Brave New World

by Ri2

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

36. Eight Faces of Evil

Spring semester's started, and so has the next chapter of our epic tale. With this, the Twilight's Edge arc comes to a close, though events in the other relevant subplots should continue into the upcoming 'interlude' chapter as usual.

Ready for Ash to get his body back and pummel Brodie to a pulp? Then read on!

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters that don't belong to me.

…

The belfry atop Yamatorochi's temple was full of activity as Team Aurabolt returned to the tower chamber with the intention of destroying the evil serpent's bell and foiling the wicked Ditto Brodie's plans forever. Even if they were unable to get their lost friend Ash back, at least they would make sure the identity thief could not go through with his plot to acquire the forms of one hundred and eight captured Ghost Pokemon. It would be a pyrrhic victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Having ordered everyone else away from the temple site for their own safety, the heroes had set up what they would need to destroy the bell and were almost done with the ceremony they were using to gather the power necessary to shatter the artifact. A half dozen of Master Yon's prayer slips had been stuck to the sides of the bell, and energy violently crackled around them as the vile artifact sought to repel their blessed touch. Pikachu, who would be the one to deliver the fatal blow—since his ancestor had slain the bell's master a hundred years ago using the same weapon—had his eyes shut and the sacred sword Thunder Fang raised before his face, cheeks crackling as he concentrated his electrical power into the blade to increase its own holy might. Yamiri stood beside Pikachu, chanting from some holy text and swaying slightly back and forth while Leo, Sasha, and Tiny, wearing robes the Squirtle had been carrying for just such an occasion, marched in a circle around the room. Leo had obtained a pot of incense on a stick from somewhere (probably another thing he had brought just in case) and was enthusiastically swinging it around and causing some of its contents to slosh out all over the place, Sasha was somewhat reluctantly tossing confetti here and there from a bag around her neck, and a very bored Tiny was monotonously beating on a drum.

Standing on the roof of the temple above them and watching the proceedings using Aura-sight was the nefarious shapeshifter Brodie Imite, still in the Lucario form he had stolen from Ash. When messages had been sent all over Dusk Forest saying that Team Aurabolt had figured out a way to destroy the bell, Brodie had heard the news and grown anxious. He knew it was likely they were bluffing—after all, if the great hero Susanoo couldn't break the thing, what chance did his grandson have?—but Brodie decided that it was too risky to let them go through with it on the off-chance that they did know how to destroy the bell, because if they did, then all his hard work over the past few months would be undone and he'd need to find some other way to obtain enough transformations to beat his cousins at the upcoming contest back home.

And besides, even if they were faking, they were still all gathered here in one place, giving him the perfect opportunity to kill them all and add their DNA to his own. He eagerly looked forward to testing out his newfound Aura power against them and seeing whether they could defeat someone using the strength of their dear doomed friend Ash.

He watched as the Sableye priest stopped his chanting and turned to Pikachu. "It is done," he announced loudly, causing the others to stop what they were doing. "I have infused your sword with the power of the moon and Arceus' blessing. Strike true, and cleave this evil bell in two!"

Pikachu opened his eyes and nodded. "It's what I've waited for all my life." He drew the sword back, tensing his muscles for the deciding blow.

And it was then Brodie knew for certain that they were faking the whole thing. He knew as much about Aura as Ash did—because, for all intents and purposes, he was Ash—and since the nimbus of power around Thunder Edge hadn't changed at all, he knew that whatever spell Father Yamiri had 'cast' on it was a phony. If he knew more about Auras he would probably have been able to read their hearts as easily as some of his Psychic forms could read minds, but he could still glean enough from their emotions to confirm it was all a trick. Leo was practically sweating anxiety, Pikachu, Yamiri, and Sasha were radiating anticipation and the slightest hint of worry, and Tiny…well, Tiny was giving off spikes of boredom, indifference, and general loathing for all things, but from Ash's memories Brodie knew that was the Larvitar's default emotional state. The whole thing was a ruse cooked up for him, to lure him to the temple so that they could trap him and force him into telling them how to change Ash back. Well, he certainly hadn't fallen for it!

Or had he? He was here, after all, which must have been what they had wanted to happen. And the Absol had to know he was there, what with her disaster-sense, and it was possible Leo's sunglasses might have picked him up too, despite how careful Brodie had been climbing up the tower. And yet, if they did know for certain he was there, nobody was acting on that knowledge. Were they waiting for him to reveal himself? They had to know he wanted to eat them, too…if that were the case, then he'd just leave and pick them off individually later. He didn't sense any obvious traps laid about the room, but they couldn't have set all this up without some plan in mind to capture him other than just ganging up to beat him, his stolen memories told him they were smarter than that. Unless they were just desperate due to the fact that time was running out for Ash, so weren't thinking straight. Or maybe that's what they wanted him to think? In which case…

He ground his teeth in frustration, mind going in circles. What were they up to? Trying to figure out how much they knew that he knew that they knew was ridiculous. Logically, they must have come up here and put on this charade because they were hoping to trap him—possibly using his own mandala—and make him change Ash back to normal. That wouldn't work since Ash wasn't there—Brodie didn't see him anywhere—but Brodie had no intention of getting caught, which meant the best course of action was just to leave. Unless they intentionally made it look like they had no elaborate scheme to catch him to disguise their real plan to snag him, which involved him falling for their double bluff and leaving, which is exactly what they wanted him to do, meaning he should stay where he was. Unless that's what they wanted him to think, meaning he should go, unless he should stay, unless he should go, unless…

As Brodie's mind tore itself apart in confusion and paranoia (blame the form he was in, Ash's brain wasn't designed for such convoluted reasoning), he was so distracted in trying to figure out what he should do that he didn't notice Lily materializing behind him with a rather large fireball over her head until it was too late. The Misdreavus hurled the flaming orb at his back--the faux Lucario's reflexes not warning him in time due to his brain's current state of befuddlement—and the explosion snapped him out of his mental debate too late for him to stop himself from smashing through the roof and falling into the belfry. His mind cleared and his instincts kicked in in time so that he landed on his feet, but the damage was done and he was now exactly where Team Aurabolt wanted him.

"Ah, there you are," Pikachu said, turning around and pointing his sword at Brodie as Lily floated through the hole in the ceiling. "We were wondering when you'd drop in!"

"What the…what's she doing here?!" the Ditto cried in astonishment. "That's Bellum's daughter, isn't it? Why is she helping you?!"

"Because they're my friends," Lily said firmly.

"We helped her get away from her mother…and in return, she's agreed to join our team, just like I predicted she someday would!" Leo said smugly. "Did I call it or what?"

"Leo, you can be a bit of an insufferable genius sometimes," Pikachu commented.

"Yeah, I know," Leo said unashamedly.

"We have you right where we want you, evil one," Yamiri said, raising his mace. "Now you shall answer for your crimes!"

Crap, Brodie thought to himself. He thought he knew how to fight the rest of the team, but he had never engaged Lily directly so didn't know much about her moves other than that she was pretty good at fire magic, which a Steel-type like he currently was was vulnerable to. He wasn't sure he could take all of them on at once as he was then. He tensed his muscles, ready to make a dash for the exit…

Only for a ring of fire to spontaneously rise around the staircase, as large walls of flame appeared in front of all the gaps in the wall, sealing the room. "No! My curtains! Do you have any idea how much I had to pay for them?!" he cried as the drapes he had hung in some of the openings were incinerated.

"Oh, sorry," Lily apologized.

"Pay? We thought you stole them," Sasha said.

"Well, yeah, but do you know how hard it is to find curtains that match the carpets in this town?" Brodie asked. They sweatdropped. "What are you guys doing?!"

"What, you didn't think we'd really give you an opportunity to escape after putting so much effort into getting you here, did you?" Pikachu asked with a smirk when he saw the alarmed expression on the faux Lucario's.

"Actually, I thought you wanted me to think I was supposed to come in, when what I really should have been doing was running away, unless that was what you wanted me to think you thought I thought, in which case I should have come in, unless that was what you thought that I thought that I thought that you thought, in which case-" Brodie started, getting cross-eyed as he tried to explain his reasoning.

"Never mind, we don't really care," Pikachu interrupted.

"It always gets confusing when people do that," Leo said.

"All right, fine, if there's no way out, then let's fight!" Brodie said, raising his fists. "I have all of Ash's powers and memories, so I know all your moves and how to counter them! And if that doesn't work, then I can just Transform into something that will!"

"Oh, we know that," Pikachu said.

Brodie blinked. "You do?"

"Yeah, which is why instead of engaging in a long drawn-out fight where you could try and pull a shapeshifter guilt trip on us to torment us and shake our resolve, we're just going to have Lily set you on fire," Leo said. Lily nodded in agreement.

Brodie blinked. "Wait, what-" He screamed in agony as he spontaneously burst into flames. "GAHHHHH WITH THE BURNING!"

"That's right, burn, burn in the flames of perdition for your sins!" Yamiri cried righteously. Tiny sucked his pacifier.

"Setting people on fire with your mind is a very useful skill," Sasha commented to Lily.

"Um, thanks?" Lily said uncertainly.

"I suppose it must also be useful for cooking meals," Sasha said, considering the ways she could use Lily's fire magic to burn the corpses of prey and make them more edible.

"You'd think so, but Mother always liked her food cold," Lily said.

Sasha frowned. "That sounds like her. I used to prefer my meals raw as well, but more recently I've taken a liking to meat prepared by various other means, most of which seem to involve some method or other of heating it. They taste more interesting that way."

"They do, don't they?" Lily agreed, warming up (bad pun intended) to the topic. "Mother never liked it when I experimented with food. Am I to understand that you have no problem with that sort of thing?"

"None at all, as long as the end result tastes good," Sasha said.

Lily smiled, again experiencing the 'happiness' that came from being around people that honestly liked her. "Then I will do my best to satisfy your appetite."

"Should I be disturbed that we're essentially watching someone who looks exactly like Ash burn to death?" Pikachu asked.

"I'm not disturbed. Are you disturbed?" Leo asked.

"No. I feel like I should be, though," Pikachu admitted. "It's morbidly fascinating."

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OH ARCEUS IT HURTS!" Brodie shouted.

"Okay, enough playing around, let's get him into the mandala already," Pikachu ordered.

They positioned themselves so that the burning Lucario was between them and the circle under the bell and blasted him with their attacks, flinging him into the spell seal. It also put out the fire, since Leo had added a Water Gun to the mix. An enraged Brodie rose to his feet, eye smoldering and Aura flaring to life around him (or were those some lingering flames left over from Lily's attack?). "Okay, that's it, now I'm going to-" he started only to freeze mid-sentence when Leo froze him with Ice Beam.

"I love doing that to people," Leo confessed. "Is that wrong of me, or is it okay if I only do it to the bad guys?"

"Let's not dwell on that for too long. He's going to break free any second, so let's get this started!" Pikachu pulled the red Star Badge out of his pack and flung it into the mandala as the others threw off their robes. "Lily, get Ash in here!"

"Right!" Lily opened a portal just outside the mandala that lead to Twilight's Edge's town hall. Ash, who had been waiting on the other side, hopped through immediately.

"Hey, you caught him! Nice work!" Ash complimented when he saw the frozen Brodie.

"Ash, get into the mandala quickly. I have to perform the spell while you, he, and the Star Badge are all in there together and before he can escape or else it won't work!" Lily said.

Ash nodded. "Right. Let's do this!" He ran into the mandala as the portal, its purpose served, closed behind him.

"Is Ash in position?" Yamiri asked.

Lily nodded and pulled out her spellbook. "Yes. Everything is in order. Now I just need to recite this incantation." She opened the ancient text to the proper page and started chanting something in a language that only Yamiri and Leo had the slightest inkling of understanding, due to both of their research into the arcane arts. The lines of the mandala began glowing with mystic power.

The ice block in the mandala cracked and shattered in a blaze of blue flames as a furious Brodie broke free from his prison. "Okay, enough is enough! Now I'm gonna…huh?!" He started when he noticed Ash was in the circle with him. "You! What the…what are you doing here?!"

Ash smirked. "Your plan failed, impostor. You thought that nobody would be able to find me like I am now, but you were wrong! Tiny and Lily were both able to see me, Tiny because of his bond with me and Lily because she's a witch. By working together with my other friends, we came up with this plan to defeat you…that's the power of teamwork, something you'll never understand!"

"Oh, I understand better than you'd think…I have your memories after all," Brodie countered. "But none of it makes any difference, because without my name, you can never take your identity back! Once that witch is finished with her hokey voodoo, I'll bust out of here, change into something big enough to kill them all, and-"

"Brodie Imitie," Ash said.

Brodie froze. "What did you just say?!"

"Your name is Brodie Imite," Ash repeated.

Brodie's jaw dropped. "But…but that…that's not possible! How did you find that out?! I was so careful!"

"It was on Bulbapedia, you idiot!" Leo yelled. "Did it ever occur to you to edit your page there once in a while?"

Brodie winced. "D'oh!"

"We have you right where we want you, Brodie," Ash said triumphantly. "It's crowning for you!"

"…Um, I think you mean checkmate," Brodie said.

Ash blinked. "Right. Checkmate. What did I say?"

"It doesn't matter, because I'm getting out of here right now, and then-" Brodie started, only for Lily to cry out the last word of her spell in a voice that echoed throughout the room. The Star Badge lit up. "Oh, bollocks."

There was a brilliant flash of red light. When the glare died down, where once there had been two Lucarios, one fake and the other invisible, now there was one Lucario and one very unhappy-looking Ditto.

"Yatta!" Leo shouted triumphantly.

"It worked!" Sasha said.

"He's back to normal! Great job, Lily!" Pikachu said.

Lily blushed. "I…th-thank you."

"I'm here…" Ash whispered, looking himself over in wonder. "I'm really me again…I'm back!" Tiny waddled over and glomped Ash's leg. Both of them were relieved when the Larvitar didn't pass through his leg this time. "I'm happy to see you too, Tiny," Ash said, bending down to hug his ward.

The rest of the team rushed over. "Ash, it's good to see you again…literally!" Leo said.

"You're looking pretty good for a guy who almost didn't exist," Pikachu quipped.

"Welcome back," Sasha said.

"Are you feeling all right?" Yamiri asked in concern.

Ash nodded as he stood back up. "Yeah, I think so. Everything's the way it should be…thank you, all of you, for saving me." He smiled at Lily. "And especially you, Lily. None of this would have been possible if it weren't for you. I'll never forget this."

Lily turned even redder. "I-I was just doing what any real…'friend' would do. (I think.) I was happy to help you, especially after everything you've done for me."

Ash nodded. "Well, once we get out of here I'll do something else for you by swearing you in as a member of Team Aurabolt and giving you your official badge and everything. But first we've got to take care of a few loose ends, like pummeling that twerp Brodie!" He turned around…and found, much to his surprise, that the Ditto was gone. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"Oh no!" Lily moaned. "He escaped!"

"Oh come on, don't tell me he ran off while we were distracted!" Leo groaned. "I thought we were smarter than that…"

"He can't have gotten far, all the exits are sealed," Yamiri pointed out.

"Which means he must still be somewhere in this room…" Ash closed his eyes and scanned the belfry with Aura-sight. It didn't take him long to spot Brodie. "He's…right there!" Ash shouted, pointing at the bell above them.

His senses were spot-on, as usual. The evil Ditto had perched himself on the bottom of the bell's clapper over their heads. "Those Aura powers of yours really are a pain…" Brodie growled. "Too bad I didn't get to exploit them to their fullest when I had the chance…but once I devour you all, I'll have all the time I need to master them!"

"What, you still think you can beat us?" Pikachu scoffed.

"Now that I'm back to normal and we have a new teammate in Lily here, you don't stand a chance!" Ash agreed.

"No matter what monstrous form you take, I doubt it will be able to withstand the combined might of the seven of us," Yamiri added.

Brodie grinned evilly. "Don't be so sure of that…I have a special Transformation I've been holding back. I didn't want to use it because of what might happen as a result…but you meddling Pokemon have given me no choice!"

"Whuh-oh," said the alarmed Leo. "Looks like he's gonna use a desperation move…which means it's gonna be something really powerful and really dangerous!"

"Whatever it is, we can handle it," Sasha said.

"Oh yeah?" Brodie asked. "Do you really think you can handle something like the legendary power of Yamatorochi?"

They gasped at this. "What? Yamatorochi?!" Yamiri cried.

"I was worried about something like this…" Leo muttered. "I knew we'd run into that guy sooner or later!"

"Impossible. My great-grandfather killed Yamatorochi one hundred years ago, and he disintegrated once all eight of his heads were cut off. There was nothing left of him for you to eat to use to change into him!" Pikachu pointed out.

Brodie smirked. "Normally you'd be right, but…think about it. A guy cuts off eight monster heads, right? So there's gotta be a lot of blood spray from a multiple beheading like that…most of which wound up covering his old bell here, which the Arcean priests who sealed this thing away never bothered to wash off. The blood was pretty old and crusty when I found it, but I was still able to extract enough DNA from it to add Yamatorochi to my arsenal of transformations!"

Pikachu's eyes widened in horror. "No!"

"Wait, would that work? I thought he needed to eat Pokemon to turn into them," said the confused Ash. "Not just their blood. If he could do the latter, that would make him a vampire, not a cannibal. Or something."

"No, he said he needed to consume their genetic material, and the most efficient way to collect enough DNA was to eat them whole," Leo corrected. "But if the Arceans never bothered washing off Yamatorochi's blood, it should have been preserved pretty well up here for the last hundred years thanks to the seals they put on it, and still had enough viable DNA left intact for Brodie to use to replicate Yamatorochi's form!"

Yamiri groaned. "I'm going to need to have a talk with whoever sealed the bell up here. Leaving blood or remains from a great evil on an artifact made from their power is probably not a good containment policy."

"Wait…if he acquires DNA by eating it, and the blood was all over the bell, then doesn't that mean that to gain Yamatorochi's power, he had to…" Sasha trailed off. Everyone's faces turned green, even Tiny's.

"Er…yeah…it wasn't my proudest moment," Brodie admitted Mareepishly.

"Dude, that's disgusting," Leo said flatly.

Ash nodded. "Even worse than most of the stuff Tiny tries to eat. Speaking of which, TINY, PUT THAT DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Tiny grunted and reluctantly obeyed.

"Okay, I know it's pretty gross, but it was all worth it! Now I can change into Yamatorochi and destroy you all!" Brodie said.

"Then why didn't you do it before now?" Ash asked.

"And for that matter, why didn't you just go back home once you'd gotten Yamatorochi's DNA and used him in that contest against your cousins rather than wasting all this time abducting Ghosts?! A transformation as rare as that has to be better than anything they could muster, and certainly more powerful than whatever you could get from the Pokemon you've kidnapped!" Pikachu yelled.

"First of all, both quality AND quantity are being judged in the contest, so an ultra-rare transformation doesn't matter so much as having a bunch of transformations to show off," Brodie said. "For another, I've been holding off on using Yamatorochi for a reason. As you may have noticed by now, my personality and mannerisms are affected to an extent by whatever form I take, hence why I was an overly intellectual jerk as a Metagross and obsessed with my 'babies' as a Vespiquen. I was worried that if I changed into a supernatural being as powerful as Yamatorochi, I'd lose sight of who I was and what my goals are. However, considering the mess you've all made of my plans already—and because I really don't want to get splattered all over the place by you again—I've decided to bite the Bullet Seed and unleash my ultimate transformation, no matter what might happen as a result!"

"This is bad…if he transforms into Yamatorochi, it would be just as if the old serpent had been resurrected…" Lily said anxiously.

Yamiri nodded in agreement. "And he would go on a feeding frenzy, consuming the trapped souls below and possibly everyone in town as retribution for his earlier defeat!"

"Then let's blast him before that can happen!" Ash said, forming and hurling an Aura Sphere at Brodie. The Ditto laughed and slithered up the side of the clapper and into the mouth of the bell. The energy ball hit the clapper and exploded, rattling the dangling metal tongue but doing no damage. "Dammit!"

Leo grimaced. "I was going to recommend you not do something like that, due to the laws of drama dictating we need to have some kind of big fight to make up for the anticlimactic way we forced him to give back your identity, but it's too late now. Oh well, at least we'll have a really cool boss battle!"

Lily blinked. "…Does he always have such an unusual way of looking at things?"

Pikachu sighed. "Pretty much, yeah."

"He hasn't changed yet, maybe it's not too late for us to-" Yamiri started.

Sasha stiffened. "It is now."

The clapper quivered and swung sideways, smacking into the side of the bell and causing it to ring across the land. DONG!

The heroes cried out and fell to their knees (those that had knees, anyway), clutching their ears (or approximation thereof) in pain. It had been bad enough hearing the evil bell ring down in the town, but being right under it when it went off made it feel like there was an Electrode exploding inside their heads. Naturally, Tiny started screaming at the top of his lungs, only making the situation worse. "GAH!" Ash shouted.

"WHY DIDN'T WE JUST ATTACK BRODIE WHEN HE WAS EXPLAINING HIS PLAN? THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE SMART THING TO DO!" Pikachu yelled.

"IT WOULD HAVE ALSO BEEN VERY RUDE!" Leo replied.

DONG! An evil wind blasted through the room, sending chills down their spines and extinguishing Lily's flames.

"WHEN HAS THAT EVER STOPPED YOU BEFORE? FOR THAT MATTER, WHY ARE YOU EVEN ACTING LIKE THIS? I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE GENRE SAVVY ONE, BUT NOW YOU'RE ACTING LIKE YOU'RE CONTRACTUALLY GENRE BLIND OR SOMETHING!" Pikachu yelled.

"OKAY, THE TRUTH IS I DIDN'T SUGGEST WE ATTACK HIM BECAUSE I WANTED US TO HAVE A REAL BOSS TO FIGHT," Leo admitted. "SINCE IT'S OBVIOUSLY THE END OF THIS LEG OF OUR ADVENTURE I FIGURED WE SHOULD FINISH IT WITH A BANG, RATHER THAN BEAT THE VILLAIN ANTICLIMACTICALLY LIKE WE DID WITH FORD!"

DONG! Dark clouds covered the Moon, blotting out the night sky.

Pikachu stared at Leo incredulously. "YOU…THAT…THAT'S JUST…SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL, LEO?!"

Leo shrugged. "IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME."

"WHEN WE GET OUT OF HERE, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Pikachu promised.

"IT'LL STILL HAVE ALL BEEN WORTH IT, THOUGH! I REGRET NOTHING!" Leo declared. "…EXCEPT HOW MUCH I'M GOING TO BE HURTING TOMORROW MORNING."

DONG! The townsPokemon looked up in fear, getting the feeling that something terrible—even more so than usual—was about to happen.

Lily stared at Leo in disbelief. "HE'S INSANE!"

"I KNOW! I THINK IT'S A REQUISITE TO BE PART OF THIS TEAM," Sasha said.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Lily asked.

"LEO BELIEVES THE WORLD CONFORMS TO THE RULES OF FICTION—AND HE MAY BE RIGHT!—I'M A WILD FLESH-EATING POKEMON WHO HAS NO PLACE IN CIVILIZED SOCIETY, ASH IS A FORMER HUMAN THAT CONSTANTLY FORGETS HE'S IMMUNE TO POISON AND HAS THE WORST SENSE OF DIRECTION I'VE EVER SEEN, YAMIRI WAS A HOMICIDAL MANIAC WHEN HE WAS ALIVE, TINY IS EMOTIONALLY UNSTABLE AND HATES ALMOST EVERYBODY, AND YOU'RE A FORMERLY EVIL WITCH WHO TALKS TO A VOICE IN HER HEAD," Sasha explained.

"WHAT ABOUT PIKACHU? HE SEEMS FAIRLY SANE," Lily said.

"WHICH MAKES HIM THE CRAZIEST OF US ALL, FOR STAYING AROUND MADMON LIKE US AND EXPECTING THE WORLD TO ALWAYS MAKE SOME KIND OF SENSE IN THE MIDST OF ALL THE CHAOS WE CONSTANTLY RUN INTO," Sasha pointed out. Lily had to admit that the Absol had a point there.

DONG! The evil carvings on the sides of the bell began glowing sinisterly, and the prayer slips Yamiri had fixed to their sides burst into flames and disintegrated.

"NO!" Father Yamiri cried in horror. "NOT EVEN YON'S SLIPS CAN CONTAIN THIS POWER?!"

"LILY, IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO STOP THIS?!" Ash shouted, clutching his head. "AND TINY, PLEASE STOP SCREAMING!" Naturally, that only made Tiny yell louder.

"IF WE TRIED TO INTERRUPT THE TRANSFORMATION AT THIS STAGE, WE COULD TRIGGER AN INCREDIBLY VOLATILE BACKLASH OF NEGATIVE MAGICAL ENERGY!" Lily said.

"AS IN, A REALLY BIG BANG!" Leo translated.

"ISN'T IT ALWAYS?" Pikachu asked mournfully.

DONG! The bell's yoke cracked and shattered, the metal device halting mid-fall above their heads and floating ominously in the middle of the room. They backed away from the instrument, making sure to take the Star Badge with them as they vacated the mandala.

"THEN WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO FIGHT…AND HOPE THAT WE WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEAT THE LEGENDARY EVIL REBORN!" Yamiri said.

"OH WELL, AT LEAST IT SHOULD MAKE FOR A PRETTY GOOD FIGHT," Ash said, resigning himself to the coming battle.

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" Leo agreed.

DONG! Eight rivers of pink slime flowed out of the bell's mouth. The rivers curled and stiffened, solidifying into eight thick serpentine necks covered in pitch-black scales. Eight heads formed on the ends of the necks, each a snarling elongated mass of sharp teeth and forked tongues and evil red eyes and horns that looked more like the kind of head you'd expect from a Dragon Pokemon than from a snake. A colored horn crest shaped like an element formed atop each of their brows; a red flame, a blue drop of water, a green cyclone, a brown rock, a purple skull and crossbones, a yellow lightning bolt, a white sunburst, and a black spike. Each crest had the kanji for their respective elements inscribed on them, and made it clear what power the head they rested on commanded.

"HERE IT COMES…" Ash tensed up.

"THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME!" Leo said enthusiastically.

"I'M REALLY GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU KNOW!" Pikachu shouted.

"COME ON, LIKE YOU WEREN'T ITCHING TO GET A CHANCE AT THE BIG SNAKE TOO AND PROVE YOURSELF TO BE AS BIG A MON AS YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER?" Leo retorted.

Pikachu hesitated. "WELL…MAYBE A LITTLE…"

"THIS WILL BE ONE OF OUR GREATEST CHALLENGES YET…" Sasha said, fur standing on end as her disaster-sense screamed.

"I REALLY HOPE IT DOESN'T EAT US…" Lily said anxiously. "THOUGH CONSIDERING MY UNLIFE SO FAR, IT WOULDN'T SURPRISE ME IF MY FIRST FLEETING MOMENT OF TRUE HAPPINESS ENDED WITH ME WINDING UP IN A MONSTER'S BELLY."

"DO NOT GIVE UP! WHERE THERE IS LIFE, THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!" Yamiri told her reassuringly.

"…BUT WE'RE NOT ALIVE. WE'RE GHOSTS," Lily pointed out.

Yamiri sweatdropped. "WELL…ER…THE SAME PRINCIPLE APPLIES TO US! AT LEAST, I THINK IT DOES…"

DONG! With a thunderclap and a mighty roar, the newly revived ancient demon landed on the belfry floor, the room shaking from its sheer presence. (Or something else?) "IIIIII LIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!" it howled in eight horrible voices rising from eight demonic throats.

"Neat," said Leo, taking a picture.

"He looks even more terrible than I imagined…" Lily murmured.

"Either way, my sword looks forward to drinking his blood…again, that is," Pikachu said.

"Does he even have blood? I mean, he's a Ditto," Leo pointed out.

"Whatever's flowing through his body, I'm going to shed copious amounts of it with this blade," Pikachu promised.

"And we'll make sure to clean it up this time, so nobody can use it for evil purposes again!" Yamiri said firmly. Tiny sucked his pacifier.

"So…who are you, exactly? Brodie? Yamatorochi?" Ash asked the eight-headed monster, recalling the Ditto's worries that his personality would be subsumed by the ancient serpent's if he transformed into it.

The beast laughed, which was rather terrible and migraine-inducing due to how cacophonic eight simultaneous monstrous cackles were. "Brodie? Yamatorochi? Who caresss? I have power now, and that isss all the identity I need! I can't believe I wasss afraid to Transssform into thisss beautiful creature…it'sss more powerful than I ever imagined! What wasss I thinking, wasssting my time collecting DNA to ssshow up my cousssinsss? With ssstrength like thisss, I can pursssue loftier goalsss more sssuited to thisss new form…goalsss sssuch asss-"

"World domination?" Leo guessed.

"Actually, I wasss thinking of getting a talk ssshow, but that'sss a good idea too!" Brodie said. They sweatdropped

"Well, I think it's safe to say that taking on Yamatorochi's form hasn't changed him that much, intelligence-wise…" Sasha said.

"Eight heads, but not much brain between them," Ash agreed.

"Onccce I consssume the sssoulsss of everyone in Twilight'sss Edge beneath the light of the full moon, I will be ssso powerful none will be able to ssstand in my way again!" Brodie hissed evilly.

"I was afraid of something like this…" Yamiri murmured.

"But it's not the full moon," Lily pointed out. "It's only at half now."

There was an awkward pause. "Oh…well…whatever!" Brodie snapped. "I'll kill you and eat you anyway, then eat the one hundred and eight sssoulsss below usss, then dessstroy Twilight'sss Edge and devour all who dwell there! None will ssstop my bloody feassst!"

"Wrong," Yamiri said, brandishing his mace.

"We'll stop you," Ash agreed, fists burning with Aura.

"With the same sword that slew you—or the original Yamatorochi, or whatever--I'll defeat you just like my ancestor did one hundred years ago," Pikachu vowed.

Brodie laughed again. "Oh really? Sssusanoo wasss only able to beat me—er, him—by absssorbing power from the Moon. But I've blocked out the Moon with thisss cloud cover. Without it, your sssword cannot pierccce my hide!"

Pikachu ground his teeth in frustration. "Damn…he's right!"

Brodie snickered. "I don't want a repeat of what happened the lassst time. Getting my headsss cut off hurt."

"…But you didn't get your heads cut off," Yamiri pointed out. "That was Yamatorochi, not you. You've only turned into him, you aren't actually him…er…are you?"

Brodie paused. "Er…that'sss a good quessstion…and one I don't really care about anssswering right now! GET IN MY BELLY!" He lunged towards the heroes…

And fell away from view as the floor abruptly collapsed underneath him, sending him plummeting down the central shaft of the temple. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" He hit the ground with a crash that shook the entire building, nearly knocking the heroes off their feet and causing several parts of the roof and interior chambers to cave in.

They stared at the gaping hole where Brodie had just been in disbelief. "Well, that was anticlimactic," a disappointed Leo said finally. Tiny sucked his pacifier in agreement.

"What just happened?" asked an equally disappointed Pikachu, who had been looking forward to fighting the monster.

"Well…this place hasn't been maintained for over a hundred years…" Father Yamiri said slowly. "I suppose that the beast's weight, combined with all the damage we caused in the earlier battle, was too much for the floor to handle."

"Then is it over? Did we win?" Lily asked hopefully.

"I doubt it," Ash said.

"He still lives," Sasha agreed, fur still bristling. "The danger is not over yet."

They were correct. A second later, they heard screams from the chamber below them. "Ahhhh! Help! He's going to eat us!"

"Somebody stop him!"

"I don't want to get in his belly, I just got out of being inside a Spiritomb, I can't imagine a monster's stomach will be any pleasanter!"

"Yamiri, everyone, get down here at once! He is not beaten yet!" Master Yon's voice called up the shaft.

"Master!" Yamiri gasped. "Hurry, we must get to the ground floor before Brodie or Yamatorochi or whatever he wants to call himself now eats the one hundred and eight lost souls!"

"Uh, one problem," Leo said, glancing down the stairwell. "The stairs are out. When he fell through the floor, those things must've collapsed too."

"Then we're stuck up here?" asked an alarmed Ash.

"No," Lily said, concentrating and opening a portal. "This should take us to the ground floor! If we hurry, we can stop him before he eats them all!"

"Good job, Lily!" Pikachu said as they approached the swirling hole in the air.

"Yeah, I can't imagine you're feeling particularly eager to face a monster that could eat you ali…er, undead," Leo said.

"Neither of us are," Yamiri spoke up. "But we will face him if we have to, because that is what must be done. Isn't that right, Lily?"

"I…yes," Lily said with a nod. "Rescue teams help those in need, right? And…and I'm part of one now, so going to help those people below us is the right thing to do, no matter how scary or dangerous it might be."

"That pretty much sums up everything that Rescue Teams are supposed to do," Ash said approvingly. "You haven't even been with us for more than an hour, and you're already getting the hang of it!"

"Th-thank you. I'm just trying to emulate you all…" Lily said, flushing.

"Heh, we must make pretty good role models then!" Leo bragged. Ash and Pikachu exchanged bemused looks.

"Shouldn't we be hurrying down to fight the monster?" Yamiri asked anxiously. "He must have eaten at least half the Ghosts by now while we were talking up here!"

"Probably not," Sasha said. "Talking is a free action, after all."

"…What does that even MEAN?!" the priest asked in exasperation.

"We'll explain later. Maybe," Ash said. "Come on! Once more into the breach!"

"Yes, it is a breach in the fabric of reality. It's nothing particularly special," Lily said. The others sweatdropped.

"Let's just go through before something else happens," Pikachu said.

They jumped through the portal and found themselves on the main level of the temple. The captured souls were screaming in panic and frantically flying all over the place in the upper reaches of the room, desperately trying to keep from getting caught in the suction force caused by all eight of the evil serpent's mouths inhaling at once. The many-headed snake had survived the fall without a scratch, and was sitting in the rubble caused by his fall and the ruins of the statue that had once sat in the center of the room while attempting to vacuum up the prey above him. "Yamatorochi! Or Brodie! Or whoever you are now!" Ash shouted, getting the monster's attention.

"Stop that this instant!" Yamiri growled.

"Oh look, it's Team Aurabolt! They're here to save us!" a relieved Drifloon said.

"Hooray!" the other Ghosts cheered wearily.

"Yamiri, everyone, be careful! He is not one to be underestimated!" Yon warned them.

"Yeah, that's kind of obvious," Leo said.

Brodie snickered. "Ssso, you ssstill want to fight me, huh? Fine, the lot of you will make a good appetizer for my main courssse!" He drew back all eight heads and started inhaling, the crests on his foreheads glowing.

"Hit him before he can fire! He's going to shoot a multi-elemental blast!" Pikachu cried.

"That's also pretty obvious, but no arguments from me! Let's show him one of our own!" Leo yelled. They fired their attacks at Brodie; Ash using Aura Sphere, Pikachu shooting Thunder, Leo launching Ice Beam, Tiny throwing Hidden Power orbs, Sasha slicing a Psycho Cut, Yamiri spewing a Dark Pulse, and Lily hurling an enormous fireball. The attacks streamed towards Brodie…and exploded only inches away from him.

"It had no effect!" Yamiri said in alarm.

"Huh?! Don't tell me he's got a shield, too!" Ash groaned.

Pikachu snapped his fingers. "That's right, Yamatorochi was supposed to be protected from damage by a magical barrier!"

"Oops. Would've picked up on that if I had been wearing my shades…" Leo muttered, pulling them out of his shell and putting them on. "I'm starting to wonder if I should just wear these 24-7…but then they wouldn't be quite as cool…"

Brodie laughed. "A niccce effort…but have a tassste of REAL power!" All eight of his heads surged forwards at once, elemental blasts leaping from his mouths. The fire head used Overheat, the water head Hydro Pump, the wind head Whirlwind, the lightning head Zap Cannon, the rock head AncientPower, the poison head Toxic, the white head Hyper Beam, and the darkness head Dark Pulse.

"Oh shit…" Ash whispered as the eight incredibly strong attacks shot towards them.

"This is gonna suck!" Leo wailed, retracting into his shell.

"We can't stop that!" an alarmed Yamiri cried.

"Or avoid it, it's too big!" Sasha agreed.

"No…but I can!" Lily said, belting out a few phrases. All of them started to glow.

The eight blasts smashed into them, erupting in a terrific explosion that rocked the temple and dislodged more stones and tiles from the ceiling, clattering harmlessly off of Brodie's impenetrable shield. The Ghosts above gasped in horror. "No!"

"That can't be it!"

"They can't be dead…can they?"

"Yamiri…" Yon whispered.

Brodie threw back his heads and laughed. "Bwahahaha! I think I may have overcooked them a bit, but they ssshould ssstill be fit to…what?!" The smoke from the explosion cleared to reveal the heroes were still alive and apparently unharmed from the previous attack. "B-but how?! Do you have a barrier too?!"

"Uh, that's a good question, actually," Ash said, looking himself over in confusion. "How did we survive that?"

"Lily, did you call up a shield or something?" Pikachu asked the witch.

"No, I haven't quite gotten the hang of that yet. Instead, I used a Substitute spell to conjure doubles to take the hit for us so we'd remain unharmed," she explained.

"Cool! So it's like a ninja log technique!" Leo said.

"A what? On second thought, I don't really want to know," Sasha said.

"That is a very useful trick to know," Yamiri commented.
Lily nodded. "Yes, I initially learned it to try and trick Mother so she would punish it in my place. It…didn't work very well…" There was an awkward silence.

"Let'sss sssee if it worksss asss well a sssecond time!" Brodie hissed, powering up for another salvo.

"Here we go again…" Ash grunted.

"If we split up and go around him, he'll be forced to divide his attention to focus on all of us. That also means his attacks will be weaker, since he won't be concentrating all of them on us at once," Sasha theorized.

"A good plan, but it won't help us counterattack him! We need to bring down that barrier if we're to stand a chance of defeating him," Yamiri said.

"I don't see any weak spots, though…that thing's pretty solid!" Leo said worriedly.

"Maybe I can find a spell to break it?" Lily suggested, pulling out her spellbook.

"That won't be necessary…I already know one thing that can get through it!" Pikachu said, glancing at his sword. "Ash, throw me at him like you did Leo earlier!"

"Huh? What are you…oh, I see!" Ash cried, realizing Pikachu's plan. He picked up his partner. "This might sting a little, though."

"I've gotten worse from you by now," Pikachu said.

"I wish that could be me again…" Leo complained. "I've gotta learn how to use a sword sometime. Especially if it's a laser sword! Because laser swords are awesome." The others sweatdropped.

"Everyone, fire at Brodie's attacks after I throw Pikachu," Ash said, focusing his Aura into his hands and causing Pikachu to start burning with blue flame. "That'll reduce the amount of flak he'll have to go through to reach that snake!"

"And when I do…that shield's coming down!" Pikachu promised, curling into a blue-burning ball.

Brodie exhaled, sending another wave of extremely powerful elemental blasts at the team. "Now!" Ash yelled, flinging Pikachu right into the cusp of the blasts. They immediately fired their own attacks to try and slow Brodie's bursts so they didn't hit Pikachu and impede his progress; Flash Cannon intersecting with Dark Pulse, Hidden Power colliding with AncientPower, Razor Wind blowing against Whirlind, Ice Beam freezing Hydro Pump, Dark Pulse crashing into Zap Cannon, and fire wheel igniting the cloud of Poison Gas. The Hyper Beam and Overheat kept streaming towards Pikachu side-by-side, but the electric mouse extended his sword and Iron Tail and started spinning, the Aura charge Ash had given him swirling around him and making him look like a blue version of one of Lily's attacks. His momentum, combined with the Aura infusion and his spinning blades, allowed him to slice through the attacks, embers and splinters of light flying all over the place. Brodie didn't have time to do anything but widen his eyes in surprise just before Pikachu struck…

Slamming right into his barrier sword-first. "Ha!" the monster laughed. "Niccce try…eh?" Much to his alarm, Pikachu hadn't rebounded off the barrier and was sticking fast to it, his sword actually piercing it partway and causing holy and unholy energy to crackle violently around him, the tip of the blade only millimeters away from the snout of the fire head. "N-no! Not again!" His other heads rushed over from the sides, jaws open to swallow the rodent whole…

But they were too late, as Pikachu released a powerful Thunder attack with a mighty cry, channeling his electricity, along with his borrowed Aura, through the sword and into the barrier. There was a flash of light and a sound akin to shattering glass as the barrier dissolved under the force of Pikachu's attack, Brodie's heads rearing back and howling in pain as the backlash from the destroyed shield rocked their forms.

"Yeah! He did it!" Leo cried triumphantly as Pikachu, flung back from the force of the destroyed barrier, rolled as he landed and was back up on his feet within seconds, charging back towards the raging serpent to renew the fray.

"Couldn't have done it without me," Ash said smugly, wincing as he tried to regain the Aura he had given to Pikachu.

"Now that the barrier is down, we can attack him directly," Yamiri said.

"Will that even work? I thought that only Pikachu's sword, infused with moonlight, could truly harm him," Sasha said.

"Yeah, but we don't have that option available to us right now, so we'll have to improvise," Ash said. "Besides, Susanoo fought Yamatorochi the last time all by himself. This time we've got the weapon that killed him before, an Aura Guardian in training, an Arcean priest, a powerful witch, a genre-savvy Squirtle that seems to be prepared for just about anything, a very experienced wild Absol, and Tiny." Tiny sucked his pacifier. "Between all of us, I'm sure we can think of something."

"We should split up like you said before, so each of us can focus on one head and won't have to worry about dealing with the others," Lily said to Sasha.

"But there's only seven of us and eight of those heads," Sasha pointed out.

"And one of those seven is just a child," Yamiri said. Tiny frowned.

"I think Pikachu can take care of at least two on his own," Leo said as he watched Pikachu engage in frenzied swordplay against all of Brodie's heads at once. "And I think Tiny can handle himself, can't you Tiny?" Tiny sucked his pacifier in agreement.

"All right then, let's do this," Ash said determinedly. "I'm getting really sick of this guy. Let's put his shapeshifting cannibalistic habits to an end, and destroy that stupid bell once and for all. It's caused more than enough trouble for far too long."

Yamiri nodded in agreement and drew his prayer slips. "I could not agree with you more, Ash. It's time to avenge Master Yon!"

"Yamiri, I'm right here," Yon said.

"…Yes, well, I'm going to avenge you anyway!" Yamiri said stubbornly. "Let us send this blasphemer to the Abyss! I'm sure he'll receive a warm welcome there." Nobody noticed the uncomfortable look on Lily's face as he said that. Did any of them realize that she was bound for that place some day?

They ran into the middle of the room, spreading out in a circle around the monster and beginning to fire attacks at him. Hissing in annoyance, several of the heads fighting Pikachu pulled away to deal with these new pests. "Ganging up on me, huh? Well, I think you'll find that I'm more than you foolsss can handle!" Brodie snarled.

"Heh, we'll see about that," Ash said, charging up his Aura. "I've been waiting hours to pay you back for almost causing me to disappear! This'll teach you not to steal people's identities!" He hurled an Aura Sphere at the earth head.

With serpentine quickness, the head dodged out of the way of the attack and lunged forward at Ash, jaws wide open. Ash's Aura-powered reflexes kicked in, and he jumped into the air just before the monster's jaws could snap shut on him, landing on the neck just behind the creature's head. "Hey! Where'd you go?!" the head hissed, looking around frantically for his opponent.

Ash responded by forming Metal Claws and striking at the scales connecting head to neck, trying to pierce the skin and strike a critical hit. Much to his annoyance, his claws skidded off the scales, throwing up sparks and nearly knocking him off from the recoil. However, the attack let the serpent know where he was, and it convulsed angrily, throwing Ash off its back and into the air. As he started tumbling back down, the head surged up, ready to swallow the Lucario whole.

Ash wasn't ready to be eaten yet, however. He formed a Bone Rush staff between his hands and thrust it before him just before he could fall into the beast's maw, the energy bone lodging between the snake's jaws and keeping them from closing. "Gah! Gedd it out!" Brodie grunted, flailing about and trying to get rid of the bone.

Ash landed on the ground and smirked as he charged up his Aura again. "Sure thing, pal. Let me give you a FIST!" He ran at the serpent and jumped into the air, swinging his fist at the monster's lower jaw in a blazing uppercut that sent the head reeling backwards when his paw connected, Bone Rush shattering as the jaws were forcibly (and painfully) closed from the blow. Dazed, the head collapsed to the ground. Ash rushed over and started pounding on it, gleefully taking out his frustration at being turned into a shadow. It felt so good to be able to hit things again!

Tiny sucked his pacifier as he looked up at Yamatorochi's electric head. The serpent sneered. "What, they're sssending a kid againssst me now? I sssaw how you fought earlier, you may have sssome ssskill, but do you really think you can take me on without the grownupsss to hold your paw?" Tiny narrowed his eyes. "Heh, all right, if that'sss how you want to play it…" He roared and spat a Thunderbolt at Tiny, which did absolutely no damage because he was a Rock/Ground type and therefore completely immune to Electric moves, something Brodie had been apparently unaware of. (Why else would Tiny have chosen this head as his opponent?) Brodie was momentarily taken aback. "Huh? You're immune? Oh well, no big deal, a little morsssel like yourssself ssshouldn't put up that much of a fight-"

Tiny pulled out his pacifier and used Screech. The snake howled in pain and surprise and reared back, his auditory organs reeling as Tiny bombarded him with his patented sonic attack. Seeing his foe was stunned, Tiny conjured Hidden Power orbs and flung them at the head. Unfortunately, the explosions from the spheres seemed to annoy Brodie more than actually hurt him. "You..!" Enraged, he lunged at Tiny, jaws opening wide to snap the Larvitar up in a single bite. Tiny quickly used Dig to burrow underground before he could get eaten, causing the monster's snout to smack into the hard stone floor instead. Hissing, he recoiled, shaking his stinging snout in pain. Tiny chose that moment to erupt from beneath the floor, rising up to strike the serpent's chin…

Only for Brodie to swing his head out of the way, then snap Tiny up in his jaws as he flew past. A smile graced his reptilian features…

And then he cried out in pain, flailing wildly about and opening his jaws to reveal that Tiny had Bitten into his tongue. Brodie frantically shook his head and wriggled his tongue about to try and dislodge Tiny, but the Larvitar refused to let go, holding fast to the tongue with his ridiculously sharp teeth. Desperate to relieve the pain, Brodie tried to blast Tiny out of his mouth using Thunder. The electric shock didn't hurt Tiny, but it had a strong enough force behind it to fling him out of Brodie's mouth, ripping out a small chunk of the snake's tongue in the process, which he happily consumed even as he tumbled through the air and smacked into a pillar. Brodie hissed in pain and coughed up blood from his wounded tongue. "Ack…you wretched little brat! Eating'sss too good for you, I'll sssmasssh you to piecccesss!"

Tiny just licked his lips, hungry for more fighting…and possibly snake meat. It was tastier than he had thought it would be. He didn't know why Ash kept telling him not to eat stuff like this; he could see why Sasha enjoyed consuming other Pokemon.

"You've been an annoying pessst sssinccce the firssst time I sssaw you…" the poison head growled at Leo. "Alwaysss sssaying ssstrange thingsss and finding waysss for your friendsss to exxxploit my weaknesssesss…I'm going to enjoy devouring you!"

"Heh, what makes you think you can? We turtles have shells for a reason, you know," Leo quipped.

"I doubt that will be a problem onccce I melt it off of you!" the head hissed, spitting Acid.

Leo fired an Ice Beam, freezing the Acid into a solid mass, which he then shattered with a Bubblebeam. "Yeah, sure. That all you got?"

"No…do you think you will be able to freeze thisss ssso easssily?" the head roared, exhaling and sending a cloud of Poison Gas at Leo.

Leo gasped sarcastically. "Oh no, not Poison Gas! Whatever am I going to do? Oh wait, I know…" He retracted his head into his shell for a moment and came back out wearing a gas mask. "I'll wear this gas-proof mask I decided to get to keep an accident like the one that happened back in Ford's trophy room in Mt. Battle from ever happening again!"

The poison head recoiled in alarm. "What the…you have a gasss masssk?! For the love of Arceusss, jussst how much do you have in that thing?!"

"Not even I'm sure sometimes," Leo admitted. "But I always seem to have something for the right occasion, including fighting with a poison-spitting snake!"

"Oh really?" the head snarled. It inhaled, and then spat out Poison Sting needles. Leo quickly retracted into his shell, but while the needles were ricocheting off his armor, the snake spat out a stream of black Acid which carved a deep trench in the floor around Leo.

Leo glanced around in confusion as he came out of his shell. "Huh? What're you-" The head leaned down and vomited Toxic sludge into the trench, quickly filling it with poisonous waste and leaving Leo trapped in the middle of a moat of deadly purple ooze. "Oh. Clever."

The head drew back. "Jussst try and get out of thisss one!" it taunted, spewing a Gunk Shot at the Squirtle, the toxicity of the substance so strong that it caused the air around it to burst into flame as it was exposed to it. Something as poisonous as that would eat through Leo's shell in seconds if it touched him.

Which was why Leo didn't intend to get hit by it. He raised his mask for a moment, and, making sure not to inhale any of the toxic fumes around him, quickly spat an Ice Beam at a portion of the poisonous trench surrounding him, freezing a portion of it solid. He slid across the patch of purple ice to safety just before the Gunk Shot struck the island he had been trapped on, liquefying it in seconds. Growling in frustration, the poison head spat another stream of Acid at him. Leo fired another Ice Beam, not just freezing the poison about to hit him, but also solidifying the entire acid stream all the way up into the serpent's mouth, creating an enormous curved length of ice. The weight of the ice flow too much for it to handle, the head drooped to the floor, the bottom of the arc smacking into the ground. Grinning and lowering his mask for safety purposes, Leo retracted into his shell and sped up the slope before him with Rapid Spin, aiming for the serpent's nose.

Brodie, outraged and more than a little worried, managed to clench his jaws and dig his venomous teeth in to gain the leverage he needed to break his head off from the big ice mass. He crunched and spat out the bits that remained in his mouth, and snapped Leo up in his jaws just as the Squirtle flew off the ice ramp towards him.

Leo was not one to give in even in the jaws of death, however. He popped an arm out of his shell and grabbed onto one of Brodie's fangs just before he could slide down the monster's gullet, wincing slightly as his palm cut on the edge. Irritated that he had something caught between his teeth; Brodie wrapped his prehensile tongue around Leo's shell and tugged, trying to pull him down his throat. Leo popped his other arm out of his shell, this one holding a golden spray bottle, which he tossed down Brodie's throat.

The serpent's eyes bulged out of their sockets as he swallowed the bottle, and he started coughing and wheezing, spitting Leo out as foam started dripping from his jaws. "Gah! What…what did you jussst feed me?"

Leo smirked. "An Antidote! Considering that you're so full of Poison, I figured a little curative like that might have a negative effect on you."

"You…are not the only one to have a negative effect," Brodie gargled painfully. "Your hand isss bleeding! You cut it on my fangsss! In doing ssso, you exxxposssed yourssself to my poissson…it isss coursssing through your veinsss even asss we ssspeak! In mere sssecondsss, you will die a horrendousss death!"

"That so, huh?" Leo said, raising an eyebrow. "Huh. I feel fine."

Brodie blinked in surprise. "What? No horrible burning sssenssation? No dry mouth or heart palpitationsss or ssseizuresss? No muscle convulsions? No pain at all?!"

"Nope. I think I'm a-okay," Leo said.

"But…but my poissson! How could you possibly-" a disbelieving Brodie protested.

"It might have something to do with the fact that I took an Antidote before I even came over here," Leo said with a grin. "You didn't really think I had just one on me, did you? I inoculated myself just before we started fighting so I wouldn't have to worry about something like this! It always pays to be prepared."

Brodie roared in frustration, foam flying all over the place. "You accursssed brat! Isss there no end to your trickery?!"

"I certainly hope not, since it's the reason I've made it this far," Leo said. "Now…come on! Let's see how well you can fight now that you're effectively defanged!"

As Leo resumed his battle with his poisonous foe, Sasha was dueling with the water head, using her speed and disaster-sense to dance all over the place, avoiding the serpent's water attacks while flinging energy blades at the monster's neck. The blades didn't seem to be particularly effective, however, serving more to irritate the fiend as they ricocheted off his scales rather then causing any true damage. "Hold ssstill!" he hissed angrily.

"No," Sasha said, flicking her head and sending a Psycho Cut flying towards the head.

The serpent didn't even bother dodging, the energy blade broke against his scales without causing a scratch. "You will have to try harder than that," he crooned.

"Very well," Sasha said.

Suddenly, a Future Sight energy ball materialized out of thin air and shot towards the back of Brodie's head. Without even looking, Brodie bent out of the way, then smacked the ball with the side of his head, sending it flying at a nearby pillar. The sphere exploded on contact, destroying the pillar and sending several tons of rubble and debris falling towards Sasha. "I remembered that move from when we fought before; did you really think I'd let it hit me again?"

"I had," Sasha admitted as she jumped towards the tumbling debris, landing on a chunk of stone and quickly hopping from piece to piece, climbing higher into the air. "Most Pokemon do, though admittedly few have required me to use it on them more than once."

"Well, I'm not mossst Pokemon!" Brodie hissed, spitting Aqua Pulses in a wide spread. The Pulses smashed into the falling rocks, destroying them.

None of them hit Sasha, however, or severely impeded her in her climb, her disaster-sense warning her when and where an Aqua Pulse was about to strike and always making sure to jump off of a rock just before it could be destroyed. "You certainly aren't!" she called as she reached the very last rock, decided she was high up enough, and leaped into the air, arcing down towards Brodie as the rest of the pillar crashed to the floor.

Brodie opened his mouth and fired a Hydro Pump up at Sasha, intending to hit her with enough force to shatter every bone in her body and smash what was left into the ceiling. Not looking forward to such a prospect, Sasha flicked her head and sent a Psycho Cut shooting down ahead of her, the energy blade cleaving the waterspout in two and causing it to flow past her in two powerful but ineffectual streams as she plummeted between them. The Psycho Cut blade smashed into Brodie's snout, causing him to flinch and cut off the attack, breaking his concentration just long enough for Sasha to glide past him, striking the serpent with Night Slash as she went by. The instant she landed, Brodie's left eye exploded in a shower of blood and…whatever else is found in eyes. The serpent howled in agony.

Some of the blood spattered on Sasha's snow-white fur, turning parts of it pink as it dissolved back into the protomatter all Dittos are made of. She licked off some of the pink liquid that struck her face, and then charged back towards the roaring monster, looking forward to drawing more of it.

Father Yamiri zigzagged through the air, levitating all over the place to dodge the Air Slash balls of wind the wind head was spitting at him. He pulled out a Power Gem, charged it with energy, and hurled it at the serpent. The monster just exhaled a Gust which sent the explosive gem back at the Sabeleye. Yamiri became invisible and intangible before it could strike him, causing the gem to fly through his body and explode against the wall behind him. The serpent looked around in annoyance, trying to figure out where he had gone. "Where are you? I know you're ssstill here…I can sssmell your ectoplasssm! Ssshow yourssself!"

Understandably, Yamiri declined to do so. The invisible priest flew towards the beast's neck, intending to pass through it and damage the great beast from within.

Unfortunately, he rebounded right off the serpent's hide, evil energy crackling across the scales covering its skin. Yamiri winced, the recoil injuring him despite his current incorporeal state. What had he been thinking? Yamatorochi was a monster that ate Ghosts, why would such a beast have a body that a resourceful spirit like himself could phase through? The disturbance he had caused drew the beast's attention, the neck doubling back on itself so the wind head could see the crackling, slightly itchy spot on his skin. "Ah, there you are!" He lunged towards the spot.

Yamiri glided out of the way just before he could get swallowed up by the monster, rematerializing and hurling a Shadow Ball at Brodie. The wind head batted it away with its snout and lunged forward again, trying to snap Yamiri up. The Sableye flew backwards, just out of range of the monster's bite, firing a Dark Pulse as he retreated. The powerful Dark energy blast only seemed to incense the serpent. "Get over here!" he snarled, opening his jaws and inhaling, creating a powerful vacuum sucking everything nearby into his mouth.

Yamiri turned intangible to try and immunize himself to the suction, and was surprised when he still started drifting towards Brodie's mouth despite his best efforts to pull away. But then again, this was a monster that ate Ghosts, intangibility probably didn't give its appetite much of a problem. Making himself solid again, Yamiri quickly tried to think of a way to get out of this…

And then realized the obvious solution. He wasn't the only thing the snake was sucking up, after all. He hurled out another Power Gem and hurled it into the monster's jaws. Brodie automatically inhaled and swallowed the jewel, realizing too late what it actually was when it exploded in his throat. "Graaagghhh!" he gasped in pain, coughing up blood. Yamiri chose that moment to strike, darting forward and flying in circles around the stunned monster's head, slapping prayer slips all over his skull. The snake hissed in agony and rage, convulsing as the slips' holy power burned itself into his skin.

Yamiri hovered back several meters, gathering strength, then with a mighty battle cry hurled himself at Brodie, swinging his mace with all the power in his slender frame. The spiked head of his weapon struck the serpent's chin with a mighty crack, causing the monster's entire body (or at least, the part of it Yamiri was fighting) to reel back, suspended in the air for several moments by the force of the blow, before finally collapsing to the ground hard enough to crack it. The priest grinned, shaking slightly from the exertion of the attack…and frowned when he saw the toll it had taken on his mace. Several of the spikes on its head had been bent or snapped off, and there was a large crack running through the handle. "Oh dear…he certainly doesn't have a glass jaw, does he? I'm going to need to get this fixed…"

"That'sss not all you're going to need fixed…" Brodie snarled as he rose back off the ground. He shook himself wildly, generating a mini-cyclone that wrapped around his form and ripped off all the slips affixed to his head.

Yamiri scowled. "So you can still fight? I should not be surprised. Evil rarely dies easily. My weapon may be damaged, but my faith and convictions will never be shaken. Come, then! Let us settle this!"

The wind head snarled as it reared back. "It will be ever ssso sssatisssfying when I devour you! Let'sss sssee if your faith sssussstainsss you onccce you're inssside of me!" Serpent and priest lunged at each other, continuing the battle.

"Give in to darkness's embrace!" the dark head roared, firing a Dark Pulse at Lily.

She phased out of the way of the attack and hurled fireballs at the head. "I have existed for the past three hundred years in an endless nightmare and seen more horrible monsters than you. The darkness holds no terror for me." Not your darkness, anyway, she thought to herself, the memory of her mother's Master's glowing red eyes burning in her brain.

"Will you ssstill sssay that onccce your sssoul isss digesssting ssslowly in my ssstomach?" the dark head hissed.

"I've suffered worse," Lily said with complete honesty.

Brodie frowned, both disappointed and more than a little disturbed by this casual admission. "Well, we'll sssee about—look, over there!"

"Where?" Lily asked, turning around. Laughing triumphantly to himself, Brodie lunged forward with Faint Attack…

And slammed right into a Shadow Ball Lily flung at him without even looking. "My mother and sister have pulled that routine on me too many times for me to fall for that trick again," she said tiredly.

"Will you fall for thisss?" Brodie hissed, thinking up a Nasty Plot. Head crackling with dark energy, he lunged forwards with Knock Off, slamming into Lily and flinging her away as well as--as the attack name implied--knocking off her hat.

"My hat!" she cried. Brodie's head shot out and caught the hat in its jaws using Thief before she could grab it back. Her temper flared. Her hat was her only real possession, other than her spellbook, which was stolen. It was the only thing she'd ever really been able to call her own. "Give it back to me!"

"If you want it so badly, then come and get it…" he said, opening his mouth invitingly.

"…Very well," Lily said, making a decision. As had been previously noted, Lily did not especially like hurting or killing other people, even though it was something she was rather good at and one of the only things she knew how to do well. As a result, even though she understood the necessity of fighting a monster like what Brodie had become and was more than happy to help her new friends in their endeavors, that did not mean she did so without some small reluctance and a determination to try and refrain from using lethal force if at all possible, something that had always infuriated her mother.

However, this snake had stolen her hat. She felt no qualms about what she was going to do. She opened her mouth and began singing a jarring, unpleasant wail that grated the ears and caused the bones to resonate in an unpleasant way. Black waves emanated from her mouth, and crimson static engulfed both her and Brodie's dark head, causing both of them to suffer excruciating pain. "AAAAARGGGGHHHH!" Brodie howled, his serpentine form shaking in agony. "That…that'sss Perisssh Sssong! Why…why are you…doing thisss?! It's jussst…a hat! Don't you think…you're overreacting…a little?!"

Lily couldn't answer because she was still singing. The anguished look on her face made it clear how much her own attack was hurting her, but she had no intention of stopping until she either got her hat back or both of them fell, whichever came first. Realizing this, a horrified Brodie gave in. "All right! All right! I'll give it back! Take it already!"

Charging up with Dark energy, he hurled the hat at Lily with Fling, hoping to brain her with it. He had no such luck, Lily promptly stopped singing, grabbed the hat with her hair, and replaced it on her head, looking none the worse for wear, while Brodie was panting and sweating as he tried to recover from the Song's effects. "Thank you," she said.

"Geezzz…it wasss jussst a hat! What'sss the big deal? That really hurt, you know!" Brodie sobbed, eyes watering up as he used Fake Tears.

She didn't fall for that trick, either. "Tears never worked on my mother, and they won't work on me either. Is deceit like this really the best you can do?"

The head snarled, ceasing its pity ploy. "I can only ussse Dark-type movesss, the majority of which are either physssical or ssstatusss-inducccing in nature. A guy'sss got to work with what he'sss got!"

"Ah," Lily said. "That makes sense." She concentrated, and a pair of flaming wheels and six Shadow Balls formed around her. "Then I shall work with what I have, as well."

Brodie grinned. "Bring it."

Lily did.

Meanwhile, while everyone else was fighting one of Brodie's heads, Pikachu was busy taking on two at once, and doing a fairly good job of it too. The twin heads, wielding the power of fire and light, reared back and unleashed a Flamethrower and Hyper Beam at Pikachu. Using Quick Attack and Agility, Pikachu zigzagged across the floor to throw off the serpents' aim, dashing under their attacks and racing towards their underbellies. He drew his sword and slashed at the scales covering the underside of the light head's neck, only for his blade to bounce off the monster's hide. The light head hissed and slammed his neck down to the ground in an attempt to crush Pikachu beneath its weight, but the samurai rolled out of the way before it was too late and thrust his sword at the beast's side the instant he was back on his feet.

Unfortunately, his blade just ricocheted off the scaly neck, throwing up sparks but doing no damage and almost knocking Pikachu off his feet due to the recoil. The fire head twisted his neck over that of his counterpart and lunged downwards at Pikachu, trying to catch him in his smoldering jaws. Pikachu hopped backwards before the head could crush and/or consume him, causing the monster to slam into the ground snout-first, stunning itself. Pikachu landed on his tail, which compressed beneath his weight and bounced him back into the air, sending him flying towards the dazed head. He drew back his sword, intending to pierce the fiery serpent's eye…

Only for the light head to appear from out of nowhere and catch him in its jaws in midair. The snake started closing its mouth over Pikachu, but the resilient rodent thrust upward with his sword, piercing the roof of the demon's maw. The monster threw back its head in screamed in agony, both because there was a sword stuck in his mouth and because said sword was channeling several thousand volts of holy lightning into his body. Pikachu wrenched his sword out, severing a few teeth and tearing open a huge gash in the roof of the snake's mouth that flooded the jaws with blood that quickly turned into pink slime. Covered in the stuff, Pikachu jumped out before he could drown in the ooze or get swept down the monster's throat (though in retrospect that might have been a good idea, he could have cut his way out of the beast's stomach and maybe severed at least one head in the process), the light head collapsing to the ground behind him as he landed.

The fire head drew back warily. "You wield that blade asss if you hatched with a sssword in your paw, little moussse…you fight jussst like your great-grandfather."

Pikachu frowned. "And how would you know about that? You weren't even there…unless you really are Yamatorochi, and not just Brodie assuming his form?"

The serpent chuckled. "There wasss more than jussst DNA in the blood on the bell…perhapsss I am Yamatorochi, I certainly have hisss memoriesss. But then again, I alssso have Brodie'sss, and ssseem to bleed like he doesss. Ssso am I Yamatorochi reborn? Am I Brodie putting on an act ssso good I have trouble forgetting where one endsss and the other beginsss? In the end, doesss it really matter? I have a new role to act out, and power to match it, and I intend to play it to itsss fullessst. And ssspeaking of rolesss…yoursss doesss not have to play out thisss way."

Pikachu frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Have you ever really had a choiccce in the way you live your life, little Pikachu? From day one you've been nurtured on the talesss of your ancccessstor'sss heroic exploitsss and groomed to be jussst like them one day, a noble and valiant sssamurai warrior. But were you ever asssked if that wasss what you really wanted to be? Did your father ever sssay it would be fine for you to do whatever you wanted with your life, or did he presss upon you the burden of living up to the family legacccy, just like hisss father did to him, and hisss grandfather did to hisss father, and hisss great-grandfather did to hisss grandfather, and ssso on? Did they ever asssk if maybe you wanted to do sssomething elssse other than running around with a sssword, risssking your life for people you've never met before in hopesss of being jussst like daddy?"

Pikachu tightened his grip on his sword. "…What are you saying?"

"I'm sssaying it doesssn't have to be that way. That you can have your own life. That you don't have to be an exxxact replica of your father, or hisss father, or hisss," the fire head said seductively. "It wasss your ancccessstor that defeated me one hundred yearsss ago…but your accursssed bloodline can unleasssh my true power! A pact between Sssusssanoo'sss dessscendant and I, the great Yamatorochi, ssshall deliver upon me powersss beyond all comprehensssion. Let usss ssseal the blood pact for all eternity! Ssspeak the wordsss, 'I wisssh to choossse a different path.' Utter that prayer to me and ssseal our blood pact. You too ssshall gain powersss beyond all comprehensssion, and will no longer have to live in the all-encompasssing ssshadow of your ancccessstorsss!"

Pikachu recoiled in surprise. "What?!"

The fire head leaned closer, swaying hypnotically before Pikachu's eyes. "Utter the prayer! Let the wordsss come from deep within, where you have locked them away for ssso many yearsss! Recccite the wordsss of our blood pact!"

Pikachu narrowed his eyes. "Oh, I shall…"

He backflipped, flying over the light head as it shot towards him from behind, nearly catching him in its jaws. He landed on the back of the serpent's neck and let loose a powerful Thundershock, causing the monster to hiss in pain. Pikachu laughed as the fire head reeled back in surprise. "'I am the descendant of Susanoo! Behold! Pikachu, latest heir of the Thunderblade line and wielder of the sacred Thunder Fang! Hear me, vile shapeshifter who would seek to destroy my friends! Feel the wrath of my trusty sword!'"

"Wh-what?!" the fire head howled in alarm.

Pikachu grinned. "Heh, weren't expecting an oath like that, were you? You really are an idiot, aren't you? Did you really think I'd fall for a tired old trick like that? The only pacts for me are those that tie me to my family, to my friends, to my homeland, to my god…and to the sword that is my destiny! If it is my fate to fall battling evil, then so be it, for it is a fate I happily accepted long ago, knowing full well that I would likely be condemning myself to death in combat rather than by natural causes! I am honored to carry on the family name and continue our legacy…and the latest chapter of our saga shall be writ in your blood, as I finish the job my great-grandfather began one hundred years ago!" His body flashed as he was engulfed in a golden electrical nimbus, and he dashed up the length of the light head's neck and launched himself off the top, sailing towards the fire head with Volt Tackle.

"N-no! Get back!" Brodie cried, exhaling a potent Fire Blast at Pikachu. The giant flaming kanji for 'big' rocketed towards Pikachu…and burst as the samurai smashed right through it, his Volt Tackle far too powerful to be stopped by meager flames such as those. Pikachu crashed into the fire head, the collision so strong that it broke the snake's nose. He reeled back, wailing in pain as blood and pink slime oozed from his twisted snout. "AAAAHHH! GAAAAHH! OH ARCCCEUSSS, THAT HURTSSS!"

Pikachu landed on the ground, his electric shell dissipating. "Good. It was supposed to."

Brodie ground his teeth, causing another twinge of pain in his nose. "ALL RIGHT! THAT'SSS IT! NO MORE MESSSING AROUND!"

Abruptly, all seven of the other heads stopped fighting and withdrew from their opponents. The eight serpents bobbed around the bell they were growing from, glaring down at Team Aurabolt. Ash blinked in confusion. "Huh? Hey, I wasn't done yet!"

"We haven't won already, have we?" asked a perplexed Lily.

"Uh oh…this can't be good…" Leo murmured.

"This does not bode well…" Sasha agreed.

"What is he up to?" Yamiri wondered.

Tiny sucked his pacifier.

The carvings on the bell flared, red and black electricity crackling around it and surging up Brodie's necks. Eyes glowing red, the snakes roared, the force of their bellows shaking the room and causing dust and bricks to fall from the ceiling. The ghosts hanging around in the upper reaches of the chamber circled restlessly, their captor's abnormal behavior worrying them. They were right to be concerned, when the eight necks abruptly bent over backwards and slammed the heads attached to them into the sides of the bell, causing the vile instrument to ring and release an inescapable blast of red-tinged black energy which expanded outward to engulf the room, throwing the heroes back and causing them to cry out as pain wracked their bodies. Eyes glowing with renewed vigor, the eight heads shot forward to take opportunity of their prospective meals' weakness.

The earth head slammed itself into the ground, causing the floor to shake and giant rocks to erupt in a ring around Ash and slam into him, trapping him in a crushing Rock Tomb. The lightning head charged itself up with electricity and lunged at Tiny in an improvised Volt Tackle of its own, slamming into the Larvitar and smashing him into a wall. The poison head breathed venom into the ground, causing Toxic Spikes to erupt beneath Leo and raise him into the air, partially piercing his shell and causing him to wobble helplessly on his back as he tried to dislodge himself from the spines whose acidic surface was already starting to dissolve his shell. The water head spat out a tremendous amount of water, which spread out and rose up in the form of a gigantic tidal wave surging right towards Sasha. Knowing she couldn't outrun the Surf wave, she tried splitting it apart with her energy blades, but the water simply absorbed her attacks and in short order absorbed her too, sweeping her up in its wake, thrashing her about, and nearly drowning her before smashing her into a wall hard enough to break her spine. The wind head created a Whirlwind around Yamiri, flinging the priest to and fro and buffeting him when Razor Wind was added to the mix, super-sharp wind blades shredding his robes and cutting away at his ectoplasm as he struggled to break free. The dark head blasted Lily with Dark Pulse, smashing her through a pillar and slamming her into a wall, causing her to scream as darkness flooded her ectoplasmic frame. The light head fired a Hyper Beam at Pikachu, which the mouse managed to block with his blade, but there was nothing he could do to avoid the Fire Spin that engulfed him from behind while he was distracted, the flaming cyclone burning him alive with a horrific scream.

The spirits watching from above gasped in horror. Brodie laughed ecstatically as his enemies lay broken and dying around him. "Ahahahaha! Yesss! Yesss! I've won! And now I can begin my ectoplasssmic feassst! Gahahahaha!"

He was completely unaware that Team Aurabolt were actually hiding behind a pillar and that the Pokemon he had just attacked were nothing more than Substitutes. "That was a close one," Sasha commented as she peeked out from around the side of the column to see what Brodie had done to their doubles.

"Nice save, Lily," Leo thanked the Misdreavus.

"Well, it worked so well the last time, I thought it was worth another go," Lily said, fighting down her blush. She really needed to get used to this 'being appreciated' thing, she didn't want to keep embarrassing herself. "However, those dopplegangers won't last for much longer, so we need to think of another plan of attack before he realizes we're not where he thinks we are."

"I'm open to suggestions," Ash said.

"While my attacks and prayer slips were able to damage him, he was eventually able to shake them off and keep fighting," Yamiri commented.

"Same here. I hit him as hard as I could but he just kept getting back up," Leo agreed.

"I put out one of his eyes, but it grew back," Sasha said. Tiny nodded, thinking of how the tongue of the head he had been fighting had gotten better despite him tearing out a large chunk of it.

Pikachu sighed in frustration. "No matter what damage we do to him, he seems to be able to recover from it relatively quickly. The only thing I'm certain could have a lasting effect on him would be Thunder Fang, but…his scales are still too strong for even its sacred edge to cut through. Susanoo was able to do it by empowering the blade with moonlight, but Brodie's blocked out the Moon, and even if it weren't for that it still wouldn't be able to reach us down here. I'm out of ideas…"

"But I'm not," Leo said, getting a brainstorm. He started rummaging through his shell. "You said we need the power of the Moon, right? Would this help?" He pulled out what looked like a perfectly ordinary rock.

"That's a perfectly ordinary rock," Sasha pointed out.

"Au contraire! This isn't just any rock…it's a rock from the Moon!" Leo corrected. "Remember? Ciela gave it to us as thanks for letting her and Julie escape her crazy father back in Treasure Town, right before we first ran into Sam and Max!"

"Hey yeah, I remember that," Ash recalled.

"A piece of the Moon? Remarkable…" Yamiri murmured. Tiny sucked his pacifier.

"That's a good idea, Leo, but…it's not generating any light," Pikachu said, taking the rock and holding it up to his sword. "I need moonlight to power up Thunder Fang, not just a moon rock."

"Maybe I can help," Lily said, taking the rock in one tendril while flipping through her book with another. "I think I have a spell that can make things glow…ah, here it is! Lumos!" Much to their amazement, the rock began to glow with a soft silvery-blue light. Tiny froze in mid-suck, enamored by the glow.

"Oooohhh," Ash said.

"Magnificent…" Yamiri muttered.

"But will that be enough?" Sasha asked.

"It's a piece of the moon that's emitting light. Sounds like moonlight to me. I don't see why it wouldn't work," Leo said.

"Only one way to find out," Pikachu said. He dramatically swiped his sword through the air, and then raised it over his head as he recited the prayer his ancestor had used to call upon the Moon's power one hundred years ago, a prayer that, naturally, he knew by heart. "'The time has come! O sacred moon of the heavens, come forth and pierce this darkness! Bear witness to the beast's demise upon my trusty sword Thunder Fang!"

The others watched in wonder and awe as…something happened. (What, you were expecting it to be nothing at all? Heh, not this time!) The light from the moon rock shone down upon Pikachu's sword. Sparkles flew down from the stone and circled around the sword, spiraling faster and faster before converging upon the blade, causing its length to blaze with a brilliant golden light. "Whoa!" Ash gasped.

"Dude, I told you it would work!" Leo said excitedly.

"We are witnessing a legend reborn…" Yamiri whispered reverently. "Praise Arceus that I could be here to see such a miracle be wrought…"

"And this will spell the end of that monster?" Sasha asked.

Pikachu grinned, his eyes reflecting the glow from his sword. "Without a doubt!"

"Then let's end this!" Ash cried.

Brodie's laughter cut off when the seven Pokemon he thought he had defeated disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Wh-what?! Where did…no! They tricked me again?!" He looked around frantically with all eight heads. "But then where…"

"YAMATOROCHI!"

The serpent stiffened and swiveled his heads around. Much to his horror, he saw Pikachu approaching, wielding a golden sword, backed by his friends. He felt a moment of déjà vu, and for a second thought he was gazing upon the determined visage of Susanoo, the legendary warrior who had slain him a century ago. "No…no! Not again! NOT AGAIN! How could you?! THERE'SSS NO MOON!"

"We improvised," Lily said happily, tossing the glowing moon rock back at Leo.

"Yamatorochi!" Pikachu declared. "Your reign ends now! No more will you terrorize the populace of Twilight's Edge! This night I shall kill you once and for all!"

"N-no!" Brodie stammered, terror gripping him as the memory of that unbelievably sharp sword severing his heads flooded through his eight brains. "YOU'RE the one who ssshall die thisss night! And I will dessstroy that sssword ssso none may ussse it againssst me ever again! The sssaga of the Thunderbladess endsss here!"

"Actually, he has a little brother, and another sibling on the way," Ash said.

"And both his parents are still alive," Yamiri said.

"So even if you killed Pikachu ("Which he won't," Pikachu said), you'd still have the rest of his family to go through!" Leo taunted.

The serpent's blood ran cold at that thought. More Thunderblades?! "I-I will hunt them all down, then!" he hissed nervously. "I will eradicate your bloodline from thisss world!"

"The only one being eradicated right now is YOU!" Pikachu shouted, charging forward. Alarmed, Brodie inhaled and fired attacks from all eight heads, sending an incredibly powerful multi-elemental wave of death coursing across the ground towards Pikachu. The samurai merely drew back his glowing sword and swung it through the air, generating a Vacuum-Cut stronger than any he had ever formed before. The blade raced towards the wave, slicing it to pieces and continuing towards the frightened Brodie, smashing into him and knocking all his heads backs, astonishingly managing chip their scales in the process. He tried to recover and defense himself, but it was too late, for Pikachu was now upon him and ready to fulfill his destiny.

"GOOD!" He lashed out with Thunder Fang as he flew past the earth head. There was a pause as he landed, and then the head abruptly fell from its neck, blood and pink slime gushing from the stump. Pikachu was back in the air before it hit the ground.

"WILL!" The poison head, panicking to see Pikachu flying towards it, exhaled a tremendous cloud of Poison Gas. Pikachu swung his sword, the wind generated by the blade's slicing through the air dissipating the gas. He shot past the head…and at the arc of his jump, the head came off, blood and poisons and slime flowing from its neck.

"NEVER!" The poison head taken care of, he descended for his next target, the lightning head. The serpent spat a Thunderbolt at him, but knew even before it fired that it was a futile gesture, the crackling sword absorbing the charge and adding it to its power as its master lashed out with a horizontal swing as he passed. The head came off in a shower of gore and slime as he continued his descent.

"GIVE!" He landed on the ground, turned, and leaped at the light head. The serpent, rather than attacking like the others, tried to protect itself with Light Screen instead. That worked about as well as you might expect, as Pikachu smashed through it headfirst and lopped off the serpent head with a single blow.

"IN!" He ran some feet along the side of a wall, sprang off, and swooped down towards the wind head, which frantically fired Razor Wind blades to try and knock him off course. His sword flashed through the air faster than lightning, not just deflecting the wind but cutting it in half, and the wind head itself found itself sliced in two as well after he breezed past in a cyclone stronger than any gale the serpent could ever have stirred up.

"TO!" He landed from his assault on the wind head and lunged at the water head. The snake tried to protect itself by blasting Pikachu with Hydro Pump…which turned out to be a bit of a mistake, because the instant the stream touched Pikachu, a tremendous surge of electricity shot back up the waterspout and into the beast's mouth, electrocuting it. Brodie howled in pain and cut off the water feed…and then felt pain no more, as Pikachu chopped off his head.

"EVIL!" Pikachu kicked off a pillar and soared towards the dark head. The terrified head tried to use Sucker Punch to get the first blow in, but only succeeded in hastening his death, as Pikachu easily dodged the attack and lashed out with his sword as the head shot past him, parting it from its neck just as he had the six before it.

"…Wow," Ash breathed in astonishment. Tiny sucked his pacifier in agreement.

"Did I help him do all that?" Lily wondered.

"Never have I seen him move like that…" said an amazed Sasha.

"SO. FREAKING. COOOOOOL!" Leo squealed.

"He is truly the worthy heir of Susanoo," Yamiri said.

The fire head looked around in horror and alarm as the necks of his seven brothers writhed and gushed fluids before collapsing to the ground, lying alongside their decapitated heads. Desperate not to meet the same fate, he threw his head back, roaring and glowing red and black as he gathered power for a final attack. Pikachu narrowed his eyes at the serpent. "Oh no you don't…time to finish you off!"

He fell backwards, landing on his tail, which compressed and launched him into the air. He flipped head over heels, gaining momentum as he rose high above the final head, which was still frantically trying to gather the strength for one last attack. Pikachu didn't intend to let that happen. At the peak of his jump, the mouse straightened out and raised his sword over his head. "CELESTIAL CLEAVER!"

"Why did you yell that?" Lily asked Leo.

The Squirtle shrugged. "Seemed appropriate."

Pikachu brought the sword down in an overhead chop so powerful that it cut through Brodie from the tip of his snout to the base of his neck, cleaving his entire body in twain. It took a moment for the snake to realize this, however, and the look of surprise on his (split) face when he abruptly fell in two pieces, blood and pink ooze and, for some reason, lava spurting all over the place was absolutely priceless. Pikachu panted for a moment, waited for the serpent's twitching form to settle, then stood up, cleaned off and sheathed his sword, and turned calmly back to his friends. "It is done."

The spirits above started cheering. "…SO. AWESOME!" Leo shouted.

"You did it!" Ash said as he and the others came over. "I only wish I could have helped finish the guy off for what he did to me earlier."

"Well done, Pikachu," Sasha congratulated him.

"You have truly honored your family's legacy this evening," Yamiri agreed.

"I'm glad I could help you beat him," Lily said.

Pikachu nodded at her gratefully. "Thanks, Lily. I couldn't have done it without you. You too, Leo…it's a good thing you were still carrying that moon rock around. I had no idea it would actually come in handy like that!"

"Yeah, that's what made it a good Chekhov's Weapon," Leo said.

"A what?" Ash asked.

"A literary technique whereby an element is introduced early in the story, but its significance doesn't become clear until much later," Leo explained.

"Oh," Ash said. "Yeah, that rock would definitely qualify as one of those."

"And I'm betting a lot of the other stuff I'm carrying is gonna be Chekhov's Weapons, too," Leo said. "Which makes me a walking Chekhov's Armory! Sweet!"

"Who is Chekhov?" Lily asked.

Leo hesitated. "…You know, I'm not actually sure. I think he was a writer. Or some guy with an accent on Space Trek."

"Pikachu, Yamiri, everyone, you have done well!" Yon said as he and the other Ghosts started descending to congratulate their heroes. "Now maybe we can finally-"

The carvings on the bell lit up and it rang with a terrible DONG!, knocking everyone back. Crackling ominously, it rose into the air, dragging the headless forms of Brodie/Yamatorochi along with it.

"What the…what's going on?!" Ash cried.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Lily asked.

"I don't think so…" Pikachu said.

"This didn't happen when Susanoo defeated Yamatorochi before!" Yamiri said.

Sasha stiffened. "Something bad is about to happen…"

She was right. There was another DONG! And a vortex started forming around the bell, creating an inexorable force that started dragging the transparent Ghosts towards the evil instrument's crown. "What's it doing now?!" Ash asked.

"Oh shit," Leo cried, scanning the thing with his sunglasses. "The Ghosts…it's trying to absorb them and use their power to revive its master!"

"WHAT?!" everyone shouted in alarm.

"That didn't happen when my great-grandfather killed him before! It just lay there, inert!" Pikachu protested.

"The last time it didn't have one hundred and eight undigested souls to harvest," Leo said. "This time, all bets are off!"

DONG!

"Make that one hundred and ten," Yamiri said as he started drifting towards the vortex. "It's trying to suck us in, too!"

"Aaah! No! I don't want to be eaten!" Lily cried in alarm, wrapping tendrils around a pillar to anchor herself. The suction was too strong, however, and she lost her grip, tumbling towards the bell…

Until Ash grabbed both her and Father Yamiri. "Got you!" he said.

"Many thanks, Ash," Yamiri said gratefully.

"Th-thank you," Lily said. She gasped as her hat came off. "No, my hat!"

"Got it!" Leo said, snatching it out of the air. "Wouldn't want you to lose a sweet piece of headgear like this, would you?"

"Thank you very much," the witch said in relief as he brought the chapeau back to her. "That hat means a lot to me."

"Yeah, I noticed what you did to the head that stole it from you," Leo said. "How come you didn't do that to me when I swiped your hat back when we first met?"

"Um…well…you made me laugh," Lily admitted. "I decided I liked you, so I didn't try to hurt you very much. I had no such compunctions where Brodie was concerned."

"…Really? Huh. Thanks," Leo said, fighting down a blush. Score! She was falling for my charm before she was even on the team! At this rate, she'll be my girlfriend in no time! Now I just need to keep things up so that her 'like' turns into a raging 'love!' Oh, and save her from the giant evil bell, too.

DONG!

"Waaaahhh! Somebody help us!" a Shuppet cried as he swirled past.

"I don't want to be eaten!" a Dusclops wailed.

"Please, do something!" a Gengar shrieked.

"Yamiri, everyone, destroy that bell!" Yon bellowed.

"Right! I still have some moon power left, so…here we go!" Pikachu charged towards the bell. He leaped at it, bringing his sword down with a mighty battle cry…

And much to his astonishment, bounced off. "Wh-what?!" He thrust his sword into the bell. Again, it was deflected. "No…this…this can't be right!" He futilely tried to strike the bell with his sword a few more times, but it was no use, he couldn't even scratch the thing. "I…I don't understand…why isn't this working?!"

"Susanoo could not destroy the bell either," Sasha recalled. "Perhaps Thunder Fang is not the way to break it?"

"But then what is?!" Pikachu cried. "If the sacred sword that slew Yamatorochi isn't good enough to destroy the vessel of his power, then how are we supposed to do this?!" He was crestfallen. He had really hoped that he would be the one to destroy the bell. It would bring a fitting closure to this chapter in the history of his family.

DONG!

"Yon's prayer slips didn't seem to bother it much, so that means something even stronger than their holy energies will be needed," Yamiri said.

Ash looked at the bell with his Aura-sight and grimaced when he saw the energy field roiling around it. "Yeah, it looks pretty solid…I don't see any obvious weak spots."

"Same here," Leo said, scanning it with his sunglasses. "It seems to be made of a supernaturally charged metal that's impervious to all weapons and attacks. It says the only thing that can destroy it is someone born one hundred years after Yamatorochi's original defeat."

"Just like Darkrai's prophecy," Sasha recalled.

"Then why can't I-" Pikachu froze. "Oh. OH. I get it."

"You were born a little over eighty years after Yamatorochi's defeat," Yamiri said. "As was Ash…presumably. The same with Leo, I think. Sasha was born a few decades after the serpent's demise, and both Lily and myself died centuries ago."

"Well, actually, I was never alive to begin with," Lily said.

"Really? So your mom laid you as a stillborn? Who's the dad?" Leo asked.

Lily frowned. "I'm not sure, actually…"

DONG!

"If all of us are too old, then how are we supposed to destroy that thing?!" Ash asked.

"We aren't all too old," Leo pointed out. "There's still one of us left…one of us who was just born a little over a week ago! If anyone fits the bill, it's him! TINY!"

Sasha nodded. "That's right! He is young enough, isn't he?"

"Tiny's the one who's going to save the day?! That…makes a lot of sense, actually," Pikachu admitted.

"Yes, in tales such as these it is often the youngest who holds the power to save the world," Yamiri agreed.

"But where is he?" Lily asked, glancing around as much as she could without slipping out of Ash's claws and falling into the vortex. "I don't see him anywhere!"

"He's up there!" Ash cried, seeing Tiny climbing up the lengths of one of the serpent necks dangling from the underside of the bell, a determined expression on his face.

"He acts like one who knows what he's doing," Yamiri commented. "That bodes well!"

"Do you think he knew all along that it was gonna come down to him?" Leo wondered.

"If so, then why did he not act to destroy the bell sooner?" Sasha asked.

"Because it wasn't the right time? Or he wanted to do it when it was most dramatic? I dunno," Leo suggested. "But he seems to have figured out it's something he's gotta do on his own even before we did! What a great kid! Think he picked up that sort of genre-savvyness from me?"

"Tiny…" Pikachu murmured, sheathing his sword. For a moment, resentment washed through him. He had wanted to be the one to destroy the bell, and prove himself as good as, if not better, than his venerated ancestor. However, this feeling of envy didn't linger for very long. He wouldn't let it. Such ignoble sentiments were unbecoming of a samurai. He knew that destiny didn't always take your own feelings into account, and sometimes you had to accept whatever fate had planned, even if it wasn't what you would have wanted for yourself. While he was still a little disappointed that it wasn't him who would deliver the final blow, he felt nothing but pride and joy for his latest nephew, happy that the little Larvitar would prove his worth by destroying one of his family's most infamous enemies once and for all. "…You can do it. I know you can."

"Yeah! You rock, Tiny! Keep on climbing, buddy!" Leo shouted.

"We believe in you!" Yamiri said.

"We have to, because otherwise we're going to get sucked into that thing!" Lily added.

"Keeping going! You can and must do this, since none of us can!" Sasha said.

"Tiny, keep it up! We're all rooting for you!" Ash cried, overwhelmed with pride for his newest son.

DONG!

Tiny didn't particularly care that everyone was cheering for him and that the ghosts swirling all around him were encouraging him and pleading him to save them. He didn't care that if he failed, all those spirits—and possibly Yamiri and Lily--would be consumed to revive Yamatorochi. He didn't care about any of them. He didn't even know why he was climbing up there to begin with.

However…

However, there was a small quiet voice inside of him that told him it was the right thing to do. This voice felt like it was a part of him, and yet not. It was an irresistible force, which is why Tiny found himself obeying it, even though he didn't really want to. Was this voice 'Aura,' that strange power his caretaker had helped him tap into earlier? He had been feeling…strange ever since he had used it to free Lily. Something was tainting his neutral loathing and distrust of everything that wasn't his caretaker. Something inside of him was changing…and he didn't like it at all. There didn't seem to be anything he could do about it at the moment, however, but follow along with what that annoying voice said to shut it up, and see what happened as a result. Maybe it would go away if he did this thing for it. Maybe not. But either way, Tiny felt like he had to reach the bell, and so he kept on climbing.

DONG!

The noise and vibration from the bell above him almost made him lose his grip on the dead serpent's scales, but he was able to latch onto another handhold on the beast's neck before he could fall. He was a mountain Pokemon, stuff like this seemed to come naturally to him. Climbing up a few more yards, he reached the point where the neck entered the bell's mouth. He leaped off the neck, causing Ash to gasp and the others to tense below, but he managed to grab the bell's lip, pulling himself up and onto the evil instrument's sound ring. They released breaths they hadn't realized they were holding.

The wailing and moaning from the souls swirling around him was much louder now. Tiny blocked it out, pressing a hand against the bell's bead line for balance as he regained his breath from the crawl. The metal burned beneath his touch, enraged by his presence, but Tiny ignored that, too. He was good at not paying attention to things that didn't interest him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to focus and repeat what Ash had showed him how to do before, to tap into the energy flowing through all things and utilize the power of Aura.

The power came to him much faster than he had expected. He hadn't even needed to be threatened with being set on fire to access it this time! However, he instinctively sensed that this power would have a price, and that using it would change him some more. He hesitated, wondering if he should really go through with this. He didn't want to change; he liked himself as he already was.

But if he didn't…

His caretaker wanted him to do it. Tiny didn't really understand why it mattered so much, but he couldn't disappoint Ash. He just couldn't. It was unthinkable. And so, giving up his resistance, he channeled the power of Aura, letting it flow through his body and into his free hand, causing it to ignite with blue fire. He opened his eyes, which were also glowing blue, and glared at the bell before him.

"He's doing it!" Ash cried, overjoyed. "He's using Aura again!"

"Cool! Why can't I do that?" Leo complained.

"This is it…Tiny! Smash that thing to pieces!" Pikachu shouted.

"And quickly…there isn't much time left!" Sasha added.

"If that bell rings one more time, Yamatorochi will be revived again!" Yamiri shouted.

"Please, hurry!" Lily begged.

If the instrument had been a living thing, it would have recoiled in fear, sensing its end was near. Instead, it gathered all its power, preparing to ring a final time and resurrect its master. Tiny sucked his pacifier and drew back his burning fist. He didn't intend to let that happen. With a yell, he punched the bell with all the strength in his body, which was quite a lot more than you would expect from such a little guy.

Cracks burning with blue flame spread from where Tiny's fist impacted. Those cracks spiderwebbed and divided and lengthened until they covered the entire surface of the bell. Shafts of light and gouts of blue flame began emitting from the cracks, and then…

With one last resounding DONG! The bell exploded in a blaze of blue fire, sending pieces of scrap flying everywhere and scattering the Ghosts who had been caught in the vortex all over the room. Yamiri and Lily, no longer tugged by the vortex's suction, collided into Ash since there wasn't any force for him to be pulling against anymore, and then Tiny, who had been flung clear by the explosion, crashed into them, knocking them to the ground. Leo laughed and snapped a photo. The eight serpentine necks of Yamatorochi fell to the ground, flopping helplessly beside their severed heads before the lot of them dissolved into pink slime that sank into cracks in the floor and vanished.

"That was truly the stuff of legends," Pikachu said as Ash, Tiny, Yamiri, and Lily got back to their feet. "Well done, Tiny."

"Yatta! That was awesome! Oh, Lily, your hat came off again," Leo said. "Here." He handed it back to her.

"Oh, thank you!" she said in relief, putting it back on her head. "And thank you Tiny, for stopping that bell before it could swallow us up or revive that monster again!"

"You have done well. All of us are in your debt," Yamiri said graciously. Tiny sucked his pacifier and stared at him blankly.

"But is that really the end of Brodie?" Sasha asked, glancing at where the Ditto's remains had sunken into the floor.

"Probably not, but we've foiled his plans for Twilight's Edge, so hopefully we won't have to worry about him for a while," Ash said, hugging Tiny and nuzzling him for being such a brave Pokemon. Tiny smiled and hugged him back, sucking happily on his pacifier.

Pikachu sighed. "Of course, knowing our luck, that means we'll be seeing him again in the near future. Another recurring enemy to worry about. Great."

"Hey, no big deal. If he shows up again, we'll beat him just like we've been doing so far!" Leo said. "But that's something to worry about later. Right now, we need to get out of the temple before it collapses due to the destruction of the bell!"

They glanced around. The temple was conspicuously not collapsing. Leo frowned. "I said, we need to get out of the temple before it collapses due to the destruction of the bell!"

Still nothing happened. The temple remained standing, though a little worse for wear thanks to all the fighting. Leo sighed in exasperation. "Oh for the love of…Ash, smash that pillar over there!"

Ash blinked. "Huh? Why?"

"Just do it, mon!" Leo snapped.

"Okay, okay!" Ash threw an Aura Sphere at the pillar Leo was indicating. The orb exploded on impact, destroying the column. The entire temple started shaking, and huge blocks of stone began to fall from the ceiling, smashing through the terraces lining the sides of the chamber as sections of the walls and floor caved in.

"There we go! Now we're talking!" Leo said with a laugh.

"Leo, what the hell did you just do?!" Pikachu shouted.

"It wouldn't be a good ending to this part of the adventure if the dungeon didn't collapse after we destroyed the boss, now would it?" Leo asked.

Pikachu stared at Leo incredulously. "…You idiot! What were you thinking?!"

Leo frowned. "What? We were going to destroy the temple anyway, weren't we?"

"Yes, but not with us inside of it!" Pikachu shouted. "And Ash, what were you thinking? Why did you listen to him?!"

"Um…because he yelled at me?" Ash said Mareepishly. He laughed nervously as a rather large vein started throbbing on Pikachu's forehead. "Er, not a good reason, huh?" Pikachu responded by blasting both of them with Thunderbolt. "That answers that question," Ash croaked, his fur blackened, standing on end, and crackling with static.

"Still…totally…worth it," Leo gasped. The others sweatdropped.

"We have to get out of here quickly!" Sasha shouted.

Yamiri nodded. "Right! Everybody, out of the temple, now!"

Team Aurabolt raced for the exit as tons of stone and other building materials crashed to the ground all around them, blasting through or dodging around huge chunks of debris that landed right in their path. They rushed through the open main door and out into the fresh night air just before the entire temple imploded, caving in on itself and throwing up a huge cloud of dust as it collapsed to the ground in a great pile of rock and tile and statuary. Coughing and covered in dirt, the heroes staggered their way out of the cloud and found themselves face-to-face with the entire population of Twilight's Edge, who eagerly started cheering and applauding when they saw that their saviors were all right.

"Whoa!" Ash said. "What are they all doing here?"

"The entire town must be here," Pikachu observed.

"Dude…did they come to congratulate us?" Leo wondered.

Sasha and Lily wilted. "There are so many people here…" the Misdreavus said anxiously.

"You are not fond of crowds either?" Sasha asked.

"I don't like having so many eyes staring at me…" the witch whimpered.

"Team Aurabolt! Father Yamiri! Congratulations on your victory! We're happy to see you all here, safe and sound!" Mayor Tonio said, coming forward to meet the group.

"We are glad to see you as well, Mayor," Yamiri said, bowing graciously. "Things got rather close a few times, but we were able to prevail in the end."

"What are all of you doing here?" Pikachu asked.

"When we heard the bell ringing, we all somehow knew that the unthinkable had happened and Yamatorochi had been reborn!" Skullker said, drifting out of the crowd.

"We rounded everyone up and gathered outside the temple, intending to help out," the Mayor's wife, Alice, explained. "But there was some sort of barrier covering the whole building, so we couldn't get out."

"We didn't see any barrier when we came out," Ash said.

"It must have fallen when we destroyed the bell," Pikachu suggested. "Brodie must have raised it when we weren't looking to keep us from escaping him."

"The fool…it only trapped him inside with us, and sealed his fate," Yamiri said.

"Assuming there was a barrier at all and they weren't just too Combusken to come in and give us a paw…" Leo muttered to himself.

"When the barrier fell and the temple started collapsing, we decided to wait and see who came out first before taking a course of action," Tonio continued. "If it were you all, we would throw a great celebration to commemorate this momentous victory! And if it had been Yamatorochi, well, we'd have either fought him to avenge you or fled screaming."

"Uh, thank you?" Lily said uncertainly, shrinking a little into herself. She hoped nobody recognized her as Bellum's daughter. The Mayor had said he wouldn't tell anyone who she really was and just explain that she was a wandering witch who'd been 'called' to town by recent events, but she wasn't sure of the extent to which the townsPokemon would believe that. It wasn't that unlikely an alibi; was it? And it's not like any of them had ever seen her before and lived to tell the tale…

"I doubt that there's much that you could have done to help us, but we appreciate that you all came here to show your support nonetheless," Sash said.

"In any event…I take it by the temple's destruction that you've done it? That Brodie and Yamatorochi are beaten, and that the cursed bell has been destroyed?" Tonio asked.

The heroes nodded. "Neither Brodie, Yamatorochi, nor the bell shall trouble Twilight's Edge any longer," Yamiri said.

"We were able to trap Brodie to change me back to normal," Ash said. "But then he melded with the bell and turned into Yamamtorochi! It was a tough battle, but we managed to beat him, then shatter the bell before it could regenerate him."

"It certainly sounded like quite a struggle from out here! And I suppose it was your blade that finally ended the beast's reign of terror, young samurai?" Tonio asked Pikachu.

Pikachu hesitated, and then shook his head. "Surprisingly, no."

"No?!" Tonio cried in surprise. The other villagers gasped.

"While my sword managed to sever the monster's heads and kill him a second time, it was unable to destroy the bell that allowed all of this to come about in the first place," Pikachu said. He turned to Tiny. "It was my young nephew here who finished it off."

"Darkrai's prophecy foretold that the bell could only be destroyed by someone born one hundred years after Yamatorochi's first defeat. Tiny was just born a few short days ago, and so he was able to accomplish what we elders, with all our powers and years of experience, could not," Yamiri explained.

"Is that so? In that case, allow me to be the first to congratulate you, little one," Tonio said, extending a tentacle towards the Larvitar. Tiny stared at it blankly.

"Uh, Mayor, Tiny doesn't socialize, remember?" Ash whispered.

"Ah, right," the Drifblim said, quickly drawing back his tendril. "Er, anyway…for stopping that fiend once and for all, you have our (literally) undying gratitude! Just as we erected a statue of Susanoo when he defeated Yamatorochi a century ago, so too shall we build a statue of you seven heroes on this very spot, to celebrate your victory over the greatest evil our town has ever known!"

"You don't need to do that," Pikachu said humbly.

"Of course he does! Pikachu, don't discourage the nice mon from showering us with rewards, I think we've earned them!" Leo hissed into Pikachu's ear.

Pikachu flinched and glared at Leo. "You spat in my ear."

Leo turned pale and backed away, laughing nervously. "Uh, sorry, my bad."

"We shall throw a grand and horrifying party to commemorate this event, and henceforth shall host a party every year in memory of this day, the day Yamatorochi's bane was removed from our town forever! It shall be a holiday future generations will remember as…Team Aurabolt Day!" the Mayor announced, causing the crowd (and Leo) to cheer and the heroes to flush gratefully. "Er, just one thing, though. What happened to the Ghosts Brodie captured? I don't see them anywhere."

The heroes hesitated. "Oh mon, I completely forgot about them!" Ash realized.

"They were blown all over the place by the bell's destruction," Pikachu recalled.

"And we didn't have time to check on them after that due to the temple collapsing, thanks to Ash and Leo," Sasha said.

"I said I was sorry," Ash complained.

"No you didn't," Yamiri said.

"…Oh. Well. Um. I'm sorry, then," Ash said.

"I'm not," Leo said. They glared at him. "What? Like I said, we were going to destroy the place anyway!" He frowned. "You don't think they got trapped inside, do you?"

"Perhaps they simply passed on?" Lily suggested. "Without the bell, there was nothing to anchor their spirits here."

"No…there is still one thing." Everyone started as precisely one hundred and eight pale transparent specters phased into view. "A lingering sentiment…a desire to say 'farewell,'" Master Yon said calmly.

"Master!" Yamiri gasped.

"Dad!" Skullker wailed, recognizing one of the Dusclopses.

"Uncle Benny!" the Mayor cried, spotting another Drifblim.

"Mother!" said Alice, noticing a familiar Gastly.

"Without the bell or any ectoplasm to sustain us, we can't stay here for much longer," a Rotom said sadly.

"Very soon, all of us will disappear," said a Banette.

"But we couldn't leave just yet. Not before saying goodbye to our friends and family. Not before taking one last look at the dark town we love so much," a Mismagius spoke up.

"So we have been given this one moment, where we can speak with those we care for one last time and exchange all the words that must be said…" a Froslass said.

"And then we must depart. New horizons await in worlds beyond this," Master Yon said.

A hushed silence fell over the town as, one by one, the phantasms separated, each drifting to a knot of Pokemon; their friends and family and everyone else they had cared for in unlife, everyone with whom they had unfinished business to resolve. Whispers filled the temple ruins as the truly dead conversed with the not-quite-dead, and many a tear was shed as the townsPokemon spoke with friends and neighbors they had known for centuries for what was probably the last time.

Team Aurabolt was not left out of this emotional moment. Master Yon and Father Yamiri still had some things to say to each other before the Dusknoir had to depart with the rest. "Yamiri…you have matured into a fine mon," Yon observed. "Who you are now is a far cry from the freshly dead Sableye who stumbled into the Arcean Order all those centuries ago, begging for forgiveness. I am so very proud of you."

"If I have matured, it is only because I had such an excellent teacher," Yamiri rasped, his voice thick with emotion. "Everything I am, everything I have become, I could not have achieved without you. You gave me guidance when I needed it most; you offered hope and kindness to one who was unworthy of it. You were the best mentor and friend anyone could ever have hoped for. I am as you have made me, and a day does not go by when I do not thank Arceus for everything you have done for me."

"And not a day goes by when I don't thank Arceus that you came into my unlife," Yon said. "You were more than a pupil to me, Yamiri. You were like...the son I never had."

Yamiri did not seem too surprised to hear this. "I always thought of you as my father, too," he whispered. "You were always there for me when I needed it…unlike my real father, who I never knew."

"I would hug you, but I'm afraid I would just pass through you," Yon said apologetically.

"That's all right," Yamiri said. "This…right now, this is enough. It will suffice."

"I'm glad," Yon said. "Yamiri. As I said before, while I am at peace, there is still much I feel I could have done had I remained on this world a little longer. I will not ask you to pick up where I left off, however…you have your own afterlife to live (so to speak), and your own duties to attend to. I only hope that you can accomplish everything you set your heart on doing before, inevitably, your own end comes. And if, every now and then, you would look at my old prayer slips and think of me…I would be very happy."

"I will always think of you," Yamiri promised, crystalline tears forming at the edges of his gemstone eyes. "You are never far from my heart."

"And you are never far from mine. Keep up the good fight," Yon said. "There is much left for you to do in this world before we meet again. And do not return my slips to the Order. I think you have earned the right to keep them, and they might come in handy in the hard times to come…Master Yamiri."

Yamiri started. "M-Master?! But…but I'm not qualified for-"

"You are if I say you are," Yon said sternly. "Will you deny me this last indulgence, Yamiri? A lesser priest would have given up in light of my abduction, or at the very least left everything to warriors like Team Aurabolt. Instead, you chose to take up my prayer slips and fight alongside them against a nefarious shapeshifter and the embodiment of Yamatorochi himself. A lesser priest would not have done something like that. But you did, Yamiri. And that is why you are worthy, in my eye, of being elevated to the rank of Master. There are many who will question my decision and say that you do not deserve this promotion…but all you need do is show them my—no, your slips, and how well you can use them, and they will back down quickly enough. I believe in you, Yamiri. I know you can help protect this world from the forces that threaten it."

"…Master. I…" Yamiri bowed his head. "Thank you. For everything."

"I have had a wonderful unlife. Thank you, Yamiri, for playing a part in it." A faint light shone down on Yon. He glanced up and saw the dark clouds parting, allowing the moon to gaze upon Twilight's Edge once again. His body started to become even fainter, sparkles rising off his form as he faded away. "It is time."

Yamiri's head shot up. "No! Please…not yet…don't leave me!"

"I must go, Yamiri. I can stay no longer," Yon said, his voice fading as well. "Do not despair. There are more worlds than this. We will meet again…and when that time comes, I'm sure you'll have quite a few stories to tell me. I look forward to hearing them."

"Master…" Yamiri breathed.

"Goodbye, Yamiri," Yon whispered, disappearing completely, as did all the other spirits.

"…Goodbye, Yon," Yamiri said to thin air, crystals falling from his eyes. Moonlight glittered off them, and on the tears of the other townsPokemon who wept for the loss of their loved ones as Team Aurabolt looked on in silence. Leo, respecting the gravity of the moment, didn't even think about asking if he could have those crystal tears when Yamiri was done with them, knowing that now was not the right time. (The right time would be later, during the party, when everyone was too busy to notice him sneaking out to grab them. You never know when a few extra gemstones could come in handy!)

…

They still had a party after everyone finished mourning. Death was something the Pokemon of Twilight's Edge were intimately familiar with, and they weren't the kind of people who let it get in the way of having a good time. After the party and a good night's sleep fraught with pleasant nightmares, the heroes said farewell to their new friends and prepared to leave the land of darkness behind them.

"Fa—er, Master Yamiri, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Ash asked the priest as they trekked through the forest towards the edge of the dark realm together.

"We could probably use your help fighting the Nihilators," Leo agreed.

Yamiri shook his head. "Thank you, but no. I am needed back in Pokemon Square. I must rebuild the temple there, help the town prepare for the impending invasion, and see if there is any way I can assist the Guardian of Light in saving the world. Were it not for that, I would be happy to travel with you…but as you can see, my duty lies elsewhere."

"We understand," Pikachu said. "We wish you luck on your journey home."

"And I, you, on your quest," Yamiri said. They soon reached a fork in the road leading out of town. "I'm afraid this is where we must part ways," he said, looking down one of the paths. "My route does not continue alongside yours."

"I guess this is goodbye, then," Ash said sadly.

"Until you return to Pokemon Square," Yamiri said. "I will be waiting there for you. I will convey your greetings to everyone back home, and tell them of everything that took place here, especially the feats of heroism you have all committed."

"They may already know it by the time you get there, seeing as how we have a computer and all," Leo said.

Yamiri shrugged. "Perhaps, but they may appreciate hearing it from a different point of view." He bowed graciously to them. "Ash, Pikachu, continue to fight the good fight. Leo, continue striving and learning and you shall be a truly great warrior someday. Sasha, continue watching over them and guiding the others along the right path. Tiny, I hope you will grow and develop enough for me to hear you speak the next time we meet. Lily, you have nothing to fear your past anymore, you are in safe hands among friends."

"I know," Lily said quietly.

"It has been an honor fighting alongside you all. I hope that we may do so again someday," Yamiri said.

"As do we," Pikachu said.

"It was nice fighting with you too, Master," Ash said.

"I hope that the next time we see you, you'll have some awesome new Master-level moves to show us! That would be awesome!" Leo said.

Yamiri smiled. "Perhaps I will, at that. Until that day, then, this is farewell…I will see you all again soon, in Pokemon Square!" They waved and shouted their goodbyes as he turned and started trekking down the path away from them.

"He was a cool old guy. I hope that isn't the last we'll see of him," Leo commented as they continued on their way.

"I doubt it. We'll probably wind up going back to Pokemon Square sooner or later, and if you're still with us then, I see no reason you won't run into him again," Ash said.

"It's a shame he couldn't join us, but the town could probably use his skills right now more than we could," Pikachu agreed.

"He certainly has earned the rank of Master in the Order," Sasha said. "Are all Arcean priests that good at fighting?"

"Combat training is an important part of every priest's education," Pikachu said. "We live in a dangerous world, and there are many Pokemon and monsters that wouldn't think twice about harming a holy mon. Priests need to know how to defend themselves if they're going to go out into the world, spreading the word and fighting the forces of evil."

"Makes them more useful than most of the priests in the games I play…who are usually either passive, corrupt, useless, or downright evil," Leo commented. "Although considering that we know of at least two occasions now when the Order's been somewhat lax on important matters makes me wonder if maybe they could be doing a better job."

"I'm sure the priests who sealed the bell away had their reasons for forgetting to wash Yamatorochi's blood off," Pikachu said firmly.

"And the guys who sold artifacts like my dice on the Internet?" Leo asked.

"…I'm still working on that one," Pikachu mumbled.

"Tiny, what do you think of talking to Master Yamiri the next time you see him?" Ash asked Tiny. The Larvitar stared at him blankly. "Yeah, that's what I figured. How about you, Lily? What were your impressions of Yamiri?"

Lily, who had been lost in thought, blinked. "Hmm? Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"He was asking what you thought of Yamiri," Leo said.

"Him? Oh, he seemed like a very nice fellow. All of you do…I'm not used to people being kind to me…" Lily said.

"We could be cruel to you if that would make you more comfortable," Sasha said in what was probably a joke.

Lily shook her head frantically. "N-no, that's all right! You're fine as you all are! Thank you for…for giving me a chance. For accepting me on your team. I still don't know if I really deserve to be here, but…but I fully intend to try and live up to your expectations and prove myself a worthy member of Team Aurabolt!"

Ash snapped his claws. "Oh, that reminds me! Pikachu, get the rescue kit out, will you?"

"It's in your bag," Pikachu reminded him.

"…Ah. So it is," Ash said, rummaging through his bag.

While Ash got the kit out, Leo asked Lily a question. "What were you thinking about when Ash asked you about Yamiri? You looked pretty distracted."

"Oh, um…it was nothing," Lily said nervously.

"Come on, you can tell me! I promise I won't laugh if it's embarrassing or anything like that," Leo assured her.

"Well…last night…something happened that I didn't understand," Lily said. "When Yamiri and all the others were crying because Brodie's victims were leaving them…I cried too. But I don't understand why! I wasn't hurt or in pain, and I had helped defeat Brodie, meaning we had won, so I should have been happy or at the very least relieved that we were victorious and that I did not get eaten by him. But instead, I was…sad. So I couldn't have been crying out of 'happiness' like I did before. But if that's the case, why was I crying? Why was I sad?"

Leo gave her a surprised look. "…Lily, you were sad because they were sad."

Lily blinked. "Huh? I don't understand."

"No, you probably wouldn't, would you…um…how do I put this…" Leo thought for a moment. "Well…do you know what 'empathy' means?"

Lily frowned in puzzlement. "No. What is it? Does it hurt?"

"No! Well, sometimes," Leo admitted. "Empathy is the capability to share another being's emotions or feelings, the feeling of compassion or concern for someone else, to wish to see them better off and happier or to respond to somebody else's emotional state by experiencing similar feelings. So, if someone else is happy, you're happy too, if they're sad, so are you, and so on. You felt sad because everyone else was. You felt sad for them because of their loss."

Lily was astonished. "I…felt sad because other people were? That…has never happened before. I've always regretted killing people, yes, and I felt sorry that I had ended their lives, but I didn't…I didn't feel as they did. Not that I had the chance to, what with me killing them and all, but you understand. I did not know it was possible for someone's emotions to be in tune with another's like that."

"Well, it is," Leo said. "Lots of Pokemon experience it around people they're close to. Only complete psychopaths like your mom are devoid of empathy and enjoy other people's suffering. Well, actually, everyone enjoys the suffering of others to some extent—it's called schadenfreude—but that's irrelevant. The fact that you were able to feel sad for other people means you are capable of caring for Pokemon other than yourself. It means you're not a monster, Lily. You have a heart."

Lily was stunned by this revelation. "I…that's…that's incredible. I never thought…never did I imagine that I could…do most Pokemon have this 'empathy?'"

"To an extent. And other stuff, too," Leo said.

"There's more?!" Lily cried in disbelief. "Oh dear…I've lived a rather sheltered life, haven't I? Well, sheltered in the sense in that I've only been educated in evil and have no understanding of 'compassion' or 'caring' or any of the other things that normal Pokemon experience on a regular basis. This is all so new to me."

"Maybe I can help," Leo offered. "I know lots about emotions and the sorts of things a 'normal' Pokemon does. Probably more than anyone else in the team, since I'm the only one who doesn't have amnesia, a childhood full of intensive training, or is an emotional brick. I could teach you about all the stuff your mom never thought was important. Things about regular life, and feelings, and all that other kind of junk."

"You would do that for me?" Lily asked, amazed.

"Sure," Leo said. "I'm your friend, aren't I? This is the sort of thing friends do for each other. We help them out, teach them things they don't know, and so on."

"But I have nothing I can teach you in return," Lily protested. "Since you are not capable of performing magic, and I am uncertain that most of the things I have learned from my mother would be information you'd care to know, I don't know how I could repay you for being a…a 'normalcy' tutor."

"You don't need to give me anything," Leo said. "Friendship doesn't have to be based on equivalent exchange. Seeing you happy and adjusting well to your new unlife with us is all the payment I need for helping you." That, and maybe being my girlfriend one day, though now is not the time to bring something like that up. I wouldn't want to scare her off so quickly after she joined the party, after all. Plus, this'll give me a chance to get to know her better and see whether or not we'd make a good match. She's cute in a troubled, broken bird sort of way, and I like what I've seen of her so far, but I'll need to get to know her better before I decide whether I should pursue her romantically or not. And being her tutor will put me in just such a position to bond with her and see what she's really like, as well as subtly shape her personality and character development and likes and dislikes until she is a perfect match for me, the Galatea to my Grumpygmalion! Muhahahahahahahahaha!

"Sasha, why is Leo standing there looking into space laughing maniacally?" a worried Lily asked the Absol as Leo cackled like a Linoone.

"He does that sometimes," Sasha said, unconcerned. "It's something you get used to."

"Oh. He said he was going to teach me how to be like a normal Pokemon. Now I'm not so sure. He's laughing like my mother," Lily said uneasily.

Sasha shrugged. "'Normal' is subjective. To me, 'normal' is lying curled up in a cave next to my mate with the meat of my latest kill digesting in my stomach. To Leo, 'normal' is playing video games and often saying or doing ridiculous things. What kind of 'normal' do you want to be?"

"…That's a good question," Lily admitted. "I'll have to think about that."

"Ah, here it is," Ash said, pulling something out of the rescue team kit.

"Finally! You have way too much junk in there. You need to do a better job of organizing it," Pikachu lectured.

"Yeah, yeah," Ash said dismissively. "Leo, could you come over here, please?"

"What is it, Ash?" Lily asked, drifting over.

"I intended to give this to you after we beat Brodie, but what with the party and everything I forgot until now." He opened his paws, revealing a scarf and a badge.

Lily gasped. "Are those…?"

"Lily, for helping change me back to normal, defeating Brodie/Yamatorochi, and renouncing your evil ways, I would like to officially induct you into Team Aurabolt," Ash said. "These items I present to you are to be worn with honor, and will tell the world that you are a member of a Rescue Team dedicated to saving lives, protecting the innocent, and doing the right thing. Will you accept them, and your place in our team?"

"I-I don't know," Lily stammered. "Do…do you really think I deserve-"

"It's a rhetorical question, Lily," Pikachu said. "You don't actually have a choice. If Ash wants you in the team, then you're in the team, and if you say 'no' he'll keep asking until you finally give in just to shut him up. I've seen it happen far too many times."

"It is too late for you to leave. There is no escape now," Sasha said half-seriously.

"You're practically one of us already, so say 'yes' and make it official!" Leo encouraged.

"Then…then yes! Yes, I gladly accept!" Lily cried, her heart soaring and filling her with untold levels of 'joy,' even more than she had experienced the previous night when they openly welcomed her into their ranks.

"Then it is with great pride that I give you these symbols of office, marking you as a member of Team Aurabolt in the service of Pokemon Square," Ash said, tying the scarf around her neck and pinning the badge to her hat.

Leo and Pikachu applauded and Tiny licked a rock. Sasha would have applauded as well, but she couldn't clap since she needed all four paws on the ground for balance. "Congratulations, Lily! You're one of us now! Welcome to the team!" Pikachu said.

"Woohoo! Hey, wait, why didn't we have a ceremony like this when I joined? Or Michael?" Leo asked.

"I didn't feel like it then," Ash said. "Besides, I know that this means a lot to Lily, so I wanted to make it special for her."

"Oh, all right then," Leo said. "Hey, come to think of it, I don't think we ever officially inducted Tiny either, did we?"

Ash paused. Tiny stared at him accusingly. The Lucario sweatdropped. "Aw crap, I knew I was forgetting something."

"I…this is…" Lily trembled. Her eyes watered up and she burst into tears of happiness for the second time in her life. "Thank you…thank you all so much!" She enveloped them in a hug, which was kind of awkward since she did it by wrapping strands of hair around them. And because Tiny started screaming at the top of his lungs. Lily didn't seem to notice. "You're the best friends a witch could ask for!"

"And you're the best witch friend guys like us could ask for," Ash said in reply.

"Yeah, so can you please let us go? Tiny's screaming in my ear. I think I might go deaf if he keeps it up for much longer," Pikachu said.

"Sorry," Lily apologized, letting them go. "I was just so…happy! I'm still trying to understand this feeling, and the best ways to express it."

"Well, that's what you've got me for," Leo said proudly, puffing out his chest. Or trying to, since his chest was his shell. "I'll teach you everything you need to know about the right ways to express yourself and how to be a 'normal' Pokemon! As normal as an undead witch in a traveling group of heroes trying to save the world can get, anyway."

"Thank you very much, Leo, I appreciate that," Lily said gratefully.

Ash and Pikachu exchanged worried looks. "Leo's going to be teaching Lily? Should we be concerned about this?" Pikachu asked.

"Maybe…but, hey, what's the worst that could happen?" Ash asked. Pikachu stared at him. Ash considered for a moment. "Ah. Yes. Yes, I see why that might be a problem." They glanced at Leo and Lily, who were now chatting avidly. "Well…let's just keep an eye on them for the time being. If Leo starts imparting too much of his…Leo-ness on her, we'll intervene."

Pikachu nodded. "We should probably all be helping to educate her, so she gets a multifaceted unbiased view of the way the real world works."

"She doesn't already know how the real world works?" Ash asked.

"She knows how it works through evil eyes. We're going to show her how people who aren't psychotic world-destroying monsters see it," Pikachu said.

"That sounds like a good plan," Sasha said.

"Yeah, and maybe we can get Tiny in on it too, loosen him up a little?" Ash suggested, glancing at the Larvitar, who stared blankly. "Well…one step at a time, I suppose."

Are you happy, Lily? B asked the witch as the team continued through the forest.

Very much so, Lily said joyfully.

I told you this would be the day when everything changed, didn't I? B said.

You did. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. Thank you for convincing me to take a chance with them, Lily said.

You're welcome. I'm glad you're finally free of that horrible womon. This should have happened decades ago, and would have if you had found some other way or person to remove Bellum's curse on you, B said.

Yes. It's too bad they can't fix the other one binding me to our Master, Lily thought sadly.

What makes you so sure of that? B asked.

That curse can only be broken if I form a bond with someone stronger than that of god and slave. What bond could possibly be stronger than that? Lily asked.

B laughed. You underestimate them, Lily. There is so much more you have to learn. It's good that you're with friends, now…they can show you what really matters. They will be the ones to set you free.

Do you really think so? Lily asked.

I don't see why not. The future seems bright to me. Just look at the sun, B said.

What sun? Lily asked. And then they crossed the border of Dusk Forest and found themselves out in the sunlight again. Ohhhh.

"Ah, good to feel the sunshine again," Ash said, stretching his arms.

"Yeah, the dark lands aren't so bad, but I don't mind a little good old sunlight now and then," Leo said. He squinted and put on his shades. "It makes me need my sunglasses, though…which is not necessarily a bad thing."

"Now we head to Treasure Town?" Sasha asked Pikachu.

"We're going to have to, if we're going to find a way to Zero Island and the next Star Badge," Pikachu said. "We have one at the moment, but the Nihilators have four, so we're really going to need to pick up the pace if we're going to have any chance of finding the remaining two before they do."

"I do not look forward to Treasure Town…it sounds like a terrible place, from all you have told me," Sasha said. "And it smells bad, too."

"Yeah, it does. We'll try to minimize the amount of time we need to spend there," Ash said. "Just long enough to get a boat, probably. That's the best way to reach Zero Island at the moment, isn't it? Considering that the Wailords have moved on by now."

"I'm not sure I trust any ship we can find in that town…maybe the Professor will have some ideas," Pikachu suggested. Tiny sucked his pacifier.

As the others discussed their future travel plans, Lily stared at the verdant green plains spread out before her, gently caressed by the sunlight beaming from above. The sun is shining, Lily, B said. Even in a world where things as horrible as what happened to you take place and evil can be found lurking around every corner if you look hard enough, the sun is still shining. That means there is hope, even in the darkest of times. That means there is beauty, even in the harshest of climates. That means there is joy, even in sorrow.

"Hey Lily! Come on, we're heading out!" Ash shouted, snapping the Misdreavus out of her reverie.

"Coming!" she cried, floating over.

The sun is shining for you, Lily, and it will keep shining as long as you believe in it. With your friends by your side, there is nothing you can't do, B whispered. Be happy, Lily. You've earned it.

Together, Team Aurabolt walked off into the sunlight.

…

Meanwhile, back in Pokemon Square…

"Oh, there you guys are!" Latios said when he saw Raiki, Aaron, Scotty, Joy, Nuken, Sabrina, and the Bagon walk down the Pokemon Center hallway towards him. "What took you so long? She's been asking for you. Though I really don't know why she should bother with that jerk," he said, glaring at the Bagon.

"How dare you-" Nuken snarled.

"Nuken, leave it, I don't really care," the Bagon said wearily.

"How is she?" Joy asked one of her daughters, who was standing next to Latios.

"She's awake and seems to have full control of speech, psychic, and motor functions, with no visible negative effects from staying comatose for so long. She's already had something to eat, and expressed a desire to talk with you guys specifically and get out of the Pokemon Center as soon as possible," the Happiny reported.

"Us specifically? Why us? Did she ken we were coming?" Scotty wondered.

"She has the power of the Guardian of Light. It is possible," Sabrina said.

"Latios, how is she?" the Bagon asked anxiously.

"She's…" Latios hesitated. "Different. But also the same."

"…Well, that was unhelpfully vague," Raiki said.

Latios scowled. "She sounds like my sister, and her thoughts feel the same, only…older. Every word that comes out of her mouth or mind is practically dripping with…power. Confidence. Experience. Wisdom. And her mind…I'm still linked to her, but I'm a little frightened to exploit our connection to dig deeper. Her mind's become a lot bigger and more complicated, and I'm sort of scared to see what it looks like. I'm not sure it would be able to fit inside my head." He shuddered slightly. "It's kind of weird. I've always felt like I was the stronger mon, that I was the eldest, that I was the one who'd always protect her. But now…now it feels like she's the eldest, and that she's the one who's protecting me. Like she's matured faster and gone to a level that I'm not sure I can reach."

"Oh my…" the Bagon murmured worriedly.

"It sounds like she's changed a lot," Aaron commented, glancing past the Latios. He could see Latias's Aura. In fact, it was just about all he could see. It was so brilliant that it blotted out the weaker, dimmer Auras around it. Fortunately, Aaron's other senses were more than good enough to compensate for this partial blindness of his second sight, so he didn't have to worry about bumping into walls and making a fool of himself. To his Aura-sight, Latias looked strikingly different from how she had been just a few days ago. Her Aura had gone from the bright, kind, earnest glow of a pure heart to the blazing nova of a higher deity, a giant dragon of white fire bigger than her physical body, bigger than the room she was in, bigger than the entire Pokemon Center! It was amazing that he was the only one who noticed that they were inside of it…but it's not like it affected any of them but him. At least, not yet. He was sure that a being as powerful as the Guardian of Light could do things with her Aura that even a Master like himself could barely even dream of. He wondered if she could teach him.

"Well, that's the thing," Latios said. "Like I said, she's kind of different, but she's also not. It's like…it's like she's still the sweet, gentle sister I've always known but…more. Like she's gotten bigger and all her qualities have been amplified or something, even though she's still technically the same size. Sorry, I know this is confusing, but this isn't something that can really be put into words…"

"I know exactly what you mean," Aaron said, still staring into the blinding whiteness of Latias's ascended Aura.

"The Latias we know is a distant shadow of the great being that is the Guardian of Light," Sabrina said. "It is only natural that she would seem 'bigger' because she is more real, originating from the very center of all things."

"If she's more real, then what are we? Illusions?" Raiki asked skeptically.

"I certainly feel real," Nuken agreed.

"You can phase through walls and turn invisible. I can see why some would say you're not entirely real," the Bagon joked. The Shedinja grunted.

"Actually, that may make him more real," Sabrina corrected. "You could say that as a spirit, the boundaries and laws of our physical reality mean less to him now that he is not confined to a shell of flesh like the rest of us are. There are many Ghost philosophers who have theorized that they are, in fact, the living ones rather than the undead, and that everything we call 'reality' is merely a dream we have not yet woken up from."

"Well, considering that, according tae that logic, the only way tae wake up from said dream is tae die, I think I'll be happier tae keep dreaming a while longer," Scotty said.

"Me too," Raiki said. "Can we quit it with the metaphysics and just go in already?"

They entered the room. Latias was lying chest-down on the hospital bed flipping through channels at the speed of light looking like someone who'd just woken up from a long nap rather than a Pokemon that had been caught up in a massive explosion and spent the last several days in a coma. It was only when she turned her head and the TV switched off as they approached that they noticed the remote control was nowhere near her. "Hello," she said, a warm smile forming on her face. "I have been expecting you."

The Bagon felt disoriented. The smile was familiar, he saw it on Latias's face every day she spent any amount of time with him, but the eyes…they looked the same, but he got the feeling that something else was peering out of him than the dragon-girl he was in love with. Something far older and more powerful than he could possibly imagine. The fact that this something was radiating peace and happiness much like the Latias he remembered failed to comfort him, because there was an edge to this peace. The Latias he knew tried to find the best in everyone—she actually thought Nuken was cute!—but this new version of Latias had something about her that said, while she too tried to find the best in everyone, that she was well aware of the more despicable things they were capable of, and if any of them tried it on her watch, they would very sorely regret it.

"Did you foresee our arrival?" Sabrina asked.

"Yes. I saw you coming towards the Center out that window," Latias said, pointing at a window overlooking the town square.

There was an awkward pause. "Er, I dinnae think that's-" Scotty started.

"So, you seem to be doing pretty good for someone who just got out of a coma," Raiki interrupted. "I like the new look. I think it suits you."

"Thank you. I'm still getting used to it," Latias said. "It's been a while since the last time I physically incorporated. You would think you'd get used to having a body by now, but every time I get a new one it feels like I have to relearn everything from scratch."

An uneasy silence filled the room. "So…who are we talking to, exactly?" Aaron said after a moment. "Are you Latias, our friend and Latios's sister, or…Latias, the Guardian of Light, who we summoned to save the world?"

"And if you're not the Latias we know, then where is she?" the Bagon asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing," Latios said.

"I'm both. And neither. It's…a little complicated," Latias said. "I have two sets of memories. One is of living on this planet for the last couple of centuries with my brother and making friends with you all. The other is of living in an unbelievably beautiful palace with my family in the heavens and battling the forces of evil on numerous fronts for several billions of years. Neither set of memories has a higher priority over the other, they just sort of…blend together. So the simple answer is that I'm Latias, but which Latias is a more complicated matter."

"Ah," said Latios and the Bagon, not looking particularly reassured. Or comprehending.

"Then, if you have the memories of the Guardian—rather, if you are the Guardian, then you know why we brought you here," Aaron said.

"Which is more than us, since we're still not one hundred percent sure what's going on," Raiki said. "Could you tell us? Because I'd really like to know."
"I may not know as much as you think," Latias confessed. "The villain you call Oblivion's Shadow-"

"Wait, how'd ye know that's his name?" Scotty asked. "I dinnae think we told Latias that…did we?"

"She knows because she's the Guardian of Light, duh!" Joy said.

"Actually, it's because I read all your minds when you entered the Pokemon Center and figured things out from them," Latias said.

There was an awkward pause. "You did what?!" Nuken asked, bristling with fury.

"That's…er…rather rude, Miss Guardian," Joy said uneasily.

"Aren't Psychics supposed to, you know, stay out of people's heads if they don't have permission? Because when they don't do that, people getting worried about shit like mind control and brainwashing and then the angry mobs start forming…" Raiki said anxiously.

"Although if the Psychic is powerful enough to not need to bother being polite to weaker minds, then it is not as if the mob is able to do anything but become the mind-slaves of said Psychic," Sabrina commented.

Everyone gave her disturbed looks. "That's…not exactly reassuring," Raiki said.

"Is there something you want to tell us, Sabrina?" Aaron asked.

"Told you she'd changed…" Latios muttered.

Latias flushed. "I'm sorry. It's not like I wanted to read your minds. I mean, I did, but…oh…let me put it this way. My powers have increased exponentially. Most Psychics can restrain themselves so they're not constantly invading the minds of other people. But my mind is so strong now that I have to keep my powers from crushing the minds of others or making you feel and think what I feel and think. Automatically reading the minds of everyone within a few miles is the baseline for my mental skills now. Regrettably, I can't hold back any further than that."

"Eek," said Latios. "Uh, that doesn't include me, does it sis? Since we're connected and all? My mind can withstand yours, can't it?"

"Somehow I doubt that," Nuken said.

"Stay out of my head!" Scotty wailed, clutching his cranium.

"…That doesn't exactly reassure us either," said a freaked-out Raiki.

"Are you supposed to be that powerful?" Aaron asked uncertainly.

"I am the physical embodiment of a deity from the Celestial Heavens, higher up than most gods you'd find on this planet," Latias said apologetically. "It sort of comes with the territory. That's why I had to take the Latias here as a host body. If I tried to manifest in this universe on my own, well…let's just say the results wouldn't be pretty."

Latios gulped. "Woo boy."

Scotty took a step back. "But, uh, the planet won't blow up or anything as long as ye're like this…right?"

Latias smiled reassuringly. "No, Scotty, I won't blow up the planet like this. I probably couldn't even if I wanted to (Not that I wanted to, of course!) While my power levels are currently far above most mortal Pokemon, they're still a far cry from my real power, or even how powerful I was supposed to be in this form. Something went wrong with the summoning spell you used to bring me here, and as a result a significant portion of my power is stuck between this world and my real body back in the Celestial Heavens."

"Er, sorry about that," Aaron apologized.

"It's all right, it wasn't your fault. Well, not entirely, anyway. There was outside interference," Latias said.

"I thought as much," Sabrina murmured.

"Who was it?" Aaron asked.

"I don't know at the moment," Latias admitted. "But I intend to find out."

"Wait, 'not entirely'? Then it was partly my fault?!" the Bagon cried in alarm.

"Ha! I knew it!" Latios Murkrowed triumphantly. Everyone glared at him. "What?"

Latias hesitated. "…Yes, but not for the reasons you might think. That's something I'd rather talk to you about later, Rayquaza. In private."

"I'm not Rayquaza…" the Bagon said mournfully. "Just a Bagon who was playacting as him for a few hundred years."

"My liege…" Nuken said.

"You couldn't be more wrong," Latias said with a sad smile.

"Wait, he's not the real Rayquaza?" asked a confused Latios. "Did you all know this? Why does nobody tell me these things?!" Latias telepathically filled him in on the Bagon's backstory. "Ah. Okay. Thanks. I still hate you, though," Latios said to the Bagon, who sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Er…back on subject…you said you know who Oblivion's Shadow is from our memories. That means you must also know about Mew, the Planet Seed, the computer at the center of the Earth, the impending barbarian invasion, and the Nihilators' attempts to open the door under Treasure Town," Aaron said.

Latias nodded. "That's right."

"Wait, what was that about Mew, a seed and the center of the Earth?" Latios asked. Latias telepathically beamed him the information. His eyes widened. "Oh. Wow. Really? That's a big surprise. I never would have guessed something like that in a million years."

"If you know all that, then can you tell us what we don't know?" Raiki asked.

"Pertaining to Oblivion's Shadow's true identity and what he is up to?" Sabrina asked. "One would assume that, as one of the highest-ranking members of the Guardians, you would have discovered all that before coming here."

Latias sighed. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, it's not that simple."

"What do you mean?" Nuken asked.

"Everything in the Omniverse is connected by superstrings, invisible energy strands that convey information and control the laws of physics and magic and things like that. By monitoring the superstrings and the way they interact with the things they're connected to, we Guardians can theoretically see everything that's going on everywhere," Latias said.

"That's a wee bit creepy," Scotty commented.

"What, even when I'm in the bathroom?!" Raiki said in alarm.

Latias wisely ignored that. "Whenever our sensors pick up a potential reality-threatening disaster in the near future, we can examine the superstrings to pinpoint where, when, and who is responsible, and launch an appropriate response, either by directly intervening or subtly influencing local heroes to take care of it. However, Oblivion's Shadow, whoever he is, has somehow managed to tangle up the superstrings so badly that we didn't even realize there was a problem brewing here until it was almost too late. Even now that we know he's been messing with our information feed, we still haven't been able to undo it enough to find out who he is or what he's really up to, since he keeps screwing it back up as fast as we try to fix it. It was only by using a hole in the weave he's made that I was able to project my spirit here and possess your Latias."

They all sagged in disappointment. "So you don't know much more than we do…" Aaron said with a sigh.

"Well, that's rather depressing…" Raiki said.

"Bollocks to this, lads…" Scotty grumbled.

"An enemy so great that even the rulers of the Omniverse cannot make him out…this does not bode well…" Sabrina said.

"And let me guess, because whoever interfered with the summoning spell caused you to lose a significant amount of your power, you're not sure you can fix this tangle from the inside, or even defeat Oblivion's Shadow at all, are you?" Nuken asked cynically.

"I'm afraid not," Latias said sadly.

Nuken sighed. "Typical."

"But if we could get that power back, you could stop him, couldn't you?" the Bagon asked, naked hope shining desperately in his eyes.

Latias nodded. "I believe so, yes."

"How would we go about doing that?" Joy asked.

"We'd need to find out who interfered with the original spell, as well as deal with the reason Rayquaza caused it to backfire," Latias said.

"But I'm not…oh, never mind," the Bagon said, deciding that if Latias wanted to call him that, it was good enough for him. It wasn't as if he had any other name, after all.

"Come on, do we really need him again? After how badly he screwed up before?" Latios growled, glaring at Rayquaza.

"Brother, relax. You need to let go of your petty dislike of him. It's not healthy. We need him, and aside from that, I like him a lot. Isn't that enough?" Latias pleaded, transmitting her exasperation with her brother for acting like a dick and how deeply she cared for Rayquaza over their telepathic link.

Latios sighed, caving in. He never could resist when she looked at him like that. "Well…fine, I'll give him another chance. But if he puts you in another coma or worse, so help me I'll-" Nuken glared at him ominously, and he quickly said, "Give him a very stern talking-to. One he'll never forget!" Raiki and Scotty snickered.

"I will do whatever I can to help you get back to full power," Sabrina promised Latias.

"As will I," added Aaron.

"And I'll do anything it takes to make up for whatever mistake I made that's left you like this," Rayquaza promised.

"Yeah, you'd better," Latios said.

"Thank you, all of you. I appreciate that," Latias said.

"And while they're doing that, I dinnae suppose there's any way we could, say, call for backup? What with ye not being at yer best and all?" Scotty asked.

"I'm afraid not," Latias said. "The hole I used to get here is now blocked by my lost power. The next closest hole in the tangle is too far away for us to use to send a signal back to headquarters. And even if we could call for help, I'm not sure we'd get a response. Right now, our forces are stretched thin taking care of problems all over the Omniverse. If even one team or agent was reassigned to help us, the situation out there could spiral out of control and trigger a great disaster. Several, most likely."

"Yikes," said Raiki.

"Sounds like it's a very trying time for everyone right about now," Joy commented.

"You can say that again," Latias said with a sigh. "I always hate Hell Years."

"Hell Years? What are those?" Rayquaza asked.

"I'll explain another time," Latias promised. "Suffice it to say that now would not be the best time to get help from the Guardians. There are problems brewing all over the place that all demand immediate attention. You're lucky they were even able to send me here."

"Sounds that way," Raiki said with a sigh.

"Will your being here make things harder for the Guardians elsewhere?" Joy asked.

"I hope not," Latias said. "They should be able to handle things without me, at least for a little while. The faster I can deal with the situation here and get back, the better it'll be for the Omniverse as a whole."

"Gee, sorry we're taking up so much of your time…" Latios grumbled.

"It isn't like that!" Latias protested. "Do you think I'd have come if it weren't really important? The problem here, if left unchecked, could get so big that even all the other issues we're dealing with will seem as nothing in comparison. There could be another Crisis War in the works. We don't want one of those, do we?"

They all shuddered at the thought. "Definitely not," Sabrina agreed.

"It's really that bad, huh? Yikes…" Raiki muttered.

"Quite a lot of pressure, is it not?" Nuken said.

"Definitely," Rayquaza agreed, uncertain they could handle this much responsibility.

"Considering how serious this is, is there anything else you can tell us about the current threat we face? Anything at all?" Aaron asked.

"Aye, we need one piece of good news out of all this," Scotty agreed.

"I know one other thing. I can tell you for a fact what's behind the Door under Treasure Town. I should know, since I helped seal it and threw it to the far reaches of the Omniverse—apparently, here--millions of years ago," Latias said. "Since I defeated it before, I know how to do so again, though it would be easier if I had my full power."

They perked up at this news. "That's good to hear," Aaron said.

"I mean, we probably don't have to worry about that thing getting out if my boys do their job properly, but just in case it does open it's reassuring to know we have you here to stop it if it does," Raiki said.

"So what manner o' beastie is behind that portal, anyway?" Scotty asked.

"It's none other than-" Latias started, but was interrupted when Sabrina gasped and stiffened in place, eyes glowing.

"Sabrina!" Raiki cried.

"Wh-what's happening to her?!" asked the alarmed Rayquaza.

"She's having a vision of the future," Aaron said.

Joy sighed in relief. "Oh good, I was worried she was having a seizure or going into psychic-shock, neither of which are fun or easy to treat, let me tell you."

"Hmm, how dramatically inconvenient that she should have a vision right when we were about to learn an important piece of information regarding our enemy's intentions," Nuken grumbled.

"She's a seer. I think the drama is part of how they do things," Rayquaza suggested. "If it weren't flashy and impressive, how many people would pay attention?"

"What is it, Sabrina?" Aaron asked as the Xatu came out of her trance.

"I saw an airship being attacked by Redwing's flock over Howling Forest. Its passengers are friends of Team Aurabolt's, powerful warriors who will be helpful in fighting the barbarians," Sabrina said.

"Friends of Team Aurabolt's? They must be those fighters Ash and Pikachu met in Mt. Battle," Raiki realized. "They said they were going to come over here to help us out."

"Then we need to help them, if they're being attacked by Redwing…he's decreed that any airships spotted flying over Kanjohenn are to be knocked out of the skies! He sees them as a threat to his aerial supremacy, since he commands the largest group of Flying Pokemon on the continent," Aaron said.

"Aye, but how exactly are we supposed to rescue them? Howling Forest is hundreds of miles away, we would never get there in time!" Scotty pointed out.

"I could dispatch some of the dragons who escorted us to town to deal with that feathered menace," Nuken said. "He's harassed our patrols and trade routes for far too long. It's about time somebody put a stop to his piracy!"

"They still wouldn't make it in time, and there are too many wings in Redwing's flock," Sabrina said. "Your dragons would be slaughtered, and their eyes would be pecked out and fed to the hatchlings of Redwing's strongest warriors to increase their eyesight."

"Ew," said Latios.

"I'm pretty sure you can't improve your eyes by eating someone else's," Joy said.

"Yes, but they don't know that," Sabrina said.

"Okay, what if Sabrina Teleported us there? She's able to go to the Southern Islands and the Sky Tower, I doubt the Howling Forest would be too big a stretch for her," Raiki suggested. "We'll round up our best fighters and head out to eat that buzzard for dinner! Not literally of course, since we don't actually eat Pokemon meat but a sort of synthesized supplement we grow on trees and stuff."

"One problem," Scotty said. "All of Redwing's mons can fly. How many of ours can?"

Raiki grimaced. "Good point."

"I'll go," Latias said. "I can fly there, stop Redwing's army, and save the ship in time."

They blinked at her. "You can?" Aaron asked.

"Sis, we're pretty fast flyers, but we can't move that fast!" Latios pointed out.

"You can't," Latias corrected. "And I couldn't…at least, not until now. I am the Guardian of Light. The power of light is mine. I can move at the speed of light to travel wherever I wish. I can usually go faster, but with the limited power I have at the moment, I should be able to manage a couple of quick lightspeed bursts to get to the Howling Forest in time to save that ship and bring it back in one piece."

"Ooh, neat," Latios said. He frowned. "Why can't I go that fast too?"

"I thought it was impossible for living creatures to reach or exceed the speed of light without being transformed into energy unless they were using some kind of wormhole or entering a 'hyperspace' where the regular laws of physics don't apply," Rayquaza said.

"Oh, you remember that!" said Nuken, impressed. "I had thought you were asleep during that lesson, Your Majesty."

Rayquaza flushed. "Some things stuck in my head. That was one of them."

"Normally that would be the case, but I was there when Dialga and Palkia wrote the laws of physics. They don't have to apply to me if I don't want them to," Latias said.

"Cool! Again, why can't I go that fast?" Latios complained.

"Are you sure you're up to it? You just woke up!" Joy protested.

"And then there's the fact that you'd be taking on several hundred winged Pokemon all by yourself to consider," Nuken said.

"Oh dear," said the alarmed Rayquaza.

"I'm fine. The coma was like a healing trance to help me get used to this body and my current power level. Going to Howling Forest and taking on Redwing's flock shouldn't require too much exertion on my part," Latias assured her. "I'm pretty sure I can put a stop to them on my own, though I'll need to rest for a while afterwards."

"Wow, I wish I could say the same thing after getting up first thing in the morning," Raiki grunted. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"When are we ever?" Aaron asked wryly.

"We are wasting time dithering. Guardian, if you wish to save them, you had better hurry before their ship is blown out of the sky," Sabrina said.

Latias nodded and levitated off the bed. "All right. I'll be back soon. Latios, if you want to show the others what I'm up to, we can sight-share."

"Uh, good. Sure. No problem," Latios said, slightly worried because he was uncertain exactly what sights he would be sharing with the others.

"But are you sure you can take them all on? You're just one Pokemon, and there's a lot of them!" Rayquaza said worriedly.

"She's not one Pokemon, she's one physical manifestation of a god," Sabrina said.

"Whatever," Rayquaza sighed.

The nearby window opened, seemingly of its own volition. "Don't worry. I promise I'll try to take care of myself. I didn't travel trillions of light-eons to die at the talons of a group of common thieves and murderers." She smiled and vanished, not in a flash of light, more like…she became light, and shot through the window into the distance.

"Huh," Raiki said after a moment. "That was interesting."

"Again, why can't I move that fast?!" Latios complained.

"Or me…Teleporting's neat and all, but that looked pretty damn cool!" Scotty said.

"This should be an interesting engagement. I wonder how Redwing's air force will deal with a being of her caliber," Aaron commented.

"I hope she doesn't hurt herself…" Joy said anxiously.

"She has certainly become more confident in her power and ability to handle things," Nuken commented. "Usually she defaulted to letting Latios or you protect her, my liege."

"Yeah…" Rayquaza fidgeted. "Maybe too confident…has she changed too much? She still has the memories of our Latias, but…when compared to the unfathomable age and power of the Guardian of Light, how much of the Latias we know remains?"

"A very good question," Sabrina said, gazing into the distance. "And one that only the future can answer."

…

Meanwhile, in the Twilight's Edge cemetery…

"Wow, dis stuff's pretty good," Mickey said as he finished slurping up the contents of a glass Bellum had offered him.

"Would you like another?" Bellum asked, proffering another glass made of crystallized ice, the red liquid inside chilled to perfection with a little umbrella in the top and a twisty straw for Mickey to drink it with.

"Yeah, thanks!" Mickey said. "Uh, hey, I don't suppose you could let me down from here, could you? Or at least turn me right-side up? It would make drinking dat easier. And da blood would stop rushing to my head."

"Sorry, but no," Bellum said, glancing over the intricate torture device comprised of ice and steel that Mickey was shackled upside-down to, spread-Pidgeot on his back "I need you like this. That's why there's a straw."

"Well, all right," Mickey said reluctantly. He puckered his lips around the straw and sucked, drinking the liquid.

"There you go. Don't spill a drop, now!" Bellum said, glancing at the glowing runes carved into Mickey's shackles and placed in several spots on the machine. Their luminance brightened ever so slightly, and she smiled and nodded in satisfaction. When Mickey had finished the glass, she carelessly tossed it away, vaporizing it into hydrogen and oxygen particles before it even hit the floor. "Are you comfortable?"

"Yeah, more dan I thought I would be, what wid being hung upside-down and having manacles clamped around my wrists and ankles and tail and neck and spikes and odder radder sharp implements poking me," Mickey said. "It's kinda chilly, though. Think you could turn up da thermostat?"

Bellum raised an eyebrow and glanced around the cold tomb, at the frost-covered walls and floors and the sarcophagi encased in blocks of ice and the frozen bones littering the floor. "I don't think that's really an option, my dear. My ancestors never installed central heating in their crypt. We've always preferred the cold."

"Oh. Well, I guess I can see dat, what with you being Ice-types and all," Mickey said. "You know, you're a lot nicer dan I thought. When you stole me from my friends and stuck me in this machine and said you were gonna turn me into a demon, I thought it was gonna be horribly agonizing. Instead, all you've done is give me some really nice soft drinks and helped stretch my back. Thanks!"

"No problem. Would you like another drink?" Bellum asked, offering another glass.

"Yeah, sure. Too many more, dough, and I'm gonna need to go to da little Meowth's room!" He greedily slurped up the drink, not even leaving a single drop behind. "Mmm, dis stuff's really good. What's in it, anyway?"

"Up in the northern mountains, nestled in a valley completely untouched from the harsh elements by some freak chance of nature, is a village of Pokemon that has never known conflict. They have never lifted a claw against each other or anyone else, live their lives in peace and harmony and love with their neighbors, and do not even have a word for 'kill' or 'harm' or 'war' in their language," Bellum said.

"Ah, and dey spend deir lives in da pursuit of peace and used deir wisdom and oneness with da universe to make dis excellent soft drink, which you're able to get in return for some kinda magical favor?" Mickey guessed.

"No," said Bellum. "I froze their village in an eternal winter, captured and enslaved all its citizens, and tortured them to death over decades of agonizing labor and magical experimentation. To ensure that I efficiently got every last bit of use out of them, when they finally, painfully, died, I ground up their corpses and liquefied them to create a distillation of fear and sorrow and suffering and shattered innocence. You are drinking their tears, their blood, their broken dreams. You have consumed the last remnants of a people who never sought to hurt anyone else, and that I slaughtered to the last so that I could become more powerful. What do you think of that?"

Mickey's eyes bulged in horror, and he started to spit up his last drink, but Bellum quickly froze his mouth to make sure none of the liquid escaped his stomach. When he had stopped convulsing in horror and disgust and she had judged his gag reflex had gone down, she removed the ice from his face. "You were saying?"

"You-you monster! How could you do something like dat?!" Mickey cried.

Bellum smirked. "You're the one who consumed what was left of them. What does that make you, my friend?"

"Wh-why did you even make me drink dat stuff?!" Mickey demanded, feeling very sick. And it wasn't just because he was upside-down or feeling nauseous from learning the truth about what Bellum had been feeding him, either…

Bellum chuckled. "By taking the pleasure in the suffering of such helpless innocents, you have tainted your soul with more sin. Now your transformation into a demon will be sped up considerably! Do you see? It is already beginning."

The runes on the machine started glowing, and Mickey screamed in agony, his body convulsing as a new nightmare was visited upon him. His flesh crawled and his muscles inflated, bulking up his right arm and causing the paw at the end to turn into a monstrous claw, while his left arm remained scrawny and frail, with the digits on that paw sprouting eyeballs. Bone spikes tore out of his skin at the knees, elbows, ribs, and spine. His hair stiffened and changed color, turning into thousands of razor-sharp gray and black needles. His tail swelled up and burst as segmented armor plates formed around the bones, turning it into a spiky flail ending in a barbed knot. His left shoulder bulged outward, pushing his head to the side as a second mouth filled with jagged teeth split open and a prehensile tongue ending in a second, smaller mouth rolled out of it. Half of his original mouth melded shut and one of his eyes enlarged and turned a baleful red, crowding the other one out and pushing it down until it looked like he had a permanent squint and sneer. His whiskers writhed and turned into tendrils ending in eyes or small mouths much like his second tongue. His ears hardened, curled, and turned into thick horns. His charm flipped over, cracked, turned black, and formed glowing evil red runes on its surface. "Nooooo! NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mickey screamed in horror, his voice resonating due to all the throats it was echoing out of.

Bellum cackled malevolently. "Excellent! The demonic energies within you are stronger than I had thought…but I sense still greater power lying dormant, held back by what is left of your mortal soul and imbecilic 'innocence.' It shouldn't take much more to get rid of that, however, and make you into a demonic abomination I can use to fill out my coven now that my daughter has escaped. Plus, you'll be able to handle all the nasty chores I always made her do."

Mickey goggled at her with all his eyes. "You turned me into dis to do your chores?!"

Bellum shrugged. "Among other things. Somebody has to take care of the menial jobs, after all. Now…" She held out another glass of liquefied villager. "Drink up! This final dose will complete your transformation and turn you into a demon forever!"

"Nooooooo!" Mickey wailed desperately, struggling desperately at his bonds. Not even his newfound demonic strength was enough to free him from Bellum's enchanted device, however, and he could do nothing but watch helplessly as she brought the straw closer to one of his mouths…

When the chamber started shaking, and dirt and ice shards fell from the ceiling. Bellum frowned. "What is-"

The hardened earth on the far side of the chamber erupted as something smashed through from underneath, clawing its way into the cold air of the tomb. The something was a giant robot Typhlosion with a big red R emblazoned on the chest. Bellum gawked in disbelief. "What…what is this?! Some trickery of Tarantulas?!"

"No," Mickey cried, tears streaming from his many eyes and melting the floor. "It's my friends! Dey came for me!"

There was a hiss and the Typhlosion's chest slid open, letting out steam. Several figures could be seen silhouetted in the cloud. "Listen, is that a voice I hear?" one said.

"It's speaking to me loud and clear!" said another.

"On the wind!" said the first voice.

"Past the stars!" said the second.

"In your ear!" Mickey added, much to Bellum's confusion.

The steam cleared, revealing Jessie, James, Gardenia, Wabbaku, Buzz, and Chimecho. "Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace…" said Jessie.

"Dashing hope, putting fear in its place!" James added.

"A rose by any other name is just as sweet," said Jessie.

"When everything's worse, our work is complete!" James said.

"Jessie!" Jessie cried.

"And it's James!" James cried.

"And Mickey, now dat's a name!" Mickey said, perplexing Bellum again.

"Putting the do-gooders in their place…" Jessie said.

"We're Team Rocket!" James announced.

"In your face!" Jessie, James, and Mickey all shouted.

"Wobbuffet!" Wabbaku yelled.

"…Seriously, why do you keep doing that?" Gardenia asked.

"I have no idea…" Wabbaku admitted.

Bellum snarled. "You fools are still alive?!"

"That's right!" Jessie said triumphantly. "And we're here to…GAH! What is that?!"

"Oh no! Mickey, is that you?!" James wailed.

"Jimmy, save me!" Mickey cried.

"He's become a horrible monster! Wabbaku, are we too late?" Gardenia asked.

Wabbaku frowned. "No, but we've arrived just in time. His transformation is not yet complete. If we can rescue him from that witch, I can apply wards to freeze his mutation long enough for us to get the rest of the ingredients to the antidote!"

"Chiiii!" Chimecho chimed.

Bellum floated in front of Mickey. "You came here thinking you could steal my prize from me? Such arrogance. When I'm through with you, I'll feed what is left of you to my demon pet and add your bones to all the others entombed in this icy crypt!" She swept an arm through the air, sending dozens of Ice Shards flying towards the Rockets.

"Not so fast!" James pressed a button, and the robot Typhlosion's mouth opened and released a tremendous blast of fire, reducing the shards to water vapor in seconds.

Bellum recoiled. "What?!"

"Ha, you didn't think we'd come here without being prepared for your ice magic this time, would we?" Jessie bragged.

"We've ice-proofed this robot! Your power has no effect on it!" James boasted.

"Is that so?" Bellum waved another hand, sending a Blizzard roaring across the room towards the robot. The Rockets yelped and quickly closed the Typhlosion's chest up, but were unable to keep the robot from being frozen in a solid block of ice. Bellum smirked. "Hmmph. Ice-proof, my-" There was a tremendous explosion as the vents on the Typhlosion's neck and shoulders opened up and released fire plumes that shattered the ice and caused Bellum to recoil. "Gah!"

The mecha's mouth opened again and unleashed a tremendous stream of fire at Bellum. Dazed by the initial heat wave, she was unable to protect herself from the flames and was smashed into the wall, which turned black and fused into glass from the blast's ridiculously high temperature, melting most of the ice in the room in the process.

"Wow! Way to go, guys!" Mickey congratulated.

"It's not over yet," Wabbaku warned. "She'll recover from that any moment now and take her anger out on us!"

"Which is why we don't intend to stick around," Jessie said, pushing a button on the robot's control panel. The Typhlosion's arm launched out like a rocket, trailing a cable behind it. The metal hand closed around Mickey's chest and pulled, the cable winching back into the robot's body and trying to take the mutated Meowth with it.

However, the restraints holding him to the torture device were stronger than they'd thought, and both the cable and the machine were starting to creak ominously as they pulled harder and harder at it. "Come on, come on, hurry up and get him out of there, she's getting back up!" James said anxiously, glancing at Bellum, who was stirring in her glassy crater. One of her eyes opened.

"We're pulling as hard as we can," Gardenia said, looking worriedly at the flashing lights and gauges on the control panel. "Either we give, or that thing does!"

As it turned out, neither of them did. The wall the machine was attached to broke first, crumbling and caving in on itself as the cable tore Mickey and the torture device out of it and dragged demon and mechanism over to them. "Okay, not what I expected to happen, but we can work with this," Jessie said.

"Ow, ow, ow, dat really hurt!" Mickey moaned.

"FOOLS!" Cold winds blasted out of the crater, and the room was covered in frost once more as an enraged Bellum pulled herself out and floated towards them, ice crystals dancing around her form. "Did you really think your ridiculous contraption could defeat one such as I? I am the mistress of the winter winds! No flame can melt me!"

"Maybe so, but we never intended it to beat you," Jessie said with a grin.

Bellum blinked. "What?"

"You see," James said, pushing a button. "If there's one thing Team Rocket knows how to do better than digging holes…it's blasting off!"

The Typhlosion's eyes flashed, and 3s appeared in them. "AHHH! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!" Mickey cried in alarm, instantly figuring out their plan.

"No…you wouldn't!" Bellum shouted in disbelief as the 3s turned into 2s.

"Oh, wouldn't we?" Jessie laughed as the 2s became 1s.

"This'll teach you not to mess with my boyfriend!" James shouted.

"NO!" Bellum cried as the 1s became 0s. And then…

The Typhlosion exploded, destroying the Yukihime family tomb in a torrent of flames.

…

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Dusk Forest…

"Mein minions!" Jurgen the vampire shouted, raising his arms into the air and thrusting his chest out. "Creatures of ze night! Velcome to mein dance party!"

The thousands of zombie Pokemon assembled below him roared and shouted and moaned and groaned and fell apart. They were standing at the base of Jurgen's lair, an old abandoned castle out in the middle of the forest. (There were tons of the places in Dusk Forest, as you would expect. They were favorite hangouts for young Ghosts looking to make a name for themselves in fear. Plus, they made good tourist traps, in every meaning of the term.) Their master from another world stood on a balcony overlooking them, flanked by a pair of zombie Garchomp bodyguards. Banners with his face on them hung from the sides of the balcony and from the castle walls, and his face shone in the light of the colored spotlights swiveling back and forth and the spinning disco ball floating over his head. "Zis night is ours!" Jurgen bellowed, causing the zombies to cheer again. "Ve shall leave zis forest und spread out across ze land, bringing darkness viz us vherever ve go und consuming ze blood and brains of ze mortal veaklings who infest zis vorld! Ve shall boogie our vay to victory, and usher in a rave zat shall never end!" He struck a stylish (in his mind, anyway) pose. "Let's party, baby!"

"Party's over, Jurgen!" The large double doors behind him burst open as a few burly zombie guards, ichor oozing from the holes in their perforated skulls, were flung into them from the other side, falling to the ground at Jurgen's feet.

Jurgen bristled in rage. "Vhat is zis?!"

Sam and Max strode through the doors, casually firing a few bullets into the groaning guards littering the floor to make sure they were dead. (Again.) "Sam and Max, Freelance Police!" Sam said, flashing his badge.

"You have the right to scream like a little girl as we extract those sissy fangs of yours with pliers!" Max said eagerly, brandishing some very unhygienic pliers.

Jurgen snarled. "Sam und Max…I should have known! You fools have interfered in mein plans for ze last time…get zem!" The zombie dragons advanced, slavering furiously.

"Can I shoot them, Sam?" Max asked hopefully.

Sam shook his head. "That won't be necessary, little buddy…not so long as we have…" He whipped out a familiar-looking weapon. "The Boscotech Stakeinator!"

Jurgen laughed. "Zat zing?! Vat good vill zat do?"

"More than you'd expect!" He pointed the gun at Jurgen and fired. The vampire teleported out of the way, causing a hundred thick, juicy slabs of meat to smack into the balcony railing and fall to the ground, a few sliding out into the bony claws of the starving horde below. "Ha! You missed!" Jurgen Murkrowed, reappearing nearby.

"No I didn't," Sam said, pointing at the pile of steaks. The zombie Garchomps had forgotten their orders and were now eagerly feasting on the meat Sam had generously provided them with.

Jurgen scowled. "Ugh, stupid zombies…alvays zinking viz zeir stomachs! Fine, I vill take care of you myself!" He got into a martial arts stance.

"Oh, it's not us you'll be fighting," Sam said.

"Yeah, we know we can't beat you ourselves…unfortunately," Max said.

Jurgen frowned. "Huh? But zen who-"

"TAIYOOOOHHHHHH!"

A golden beam of light shot down from the sky. Jurgen barely managed to teleport out of the way in time. "V-vhat? Sunlight?! HERE?! Zat is impossible?!" he cried in disbelief, staring at the shining ray.

"It is when I am here," a Sunflora with a very large nose said, levitating down beside the beam. "I am Master Otaku, Messenger of the Sun! And this…" He pointed at a figure descending through the beam. The light gleamed off his shining armor, and his scarf fluttered in the wind as his blazing jetpack lowered him to the ground. "This is Jango, the Solar Hunter and slayer of vampires! Tremble in fear, dark one, for your end has come!"

Jurgen's eyes widened in horror as Jango landed and stepped out of the beam, brushing his scarf behind him, steely-eyed expression hidden behind the impassive black T-shaped visor of his helmet. The light gleaming off his gold and red armor was so bright, it made the vampire's eyes hurt, and not just because solar energy was his weakness. "No…NO! Not you! Not HERE! Vat are you doing here?!"

"We are always ready to kill vampires, no matter what distant world they haunt! We will rid every land of your kind's undead taint!" Otaku cried as Jango drew his Blaster del Sol and pointed it at Jurgen. "He is Jango! The Sun Is In His Hand!"

"Bokura no Taiyo!" Max shouted. "That means 'Our Sun,'" he explained when Sam gave him a questioning look.

"I didn't know you knew Japanese, little buddy," Sam said.

"I know what now?" Max asked blankly.

Sam decided not to press the point. "In any event, this should be an interesting fight."

"And fun, too!" Max agreed. "I hope he screams a lot."

"Me too, little buddy. Me too," Sam said as Jurgen and Jango faced off.

And so vampire and vampire hunter began their timeless battle, a clash the likes of which the world had never seen before…and neither will you readers. Sorry!

…

Meanwhile, in Almiore…

The P1 Grand Prix was drawing to a close.

The drivers who had managed to get their cars in working order after the disastrous crash following the mountainside descent were racing frantically towards the finish line, jostling each other and firing weapons and attacks and other novelty items at each other as they all tried to take the lead in the winding desert track leading to their destination.

Yes, that's right, the desert track. If the producers could get a mountain into the middle of a jungle, why not a desert, too?

"Gary, they're gaining on usss!" Evan hissed, glancing back down the road at the other cars furiously catching up on them. "Can't thisss thing go any fassster?!"

"I've already got the pedal to the metal!" Gary said. "It doesn't go much faster than this!"

Team Nightshade had miraculously managed to take fifth place and get a significant head start over their fellow racers by lieu of being the only car still standing on all four wheels after the crash and because Gary had phased through the other cars while they were still being fixed to steal key parts he hoped would delay their repairs. Some might call it cheating, but this was the kind of race where anything went, so long as nothing too illicit was caught on camera. How else could Rick Recreant have not been disqualified years ago for his flagrant and dirty attempts to get ahead of the game?

Unfortunately, it all seemed to be for naught, and now the other racers were almost upon the Mach 6, which was still far behind Rick and the other three racers leading the pack. "Damn…at thisss rate they're going to overtake usss!" Evan hissed anxiously.

"Wait, all isn't lost yet…there's an item box!" Gary said, pointing to a floating crystalline box hovering a few inches above the road just ahead.

"Hit it, hit it!" Evan hissed eagerly.

Gary did, smashing into it and downloading the item data inside. The duo eagerly leaned towards a screen on the dashboard to see what they had won. Much to their delight, the image of a blue spiky winged Squirtle shell appeared on the display. "Oh, wow! That'sss one of the mossst powerful itemsss in the raccce! Ssstrong enough to knock out any car with one blow!" Evan hissed in delight.

Gary frowned. "Yeah…just one problem! While it has homing capability, it can only fire forwards, and since Rick and the other three are still too far ahead of us, we'd have to wait until one of the other cars passed us to use it, and then we'd still have the rest of them to deal with. I'm not sure how this can save us…" He paused as they passed a large rocky outcropping. He got a brainstorm. "Unless…"

With a spin of the wheel and a screeching of tires (and Evan), Gary whirled the car around so that it faced back down the road, the way they had come. Then he shifted into reverse and backed up as fast as he could, recklessly driving backwards. "What do you think you're doing?!" Evan wailed, trying not to throw up all over the dashboard again.

"Winning!" Gary said, pulling up the targeting menu for their new spiky shell weapon. He pointed the targeting reticule at the Change-O-Mobile, first of the many cars driving up after them…then moved it so that it was pointing at the outcropping they had just gone by instead. "Fire!"

A compartment slid open on the back of the car and a fearsome mechanism rose up. It sighted over Gary and Evan's heads, aimed at the outcropping, and launched the shell. It flew through the air like only a large turtle shell with spikes and wings could, smashing into the rock formation with an incredible explosion that sent boulders tumbling down the slope, crashing down in a large stony pile that engulfed the road below it completely, blocking the track. "Yes!" the Gengar cheered.

"Niccce job!" Evan hissed. "That ssshould hold them for a little-"

That's when the other cars drove around the rock barricade and kept coming down the road towards them. Gary sweatdropped. "I did not think that through well enough."

"They're gonna passs usss! They're gonna passs usss!" Evan wailed. "And possibly hurt usss for sssabotaging their carsss!"

"Dammit…there must be something we can do…" Gary's mind raced. "Maybe we could move faster if we lost some of our dead weight."

Evan had a sudden terrifying thought of being thrown out of the car and being left to the Mightyenas. "Dead weight. Right! On it!" He opened the glove compartment and threw out all the manuals, gloves, spare clothes, receipts, coupons, sunglasses, phone numbers, and other junk that always accumulates in glove compartments over time. It scattered on the ground behind them and crunched under the tires of the cars catching up on them.

Gary glanced at the speedometer. It had only moved a fraction. "Not good enough. We need to go faster!"

Evan pressed the button to open the trunk, dumping the spare tire, jumpers, and a Mime Jr. and Mankey that had been hiding in there the whole time. "Faster!" Gary shouted as tires squealed behind them, the other cars frantically trying to swerve out of the way of the debris and children.

Evan threw out the back seat. "Faster!" Gary yelled as the seats were sliced in two by buzzsaws deployed by Rudy and Bigtooth.

Evan unbuckled his and Gary's seatbelts and threw out both front seats. "Faster!" Gary cried as Pattie Penda vaporized the chairs with laser beams.

Evan threw off the car's entire chassis. Don't ask how, Evan wasn't sure either, he was just so desperate that he found the strength to do it. "Faster!" Gary howled as the metal frame smashed into the Volbeat Mob's sedan, causing it to crash yet again and for Al to swear yet another vendetta against Team Nightshade.

Evan threw out the engine, which the Sledge Brothers bashed away with their hammers. "…Oopsss," he said, several seconds too late, as he realized what he had just done.

"EVAN! YOU IDIOT!" Gary roared as what was left of their vehicle kept rolling a little ways forward and came to a stop.

The other cars sped past them, covering them in a cloud of dust and exhaust. "Ha! Nice one, morons!" Luca taunted, as Blabber wept…joyfully, for a change.

"Treating a car like that, you're never going to race again!" Rudy laughed.

"If there were such a number as negative googolly, that would be just a fraction of how low your intellect is!" Pattie cried pejoratively.

"Uggaugg! You two morons!" the Sledge Brothers laughed, whacking each other on the heads as they drove past.

Gary and Evan coughed and coughed as their rivals sped off into the distance. "Well," Evan gasped. "That sssucked."

Gary punched him. "You suck."

"Hey, do either a you mugs got a jack or two to spare?" Donny cried from behind them.

"Da boss said he might forgive you if you helped fix our car!" said Kirby. Gary and Evan glanced at each other, getting an idea.

Several miles ahead of Team Nightshade, the top three cars were fighting for the position of number one as Rick Recreant steadily crept up from behind, looking for a chance to strike. "Once I see the right opportunity, Chumley, we'll strike, knock those three fools ahead of us out of the way, and win the race!" Rick chortled.

"Can't we just settle for finishing in fourth?" Chumley asked.

"Eh, we'll see," Rick grunted.

Ahead of them, Sergeant Buster and Private Mildley were exchanging fire with the Creepy Couple, the former shooting shells and lasers from the turret of their tank/jeep/steamroller hybrid with the latter flinging Ghost-type attacks and fireballs from their haunted-house-shaped vehicle. "Faster, Mildley, faster!" Sergeant Buster, a Blastoise, bellowed as he reloaded the turret for another salvo. "We can't let those spooks take second place!"

"Y-y-y-yes s-s-s-sir," the cowardly Private Mildley, a very timid Sentret, stammered as he tried to concentrate on driving and not running into any of the explosions blowing up chunks of the road ahead of him. Oh, w-w-why did I j-j-join the A-a-army? M-m-mother was r-r-right, I sh-should have b-b-been a d-d-d-dancer inst-st-stead!

"Excellent vork, darlink, zose fools vill never pass us at zis rate!" Little Creepy, a Gliscor, said to her husband Big Creepy, a rather large ghoulish Dusknoir. Big Creepy grunted and kept flinging Shadow Balls and the like to intercept Buster's shots.

Ahead of them, ignoring the fighting, was Racer Y in first place. The mysterious masked racer, a Miltank, thought to herself that the race was not going quite the way she would have liked. True, she was winning, but she had looked forward to challenging her longtime rival Ace Racer in the Mach 6, not those Team Nightshade clowns. This was not just because Ace forced her to be at the top of her game whenever they raced against each other, but also because she was secretly his long-lost sister, and had intended to reveal this to him after today's race. It's too bad I couldn't challenge my longtime rival Ace Racer in this race instead of those Team Nightshade clowns. Ace not only forces me to be at the top of my game in whatever race we're competing in, but I am also secretly his long-lost sister, which I intended to reveal to him after this race, she thought, making the previous summation completely redundant. I hope he's all right. If only he hadn't suffered those horrible life-threatening injuries that forced him to be removed from the race! Maybe when this is over, I should go to the hospital and tell him-
Her mental monologue was interrupted when an enormous Hippowdon fell out of the sky and landed on top of her car, crushing her. (Not fatally, though, they managed to get her to the hospital just in time. She was put in the same room as Ace Racer, giving her a chance to reveal her true identity to him, leading to a tearful reunion and a happy ending to this completely inconsequential plot thread you'll never hear about again.)

Little Creepy screamed and hit the brakes, but was too late to stop her car from crashing into the side of the Hippowdon, crumpling the front and smashing her face into an airbag as her husband was catapulted off the top and flung into the air, where he smashed into a bowl of petunias that had been falling from the sky just behind the Hippowdon. The petunias' last thoughts before it was shattered by the Dusknoir were "Oh no, not again." If it could be understood why it thought that, we would understand a lot more about the Omniverse than we do now.

The Hippowdon blinked dully and stared at the car that had crashed into it, its nervous system working so slowly it hadn't yet realized that it was in (slight) pain. Said pain was compounded when Mildley, who had a phobia about Hippowdon inhaling him through their nostrils, panicked and jumped out of the tank, causing it to crash into what was left of the Creepy's Couple's vehicle and explode, launching the turret—and Sergeant Buster, who was inside--into the stratosphere, narrowly missing a very large twin-rotor helicopter with a big red R painted on the side hovering over the road. "Yikes! That was close," the Primeape piloting the helicopter said. "Nice going Cassidy, we dropped our cargo right in the middle of a race!"

"Hey, it's not my fault the claw slipped, if you hadn't swerved so suddenly I wouldn't have lost my grip on it!" a Houndoom with odd ponytails sitting next to him snapped.

"What was I supposed to do, let us get hit by the cannon fire down there? What kind of wacky race is this, anyway? Geez!" Butch, the Primeape complained.

Cassidy sighed. "Just grab that fat bastard down there so we can get out of here before we get in trouble! I don't want to go to prison…or worse, get sued!"

"Fat bitch," Butch said.

Cassidy stiffened. "What did you just say to me?!" she growled, eyes glowing red.

"The Hippowdon's a female. Males are light brown and that one's black, which makes her a fat bitch," Butch explained. He frowned in thought. "Actually, now that I think about it, I should be calling her a fat cow, since female Hippowdon are called cows, like Miltanks, which is funny because they don't look much like Miltanks other than being big and heavy. Speaking of which, wasn't that a Miltank we dropped our cargo on?"

Cassidy gave him an exasperated look. "Who the hell cares?! Let's just grab her and GO already! Geez! This is the last Pokemon Doctor Nancy wanted, which means we can finally head back to Kanjohenn!"

A light started flashing on the control panel. "Oh, we're getting a call," Butch said, pressing a button.

A screen lit up, showing the irate face of Doctor Namba. "It's NAMBA!" the Electabuzz bellowed at them. The screen switched off.

The Rockets blinked. "How does he always know?" Cassidy wondered.

"Eerie, isn't it?" Butch agreed. "Come on, let's get that hippo so we can go home."

A large claw on a metal cable lowered from the underside of the helicopter and grabbed the Hippowdon around the middle. With some effort, the cable was winched back inside the chopper, lifting the bemused Heavyweight Pokemon off the ground. They flew off, leaving the three wrecked cars behind. Rick Recreant and Chumley, who had watched the whole thing in disbelief with open mouths, slowly turned to look at each other. "Did you just see a Hippowdon fall from the sky then fly away?" Rick asked after a moment.

"Did you see a bowl of petunias too, or was that just me?" Chumley asked.

Rick shuddered. "That was too wacky, even for this race! But it does mean one thing."

"What's that?" Chumley asked.

"We're in first place!" Rick cried. Cackling gleefully, the duo sped off past the three wrecks towards the finish line off in the distance.

The crowd seated at the finish line, which was located just past the boundary separating jungle from desert on the jungle side, alternately stared at the giant TV screens showing everything going on in the race or looked down the road at the swiftly-approaching cars, cheering excitedly as the commentator, er, commented on everything. "And by some freakish miracle—where the heck did those petunias come from, anyway?—Rick and Chumley are in the lead, with fan-favorites Racer Y, the Creepy Couple, and Buster and Mildley out of the race! With Lazy Luca and Blabber Bear, Professor Pattie Penda and Beakley, Rudy Roughcut and Bigtooth, and Boulder and Mulch Sledge too far behind, it looks like there's nothing to stop Rick and Chumley from winning the race…

"But wait! What's this? Radar's picked up another car advancing up the line, gaining ground on the other racers, coming from out of nowhere to make a grab for the lead! It's…it's…" Everyone watched raptly as the giant display switched from showing the inbound racers to focusing on another vehicle approaching at incredible speeds, overtaking the startled Sledge Brothers, who had been in last place, and leaving them coughing on their dust. The audience and commentator gasped when they got a good look at the vehicle. "Is that…no…it can't be! But it is! It's…THE VOLBEAT MOB! They've managed to repair their sedan and are now back in the race!"

"Yeah! You can't keep a good bug down!" Al whooped.

"We can still win dis!" Donny said enthusiastically.

"Duh, it sure was nice of dose guys to give us some spare parts to fix the car," Ding-a-dong said stupidly.

Several miles back down the road, Gary and Evan sat beside the road in the middle of a pile of scrap and tires and car parts, staring blankly at the track. "Well," Evan said after a moment. "At leassst they didn't kill usss."

"Shut up, Evan," Gary said with a sigh.

"Noooo! My baby!" Torque sobbed, bursting into tears when he saw several pieces easily recognizable as coming from the Mach 6 adorning the repaired Mob sedan. "How could they?! HOW COULD THEY-HEY-HEEEEEEEYYYYYYY?!"

"This is incredible, folks!" the commentator cried as the Volbeat Mob sped past Rudy and Bigtooth and Professor Pattie. "I've never seen a comeback like this in all my years as commentator! This is nothing short of a racing miracle…too bad it doesn't mean anything because Rick Recreant crossed the finish line five seconds ago."

The crowd gasped. Al's eyes bulged out of his head. "WHAT?!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the other racers (and quite a few viewers) shouted.

Rick and Chumley were out of their car, now on the other side of the finish line, dancing about giddily as ticker tape and confetti fell down all around them. "We did it! We did it! We did it!" Rick sang joyfully.

"I don't believe it! After all these years…after all these years…we've done it! We've finally won!" Chumley yelled, weeping with joy.

"It had to happen sooner or later, old boy! We were bound to win eventually! And that eventually…was today!" Rick cried.

"THIS IS THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" Chumley shouted.

"ME TOO!" Rick shouted back.

"I LOVE YOU, MON!" Chumley howled.

"I LOVE YOU TOO! YOU'RE THE BEST SIDEKICK A GUY COULD HAVE!" Rick and Chumley hugged each other. Their surprisingly large fanbase cheered.

"In what must be one of the most controversial turnarounds in racing history, Rick Recreant and Chumley have won the P1 Grand Prix, ladies and gentlemon! Never thought you'd hear me saying those words, did you now?" the commentator said as the sullen losers (yes, there was a second and third place, but a case could be made saying that anyone who didn't make first place was a loser) crossed the finish line. "And as the winners, it's time to give them their prize…5 billion Poke' and the coveted Prix Cup!" The crowd applauded (the ones that weren't screaming and cursing and tearing up betting stubs, anyway), and Rick and Chumley hopped up and down excitedly. "This is a day that will go down in racing history as…huh? What's this? You're kidding me! Racing fans, something terrible has happened! THE PRIX CUP HAS BEEN STOLEN!"

Everyone gasped in horror. "What?!" Rick cried. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"That just figures…" Chumley moaned. "The one time we win for a change, the prize has been stolen! We just can't break even, can we? I bet the money's gone too, isn't it?"

"Surprisingly no, the money's still here," the commentator said.
Chumley's ears perked up at that. "Really? Huh. Well, that's something."

"Who would steal a trophy but not the cash?" Rick wondered. "I would have taken both! Er, if it were me. Which it clearly isn't, since I was racing the whole time with you lot! Besides, I just won the prize fair and square, why would I have stolen it?" he pointed out when the other racers started looking at him suspiciously.

"He's right, he wasn't responsible. We've just managed to get security footage of the Pokemon responsible," the commentator said. The big screen brought up a still black-and-white image of a Medicham and a Togetic racing down a hallway, carrying a magnificent cup with an oddly-shaped glass shard affixed to the front between them. "Has anyone seen these Pokemon?"

Torque stiffened, his eyes widening in horror. "No…" He whispered. "No! NO! THOSE BITCHES! THEY USED ME! THEY USED ME AND TRASHED MY CAR! I'M GONNA KILL THEM! I'M! GONNA! KIIIILLLLLL! THEEEEEEMMMMM!"

Out in the desert, Gary and Evan shuddered. "I feel like someone just walked over my grave," Gary commented.

"You don't have a grave," Evan pointed out.

"How do you know that? We don't know what happened to my original human body," Gary said.

"You died at leassst a thousssand yearsss ago, even if it were buried sssomewhere, I doubt there would be anything left of it by now," Evan said.

"Maybe I got buried in a tomb or a pyramid, like those Pokegyptian guys," Gary said.

"What would you be doing in one of thossse?" Evan asked skeptically.

"Hey, I coulda been a king in my past life," Gary said. "None of us really knows much about who I used to be, except that I had a Gardevoir and pissed off Krysta. And that I was apparently a jerk."

"Do you ever wonder about that? Your passst life?" Evan asked. "I know Asssh does."

"Eh." Gary shrugged. "From everything I've learned about myself, I wasn't a good person. I don't really want to know who the old me is. He's like somebody completely different from who I am now, a total stranger. I much prefer the me I am now, scoundrel and devilishly lovable rogue that I am."

Mary and Maren ran up to them, huffing and puffing and carrying the Prix Cup. "There you are," Maren gasped.

"Come on, we have to get to the boat before they can catch up to us!" Mary said urgently.

Gary and Evan got up in alarm. "What the…where did you two get that?!" Gary asked.

"Did you sssteal it?!" Evan asked in surprise.

"Well, duh," Mary said with a roll of the eyes. "We didn't think you were going to win the race, so swiped the cup while everyone was busy watching your antics."

"You didn't think we'd win?!" Gary cried, hurt. "Didn't you have any faith in me?"

"No," Mary said bluntly. Gary's shoulders sagged.

"Darn…I wasss actually hoping we could do thisss the legit way for a change," Evan hissed with a disappointed sigh. "And I wasss having ssso much fun, too…oh well."

"We need to go now," Mary said. "It won't be long before they start coming after us in those fast cars of theirs. I had Maren anchor the boat not too far from here so we could make a speedy escape."

"…You really didn't expect me to win, did you?" Gary asked sullenly. "From the very start, you thought I'd fail."

"Yes," Mary said.

"But…why?!" Gary demanded.

"Because you were an inexperienced driver put behind the wheel of a vehicle he only had a rudimentary knowledge of how to operate racing against some of the most experienced drivers in the world in an incredibly complex and dangerous sport he's never participated in before," Mary explained calmly. "It was only logical."

"Well…yeah, but…miracles can happen…" Gary said quietly.

"Not to usss, they don't," Evan grumbled. "Come on, Gary. Let'sss go."

"…You could have at least told me you were gonna pull this ahead of time…" Gary muttered unhappily as they started walking off.

"I didn't want to worry you," Mary said.

"I'm team leader, Mary…" Gary said. "It's my job to worry."

I've crossed the line, Maren thought to herself as a miserable Gary bickered with Mary for going over his head and effectively putting no trust in her leader and teammate. There's no justifying what I've done now. I haven't just stood by as they've committed crimes, now I'm participating in them. It doesn't matter if I did it for Mirage Kingdom, it doesn't matter if I did it for Princess Sara, its still a crime. I am a thief. I am a thief working alongside other thieves and rather amoral mercenaries who don't care how many lives they destroy so long as they get the job done. Well, okay, that's not entirely true…they took Gooey's death pretty hard…but it's because of how irresponsibly they treated him that he died in the first place, and they don't seem to even realize how much collateral damage they've caused along the way. By accepting the Mayor of Chicole Village's bribe, thousands of tourists will continue to be fleeced by their Hissssa scam every year. Thanks to our actions here today, we've made a mockery of an incredibly popular sporting event, doing Arceus knows how much personal, property, and vehicular damage, and probably ruined poor Torque's life and reputation by his association with us. Do they realize that? Do they know what they've done to him? Do they even care?

Do they know what they've done to me?

…

And that ends that arc! Well, sort of. Interlude coming up to tie up the remaining subplot threads brought up this chapter. Tune in next time to watch Latias tackling Redwing's air force, find out if Team Rocket was able to save Mickey, see what the fallout of the P1 Grand Prix on everyone involved is, discover what the Nihilators and their prisoners are up to, look on as Misty continues her voyage into the unknown, and much more!

Additionally, a niggling little worry for me is that I might be turning Latias into a bit of a Mary Sue due to her becoming what she is. Do you agree with this, and if so, how can I go about fixing it?