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AN: Hey folks!

P: Welcome back! Guess what day it is?

T: It's the one year anniversary of New Beginnings!

SV: We were hoping to get the last chapter up today, but this technically is the last chapter.

T: Not really, but it's the last with any advancement. The next chapter's both pretty short, and doesn't really go anywhere.

P: So, for all intents and purposes, we're calling that one the epilogue and this one the final chapter.

SV: We don't own Pokemon, so go enjoy the super length chapter!

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Chapter 57.

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We all traded glances, weighing what few options we had.

"This could be a trap." Crystal said, the ever cautious one of our group.

"That's what we thought." I agreed.

"On the other hand, they're empaths. They have to know what they're doing is wrong, and that it hurts others. How could they be sincere?" Bella questioned.

"How could they handle faking it, if they know what they're doing is wrong?" Amy countered.

"And I just don't know." Leo sighed. "On one hand, it's hard to think that they're seriously evil, because of their empathy. On the other, they could truly be bad, and are using the fact that they're empathic to try and trick us into a trap."

"Question?" Ash said, raising his hand. "Yesterday, didn't you say you all had powers? Couldn't we try those?"

"Well, Bella and Crystal's are gonna work, since they're manipulation of the area. Mine and Leo's could, but it'd be hard to keep them in one place to activate them."

"What about Amy? I know you listed what each of you could do, but I don't remember hers."

"Mine's…" She trailed off, then jumped up. "Ash, you're a genius!"

"I am?" He looked at her, mirroring the confused looks we all held.

"Yes!" She glanced at us all. "My ability's copying the ones of others! If I can get near them…"

"You could tell if they were sincere about it!" Bella finished, eyes lighting up.

"Though once again, the issue is finding them and getting the ability copied." I deadpanned, rolling my eyes.

"Well, it's a start." Leo sighed again. "I don't think I can get anything done for a while."

"How about we just head to Saffron?" Ash suggested. "We could do the gym there, and maybe you three," He paused, motioning to Bella, Amy and Crystal. "Could make a strategy while we battle."

"Are you sure?" Crystal asked. "We stopped to let you get some more Aura practise in."

"To be honest, I don't think I could do any more today. The entire practise for learning is to empty out emotions, and after all this, I'm not sure I'll be able to. And I can always keep practising on the road."

'Well, that's up to you.' Cobalt decided, after a moment's silence. 'We'll do our best to get you up and rolling, but you do have other things to learn as well.'

"Then it's decided." Amy clapped, her bubbly mood already reinflating. "Ash, move out of the way, we'll start packing up." The four Pokemon and Ash moved to the side, and I followed.

"Say, Alex. How many hybrids have we actually met?" He asked as we watched the group of tents, chairs, and tables float around our thankfully sheltered clearing.

"Well, you already know Lucia and Lucian. They're a Latias and a Latios. Then, well," I glanced at him. "Remember the two young Lugia we saw after the boat sunk?"

"They were hybrids?" Ash said. "Was that why I couldn't scan them?"

"Partly because of the human DNA, but also what we said was true. They're legendaries, so the Pokedex wouldn't have told you anything anyway. Though, I'll let you guess who they are." He was silent for a few minutes, watching the camping equipment float around, before he guessed.

"Would that have been Lillian and Lucas, then?"

"Yep. Then the last one you've met is Diana. Edward might be as well, but we never found out for sure."

"Huh. So is Diana's form a Ditto, then?"

"Yeah. We don't know if Edward was a Ditto hybrid too, or if he was like we've done with Mimik, and learned to talk. I do know that she only met him once she got to Hoenn after we had the Squirtle Squad incident, and that's a short amount of time to learn to speak English so fluently, and have a designed form, so I think he's a hybrid too."

"Neat. Wish I could be a hybrid. It sounds fun." He said wistfully.

"It isn't." I replied shortly. "Trust me, trying to hide that sort of secret, even from people you've known forever, just because you don't know how they'd react if you told them they weren't exactly human, isn't fun. Some of us get away with Psychic powers, saying that they're Psychic themselves, can be a good cover, but with others the situation can be just as bad. So trust me Ash, and relish your humanity. 'Cause you might not have it long." I sighed, before walking over to the others as they finished packing. "Come on, let's go."

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We had walked for half an hour in the more heavily wooded areas before I dropped back to talk to Ash again.

"Hi." Ash said quietly.

"Hey." I replied, just as quietly. "Sorry about exploding earlier."

"No, it's ok. I shouldn't dwell on dreams that others are living through, I suppose." I stared at him.

"Who are you, and what've you done with our Ash?" He chuckled.

"I guess I just felt that needed to be said." We both grinned, before Ash tripped over a tree root. "Ouch! Arceus dammit!"

"Hey, we didn't do anything." I joked automatically, then lifted him up with Psychic. "You ok?"

"Yeah. How come you did that, though?" He asked.

"Did what?" I inquired.

"The 'I didn't do anything' thing. What's the reason for that?" I looked at him, confused, for a minute before realising.

"That's right, we never got around to introducing our forms, since you were freaking out."

"Right. Mind doing it now?"

"Of course not." I pulsed out a quick scan before continuing, pointing at each of my family in turn. "You already know, but Amy's a Mew. Did you know that from what she said, or from before?"

"What she said. I knew what a Mew was, obviously, but I'd never seen one, again for obvious reasons."

"Ok. Next is Bella. She's what's called a Celebi. Celebi are Grass and Psychic types, and are mostly known as time travellers. They tend to frequent the forests of peaceful times, and prefer to use their time travel abilities to escape conflict." I then pointed at Crystal. "Crystal's an Articuno. They're birds of ice and snow, which is the reason behind Crystal's ice powers, are Ice and Flying type, and they're supposed to leave ice and snow wherever they fly."

"Ok, but that still doesn't explain the Arceus joke." Ash interrupted.

"I'm getting to that." I rolled my eyes, then gestured to Leo and myself. "We're both Arceus."

"Seriously?" He gasped.

"Yup." I shifted, and floated around his head. 'We're just awesome like that. Anyway, Arceus is a Normal type, but can shift types using one of seventeen Plates. This also changes the type of our signature move, Judgement, which I think you saw during my battle with Cobalt.' I landed and swapped back in a single movement, then continued my explanation as we walked. "We don't actually use the Plates for our type changes, though. A fair few Pokemon can change forms, and those who are hybrids can do so as well. However, we do it willingly, without the item or move needed."

"What'd you mean?"

"Well, as I said, we Arceus hybrids don't use a Plate. Then Shaymin can go from Land to Sky forme with a Gracidea flower, or Meloetta, who uses the move Relic Song to change from Aria to Pirouette form." I told him. "There's others, but those are some of them."

"Right." We walked in silence for a while, watching the Pokemon jumping around the trees around us. "Say, here's a thought. How does Crystal have Psychic powers? She's not a Psychic type in her other form."

"We don't know." I shrugged. "Any hybrid has the same thing with Psychic power, but no one knows how it works."

"Hey guys!" Amy shouted back. "Hurry up, we're almost there!"

"Already?" Ash asked, surprised.

"Apparently." I grinned. "Say, up for a quick trip?"

"What do you-?" Ash started, before I grabbed his arm and teleported us forwards. "Whoa!"

"And here I though Amy was the silly one." Leo shook his head, grinning too.

"Be quiet little bro." I scowled at him, before turning back to Ash. "All silliness aside, are you ok?"

"Yeah, sure. Just, a little warning next time? Being dragged through a Psychic field that fast isn't fun when it's a surprise."

"Sure. Sorry. I thought it'd be a fun way to catch up."

'I thought it was cool.' Pikachu said, jumping out of the tree and landing on Ash's head. 'Just remember me next time!' A telepathic translation had Ash sighing.

"That's great and all, but can you get off my head now?" I chuckled, then used a small Psychic to catch my own Pokemon.

"And you two aren't pulling the same trick on me." I laughed, bringing them around to face me.

'Awwww!' Spark pouted. 'It was a good plan too!'

'We all knew it wouldn't work on Alex.' Kydyur told her. 'But you wanted to try anyway.'

"Right, enough random arguing." Bella instructed. "We'll be in Saffron just past these trees. Might want to lower your psychic senses."

"Why?" I asked, running past the trees. I passed through an almost transparent lilac field, not realising in my hurry until a few seconds later, when I stumbled over as the full force of psychic energy hit me like a small truck.

"That." Bella said simply. Each of the others passed through with minor wobbles in their paths, and Ash walked straight on with no interruptions. "This city has tons of Psychic power floating around, and if you aren't careful on how much power you're picking up, you'll probably knock yourself out from over gain." Ash looked confused, so I elaborated for him as I lowered my own gain.

"That's when we pick up too much psychic power from one area. Despite what you might be thinking, it doesn't restore our own power, but it tends to make us a bit disorientated, even with really low senses." I stood up with a small wobble and looked around. "Still, this looks like a city I'd like to fly around for a while. It looks like a maze on the ground." There wasn't much I could see at the moment, since most of the landscape was blocked out by buildings, but the skyscrapers were extremely impressive. Numerous neon lights were on some of the buildings, though in the daylight, very few of them were turned on. Some of the hundreds of lights dotted along the roadside were though, but the soft yellow light barely changed anything. One extremely tall building caught my eye, and I recognised it as the Silph Co. building. I pointed it out, and Amy sighed.

"Oh yeah. That place. Trust me, you do not want to go in there. We went on the tour when we got here last year, after we'd recovered from the super overload we'd got when we walked in. It's really boring, you only see the first two levels, since the rest are employees only, and the only things there are a collection of Pokeballs, some weird machine that let's you see ghosts, which isn't of any interest to us 'cause we don't need it, and a few Pokegears. Trust me, it sucks."

"Oh come on. It can't be that bad, right?" Leo asked, looking at Bella. She shook her head.

"No, it really is that bad. Two floors, Pokeballs, Pokegears and a ghost scope. That's it. There's rumors of a Master ball being made there, but you're not going to see it." A glance at Crystal showed she was nodding along too.

"Well, what time is it?" I asked, changing the subject. "Do you think we can get the gym battle in today, or do we tour the city then do it tomorrow?"

"Well, it's about one." Crystal said. "I don't mind doing a tour, but we should try and get some more training in. It'll likely be a two on two battle, so we should pick your teams after."

"Hey, we aren't doing much more, so we may as well." Amy agreed. "Let's go."

"To be honest, there isn't much to see. But I don't have a problem walking round the city for a bit." Bella said. "We'll take the scenic route to the Pokemon Centre, though we'll have to leave after we get our rooms."

'Yeah, don't want to irritate Sabrina by making a huge Psychic boom in the middle of the city when we teleport.' Crystal said telepathically, making sure to include Ash.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

'City's leader's a Psychic using Psychic Pokemon, and a lot of Psychics are born and learn to use their powers here.' Amy said.

"Cool. Did you learn here?"

"Nah, we learned at home." Leo replied aloud. "Mom and Dad taught us. It would've been kinda hard for us to have learned here, because we'd sometimes swap if we got frustrated."

"Huh. Sounds like that was fun."

"Nope." I said easily. "Apparently, it was entertaining though."

"Especially you two." Bella grinned mockingly. "Both of them were late bloomers, and they got frustrated really fast when they finally did get their psychic power."

"Ok!" I broke in as Amy burst into giggles. "Enough about us and being psychic, let's move on!"

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Just as the others had said, there wasn't much to see in the huge Psychic city. The huge surrounding buildings looked cool, but there wasn't really any major attractions to the area aside from the shops, which none of us wanted to go in, and Silph Co., which looked as boring as Amy had said it was. Eventually, Ash got bored of just wandering around, so we went to the centre to grab rooms and some food.

"So, what now?" Ash asked once we'd all sat down.

"Well, the three of you need to do some training." Amy said, pointing at him, myself and Leo. "So, we can split up again, or we can have one big world to train in."

"I'd say one big world." I put in. "We could do some other stuff as well as training the team."

"What do you have in mind?" Leo asked.

"Well, we can get Ash used to using Aura in a psychic zone where an explosion won't be devastating, and I need to work of fighting again, so hopefully I can do sword fighting with Crystal."

"I don't mind." She said.

"Also, if Bella doesn't object, she could try and practise her terrain manipulation while we fight."

"And us?" Amy asked, gesturing to herself and Leo.

"No idea." I admitted. "But I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"Where are you guys talking about?" Ash questioned.

"Two words, bud. Mew. Games." Amy grinned.

"That thing Grace made?"

"Yup. Didn't you wonder where we got the ability to do that?" Bella grinned foxily. "We learned how to do it, then taught her when she got more powerful."

"Huh. I guess I should've thought of that one myself, all things considering." Ash said.

"Well, we have been dropping a lot on you these last couple of days, so I think you can be excused for not figuring that out yourself." I smiled. "But anyway, that's the plan?"

"Sure, why not." Bella shrugged. "I haven't had the chance to mess around in one properly for ages, so it'll be fun."

"Well, let's finish up here and get moving." Crystal said. "It'll be fun to get a good fight with you again."

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*A half hour later.*

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The six of us, plus three Pokemon, stood together in a small clearing just outside Saffron City.

"Ready to go?" Leo asked.

"Yep." Amy replied, grinning. "Everything's set up ready, so we just need to go."

"Well, I don't see any reason to wait any longer." Bella said. "Get the teleport ready to go."

'By the way Ash, this feels a little weird the first time.' I said telepathically. 'Just a heads up for you, since I wasn't sure if you'd be ok.' He didn't reply, but nodded in response when I caught his eye.

"Everyone all together now, then we'll head out!" Amy called.

"Amy, you know as well as I do that we don't need to be that close to teleport us." Bella sighed. "Just get on with it!"

"Ok." She flashed pink, and a few seconds later we popped back into existence in another clearing, this one ringed with a thin line of trees before mountains became the most prominent thing around. Ash blinked rapidly for a few seconds, then shook his head.

"Man, that felt weird." He looked around. "Cool place though."

"Thanks!" Amy said brightly. "It's modeled after a cool place near home. I liked flying there when I was younger."

"Didn't you make a club house up there?" I asked.

"Yup! And it's still there too!"

"Huh." Leo blinked. "I'd've thought it'd be gone by now."

"Well, it was pretty well hidden." Crystal argued. "Maybe when the league is over we should take some time to visit."

"What're you talking about now?"

"Amy made a little house in the mountains one time, and we used to stay up there for a few days at a time, usually with one of the others or the older Pokemon."

"Dang, every time I thought I'd heard everything interesting, you come out with something new." He shook his head.

"Well, let's get a move on for now." Leo said.

"Won't we need to explain where we are?"

"We can at least put off the hybrid conversation for a while. Just go with Grace. You've only had three new members since the last time we tried this, and you don't need to have our whole teams out either." Bella said, releasing Grace.

'What's up Bella?' She broadcast.

"We're in one of the worlds, so for the sake of Ash's Pokemon we're pretending it's you making it again."

'Sure. That's not a problem.' She replied.

"Right. So, who do you three plan on using?" Crystal asked.

"Well, I'm using Wildfire and Zephyr." Leo said. "I'd like to work with Leaf and Zimmy, but they won't do the best. Rema's not the strongest and while that speed could be helpful, we need power as well. Umiko's just had a battle, and while I'd love to use Koray for this, he's a little too powerful."

"I'm using Tele and Jade. Ky's too powerful as well, Spark gets a fair bit of time as is, Mimik's too inexperienced, and that can't be fixed in one sitting. Joey and Deku have both had some powerful battles recently, and while Star could be good, I don't think this battle is quite right for her."

"By the way, shouldn't you talk to Deku about everything that happened after the battle?" Amy asked. "I mean, it seemed to hit him pretty hard."

"I'll do that after we finish up." I decided, after a few moments thought. "I do need to do it, and while I'd rather it were sooner over later, training needs to be done too."

"Right. What about you Ash? Who're you using?" Crystal asked.

"Lunar and Blitz." We all turned to look at him. "What? I haven't been using Lunar much, and that last gym wasn't much of a challenge to Blitz. Sting and Shmurda have a disadvantage, Zack's really young, Skye… Well, I haven't used Skye much either, but the gym's enclosed, so it'd be hard for her to fight."

'And me?' Pikachu asked from the side.

"You're not the best choice either, since you aren't a great balance between speed and power, no offence, and you also get a lot of time in the spotlight as is."

"So, let's get to work." Amy grinned, and the rest of us traded glances before Leo, Ash and myself sent out the Pokemon we'd chosen.

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*Two hours of crazy later.*

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"Ok, I think that's it for today." I said, glancing over the teams. "We'll leave the gym battle for tomorrow."

'Sounds great!' Jade said happily from her perch on Tele's head. 'I need a rest after all that.'

"Well, come on back." I replied, returning them. I heard the others do the same across the clearing, and ran to join them. Leo teleported back, while Crystal and Amy flew.

"So that's all done. Ready to go Alex?" Crystal said as she transformed back, an almost feral grin on her face.

"Sure I am!" I replied, a matching grin appearing. "Get Cobalt out for Ash, then we'll get started."

"Calm down you two." Bella sighed. "On the other side of the clearing, I hope?"

"Of course." We both chorused, seconds before Crystal threw Ash the Pokeball and we teleported to a safe distance away.

"So, how're we starting this?" I asked, losing the grin. "Range, or melee?"

"Ranged first, then melee." Crystal replied, dropping the grin as well. "Want to put on a good show?"

"You mainly just want to show off what we can do to Ash, don't you."

"Yeah, but also as a test. I want to see how you're holding up."

"Two fights in two days. Great." I groaned.

"Wait, what?" Crystal asked, surprised.

"Didn't we say? I went and had a fight with Cobalt when we were demonstrating Aura to Ash. It involved me being slammed into a tree twice, and a really powerful Counter."

"Jeez, you just keep going, don't you?" She asked rhetorically. "Here." She used Heal Pulse on me, and I smiled.

"Thanks. Now, let's rock." I teleported backwards out of range of the set of daggers that flew in, and retaliated with a Water type Judgement. Crystal promptly froze it in midair, which I'd expected. She looked unpleasantly surprised when it exploded anyway, sending a small flood and a rush of ice shards in all directions. I shielded myself, while Crystal jumped upwards and stayed suspended there until the wave had passed. 'Show off.'

'Hey, you said to give a show, so why not?' I heard back. 'Now, stay still so I can hit you.'

'No thanks!' I replied, dancing around a small flurry of snow and under a sword as it formed over my head. Quickly, I took the strategy I'd been using last night, charging two Rock Judgements and teleporting around. Instead of catching the first one, Crystal formed an ice blade in front of her, which split the orb in two. Apparently, she's spent too long without fighting Judgements, and has forgotten how they work. The one she'd split exploded, mostly going outwards but with a few hitting her. Another rock hit the second Judgement I'd fired, setting that one off too and bombarding her with rocks.

'Jeez, what's with all the rocks?' She asked.

'Nothing, it just rocks using rocks.' I giggled quietly at the scowl on her face, then yelped as a circle of daggers flew at me. I threw up a shield to stop them, and continued. 'Anyway, I'm getting hungry. Shall I roast the bird, or shock it?' I grinned, throwing two Fire type Judgements, followed by two Electric, then a third of each in quick succession.

'If you wanted food, you should've gone to the store!' She yelled, ducking under one burst of fire and blocking the electricity with a hastily made shield of ice, which splintered. Once again, she retaliated with a burst of cold air and a set of daggers, which I stopped with a Fire Judgement detonated close to me and another shield.

'Is this going to be a thing?' I asked.

'Well, there's only so much you can do at range when your main power is ice.' She snarked back. 'Still, I agree. Too much of the same gets boring.'

'So, close combat then?'

'Sure.' We both shared another grin and teleported forward. An ice blade clashed off my Ground typed one, and she winked. 'Though, I feel this'll put on a good show for the rest of the group.'

'You're having way too much fun with this.'

'Why shouldn't I? It is only a bit of fun, and it's not like we're going to kill each other during this.'

'I suppose. Now, enough talking, let's get on with the fight.' I pushed her back and released the blade, again reusing a trick from last night. It worked well too, since Crystal was completely caught off guard when the sword exploded.

'Really Alex? Really?' She shook her head, covered in mud.

'Sorry, but it's a good strategy. Here, let me help.' I threw a small Water Judgement at her, which exploded and cleared it off.

'Thanks.' She lunged forwards again with another blade, so I swapped to Fighting and blocked it again. 'Say, do you still remember that thing we made up a while back?'

'Which, the blade dance?' I frowned as we clashed, keeping up the fight while we talked, and ran through it in my head. 'Yeah, I remember that one.'

'What do you say we put on a real show?' A devious grin spread across her face, closely followed by my own.

'Sure. Both ice?'

'We don't want it to end too fast, do we?' She replied. At that, we separated again, blowing up my sword and breaking her own in the process. Forming ice blades, we ran through the movements once again.

'Left, then you swing over and I duck, jump my blade, spin and clash, push me back, then I throw mine and form another while you dodge?'

'Yep. I'll keep the stream as we go.' At that, I started the fight by charging forwards. Crystal dodged to the left, moving away from my sword hand, and I stumbled by overextending my reach. Standing back up, she swung overarm for my head, which I dodged below as planned before swinging at her feet. She jumped and spun around clockwise, bringing the sword to the forefront, but giving me enough time to block it. We stood for a second, before Crystal nodded minutely, giving me enough time to steady myself so I didn't fall all the way down, but merely stumbled, when she pushed me back, using that force to jump away. I threw my weapon with a vicious grin, forming another while she dodged.

'Ah, this brings back memories, doesn't it?'

'Yep- jump away as I lunge- we haven't done this for ages- come forwards and knock my blade away.' I followed the instructions flawlessly, and she continued. 'Go to crack my head, and I'll block. Then, the shield will force the blade out of your hand, and I'll sweep you.' I grinned again.

'I'm surprised we still remember it.'

'I wrote it down.' Came the reply, as she pushed the ice shield she'd formed above her. I lost my grip on my blade, and it went flying as she knocked me down. 'Stare me down for a second, then form a new weapon and teleport behind me. Swing, and I'll come around to block.'

'I don't blame you, this is ridiculous to remember otherwise.' I said as I swung.

'I know.' The blade chipped against each other as we clashed again. 'My blade's starting to chip, so we'll need to replace it soon.'

'Well, what's next? We'll stop talking for now and focus on the show.'

'Sure. Push back, then whirl to hit my chest.' A clockwise spin from me, and the blade was heading directly for her torso. A thick but sudden wall of ice blocked me, and my sword was buried in the ice. 'Now, new blade again. Get ready to block.' I formed a new weapon and panted, letting some of my exhaustion seep through. I felt the chill, a subtle signal from my cousin that she was ready, and I tensed and swung around, halting her blade. 'Parry and break my grip, then throw away my sword.' I thrust forwards and twisted the other ice blade with my own, forcing Crystal to twist her wrist and lose the blade. I grabbed it from the air and threw it away. 'Blade to my neck, and grin. The others can see you.'

'Finishing already?' I asked, as I put the cold blade to her neck and grinned evilly.

'We still can't do the whole thing in one go, and I don't feel like taking a break. So yes, we are. Get ready.' I flew through the rest of the dance in my mind, pausing at the point we were at.

'Ah. This is gonna hurt.'

'Sorry.' She took a deep breath, then forced my sword away with a final shield, before taking hold of it and turning it on myself. I froze, then dodged back-around-under the blade as it swung from my sudden movement, now no longer being held in place by my neck, and rushed for her, the sixth and final blade of this part of the battle dance half-formed in my hands. Crystal twisted around, having acted momentarily stunned from my movements, and crashed the full Ice Judgement into the one in my hands, which was becoming more and more solid by the second. We stood locked once again, panting from exhaustion that wasn't entirely faked. 'Ready?'

'Now.' Suddenly, I grinned viciously, realising Crystal had aimed for us to be side by side, with the rest of the group away on my left and having full view of the finale we had planned. Crystal frowned, feigning confusion, which turned to a shocked realisation a half second later. She started dropping the blade, holding loosely onto the end, when I struck. The Judgement swords scattered around the field shattered into dust, and the two in our grips exploded, the pent up force I had been holding blowing both of us away. I focused, using what strength I had left from the dance to form a thin shield around myself and cushion my landing, and saw a small pink flicker as Crystal did the same. We landed around ten metres apart, and I groaned lowly as the bubble shield dispersed and I slowly stood. My cousin did the same, and I caught her wince as she walked forwards. I tensed, ready to continue, even though I know it was over, and neither of us had a hope of continuing even if it hadn't been.

'Really?' She mused telepathically, her exhaustion as evident in her mental voice as it was in her stride.

'Hey, this is supposed to be a show. Why don't I play the part?'

'True enough. You really are good at this, little cousin.' I almost-almost- pouted at the nickname, but held myself steady as Crystal got close. It was arranged to be close enough to continue the dance in a surprise lunge, showing that the exhaustion from both fighters had been faked, but she bowed instead, signalling the end of the duel. I bowed in return, then grinned at her.

'Well, I'd say that was impressive enough.'

'So would I. If we ever get to the point where we can do the full blade dance/battle, we'd have a right spectacle to give off.'

'Yeah, a thirty minute performance of fighting.'

'It's showy, it looks good, and it keeps a high tension throughout. To be honest, and from an outside perspective it is like this, if I hadn't have known that I'd be blocking that blow aimed for my head, I'd be on the edge of my seat to stop our fight.'

'Alright. Come on, let's greet our audience.' I straightened from the long bow, and offered my arm in support to Crystal as we walked back towards the others. Behind us, the ice blade left on the tattered field dissolving into mist as the brick of white that had covered her eyes through the entire thing, blade dance and ranged fight, finally faded.

'Look at Ash.' Crystal giggled breathlessly. I looked over, to see that Ash and the Pokemon had their jaws on the floor, and the other three were staring too, shaking their heads in disbelief.

'Forget Ash, the lot of them look flabbergasted.' I pointed out.

'I'm surprised about Cobalt, since he's seen my practising my moves before.' Crystal noted.

'I guess it's just the speed of it. It was pretty intense too.' I argued.

'I suppose. Now, let's say hi.' I put on a tired smile, and waved.

"Hey guys." I grinned. "Have fun?"

"What the hell was that?" Ash gasped. "You just… what?"

'I'll admit, I've seen Crystal practising her sword fighting with herself before, but I had no idea Alex was that good as well.' Cobalt said.

"Why didn't you do any of that when you fought Cobalt?"

"That was a demonstration of Aura, not a sword fight." I replied, then turned to Crystal. "You know, we should write that pattern down. With a little more on, a foggy background, have Bella make a forest on the others fire small Heal Pulses at us to keep us going, we could have a proper stage show on our hands." I winked.

"I'd say so too." She panted.

"I'll say that I'd be happy to help you two." Amy said. "That looked awesome! Give it a few more fight segments, just to make it longer, then add the effects and healing to keep you going and boom! You've got a great stage fight!" Bella shook her head.

"That was pretty awesome. Here, let me help you two out." She put a hand on each of our shoulders and used Heal Pulse.

"Thanks." I replied. "Hey Ash, did you actually do anything Aura wise, or did you just watch us?"

"I… may have been too busy trying to keep up with what you were doing." Ash blushed.

"No problem. I suggest you get on with it then." I waved, transformed, and flew over to the other side of the clearing, away from the battle ground. A smaller flicker of light followed me, and I slowed a bit to let Crystal catch up.

'So, what do you think?'

'We could try and escape to one of these more often.' I replied. 'Maybe we could get some more practise with the first bit done, then start revising the second?'

'Good idea, but we'll be coming out of it continually battered up. Unless you can find some way to make a Heal Pulse machine, we'll have to have one of the other three or Grace with us when we practise.' Crystal said critically.

'I'll get on that. I'm sure there's something we can use.' I landed near a tree and stretched. 'But man, that hurt!' I complained. 'I think we need to find a better way to do that last attack for the end of part one. Otherwise, we'll be battered, and the scenery will be broken too.'

'Maybe get Leo to put up a barrier?' Crystal suggested.

'We could try that, but then Amy would be left doing Heal Pulse for both of us.' I thought. 'Well, we can deal with that another day. I have no intention of putting on that show again for a while, let alone the full version.'

'Hey, at least the full thing isn't that long.'

'It's a half hour long!'

'Remember what it was like before the revisions?' She cringed, and I winced.

'Yeah, good point.'

'Why did we think the thing was a decent length at two and a half hours again?'

'We were having too much fun.' I reminded her. 'And we were talking lots of breaks to make sure we remembered the part, then planning the next bit.'

'True.' The small Articuno landed on a branch above me and stretched. 'Well, I'd say we've got about an hour before we'll be heading back. What's the plan until then?'

'Swap over, pass the book down and we'll take a look at the other bits.' I said, switching back as well. "We've got the time to spare, after all."

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*One and a half vaguely explosive hours later.*

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"Alright, I think they're done." I said, warily raising the shield.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, it's not exploding, and I can't hear Cobalt anymore." I looked around. "So, I'm willing to bet that they're done."

'Hey guys, we're finished over here!' Bella called telepathically. 'Amy's going to be warping us out in a minute, so come on back.'

"Also, that." I rolled my eyes and stood. "Come on, let's head back."

"Sure." Crystal flickered white and swapped, then cawed in laughter. 'I'll see you there.' She took off as I transformed, and I raced after her.

'Hey, get back here!' I shouted.

'Nope!' She yelled back. 'You took off after, so you deserve to lose!'

'That's what you think!' I chuckled quietly, then teleported forwards to just in front of the bird. 'Boo!'

'Jeez!' Crystal froze for a second, startled, and I charged ahead, before freezing in midair and dropping out of the sky.

'Hi guys!' I said, landing next to Ash. I stretched, transforming as I did, and grinned. "Everything's done then?"

"Yep." Ash replied, smiling.

'Hey! That wasn't fair!' Crystal cawed, landing and transforming.

"Hey, you never gave any rules, so that was fair game." I replied.

"Guys, no need to fight." Bella laughed. "Come on, let's get back, get our Pokemon healed, and get some sleep for tomorrow."

"Good plan." Leo said. "Come on Amy, let's get out of here."

"Alright, just remember to lower the gain again before we leave." We nodded, each of us doing so, then another pink flash rendered us back in the small clearing we'd left. Ash wobbled slightly next to me, and I moved my arm to stop him from falling.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem. Let's head back to the Centre, eh?"

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