, you can't let dem do dis to me!"

"Sorry, Mickey," James said apologetically. "I love you more than life itself…but when you haven't cleaned yourself for a while, even I have trouble standing you! I'm so sorry…I'm a terrible boyfriend!" He burst into tears.

"Chiiiii!" Chimecho chimed stupidly.

"You certainly are!" Mickey snapped. "Letting dem do dis to me! I'm seriously considering dumping you for dis, Jimmy!" James wailed even louder.

"That's uncalled for, Mickey!" Gardenia scowled. "You hurt his feelings!"

"Sorry, but I have trouble being considerate for people who LET ME GET POSSESSED BY A DEMON AND ARE LITERALLY HANGING ME OUT TO DRY THOUSANDS OF FEET IN THE AIR!" Mickey shouted angrily. "Some friends you are!"

"We're thieves, what do you expect?" Jessie snorted.

"I thought there was supposed to be honor among thieves," Buzz said. Jessie burst into raucous laughter at this utterly ludicrous notion.

Mickey groaned. "I hate you guys…I'm gonna report dis to Uncle Giovanni, and den you'll be sorry!"

"We reported it to him last night," James said. "He commended us for doing whatever it took to keep your immortal soul from being consumed by an evil demon."

Mickey's hopes fell. With any luck, he wouldn't fall with them. "Oh…"

"Don't worry, Mickey," Wabbaku assured the miserable Meowth. "We should reach our destination of Giant Volcano some time tomorrow. Once there I will be able to obtain some of the ingredients I need to exorcise the demon from your body."

"And while we're at it, catch Team Aurabolt too!" Jessie cackled evilly. "And when we give him to the Boss, he'll give us an extra-special reward, both for capturing them and also for saving Mickey's soul!"

"And then maybe he'll give me your hand in marriage, so we can be united in holy matrimony!" James squeaked happily. "As opposed to unholy matrimony, which is what it would be if I married you now, since you're possessed and all."

Mickey groaned. "Tomorrow?! I don't know if I can last that long…"

"Don't worry, we'll land soon for dinner, and you can get some time on the ground then," Jessie said. "But not too much, since we'll be heading back into the air soon after. And while we're on the ground you're going to be tied to a tree downwind from us, so we won't have to smell you."

"It's for your own good," Wabbaku promised. "Mostly ours, but yours too."

Mickey's eye twitched. "With friends like dese, who needs enemies?"

…

Meanwhile, in Pokemon Square…

"Mr. Giovanni will be with you in a moment. Please wait here," an employee at Giovanni's bank, a Nidorina with rather too much eyeliner and black lipstick, informed Aaron, leading him to a small, utterly nondescript room with nothing in it save for a chair, a blinking security camera, and a speaker on the wall. She closed the door behind him. The blind Lucario glanced around him, rather troubled and wary, before reluctantly taking a seat in the chair. Then he waited to speak with the wealthy banker.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, after half an hour, the speaker crackled to life. "Ah, Aaron, the legendary hero! Sorry to keep you waiting, I had some important business to attend to. How good it is to see you again, it's been a long time."

Aaron nodded at the camera. "It certainly has, Giovanni. I haven't seen you in ages…and it doesn't look as if I'm going to be seeing you anytime soon, either."

"Yes, due to your blindness, I heard about that. Sorry," Giovanni said.

Aaron shook his head. "No, I can still see perfectly fine, I was referring to how you don't seem to actually be here. Where are you?"

Giovanni laughed apologetically. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet with you in person today, but I've been rather busy for the last few weeks working on some investments and business deals outside the continent. Trying to get all the assets and goods we'll need to outlast the coming siege and all that."

"All right," Aaron said, accepting that. "That's a good thing to be doing. But then why are you communicating with me like this? I would have thought someone as wealthy as you would be able to arrange for a teleconference so we could speak face-to-face."

"Normally that would be the case, but I don't have a camera over here, sad to say, so I wouldn't be able to send you a visual transmission from where I am. I can see and hear you perfectly fine on my end, though, thanks to my wireless connection to the camera and speaker in the room you're in," said Giovanni.

"I see," said Aaron. "Well, I am disappointed not to be meeting you in person, but I understand that you're busy. Nevertheless, I'm glad I could arrange to speak with you, something has come to my attention that I was hoping you could address."

"Really? What's that?" Giovanni asked.

Aaron frowned. "Two things, actually. The first is this: why is it that I am unable to see anything beyond the walls of the room I'm in?"

There was a pause on Giovanni's end. "What do you mean?" the Persian asked.

"I rely on Aura-sight one hundred percent ever since the loss of my true eyes," Aaron explained. "Thanks to that, I'm usually able to see through walls and other objects. However, I can't see anything outside the room I'm in. In fact, when I came into your bank, I noticed a lot of things I couldn't see through or properly perceive with my Aura-sight for some reason. Would you happen to know why that might be?"

"Hmm…that's interesting," Giovanni murmured. "I recently installed a new metal in many of the walls and doors in the most secure and important areas in the building. It's supposed to be an experimental new alloy that is capable of keeping Ghosts from phasing through and Psychics from Teleporting in or using their mental powers to see what's inside. It's for security purposes, of course. I guess it must also be capable of blocking Aura-sight. I'll have to tell the dev team about that…"

Aaron grimaced. "It's not something I'm exactly enjoying…I'm used to being able to use the full extent of my powers and abilities wherever I go, the concept of something Pokemon-made being able to hobble them makes me uneasy. Why have you gone to such lengths to increase security? There are no thieves in Pokemon Square. Almost all the riches you store here belong to the townspeople, they'd only be robbing from themselves or their neighbors by breaking into your bank."

"Maybe so, but in my line of work you can never be too careful," Giovanni said. "Additionally, not everything I'm holding onto belongs to people in town. I also happen to be keeping a paw on a few…shall we say, delicate accounts from Pokemon overseas, Pokemon who want to be very certain they can feel safe leaving their investments in my care, if you know what I mean. And besides, if, Arceus forbid, the barbarians should manage to overcome our city's defenses, my bank may become one of the last buildings in town capable of withstanding their invasion force long enough to turn the tide."

Aaron grimaced. "I hope it does not come to that."

"Neither do I," Giovanni said. "But we must be ready for any contingency. Now, you said there was something else that was bothering you?"

Aaron nodded. "I came by earlier to check on my account…and was rather surprised to find that I seemed to be short a few hundred Poke' than I had when I left town all those years ago to embark on my quest to strengthen myself. Why is that?"

There was a long pause. "You're saying there was less money in your account than there was when you last checked a decade ago? You're certain?"

Aaron nodded. "Without a doubt."

Giovanni hesitated for a moment. "Well, Aaron, I don't mean to disparage your judgment, but…you have been gone an awfully long time. Are you certain you're remembering correctly? Maybe you're simply rounding up the original number a little?"

"My memory has always been impeccable," Aaron said, tone thick with ice. "When I came by a few days ago and asked about my account, the amount of money in there was far less than the amount I remember depositing before setting out on my journey. They wouldn't let me go into the vault to count my money personally without you—what with you being away then, too—so I've had to wait until now to talk to you about it. Either my memory is wrong, or someone's been stealing from me, Giovanni. Which is it?"

"Don't you think you're leaping to assumptions, Aaron?" Giovanni asked smoothly. "You said yourself…there are no thieves in Pokemon Square."

"Then how do you explain the missing money?" Aaron asked skeptically.

"Why do you even care so much, anyway? Aren't you Aura Guardians supposed to be all ascetic and beyond worldly possessions and cash and all that?" Giovanni asked, trying to change the subject.

"That doesn't mean I like people taking what's mine," Aaron growled, getting fed up of Giovanni avoiding the problem. His suspicions were growing as to just who that person who took what was his might be. "The missing money, Giovanni. Explain. Now."

Giovanni sighed reluctantly, giving in. "Oh, very well. The truth of the matter is…it's a computing error."

Aaron paused. "A…computing error?"

"Yes, rather regrettable. You see, I recently had a Porygon2 installed into our computers to strengthen our firewalls, increase processing power, handle online transactions, that sort of thing…unfortunately, it turned out to be a Trojan Rapidash. The supplier secretly added a dubious program to the Porygon2 that automatically activated after it had been with us long enough, causing it to transform into a Porygon-Z. Rather than wreaking havoc on our computers and causing crashes and mayhem and all that, it discreetly started funneling small amounts of cash from all of our accounts into those belonging to its creator. Your account was one of them. It took us a while to figure out what was going on, and it was just a few days ago—shortly after you visited, actually—that we managed to delete the meddlesome virus and regain the money it stole," Giovanni explained.

Aaron frowned, finding this story rather hard to believe. "I see…but if that's the case, why didn't you tell me or anyone else about this?"

"We kept it hushed up out of fear that our customers would lose faith in us if they found out that our mainframe had been compromised. They wouldn't trust us anymore, and we would lose all sorts of business," Giovanni said apologetically. "Even though the problem's been solved now, I would prefer it if you could refrain from telling anyone else about it. It could ruin my bank! And in any event, you have all your Poke' back, so there's no harm done, right? I'll even have one of my employees escort you down so you can check it personally to make sure that it's all right where it belongs."

Aaron nodded slowly. "I think I will…not that I don't trust you Giovanni, I just want to make sure that everything is in order." Giovanni was obviously lying, but until Aaron could figure out why and what the Persian was really up to, he'd play along. For now.

"No problem, I understand completely, I would do the same thing in your place," Giovanni assured him. The door behind Aaron opened, and the Nidorina from before appeared, looking bored and chewing some bubble gum. Aaron wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed by her indifference towards him, in comparison to the rabid frenzy of his many fangirls. "Lindsey will take you downstairs, won't you Lindsey?"

"Meh," she said as the bubble she had been blowing popped due to the many spikes all over her body and face.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Giovanni as Aaron got up.

"Thank you for giving me a moment of your time, Giovanni," Aaron told the Persian. Don't think this is over… he thought to himself.

"Think nothing of it," Giovanni said cheerfully, hopefully unaware of Aaron's continuing suspicions of him. "I hope to see you in the flesh soon…and that we continue doing business in the future, assuming we aren't all killed by barbarians, that is."

"Don't we all?" Aaron asked with a smirk. He left the room, following Lindsey, resolving to keep a closer eye on Giovanni and his bank in the future. The businessman was up to something, and he rather doubted that anything good would come of it.

Giovanni, who had not in fact been in another country but was actually sitting in a small booth on the other side of one of the walls in the room Aaron had just been in, sighed in relief as he watched Aaron leave on the monitors and one-way glass on the control panel in front of him, then grinned to himself. Looks like I'll have to give Nagi and Sebastian that extra funding they asked for after all, he thought cheerfully (as somewhere, in a distant lab, Doctor Namba stiffened, certain somebody was getting his name wrong) as he wiped some sweat from his brow. That new metal they've been working on has proved to be even more wondrous than we had ever dreamed!

It had been no coincidence that the new metal that had been installed all over the bank was impervious to Aaron's Aura-sight. Giovanni had ordered his Team Rocket scientists to try and develop an Aura-proof alloy, certain that at some point in the near future Aaron, Ash, or some other Aura Guardian might try to interfere with his plans. Aaron's insistence to meet with him to talk about his missing money had been a perfect opportunity to test the new metal in the field, and it had succeeded beyond his wildest hopes. Aaron had had no idea that he had been just a few feet away from him, not in a distant land. This meant that when they finished using the metal to construct Project T, no Ghost, Psychic, or Aura user would be able to see the weapon's inner workings and discover any weaknesses or vulnerabilities. The fact that the new metal had so far managed to stand up to nearly all attempts to destroy it in testing didn't hurt in guaranteeing Project T's near-invincibility either.

Developing that metal, and the other projects Team Rocket was working on, hadn't been cheap, though, which was why he'd been forced to steal a considerable amount of money from his clientele in small individual sums to fund his operations. Hopefully nobody else would notice, and if they did, he'd simply transfer some cash from one account to another to quell any suspicions, just as he had transferred some money from his personal account to Aaron's to hopefully trick the Lucario into thinking nothing fishy was going on. He wasn't sure that Aaron had bought the lie about the Porygon, but so long as he had nothing solid to build his suspicions on, Giovanni doubted Aaron would figure out what he was really up to until it was too late.

And then not even the legendary Rescue Team leader would be able to keep Team Rocket from dominating the world.

…

Some time later…

Sasha was used to being visited in her dreams. It was the most common medium through which her master communicated with her. She was not, however, used to anyone else speaking to her this way, and so was surprised when she sensed an unfamiliar presence in her slumbering mind on the night after the grueling battle with the Bronzong Brothers.

"Hello?" Sasha called into the darkness. "Master, is that you?"

There was no response. There usually wasn't whenever she called for her master, since he only talked to her if he felt like it or needed her for something, but it never hurt to try. However, the lack of a reply also confirmed her suspicion that the trespasser was not her master, since she knew his presence well and this intruder was a complete stranger, something she had not thought possible before now. How disconcerting. Was this how other Pokemon felt when they found Psychics probing through their minds?

There was a flicker in the darkness, incredibly faint, but the blackness of her dream was so absolute that any trace of light was visible, no matter how dim. "Who are you?" Sasha demanded of the strange, faint presence. "What are you doing here?"

"…Ash…" the presence whispered in a voice so faint Sasha almost didn't catch it.

Sasha blinked in surprise. "Ash? You are looking for Ash?"

"…C…u…he…." The presence said, its voice rising and falling in time with its flickering. Sasha frowned. It didn't seem as if her intruder was entirely in her mind. Or maybe they had a bad connection? She had heard that Psychics had difficulty communicating with others over incredibly great distances. While she doubted that this being was a Psychic (for how could it talk to a Dark-type like herself?) perhaps the same concept was in effect here?

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand you," Sasha said apologetically, straining her eyes to try and get a better look at the stranger, but the faint light was so diaphanous and elusive she couldn't make out the intruder's form in her dream. "I can barely see or hear you at all. Can you speak up?"

The light brightened and grew stronger, as if whoever sent it was forcing themselves to concentrate. "Ash…"

"It is Ash you need to speak to, not myself?" Sasha guessed. "Then why are you not speaking to him in his mind, rather than mine? You do not belong here."

"Ca…you…only…" Whatever else the being was saying faded out as the light flickered again, losing coherency.

Sasha still got the gist of its message. "I am the only one you can speak to? I don't understand why, but that is irrelevant. What is it you need me to tell Ash?"

"Te…I…" The flickering increased.

"Hold yourself together! What is your message? I can't tell Ash anything if you can't tell it to me first!" Sasha cried, realizing the stranger didn't have much time left.

"I…" The stranger struggled, trying to maintain its presence in her mind, but ultimately failed, its words drowning out in a noise akin to static and vanishing along with the light, leaving Sasha alone with her own thoughts.

"Hello?" the Absol cried, hoping she might still be able to somehow draw the mysterious being back from the beyond. "Are you still there? Hello?" There was no reply.

Sasha sighed, somewhat annoyed. That had been rather puzzling. What had just happened? "Master, I don't know if you can hear me, or are even listening, but someone just tried to communicate with me through dreaming. They weren't very good at it, though, and I have no idea who they are or what they were trying to tell me, but I think they want Ash for some reason, or at least want me to pass a message on to him." Her master did not reply to her, but that wasn't really a surprise. He was probably busy somewhere else. She grunted and narrowed her eyes. "I guess I'll just have to continue as I have been, then, and wait for further instructions. And hope that if and when that stranger tries to contact me again…I'll be ready."

…

An awesome fight (or pair of fights), a new team member, and a new mystery…it looks like there are still lots of things in store for Team Aurabolt in this tournament.

What do you think of the addition of yet another Pokemon to the main cast?