Latias' Journey

by Ri2

With her home destroyed, Latias sets out on a journey to protect herself from the mysterious Ghost King. On the way, she encounters new friends and adventures, and wonders if perhaps the one who destroyed her city is really all that he seems.

25. RPG MADNESS! pt 3: The ridiculously chea...

Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait! My editor finally got this chapter finished, and damn is it good thanks to him!

Yes HVK, that line was indeed based on Garland. Don't call Ash's thing an obsession, call it true love.

Lord Karkon: Mmmmmmmm…trefoils…

EagleFox, you are indeed the 180th reviewer! Congratulations! And I am nowhere NEAR the best writer on the site. A few writers on the Zelda and Digimon section have my vote there. Check out the work of Arxane or Fierce Deity, their epic stories are nothing short of fantastic.

Iris, no, the phoenix guy is not like Dullahan.

Sir Pudding, to be honest, the thing with the Pokemon reading was Alex's idea. I forgot all about the translation protocols.

Hi Dannichu! Yes it's funny now, but it gets a lot darker later on. Trust me. And I'm pretty sure that it is spelled Phanphy.

I would like to thank Alex Warlorn for everything he has done to help me these last few chapters. Many of the passages and spelling corrections in the last chapter I may attribute to him, for he deserves the credit for them. He came up with the idea of using Benny as Wobbuffet's fear, having the ferryman's wife side-quest and a few other things here and there. Also, Alex himself wrote a huge portion of this chapter himself because he didn't think it was up to snuff. Alex, thank you very much for everything you've done for me.

Disclaimer: I own the bad guy of this chapter and the game itself. No more.

…

When the horrible bone chilling battle transition had ended, the evil Grave (thunder, howl, breaking, crying) stood in front of the altar, as he had before, except the room now looked a tiny bit bigger. The background music sounded like church choirgirls singing something in Latin repeatedly. "I'll start this battle off! Prepare to die, fools!" A blue box with the words BLACK HOLE appeared over his head.

An FMV started, beginning with a zoomed-out view of the solar system. A huge comet shot across the scene, smashing into Pluto and obliterating it instantly. It kept going, drilling holes through Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter, causing each to collapse and explode horribly. It sailed through the Asteroid Belt, punching a large hole in it, and sending meteors flying towards Mars and smashing it to pieces. The comet sailed into the sun and crashed into it, causing it to explode in a horrific blast of nuclear fire, which swept outwards, engulfing Mercury, Venus, and then the Earth. Then the FMV ended and the wave of solar holocaust was roaring towards the characters, with Master Grave (thunder, howl, breaking, crying) hovering above them, untouched by the fires, laughing insanely.

They all would have sweatdropped if they didn't remember the stakes in play. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?" whimpered Pikachu.

"Quite a lot, I imagine," said Bayleef, terrified.

The wave was about to rush over them. They cringed, expecting the worst. Then, just a second before the wave could hit them, it stopped in its tracks. They sighed in relief…and then the wave receded swiftly, imploding upon itself and getting sucked into a huge space/time anomaly so great that even light got sucked into it, rendering it a huge ball of darkness. They were all sucked in as the villain who had started the attack continued laughing.

Seconds later, they were spit out and the black hole collapsed. All of their HP meters simultaneously dropped to 0 and they fell to the ground. The summons gasped. The Pope/High Priest/Vizier/Chancellor smirked.

"I win."

…

"All right, this shouldn't be too hard!" said James, cracking his knuckles.

Jessie looked at him in disbelief, then at the impossibly huge monster, then back at James. "What are you talking about? That thing will crush us easily!"

"Not if we wipe it out on the first turn! Look, it only has 8 HP!" James said, pointing at the numbers over the omnipotent being's head.

"James? That's the symbol for infinity," said Jessie.

James paused. "Er…by infinity, do you mean endless? As in, without limit? As in, he'll never run out of HP?"

"Yes."

"Oh my."

Meowth sagged. "We're screwed," said the Scratch Cat. "But then, what else is new?"

James managed to bolster what little courage he had. "Well, if we're going down, we might as well go down fighting!" He opened his attack menu and selected THIEF COMBO. "RAAAHHHH!" He charged Terminus Est, and scrambled all over the demigod's body, stabbing it here and there, and frisking in others. Finally, he jumped off and returned to his original place holding an unbelievably cool-looking sword.

JAMES STOLE OBLIVION BLADEX1! Announced a giant blue box.

"Jessie, look what I got!" said James eagerly.

"Wow, very nice…EXCEPT NONE OF US CAN USE SWORDS!" Jessie shouted at him.

His face fell. "Oh."

"I have an idea, why don't we just try running away?" said Jessie, selecting the RUN AWAY command.

A blue box appeared overhead. CAN'T RUN AWAY!

She sagged. "Oh."

"Wait, I have an idea!" said Meowth, pulling out his lute. "Maybe that new song I learned that can cause instant death to those who hear it will work! It causes HP to drop to 0 automatically, so it should still work even if he has infinite HP right?" Before anyone could answer, Meowth started playing the DOOM DIRGE, his caterwauling as horrible as always except he was now singing to the beat of a funeral march.

A laughing skull appeared over his head. His HP dropped to 0 and he collapsed to the floor.

They all sweatdropped. "The Powers that Be really don't like his singing," said Jessie.

James sighed. "Well, it's Chimecho's turn now. Then we all die. Go ahead, Chimecho."

"Chi!" Chimecho opened his Magic menu and selected Dustox, spending 25 MP. The poison moth-turned-woman vanished from the sidelines and an FMV started.

A large flower blossomed in front of Chimecho as an archaic circle formed around him. Dustox leaped out of the flower, trailing pollen, and landed butt-first on the ground, causing it to shake. The FMV ended.

A new command menu opened up for Chimecho, with DO WHAT YOU WILL, FIGHT, GO! GO, ONE MORE TIME, DEFENSE, and DISMISS listed. Chimecho stared at the menu blankly for several long minutes, before smiling and happily pressing DISMISS, causing Dustox to vanish in a burst of light and reappear on the sidelines.

"What was the point of that?" asked Jessie. James shrugged.

Now it was Terminus Est's turn, the boss to end all bosses. However, as any gamer will tell you, on top of being the most powerful, the hidden bonus boss also always without fail has the worst AI imaginable, and was never programmed to take proper advantage of it's god like abilities. And while the nightmare of nightmares was capable of making a frightening introduction, it secretly wasn't all that much brighter than Chimecho!

So it really shouldn't have been all that much of a surprise when Terminus Est used the devastating attack, Fist Of Final Hades . . . on Meowth. "Agggh! Makeitstopmakeitstop!" Meowth screeched in agony as the mighty fist hammered into him again and again pounding his body into the ground without tiring. Of course, since Meowth's HP was already at zero, and it wasn't possible to gain negative hit points in this game, and Terminus Est was programmed to keep attacking with Fist Of Final Hades until the target lost hit points. It would be a long time before Mewgle noticed the lack of battle progress and let Terminus Est out of the logic loop. He was tempted to join with the secret bonus boss directly, but he knew that was as good as asking for himself to be deleted by some unseen miracle. Now that the first round was completed, the boss music started, sounding rather like techno punk gothic. It was enough to make the deities forget about Meowth's signing.

…

Grave's (cut the sound effects already!) laughter was stopped in its tracks when he saw Latias and Ash glowing. "What's this?"

The ghostly figure of a red-haired maiden appeared above the fallen trainer. She smiled down on him, leaned over, and kissed him on the lips. His HP instantly refilled 1 point and he shot to his feet, looking invigorated. He blushed when he saw the girl. She winked and vanished.

Latias' Angel Ring flashed and a pair of white wings descended from the sky, flapping and spilling white dust all over her. Her HP refilled as well and she floated back up into the air. "Ooh…that hurt…"

Grave was not a happy end boss. "Curses, I knew I shouldn't have included that ring!"

Ash smirked. "You bet you shouldn't have! Because now it's our turn and we're gonna take you down, right Latias?"

Latias' eyes shown with a determination that had been missing for some time. "I promise we will! I'll heal everyone on my turn, you go and attack him first Ash!"

He nodded. "Right!" He opened his attack menu and selected FINAL HEAVEN. Just as he had when he fought James, he ran towards his enemy, grabbing him by the neck and rearing back his glowing fist. He punched Grave, triggering a nuclear explosion. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to do any damage. In fact, it healed Grave by 150 HP! Well, not that it really healed him since he was already at full health, but you know what I mean. Ash was shocked. "Why didn't that do anything?"

Grave laughed. "I tricked all of you into using Holy weapons, remember? And because I am a Holy Monster, you can't damage me with them!"

Ash sagged. "Oh yeah…"

Grave sneered. "You are such a forgetful brat, I bet the Pikachu would make a better leader than you!"

Ash growled. "Hey! That's not true! All of us work together as a team! And if there's one thing I know its battles!"

Latias then opened her magic menu and selected the spell UNITY HEAL. Spending 10 MP, she turned to the others and waved her staff. A beam of holy light shone down from above, refilling their HP by 75. Pikachu and Bayleef groaned and got to their feet.

"Ouch…I hope that never happens again…" grunted Pikachu.

"Yeah, being squished by that big black ball stank," agreed Bayleef.

"Hmmph. I may only be able to use that attack once per battle, but I wouldn't count on standing for much longer!" taunted Grave. It was his turn now. A blue box saying PHOENIX BLADE appeared over his head. He pulled his sword from his scabbard and it ignited instantly, turning into a flaming blade. With a battle cry, he leaped high into the air and brought the sword down point-first at Ash, impaling him and dealing 150 points of damage, lowering his total to 120. (It has risen a bit with all the leveling up they had done.)

"Ow…I'm glad that attacks in this world don't work the same as they would in the real world, or I'd be dead by now…" Ash said, wincing as he clutched his stomach, where the sword had went in. "Okay…I've already learned that normal attacks won't work on you, but my only magic spells involve fire. And I'm guessing from those big wings of yours that you're immune to fire too, right?"

Grave cackled. "That's right!"

"Darn! Well, I can still heal until I find a way to smash you flat!" He opened his item menu, took out a Super Potion, and downed its contents, returning his health to 360.

"Let's see if I can't do better then," Pikachu said with a grin. He opened his attack menu.

Grave laughed. "Ha, weren't you listening? Your attacks won't work on me!"

"Oh, we'll see about that," said Pikachu. He selected CHARGE, costing 1 MP. He clenched his fists and muscles, his teeth gritted as he summoned electrical energy. His red cheeks glowed so brightly that they looked like stoplights, and his body started crackling with electrical energy. Grave frowned, getting an inkling but not certain of what Pikachu was doing. "So you're storing up power to increase your attack next turn? I told you, it won't-"

"Work, yeah, I know. Like I said, we'll see about that," interrupted Pikachu.

"It's my turn now," declared Bayleef boldly. "You've already told us you're part fire monster, but that means you're weak against water! So in that case, I summon Corphish!" She spent 25 MP to bring her party member to the field.

"Finally, some action!" said Corphish, snapped his claws eagerly as he vanished from the sidelines. An FMV started.

An archaic circle formed around Bayleef. A portal appeared in the air, sucking light into it. A surge of water burst out of the portal, pooling onto the ground and solidifying into the hardened carapace of Corphish. The giant lobster swam through the air above a desert, leaving a trail of bubbles behind him. He reared back his head and screeched, and suddenly a huge mass of rock erupted from the desert surface, towering into the air. Corphish landed on the rock and pounded it with his claws, causing waterfalls to burst out of the sides, pouring down to the sands below and causing flowers and trees to sprout. Corphish screeched again, and the FMV ended.

Charizard frowned. "Hey, his entrance was longer than mine!" Nobody paid attention to him.

"I'm raring to go!" cried the lobster, clicking his claws. Grave looked uneasy.

"Okay Corphish, use Tidal Surge!" commanded Bayleef, spending 15 MP.

Corphish clicked his claws, then held them open and pointed them at Grave. Four cannons popped out of his back and pointed at the fallen priest as well. Each of them glowed, gathering power, and fired a powerful stream of water at Grave. They collided with the phoenix man, throwing him back into the statue of Lord Necros (thunder, howl, break, cry) and did a total of 300 damage to his HP. "Yeah, all right!" cried the lobster.

Grave growled as he got to his feet. "You will regret that…" he warned the party.

"My turn, and…there's not much I can do," said Latias unhappily. "Aside from healing Pikachu or Bayleef a little more, that is." After some deliberation, she used a Super Potion on Bayleef, restoring the rest of her HP.

"My turn now, and you will regret your offense, lobster!" Grave threatened. He grinned, and to their horror, regenerated 250 HP!

"What the hell! How'd he do that!" asked a shocked Corphish.

"It's a special ability of mine. I regenerate a quarter of my maximum HP every turn. Also, every time you attack me it boosts my own attack power a little bit, so you had best end this quickly or I'll become strong enough to crush you all! But first…" He gestured, and a white box saying X2 appeared over his head. It had an X10 next to it.

"What was that?" asked Ash.

"I just cast a spell that allows me to perform two actions per turn for the next ten turns!" crowed the fiend. "Now I can attack you twice a turn for the price of one!"

"That's not fair!" protested Latias.

"Of course it's not, I'm on the verge of ultimate power! I don't have time to worry about meaningless things like 'fair!'! Now to use my second action, and avenge myself on that lobster!" A blue box appeared over his head saying CUBIA'S JIHAD. "Fire and holy attacks aren't all I know, you see!" He pointed his hands in the air. A lightning bolt shot up to the ceiling above Corphish and split into eight separate bolts, raining down on him in the form of toothed serpents. The bolts bit into the frightened crustacean's armor, dealing a total of 400 damage to him due to his weakness against electricity, knocking him out of the fight!

Bayleef gasped. "Oh no, Corphish, are you all right!" The lobster flipped over on his back with X'ed out eyes, twitched a leg once, and vanished, reappearing on the sidelines, still K.O.ed.

Ash meanwhile was gritting his teeth, it was his turn and he was useless! "I could attack you…"

"But you can't, so you might as well not be here!" Grave continued to taunt.

Ash sighed. "All I can do is Defend. No use in Appealing, it's not like my MP would be any use in this battle." He selected the appropriate command and got down on his knees, arms crossed for protection.

Hmmm… thought Bayleef. I think I might be able to do something about that…

"My turn!" Pikachu called out. He was still crackling and glowing. He opened his attack menu and selected his most powerful technique, spending 20 MP on it. A blue box appeared over his head saying LUMINAIRE. He held out his tail-sword and sent the electricity he had been building up into the blade, causing it to glow with a blinding white light. He coiled his leg muscles and sprung high into the air, spinning for some extra speed. He hurtled towards Grave, coming out of his spin with his tail-sword pointed right at the villain's forehead, glowing brighter and brighter as he came down. With a cry, Pikachu drove his blade straight down, piercing the fiend's forehead! There was a tremendous flash of light and electrical energy, accompanied by Grave's anguished screams.

When the light faded, Pikachu hopped off of Grave's head, leaving the Pope of the Holy Church of the Phoenix with 400 less HP. He was stunned. "How…how did you do that? Your sword is holy, it should have healed me!"

Pikachu smirked. "Luminaire is an electric-type technique which adds voltage power to my blade, along with whatever elemental effect it may already have. And I used my last turn to build up electrical energy for an even stronger attack. My sword's holiness blunted the charged-up effect of Luminaire, but it still did quite a bit of damage."

"And it'll do even more after I cast this spell!" said Bayleef suddenly, opening her magic menu and scrolling down to a spell labeled ELEMENTAL SHIFT. "This'll ruin your cheap trick!" she said, stepping on it and spending nearly half her MP.

She pulled her staff off her back with a vine and reared back on her hind legs, flailing her forelegs in the air. She waved the staff with her vine and stomped back down on the ground, sending a bolt of green energy at the startled Grave. It struck and knocked him back, causing him to crackle with energy. He abruptly saw his arms and legs become skeletal and his robes become moth eaten and dirty. He saw an icon above his head with angel wings turning into a skull with an X4 next to it.

Bayleef smirked. "I threw your scheme out the window! It cost me most of what I had left, but it turned you into the opposite of what you are for four turn! In this case Holy to Undead! And you know what that means!"

Latias gripped her staff tightly, her eyes burning at Grave. "And I am a White Mage!"

Grave's eyes filled with fear. "Oh dear."

Latias opened her spell menu and scrolled down to her second most powerful spell. "Holy!" she cried out, spending 80 MP.

The room seemed to tremble and shake as Latias raised her claws in the air, her eyes closed in prayer. The chamber around them seemed to fall away, revealing a heavenly cloudscape expanse. A ray of light fell upon Grave, then another, and another, almost like they were targeting him. Then, an enormous presence formed high above them all, so radiant that none could look upon it. The presence bellowed, and an enormous beam of white light blasted down on poor Grave, causing him to scream in agony as it did 500 damage.

"Wow!" said Charizard, impressed. "Not bad!"

Latias blushed. She really hadn't expected to do that much damage. "Thanks."

Grave was panting for breath. He only had 50 HP left, but that quickly regenerated to 300. Also the symbols next to the white boxes over his head changed to X9 and X3 respectively. "Damn…you all…" He regained his composure. "You will pay for that, foolish Elementalist!" He waved his hand, and a blue box appeared over his head saying PHOENIX WINGS. His flaming wings flapped, sending great streams of fire at the terrified and fire-shy Bayleef. She cried out as the flames engulfed her completely, burning her to a crisp. Screaming in pain, she collapsed to the ground, her HP depleted.

"Aunt Bayleef!" cried Phanphy.

"Oh no…don't worry, I'll save you on my next turn!" said Latias.

"Will you get the chance?" asked Grave. A blue box with the words PHOENIX REJUVENATION appeared over his head. His HP went up by 500 points, giving him a total of 800. "Ha! Now you'll have to inflict whatever damage you can now, because next turn I'll heal completely!"

"He's right, Latias," warned Ash. "Unless we can end this now, Bayleef's spell won't have been worth her sacrifice. If we use our strongest attacks, we should be able to bring him down for good!"

"Okay," acknowledged Latias reluctantly, seeing the logic in what he said.

"Okay then." Ash selected Final Heaven from his attack menu. "Take this!" He ran towards Grave, grabbed him by the neck, and punched him in the face, causing a nuclear explosion that did 300 damage thanks to his temporary vulnerability to holy weapons. The fallen Pope grunted.

Pikachu selected his Luminaire attack and leaped into the air, bringing his electrified tail-sword down on Grave. The sword hadn't been charged up, but since it was holy it did a total of 400 damage to the fiend, bringing him down to only 100 HP. "Gargh!" he cried.

"Okay Latias, finish him off! Do it for Corphish and Bayleef!" shouted Charizard.

"Okay. Holy would be overkill, so…" Latias selected her only other offensive spell, spending 40 MP. A blue box appeared over her head saying PEARL. She started to glow and spread her arms out, staff raised into the air. They waited…and waited…and waited…

And then a giant pearl fell onto Grave's head.

BONK!

"Ow!"

Everyone sweatdropped. "That's Pearl?"

Latias seemed embarrassed too. "Well, at least it finished him," she said. And so it had, the pearl had done 100 damage to Grave, finishing him off.

"Nooooo!" he cried as he fell to his knees.

Triumphant music played and the heroes got into their victory poses. "Yeah, we did it! We beat him!" said Ash.

ASH GOT 5000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

PIKACHU GOT 5000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

LATIAS GOT 5000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

LATIAS ROSE TO LEVEL 36! Latias' health and magic power replenished.

PARTY RECEIVED HO-OH DOWNX10!

The battle mode ended, and they were back in the altar room. "Okay, we beat you!" said Ash. "Now release Princess What's-her-name so we can go back to the real world!"

Gasping for breath, Grave grabbed the corner of the altar and pulled himself up, looking quite disheveled. "You…fools…have played…right into my hands!" He stood up, wobbling a little, and spread his arms and wings. He opened his mouth and shrieked, hurting the heroes' eardrums and breaking most of the room's windows. As the good guys held their hands over their ears, Grave rose into the air, glowing with an unearthly power. His wings folded around him, encircling him within a burning cocoon. Shafts of light shot out from the cocoon, and the bastard was still screaming, so the heroes were both blinded and deafened. After what seemed like an eternity, the light and scream reached a crescendo as the cocoon exploded, revealing a transformed Grave to the awe and horror of the three heroes and two summons.

…

Back at the battle between the Ciphers and Terminus Est, James had had enough wits to use his turn to use a resurrection item on Meowth, remembering the basic rule of Final Boss Battles: keep the entire team alive.

Jessie however, panicking, repeated her try of using Run Away with the exact same results.

Meowth used a defense song to up their Resistance, and the powers that be were too annoyed with the boss music to bother smiting him so the spell actually worked like it was supposed to.

Chimecho happily threw a healing potion at Terminus Est but since it's HP was already full, it didn't exactly matter.

It was the super boss's turn again, and instead of attacking with an uber move and wiping out the party, it used 'De-spell', making shields appear above the would be villain's heads that shattered, undoing Meowth's spell effect.

Meowth's so-called sensitive artistic side snapped at the beast a thousand times his size. "Hey! My music finally works and ya think yer gonna just undo it! We'll see about that!" The human part of the team looked at each other, Meowth had really lost it. At least he would go out too crazy to care unlike the rest of them.

…

Grave had gone from a handsome man-bird-thing to a full-blown phoenix. But not a graceful or majestic picture of death and rebirth like Moltres or Ho-Oh, but a vicious and malevolent image of pain and suffering. He was covered in red, yellow and black down, with cruel black talons, eight wings of fire, and a long, curved vulture's beak with four red eyes higher up his face. A ring of fire burned in the air around his back, radiating twisted tentacles of flame like some sort of burning sun disk. "I am reborn…" the phoenix cried. "By the power of Necros (thunder, howl, break, cry) and the Holy Phoenix, I am reborn! I am lord of life and death, the very master of the world!"

"…This is bad, isn't it?" asked Phanphy.

"Very," everyone chorused.

"Now foolish mortals, burn in the flames of Purgatory! Feel the wrath of the Phoenix King!" And then the battle transition started, somehow even more twisted and warped than the last one. Everything seemed to be on fire, the world turned into blurry crimson nightmare shapes, ending, with what seemed to be the very virtual screen shattering to make room for the abominable beast. Most of the walls of the top floor of the tower itself blasted apart, showing the twisted black sky above and lethally far drop below.

…

"Kiiiiillll…kiiiiiiiiilllll…"

Grovyle grimaced as he moved himself inch by inch across the forest floor. When neither Bayleef or anybody else had come to check on him after a while, somewhere deep underneath his Shadow Pokemon programming he got worried. He had managed to roll off the stump and, over the last hour or so, managed to push himself gradually towards the campsite he had seen Bayleef run off to with his fingers and toes. And now, he was almost there.

Giving himself one final push, he forced himself into the clearing where Ash and friends had been having lunch before Team Cipher interrupted them. The Wood Gecko was very confused when he saw the tableau lying before him. The Bayleef and her…"friends", if that was the term he suddenly remembered, along with a group of people his programming told him were his masters, were lying unconscious around a small metal object. "Killll?" he called, trying to wake them up. They didn't budge. "Kiiiiilllll?" he called louder. Still no response.

The lizard's stomach growled, and he was reminded of his hunger. A not-quite-heavenly-but-still-tasty smell wafted into his nostrils, and he looked up hopefully. There, on a large stump, was an unattended hunk of Pidgeot meat!

Licking his lips in expectation, Grovyle began the long, slow process of pushing himself towards the juicy hunk of meat, accidentally brushing past the dormant RPGenerator and triggering a button with one of his leaf blades.

There was the sound of a horrible explosion, and all went dark.

…

The Ciphers meanwhile were surviving only due to bad programming and shortsighted AI. James and Jessie had called their Summons to the field. Chimecho kept throwing random items out of their inventory causing no damage on the great and unbeatable Terminus Est, he had, through random chance, called out Dustox again and used Poison Powder, of course, a rule to all secret Bosses is that they are immune to status effects so it didn't exactly matter.

As for Meowth, he just keep using that same stupid Defense Anthem over and over again, determined to make it stick while Terminus Est just kept using De-Spell the same turn to cancel it out, not attacking at all. Meowth had never looked so mad, so crazy, and his singing at this point had made Jessie and James ears bleed. Sadly, the battle system didn't allow them to attack each other's party members while in a fight, and as James pointed out, it was the only thing keeping the king of cheap enemies from obliterating them all. Jessie didn't care, and promised to pound James and Meowth's heads in the first chance she got.

Meowth too busy singing the same song over and over and over and over again to really notice or care.

…

If the twisted battle transition hadn't been bad enough, the background was even worse. It was like the entire room was on fire, but that wasn't the creepy part, the fires looked to be made of the burning souls of human beings and not so human things all withering in torment. The lot of them were beginning to wish for the simple, gut-wrenching normal transitions. As for the music, it was a simple drumbeat, that reminded Ash way too much of a dying heartbeat he had once heard at the edge of his memory. And those stupid choir voices had returned, too.

"This shall be where you fall, heroes…where the Angel of Death takes you into his silent embrace…" The Phoenix King spread his wings as a blue box appeared overhead saying PHOENIX FIRE. The dark firebird flapped its eight wings repeatedly, flinging a seemingly endless barrage of red fire at the heroes. They braced themselves, but it was no good. The flames washed over them, painfully burning their HP down to 1 apiece.

"No! This isn't good. His next attack could kill us! Good thing I've still got a couple of Regen rings and my handkerchief's been recharged!" Ash said, regaining his famous battle face.

"Yeah, but the rest of us don't, even though Latias' Angel Ring has probably been recharged too. So we'd be safer healing up right away," recommended Pikachu.

"I can handle that," said Latias with dead seriousness.

"Okay," Ash agreed. "My turn again. And this guy has…oh come on…" The Phoenix King had 10000 HP. Ash felt his confidence take a serious hit again. "This is going to take a while." He opened his attack menu.

"Ash! Don't waste time attacking! Bayleef's spell wore off when the last battle ended, none of your special moves can hurt him." Latias pointed out.

Ash saw red. "Alright then! Let's see about normal attacks! You don't look like a ghost to me!" Ash nearly smashed his foot through the floor as he went through his attack menu and selected his non-MP attack Beat Rush, the one he had used and failed to hit with against the ghosts in the team's first monster battle. All the dramatics of the last few minutes had made Ash forget about his normal moves but he remembered them now and ran in swinging his non-magical charged fists like a maniac, all the leveling up he had done he managed to beat 250 HP out of the King's chest, and another 250 HP with his second fist. It may have not been that much damage, but it made Ash feel better. Everyone sweatdropped at Ash's wild man attitude except Bayleef and Charizard who both thought it was an improvement.

"Alright, since I don't think my Luminaire will be strong enough, I'll summon Phanphy!" said Pikachu, opening his spell menu and spending 25 MP to summon his little brother/nephew. "Come on, Phanphy!"

"Coming Uncle Brother Pikachu!" Phanphy vanished from the sidelines and an FMV started.

An archaic circle formed around Pikachu. The psychedelic battlefield turned into a frozen wasteland, with a great block of ice in the middle of it, containing the frozen Phanphy. Icy winds blew by, as a blizzard formed. Hail struck the ice block, causing small cracks. The cracks lengthened and connected, weakening the entire structure. Suddenly, it shattered, flinging ice everywhere, releasing Phanphy. The woolly mammoth shook his head and trumpeted loudly, echoing across the tundra.

And then it ended and Phanphy was in front of Pikachu. "Phanphy's attack utilizes three elements. One of them is fire, which will heal you, but the other two should knock off some feathers!" Pikachu opened his command menu for Phanphy and selected his strongest attack, spending 15 MP.

A big blue box appeared over Phanphy's head saying TRI-ATTACK. Phanphy reared back on his hind legs, flailing his front legs and inhaling deeply with his trunk. Energy started to gather there, causing his snout to glow. After several seconds, he slammed his feet back on the ground and blew the energy out of his trunk, accompanied by a loud trumpeting noise. A burst of fire, lightning, and ice shot out at the Phoenix King. The fire was absorbed, doing no damage, but the ice and lightning both did some damage, totaling about 300 more points off his HP meter. Phanphy sulked. "That's it!"

"I'm afraid so," said Pikachu sadly.

"But then it'll take forever to beat him at this rate!" the elephant complained.

"Hopefully not that long, but it will take a while. Latias, your turn," said Pikachu.

"Okay. I'll bring everyone back to full health," she said, selecting UNIFICATION HEAL and spending 30 MP.

Rays of healing light shone down on the entire party, including Bayleef, refilling their HP meters completely. Bayleef stirred and got up. "Ohhhh…so that's what burning to death feels like…" She said. "I don't want to ever do that again."

"Unfortunately, you will all burn!" cried the Phoenix King. And to their horror, he regenerated 5000 HP, healing the little damage Phanphy and Ash had inflicted.

The heroes were shocked. "How can you heal that much!" protested Ash.

"My special ability allows me to regenerate half of my maximum HP every turn," the dark bird explained.

"That's…it's…cheap!" said Bayleef angrily, unable to think of any other word to properly express herself.

"If you think that was unfair, this'll make you livid!" The phoenix flapped his wings, and a white box appeared over his head saying X3 with X5 next to it. "I just cast a spell called False Trinity that lets me attack three times in a row for the next five turns! Bwahahaha!"

Now this was most certainly unfair, and the heroes said so. Very loudly and profanely in Charizard's case, but this time no one blamed him. The Phoenix King just snickered. "Come on now, you have me out-numbered eight to one and I attack last, I should be expected to have a little edge." The fiend cackled. "Now where were we?" The villain attacked them with Phoenix Fire again, bringing all their HP to 1 where they started.

"I wasted 30 MP for nothing!" Latias said angrily. She growled. "…Guess I'll just have to do it again."

"I don't think so! I could blast you all to ashes this turn, but where's the fun in that?" A blue box appeared over the King's head, saying MEGA HELLBITER.

Five tentacles with skulls on the ends burst out of the ground and bit each of the heroes. They yelped as it happened, but lost no HP. Instead, each of them turned a putrid green and started to smell. "Ewwww! What did you do to us?" asked Bayleef in disgust, having turned a sickly blue since she was already green.

"I've afflicted you with the Zombie status, MY version of the Elemental Shift, only this one won't wear off!" madly giggled the Phoenix King. "Which makes you like the rest of the enemies in this castle. Holy attacks will do damage against you, bypassing the holy armor I gave you, and healing spells will damage you. Maybe after I've destroyed you and sacrificed the 'Heart of Light' girl to Lord Necros, (thunder, scream, shatter, howl) I'll bring you back as true zombies and we can all welcome our Master into his new world together!"

"But that doesn't make sense, our holy armor should still protect us from your attacks!" protested Latias.

"My attack strength is higher than anything you can imagine!" crowed the Phoenix King. "And I made sure not to leave any Remedies or Holy Waters lying about the Spire that you could use to cure yourself of this curse, just in case I had to use it against you! And I've been watching you, so I know Latias hasn't yet learned a spell that can cure status ailments! Ha! You can't win!" He nodded. "You're all doomed, so you might as well skip your turns and just let me swiftly end this meaningless little fight!"

No one noticed the figure stirring on the altar.

The heroes sagged. "We're gonna lose Grovyle," said Pikachu unhappily. "Even though Ash will be able to regenerate once or twice and heal the rest of us, it'll only work for a little while and we'll never be able to inflict enough damage to win!"

'Give up' however, for better or worse, had never been in Ash's personal vocabulary, and Lugia's former Chosen human had a sudden inspiration. "Wait!" he yelled. "Latias, what about Mewtwo?"

She blinked. "I forgot about him! But do you really think he can help?"

Ash looked her in the eyes. "It's worth a try, isn't it? We lose here, we lose Grovyle! We can't just give up and let him kill us!"

Latias checked her spell menu. "The Mewtwo summon costs all of my max MP, but I've already used up most of it on the last cure spell. I don't have enough."

"That's no problem, then!" said Ash. "Since we used up all our Ethers on the zombie dinosaur on the last floor, we'll just Appeal and transfer the MP to you!" He selected Appeal on his command menu, summoning the series of screens that showed the audience watching the battle. He smirked, turned his hat backwards, and gave the V for victory sign. The audience (as in, all of you reading this) cheered and sent him 55 MP, (except for a lunatic who cheered Latias and booed Ash) which he automatically transferred to Latias, slightly refilling her meter. "Okay, your turn Pikachu!"

Pikachu nodded and curled his tail in front of him. He made an adorable face and started chasing his tail around in circles, like a brainless dog. The audience were moved by his sheer cuteness and sent him 60 MP, which were then sent to Latias. Her meter filled up more. She just needed a little more MP to cast the spell.

"Okay Latias, this is for you!" said Bayleef. She turned to the audience screen, swished the leaf on her forehead, and winked at them. "Baayyyyy!" she crooned emphatically. Sadly, the audience did not seem particularly impressed by this (much to the insult of Bayleef's vanity), but the 45 MP they sent her was just enough to fill Latias' MP to the top.

"Okay!" she said. "Here goes nothing!" She opened her spell menu and selected MEWTWO, spending every single ounce of her MP for this one last chance at survival. An FMV started, one more beautiful and realistic than any of the others.

Latias raised the end of the Dragon Flute to her mouth and blew into it, moving her claws up and down the holes on its sides. She had no idea how to play a flute, she had never learned how to do it when she was little, and yet she somehow felt she didn't need to. The song she played was one engraved on her heart, one that needed no knowledge or mastery of musical instruments to play.

Music came from the flute and the dragon, strange and powerful music that stirred strange feelings within the hearts of all whom heard it, even in the shriveled organ of the Phoenix King. It spoke of the connection between mentor and apprentice, or perhaps the deeper one of father and daughter. As the music played on, the room darkened. A Sakura tree appeared, its pink leaves swaying gently in a breeze that had started up. A sudden gust started up, blowing off leaves and causing them to pass over a large full moon. Latias stopped her playing and looked at the tree in expectation. A figure stepped out from behind the tree, clad in ornate gold and purple samurai robes, with wooden sandals, shoulder pads sprouting golden curls, and an ornate disc-shaped hat over his head which covered his face. The figure raised a three-fingered hand, and a sword formed from purple-black energy appeared in it. He stood motionless for a second, then in one quick motion slashed sideways with the sword, before causing it to dissipate. For another moment he was motionless. Then the tree behind him creaked and fell in two pieces. The figure stood up straight and lifted his hat up, revealing a pale face and a pair of purple eyes. They met with Latias' golden ones…

And he smiled. The FMV ended.

Mewtwo stood in front of Latias, slightly bewildered. "What was that?" he asked. "Where are we?"

"An FMV," she said. "It's a sort of movie introducing a character to the battlefield."

"Ah," he said, not looking like he had the slightest idea what she was talking about. "And why am I…and you all, for that matter, wearing such strange costumes and glowing green?" Mewtwo kept himself from staring at Phanphy and Corphish's new forms. "What happened to you?" He frowned and looked at the Phoenix King. "And who is that?"

"The one who is about to remove you and the rest of the pests from existence!" the villain roared.

The lady in distress moaned.

Mewtwo started at this and looked darkly at the equally imposing beast, then he looked back at the heroes. "Now, if somebody could please explain to me what is going on?"

The heroes spent the next several minutes quickly explaining how they had been sucked into the RPGenerator, the rules of the place, and how they needed his help to defeat the giant evil cheap phoenix so they could return to the real world. The Phoenix King stewed impatiently, waiting for Latias' turn to end so he could finally attack. Mewtwo was a good listener, never needing to hear things twice unless they hadn't been clarified for him, and he quickly grasped the concept of the turn-based fighting system and what he was needed to do. "So you summoned me in a last-ditch attempt to save this Grovyle," he said. "I see. From what you have told me of this Phoenix King, the best method to defeat him would be to strike him with an attack that can kill him with a single blow." With Latias, he examined the command menu that had appeared when he had been summoned. "I believe this one will do," he said, finally choosing an attack after reading a helpful explanation box that popped up for it. "However, it will require me to absorb all of the MP you have left if it is to be effective. Even then, there is still a chance that this will fail, for the attack requires perfect timing and participation from all of you to succeed. Would you be willing to risk this?"

"Our only other option is to let him win," said Ash. "So we have no other choice. We trust you Mewtwo!"

The Psychic smiled. "I will see to it that your trust in me is justified. Latias, please activate the appropriate command so that I may defeat this great foe!"

"Yes Mewtwo!" Latias selected the attack PSYCHIC BLITZ. It cost her no MP (since she was already out) but it had a more complicated way of getting its power.

A glowing button appeared on the floor before each of the remaining three fighters. "What's this?" asked Pikachu.

"At several crucial points during my attack animation, one of those buttons should light up," said Mewtwo. "You must step on it the INSTANT it lights up, and all your MP will be transferred to me so that I may continue the attack. If you miss, my attack will end and it will be the Phoenix King's turn."

"So no pressure, huh? Okay, let's do this," resolved Bayleef.

"Very well." Mewtwo pressed his hands together and formed the Shadow Blade that had been seen in the FMV.

The Phoenix King's eyes narrowed. "Will you please just get on with this?"

"If you insist." Mewtwo floated into the air and charged at the phoenix, thrusting his sword into the bird's chest and doing 100 damage right off the bat. Then he pulled it out, held it to his side and tensed his muscles, preparing for the next attack. He suddenly initiated a blinding series of slashes and cuts at the Phoenix King's body, moving so quickly that all the heroes could see of him was a blur and the increasing damage numbers appearing over the Phoenix King's head. Finally, Mewtwo slowed down to the point where they could see him, leaped above the evil bird, and brought his sword down in a tremendous chop, slicing right through the Phoenix King. If this weren't a limited battle system, the attack would have split him in two. The King screeched in pain, his HP decreased by 2500 points.

At that moment, the button at Ash's feet lit up. He quickly stepped on it, and his MP meter dropped to 0.

Mewtwo's sword vanished, and his hands, feet and tail were engulfed in purple-black energy. He proceeded to pummel the Phoenix King, performing a seemingly endless stream of physics-defying martial arts moves that would leave professionals like Jet Li or Ranma Saotome speechless, hitting the King with punches, kicks, and devastating tail attacks. After a truly impressive display of fighting prowess, Mewtwo backed off, having taken another 2500 points off of the Phoenix King's HP.

The button at Pikachu's feet lit up, and he stepped on it. Like Ash, his MP meter emptied itself totally.

Mewtwo conjured two Shadow Blades this time, and he attacked the phoenix like a tornado, spinning around the bird and constantly slashing off feathers and wings and stuff with his twin blades, looking even cooler than he had in the first phase of his attack. Despite the pain, the Phoenix King was filled with awe and disbelief. How could it be possible that this Mewtwo was so powerful! After only spinning for about five seconds, Mewtwo backed away again, having taken off another 2500 of the dark phoenix's HP. He just had a little more to go. Now was the critical moment.

The button lit up at Bayleef's feet and she pressed it immediately, transferring everything she had left to Mewtwo, hoping he would use it well.

He did. Summoning all his remaining power, Mewtwo formed a giant Shadow Ball in his hands. Flipping backwards in the air, Mewtwo shot the ball at the Phoenix King, timing it so it would strike just as he touched the ground. The ensuing explosion was tremendous, engulfing the room but harming none of the characters save the Phoenix King. His roar of pain was very audible, breaking most of the few windows remaining in the room. As the light and fire from the explosion cleared, the numbers 2500 appeared over the villain's head. His HP meter dropped to 0.

However, instead of the victory music playing, the huge fire bird hit the floor with Earth Quake level force, and a tiny one appeared above his head as his regained one hit point.

"Wha-what!" Bayleef exclaimed.

The Phoenix King breathed haggardly as he shifted his weight up. "My final special ability, a personal gift from Mewgle, Endurance, if I take damage equal to or more than my Max HP in one player's turn, I regain one hit point, at the cost of losing my ability to automatically regenerate . . . not that it matters . . . you won't be here at the end of my turn. Oh, and more thing." Two identical bird heads sprouted from the Phoenix King's shoulders, they all spoke in unison. "One last trick to my special ability, now it wouldn't matter if my spell wore off or not! I'm free to attack nine times with my spell intact! And for my first trick!" He lifted up a black egg from nowhere and crushed it in his beak, a horrified scream filled their ears, and the Phoenix King was now at 6751. "You're not the only ones who can use items. But to show I'm a fairly good sport, I give up that spell and my ability to cast it for something else!" Purple beams shot out of the Phoenix King's center head's eyes and struck the startled Mewtwo, went through him, and into Latias. They suffered no damage, but both felt the experience of being impaled. "There, I can't cast my SPEED 3 spell anymore and YOU can't use PSYCHIC BLITZ again . . . not that it matters like I said, I just wanted to show you that you had no real chance from the start. But now I'm done playing, and it's time for your ending."

"No . . ." Latias breathed.

"There has to be something we can do!" Pikachu swore.

"Game Over for you lot." The Phoenix King said simply. "No continues . . . I think I'll step on the brat first, good-bye fool." No one in that battle was expecting an FMV to start up just as the Phoenix King began his attack. Especially the Phoenix King. The doom music fell silent.

…

The competition in the Maze of a Hundred Easy Peezy Challenges too was facing defeat right in the face. (They should be able to describe its facial features from memory by now) Meowth had exhausted his entire MP reserves, and Chimecho had thrown their last Ether the previous turn. Jessie, James, and Meowth had all their Summons use Barrier, in hopes their Summons would be destroyed before them and give them another turn to get out of this mess alive. Predictably, this only made Cacnea hate James even more and caused Wobbuffet to seriously question the point of loyalty to an uncaring trainer.

Chimecho of course was playing just like a baby with a Gameboy, only not able to try and eat the game cartridge. The four other officially free willed members of the team got on their knees and covered their heads, waiting for the inescapable outcome having tried the Appeal function a couple times only to have their MP vanish more so. And they knew it was coming, the city sized jaws (all of them) of the terror had opened up, revealing hell's inferno within, just waiting to be unleashed upon the pathetic insects before it. However, by sheer process of elimination and having used up his MP already in useless uses of his Summon's abilities, there was only one move that the game would let Chimecho make.

CHIMECHO THREW OBLIVION BLADE

"Huh?" James peeked through his fingers.

The sword of final nothingness sailed through the air, leaving a path of black as it cut through the very computer generated fabric of reality itself and went straight into one of Terminus Est's mouths. Nothing happened, and they knew they were doomed and screamed like little girls. However, as soon as Terminus Est's turn started, before he could even destroy the fools in one attack, he blew up.

…

The three-headed terror marched on the bloody and beaten Ash, and raised one talon to crush him into crimson dust. But in a blur of motion, a girl with red hair and a blooded white dress pushed the lad of the way, and herself as well, leaving the claw crushing nothing. Ash look up to see Princess Kasumi looking down at him, he blushed as she got off him. Kasumi looked at him meekly and said. "Sorry I'm late."

Ash heard himself say. "I'm just glad you're alright."

"Thanks."

The phoenix was livid. "You! But how! Win or lose you should have been trapped in that sleep until the ceremony's end!"

The virtual girl breathed and looked hatefully at the Phoenix King without fear. "Who can sleep when the person they love is in danger! You're about to endure your own master's monologue when you join in Limbo! You fake murdering thief!" Not taking her eyes off the center head she tore off the white dress. Ash felt himself dread a nose bleed but was even more surprised when he saw underneath the garment the crimson amazon armor he had imagined Misty wearing when they had done the Prince Goldenrod Radio show. She wiped the too red lipstick off on her arm and tied her hair back in a blood colored bowed ponytail. The Phoenix King was too stunned at seeing his lamb fighting back to react. Optimistic and bold music began to play in the background.

Cupping her hands slightly apart, a glowing white egg with familiar red and blue triangles came into being by an unknown method.

The fiend seemed more frightened of this egg than he had of Mewtwo! "Nooo!"

Licks of fire began to migrate from the Phoenix King to Kasumi's egg, turning into light as they entered, the King's flames becoming deader as the egg glowed brighter, until at last, it burst. Ash shielded his eyes. When he was able to see again, he saw a Togetic, with wings feathery and five times their normal size, and lacking the triangle marks but bearing a multitude of religious symbols. As for the Phoenix King, Ash in the FMV was shocked silent, the beast still had three heads, but he was now thin and skeletal, his wings were all black, red, or ash colored, and Ash could actually see his black heart beating in his rib cage.

"The power you stole is -gone-! It's back where it belongs! We'll never stop fighting! We'll never give up!" Togetic floated above her and a wall of bright light spread over everything. The dramatic and heartfelt FMV finally ended.

PRINCESS KASUMI THE RED MAGE HAS JOINED YOUR PARTY! The blue box read in the black between FMV and game play.

"Where were we during all that?" Bayleef asked, her head spinning, the flaming souls in the background replaced by the larger version of the blown apart tower.

"I have no idea," replied Pikachu.

"Red mage?" Latias asked in confusion.

"I can use white and black magic to a average degree and have able knowledge in sword play," Kasumi explained right next to Ash at the end of the fighting line. Another surprise was when Kasumi was standing along side them as a fifth party member.

"But I thought we could only have four members," Pointed out Pikachu.

Kasumi said calmly looking at the mouse, "I'm an NPC, Non-Player-Character, I don't officially count as part of the team." Togetic was already out on the battlefield in front of her. Their minds were taken off this fact however when a green and a blue 9999 appeared above all their heads, the players and the summons, restoring all their MP and HP followed by a couple of white sparkles that floated on them, undoing their undead status. And the Phoenix King shuddered and dropped to 5901 HP.

"Hot!" Grinned Charizard, not caring why.

Kasumi chose to explain anyway. "He no longer has the power of life, it's back where it belongs. All he has left is death, and it's eating him alive."

"So . . . he's not holy anymore?" Bayleef asked offhandedly.

"Less holy than a door nail!" Kasumi spat.

"All right!" Cheered Ash. "Looks like the only one it's Game Over for is you!"

The Phoenix King's voice was now little more than a whispered hiss. "Plans ruined or not, I'll see you all in Hades before me!" A heavy drum rolled began, climaxed by cymbals and going straight into new age rock music, the kind Ash always tried to listen to back at home but his mother said would somehow rot his brain worse than television.

Kasumi's turn automatically came first, being an NPC she didn't have to think about her battle choices, and instead had Togetic cast ANGEL SAFE GUARD spending one third of her MP.

"Alright!" Ash shouted. "Hit him with the best you all have!" Ash knew his choice from the start.

FINAL HEAVEN

Ash jumped into the air, his fist glowing, and hammered the Phoenix King's right head right between the eyes, resulting in a short FMV of a nuclear explosion. The beast made a shout of pain as it lost 900 HP instantly.

"My turn!" Pikachu stated.

LUMINAIRE

Pikachu also attacked the right head, splitting it down the middle, causing 700 points of damage.

"I might not have any Holy Attacks, but I can still dose you!" Bayleef shouted, selecting a spell called ICE 3. She was disappointed when it only did 300 points of damage.

Latias didn't need any instruction either.

HOLY

The uber light attack repeated itself, striking the undead horror for 1000 damage. The right head fell off, dead, destroyed, gone.

"You . . . you . . ." The Phoenix King seethed. "I still have two attack per turn!" The blue box appeared. "I'll kill you all in that one turn!"

HELL FIRE

A stream of black flame washed over the heroes, but instead of taking damage, a white sphere appeared around each of them, flickered and vanished.

"Angel's Safe Guard kicked in!" Kasumi stated. "It negates one attack per party member. Looks like you really only have one attack!"

"No!" The Phoenix King snarled. "If at first you don't succeed!" The attack repeated itself and everyone braced.

HELL FIRE

The worst damage it did however was 100 HP to Bayleef, the rest took around a third of that. "We're still alive?" Bayleef blinked.

"Of course!" Pikachu said. "Remember all the holy equipment he gave us at the start of the fight? Now that he's undead, his attacks are all the same element, he's helpless!"

More than that, the evil bird shuddered as he lost another 100 HP. "You're the one who's just lost this time!" Kasumi snarled. "There is no next turn for you!" She selected from her attack menu GYARADOS ROAR SLASH. Kasumi drew a sword from a scabbard along her lower back side and forward-flipped over the undead bird, slicing him across the head as she did so, in a flash she came across his left and right, leaving a deep cut each time. Kasumi returned to her spot, a red 750 appeared over King's head.

"My turn again!" Shouted Ash, repeating the attack process from before.

"I'm up next!" Pikachu said, again using the same attack, only this time, the head went down from just his Luminaire attack.

"One more to go!" Charizard grinned as only a dragon can.

Bayleef thought for only a few seconds before choosing her next attack. "I don't know why I didn't think of it before . . . if you're a bird, that means that you have a flying element, and that means thunder should hurt you plenty!"

LIGHTNING 3

A large 500 appeared above the Phoenix King's remaining head. "I have just enough to finish this!" Latias said firmly. "Holy!" she selected. The beam of light struck down, and the Phoenix King's HP hit zero . . . and did not go back up.

"No . . . No! Noooooooooooooooooooo! Master forgive me I have failed you!" he cried, somehow managing all those O's with only one breath. He fell to the floor, shaking it with his weight. His undead body falling apart in bits and pieces, lifeless bones shattering, blackened feather flying everywhere. He didn't move.

"Yeah, we did it! We won!" cried Phanphy. The heroes cheered, while Mewtwo stood there, a satisfied grin on his face. Triumphant music played, and everyone got into their victory poses. Phanphy hopped up and down happily, while Mewtwo just crossed his arms over his chest, practically radiating coolness. Kasumi hugged her Togetic and began dancing in a circle.

ASH GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

ASH ROSE TO LEVEL 40!

PIKACHU GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

PIKACHU ROSE TO LEVEL 50!

PHANPHY GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

BAYLEEF GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

BAYLEEF ROSE TO LEVEL 42!

LATIAS GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

MEWTWO GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

MEWTWO ROSE TO LEVEL 80!

KASUMI GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

KASUMI ROSE TO LEVEL 40!

TOGETIC GOT 2000 EXPERIENCE POINTS!

The battle and music ended, and the Phoenix King had somehow reverted back into Master Grave, who was now lying face-down on the floor among his much larger body's parts, a pool of black blood spreading out from him.

Corphish, ever the curious lobster, crawled over to the phoenix man. "Is he really dead this time?" He poked Grave with a claw.

To everyone's surprise, Grave suddenly backflipped off the ground, landing on the altar, drawing a dagger out of his coat. "Ha! I may not have Heart of Light to give to Lord Necros anymore to enable him to stabley enter the world, but even my life's blood will be enough to enable him to come! I may not gain ultimate power, but his presence will destroy this land, this tower, and all of you!" Grave raised the dagger above himself, to plunge it into his own heart, but he never got the chance.

The last remaining window high above him shattered, and a figure screaming in terror fell through, impaling Grave on a giant spear. "KIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLL!" the figure screamed.

Grave stared at the spear sticking through him in disbelief. "Well, fuck." He slumped over on the spear's barbed end, quite dead. The dagger hit the ground and shattered into pieces that dissolved a moment later. There was a sound of anger and frustration from everywhere and nowhere that while frightening at first, swiftly faded into nothing. Sweet, slowly, rather refreshing music started to play. A new FMV began. Starting with the grim reaper altar, it transformed into a nymph-figured angel, and like a downpour on dirt-covered ivory, the blackness of Necros Spire was washed away, revealing beautiful white marble. The undead ran and tried to escape, but were caught by the purifying light, and transformed into cheerful and bright living beings that quickly began to cheer and dance. The camera panned away and upward, showing the tower restored to its former glory. The FMV ended.

"Necros' presence here, is gone." Kasumi smiled, managing to look pretty in spite of her cuts and bruises. "And I don't think he'll be happy with the faker Grave when he sees him."

"Why do you keep calling him faker?" Asked Pikachu of the NPC girl.

Kasumi slowly shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "He was never the Pope, he murdered him and took his face, thinking he could rule that way. He never understood it was the Pope's wisdom and love that made him the man everyone respected. We saw through his farce in a day. So he tried to make a deal with the enemy, and was able to partially allow the god of undeath into the world, corrupting Phoenix Tower. I tried to take him on myself, but as you saw, he hardly played fair."

"You're more Zena than Maid Mary Anne." Mewtwo said, looking the AI up and down intensely, something not quite on key about her for a computer program inside a game.

"Please," Kasumi laughed. "Nobody likes the totally helpless princess stereotype anymore anyway."

"So what exactly saved us?" Bayleef wondered looking at the transformed altar against the pretty blue sky. She gasped at what she saw. "Grovyle!"

Indeed it was. Transformed by the game world, Grovyle was now wearing a tunic with a kilt, armor plates on his tail leaves, high socks and sandals, armored sleeves and shoulders and a draconic helm that covered all of his face and upper body except for a hole in the back for his long leaf and eyeholes revealing terrified yellow orbs. And you already know he's got a spear.

"Another NPC clone like her?" Charizard said, gesturing to Kasumi who flushed with Togetic orbiting loyally around her.

"He isn't like that bird man." Mewtwo said, his eyes narrowed all the more. "He's a Shadow Pokemon!"

"Yeah, he's my Pokemon. Team Cipher captured him and transformed him and tried to use him against us. But we stole him back and started trying to purify him," said Ash. "I wish I knew how he got here."

Mewtwo nodded. "I see. Well, once we are back in our own world, I will see what I can do to fix him up for you."

Ash grinned. "Thanks! We'd really appreciate that."

They started to come over to the lizard, but the Wood Gecko backed into the altar, eyes wide with panic and fright, brandishing his spear at them, which still had Grave at the end of it. "KILL! KILL KILL KILL KILL!" he yelled.

Bayleef clucked sympathetically. "Oh, poor thing. He must have gotten himself all worked up after we left him all alone in the real world. That, and the shock of coming here. He really hasn't been having a good day, has he?"

Suddenly, Grovyle stiffened and stood up straight as a rod. Grovyle spoke in perfect english, surprising everyone. "Great heroes, you have done well this day, the impostor Grave is no more and Necros will not plague this land ever again. And Phoenix Tower is restored, we are in your debt forever."

"Grovyle!" Pikachu said, shocked at this performance.

"Oh don't worry about it." Said Mewgle, appearing out of nowhere. "I just turned him into an NPC."

"WHAT!" Everyone shouted, getting ready for a fight. Mewtwo already knew from the summary his friends had given him who this was.

"Calm down!" Mewgle defended. "He'll return to what passes for normal with him as soon as he returns to his body in the real world. He accidentally logged in here, and he wasn't exactly sane enough to partake in the game, so I just hacked into the programming already installed in his mind and did some creative rewriting. Besides, you needed his help just then and you know it."

"You wanted us to lose," pointed out Ash. "Why help us?"

Mewgle shrugged. "It's part of my programming, I have to assimilate everyone who enters the game world into a proper role. However, since he couldn't do for a player character seeing as how his heart is locked, I had to make do. It was either that or leave him to reek havoc in my world and I wasn't about to do that."

"Well." Said Pikachu resting his tail-sword on his shoulders. "I think it's pretty clear at this point we win. So how about we all get to go home now?"

"Yeah, so can we go back to our world now? I love the cool look, but I'm starting to get tired of lugging this big wheel on my back," said Charizard.

Mewgle smiled. "Of course you can go back! Right after-" There was a distant but powerful explosion that turned the heads of everyone, they saw a mushroom cloud go up and eight familiar figures getting launched into the sky. "Well, it looks like they managed to defeat that boss after all, but you guys did beat them to the win by several minutes so yes you are the winners, and you're all free to go just as soon as Ash kisses Princess Kasumi."

All laughter and joviality in the room ceased abruptly. "Wait, he has to what?" asked Pikachu.

"Kiss the princess, of course," said Mewgle. "He's the leader of the heroes. It's customary for him to get the girl."

"I already have the girl in real life! I don't need to do it here too!" Ash resolved, still not wanting to kiss another girl now that he finally was with Misty.

Mewgle looked ready to say something but instead giggled. "You really don't know much about girls do you?"

"Wha-" Was all Ash had a chance to say before Kasumi with the reflexes of a ninja turned him and planted him one right on the lips. Ash felt electricity go through him and a second later she broke the kiss, looking very pleased. "Whoa . . ." Ash was stunned silent as was everyone else.

Kasumi smiled. "I was supposed to be the virtual equal to your girlfriend in the real world, I just wanted to know what it felt like. Thanks for playing, and for saving me. I couldn't have done it without you."

" . . . You're welcome…Okay Mewgle, we're ready to leave!"

Mewgle blinked. "Huh! But-but-but-aren't you madly in love with her and-Hey! What's that lipstick doing on your arm and not on his face?"

Kasumi blinked at the smear on her arm having completely forgotten about it and looked back at Mewgle. "I wasn't exactly about to bother looking pretty while saving the world so I took it off."

Mewgle exploded. "Agh! You over-independent sub-AI! You're worse than that boatman! I knew I should have made you meeker! And after all the trouble I went through of writing that love potion program into that lipstick!"

"Love potion!" Ash snapped.

Mewgle ignored him and continued to stare down Kasumi. "You're in need of some serious personality readjustment and there's no time like the present."

"You leave her alone!" Ash stood between them.

Mewgle perked up. "Does this mean you're now in love with her?"

"No. But she's a friend and she helped us and just because you made her is no reason to bully her around! Now let us go like you promised!"

Mewgle seethed. "Fine. Go. I'll transfer her program into a grunt monster for the next bunch of power players to hack into bits a million times over to teach her some manners!"

Kasumi's hands shook but she showed no other signs of fear. Mewtwo feeling like he was back at TRHQ listening to Giovanni's talking down of him and concluding something about Kasumi said, "No, I don't think you will be doing that at all." Mewtwo struck his powerful gaze right at Kasumi who suddenly felt confused and small. "Sweet dreams," Mewtwo said simply and Kasumi along with Togetic vanished.

"Wha-wha . . . what did you do?" Mewgle said confused.

"Merely sent her out of your reach."

"What'sthatsupposedto-" Mewgle caught himself. "Oh whatever, it doesn't matter, I still have those half-wits to play with after all, go! All of you! Come again sometime! I promise the game will be much more interesting next time!" Everything went white.

…

A little while later…

"Thanks again for purifying me, Mewtwo!" said Grovyle, who happily was no longer a Shadow Pokemon.

"Don't mention it. I couldn't very well leave you as a mindless beast, now could I?" said the Psychic. He turned to Latias. "And my student…you are looking well. I trust that Ash and his friends are taking care of you? I already sense that you are a little stronger than you were when we parted, more in control of your powers."

She blushed. "Well, I'm sure a lot of that is because we got to level up a bit here in the game world. Though I have been training a lot. I'm still having a bit of trouble attacking, but I can pull off a Recover, Steel Wing or Dragonbreath with almost certain success," she said. "And I'm getting better at Mist Ball."

He nodded. "Very good." A small smile came to his face. He turned to Ash. "I mean no offense, but I must be honest when I tell you that when I first learned Latias was to go off with you and your friends I was somewhat uncertain of her safety. I see now my fear was unwarranted. I underestimated you yet again, Ash Ketchum. My apologies."

Ash looked slightly confused. "Uh, thanks."

Mewtwo looked away, his thoughts taking a different turn. "Remember what I said to you before? About how there is no such thing as a Pokemon Master? Perhaps I was wrong…in a manner, that is. I do not believe it is possible for a person to be an absolute master of Pokemon, regarded the world over as the most powerful trainer of them all, but maybe that's not what being a master actually is. Perhaps it means bonding with your Pokemon, becoming so close to them they are practically-no, actually-members of your family. If that is the case, you may very well already be a Master."

Ash blushed. "Oh…come on, I'm not that close to them."

The corner of Mewtwo's mouth turned up. "We shall see." He sighed. "Now, I fear that you and I must depart, Grovyle."

Grovyle blinked. "Depart? But I just got back to normal, can't I stay with my friends?" he asked, gesturing to the others.

"I'm afraid not. It is the will of the Unown," said Mewtwo unhappily.

"The who?" asked Grovyle.

"A bunch of weird other-dimensional guys who recruited us to save the world," said Ash. "Why don't they want us to keep Grovyle?"

"Yeah, why not?" asked Bayleef, who had been hoping they could keep Grovyle around now that he was back to normal and she could get to know him better.

"For the same reasons we agreed that we couldn't keep him before, I'll bet," said Charizard. "He's another mouth to feed, another Pokemon to shelter, and it's against League regulations to walk around with more than six Pokemon per person anyway."

"But that's not fair!" protested Corphish. "Can't he just stay for a little while before he goes? I really wanted to hang out…"

"Or couldn't we work out something like they did between you and Gardevoir?" asked Latias, noticing the heartbroken expression on her friend's face at the prospect of being parted with her crush.

Mewtwo looked distinctly unhappier at this. "Gardevoir and I are both Chosen so the Unown allowed it. Grovyle is not, and for that reason and the ones Charizard stated they will not let him stay. And…" He sighed. "They won't let me see Gardevoir anymore."

"What! Why not!" asked Latias, shocked.

"They said she was distracting me from my studies," he said bitterly. "So they cut us off. I tried to fight it, but they rendered me helpless. In their world, my powers are as of nothing." He shook his head angrily. "Even now, they are calling to me. It has been good to see you all, but I am afraid that we must depart posthaste. Come, Grovyle. I will drop you off at Professor Oak's laboratory before I head back."

Grovyle looked at his friends sadly. They looked back. "Can't I say goodbye first?"

He nodded. "They won't like it, but go ahead."

"Um…right." He looked at Ash first. "Okay…Ash. Thanks for everything, as always. For trying to help me save my tree, for training me, helping me evolve, trying to save me from being a Shadow Pokemon…thanks."

Ash shrugged. "Hey, you're my friend Grovyle. I would have done the same for anyone else."

"And that's why you're such a good trainer, and a good friend." He turned to Pikachu. "Pikachu. I'm glad you survived Seviper's poison. It wouldn't be the same without you around, you know?"

"Well, I'm still here in part because you sacrificed yourself for me. I would have done the same for you, like Ash said," said Pikachu.

"Yeah." Grovyle shook hands-er, paws, with Pikachu. "We'll fight side-by-side again soon. Someday."

"Someday," Pikachu agreed sadly.

Grovyle then turned to Corphish. "Heh. Still haven't evolved, have you?"

"I'm trying," the lobster grumbled. "But not all of us can be Mr. Cool Green Grovyle."

"Yeah, too bad," the Gecko joked. "But you're already looking stronger. I think you'll evolve sometime soon. Just keep on training."

"I never intended to do otherwise. Heh. I'll look forward to fighting alongside you again too." He paused. "I'd shake your hand, but, you know…" He waved his pincers.

"Say no more." Grovyle turned to Charizard, Latias and Phanphy. "I don't really know any of you very well, or at all, but I'd have liked to get the chance to."

"We'll see each other again, I think," said Latias confidently. "And we can get to know each other then."

"And besides, we can always talk to you whenever Daddy calls the lab," Phanphy pointed out.

"Yeah, but it won't be the same as talking with you guys in person. But that'll just have to wait until another time, won't it?"

Charizard smirked. "Guess so. Anytime you want another Flamethrower or Charicific Valley-style massage, you know who to ask!"

Grovyle gulped. "Uh, yeah…" Finally, Grovyle turned to Bayleef, and here he seemed a little lost for words. "Er…Bayleef…"

"Y-yeah?" she said, trying not to blush.

"Um…thanks for the massage. I really liked it."

"Well…maybe I'll give you another one sometime," she said.

He grinned. "I'd like that."

Mewtwo put a hand on the lizard's shoulder. "I would like to stay as well, but we really should be going."

"Okay…wait. Something doesn't feel right." The gecko's eyes scanned the ground. "Ah. There we go." He plucked a weed out of the dirt and stuck it in his mouth. "Much better. Okay, we can go."

"All right." Mewtwo put his hand on Grovyle's shoulder. "Latias, Ash, everyone, I hope to see you again, though hopefully not too soon because that would mean your lives were all in grave danger." He nodded to them. "For now, farewell." He teleported away, taking Grovyle with him.

Saddened by the departure of their two friends, the heroes finished the lunch they had started earlier and then debated on what to do with a very important matter. "What do we do about these guys?" asked Latias, pointing to Team Cipher, who were still sitting around the RPGenerator, their consciousness' trapped inside.

"We could leave them like that. It would mean we could spend a few days without them. Could be nice for a change," suggested Charizard.

Corphish shook his head. "Nah, that's too mean. Let's just send them blasting off like always!"

Ash nodded. "Sounds good to me. Pikachu, you know what to do!"

"Right!" Pikachu tensed his electric sacs and discharged a surprisingly large bolt of electricity at the RPGenerator. The resulting explosion filled the clearing with smoke, blackening them all, and launched Team Cipher into the air, dazed from being jolted so suddenly out of the game world.

"Huh? What's happening?" asked James.

"Weren't we just at the Torchocobo races?" asked a confused Jessie.

"Yeah, and winning too, thanks to the spiked food we fed all the other Torchocobo but the one we bet our money on," said Meowth.

"I guess we're back in the real world now. Ho hum," said James unhappily. He had actually started to enjoy the game world.

"I'm finally free from that-" Cacnea twitched, her brief moment of freedom granted by the hole the virtual Celebi punched through her programming ending. "MURDER!" She pounced on James and started to beat him up for no reason other than that she hated him more than anything else in the real world.

"Ahhhh! Somebody help me!" he cried.

"Chimecho!" said Chimecho, wrapping his tail around James' head and not seeming to notice Cacnea's spiked fists pummeling him as well as his master.

Wobbuffet sighed. "Looks like we're blasting off again," he said as they vanished in a twinkle.

…

A large piece of the RPG-G sailed through the air, until it hit some innocent telephone lines, that just happened to be connected to the Eternal Quest main game servers. As a result: Mewgle looked confused at the flashy and deep graphics around him. "This isn't the RPG-G's main OS . . . this is . . . hahaha! This is too perfect! Alright! Now this is where the fun starts! And I'll never be lonely again!"

While some might think this was going to lead to absolute havoc on the game scene, in reality, now that Mewgle's program no longer had absolute control of the system, the events he secretly set up kept so many players from getting bored with the game, the de-bug team got slipped an order to overlook Mewgle's existence. As long as CircleHard didn't find out about the copyrighted Mew rip-offs existence in their server, that is.

…

Back at the clearing, everyone blinked. "Pikachu, did you mean for that Thundershock to be so powerful?" asked Ash.

Pikachu started rubbing the soot off his face. "No. I don't know what happened!"

Bayleef suddenly remembered something. "Hey, didn't Mewgle say that the leveling up we did in his world would still affect us in the real world too? So now all of us are stronger and stuff?"

"Hey yeah, I forgot about that!" exclaimed Corphish.

"That explains what Mewtwo was talking about earlier," Latias realized.

Ash looked as if he had been struck with a sudden realization. "Hey, I wonder if this means I can smash rocks and stuff like those martial arts guys in movies!" He pulled back his fist to punch a nearby boulder and see for himself.

"Ash, wait-" Pikachu started.

Too late. "OW!" Ash jumped back, cradling his hand in pain. "Okay, I guess I didn't get that much stronger," he said, wincing.

Latias sighed. "Oh, Ash…" She placed a claw on his hand and started to heal it using Recover.

Ash looked embarrassed. "Guess I should leave the fighting to you guys, huh?"

…

Elsewhere…

"No Ash," said Molly, her voice echoing the Unown as she looked at Ash through what might have been a window in the Crystal Unown's world. "I've already seen there are other ways a human can stand toe-to-toe with a Pokemon, even the likes of Mewtwo. The only question is, what path will you choose, and what will be waiting for you at the end of it?" Molly suddenly smiled and turned. "Oh! You're here!"

Her voice totally her own, Molly landed squarely on ground that hadn't been there before her guest had arrived. It was Kasumi, still in her red mage armor. She looked around, uncertain and confused. She took a few steps forward, slightly scared. "Whe-where am I? This isn't part of the RPG-G's OS."

Molly placed two hands on Kasumi's shoulders, the redhead gasped realizing she was now no older than Molly! "Neither CircleHard's programmers, nor Mewgle, had any idea how deep into the collective subconscious the immersion system went . . . You were born of a dream Kasumi."

"A-A dream?" asked the child, her hair now in a sideways pigtail.

"The girl Ash loves, Misty Waterflower, you are like a personification of her innermost Self, you were pulled away from her sleeping mind to play the role of the Princess, even Mewgle didn't know." Molly hugged her, Kasumi suddenly felt very sleepy. "Go back to her, she's waiting for you." Kasumi's form sparkled, and vanished.

Togetic stirred from a dream, a rather weird and strange one, but a rather nice one all the same, it had almost been like he had really been there with Misty and the rest.

Misty groaned and got up from her bed, looked around to see her room and muttered, "Rats. Well, even if it was only a dream, it was good to be with him again…" She smiled and went back to sleep.

…

Back with Ash and friends…

"Yeah, unless you want to become one of those muscle-bound fighter guys like Bruno or Blackbelt," said Pikachu, in response to Ash's previous comment.

An interested look came onto Ash's face. "Hey, I wonder…do you think Misty'd like it if I got all buff and stuff?"

Pikachu groaned and smacked himself. "What have I done? It's not enough for him to want to be the world's greatest Pokemon Master, but a strongman too? Make up your mind, Ash!" The others laughed.

And so another adventure ends for our heroes. What new challenges await them on their journey to the Hoenn League Championships? Like the answer to the mystery of the source of the coming great cataclysm, only time will tell…

…

And that's the end of that story arc. Hope you all enjoyed it! See you next time!