At the Battle Frontier…

The rising sun was obscured by the Battle Tower, now standing proud and strong, even after it had been torn to pieces by Demon Lugia. Under its shadow, the Origin Captains, Kotone and Silver were taking a rest. "We did it," Ashura sighed, gazing around at the completely rebuilt Battle Frontier, which looked as grand as it did before the storm that occurred five days ago.

"Yeah. It was tough, but we finally got it done," Salvo agreed, patting him on the back.

Rosie drew her sword. "Now that we've done this, we can perform konso on the people that died her and allow them to go to Soul Societ-"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAIT!"

All four Origin Captains looked up in surprise, and then they saw a motorcycle shoot from behind the hill which led to the Battleground. It crashed onto the road, but kept going until it screeched to a halt right in front of them. Then a young man with green hair jumped off and went straight up to them. "Whoa, Ben!" Kotone shouted in surprise. "What are you doing…" Her voice trailed off. The serious look on Ben's face-one of determination and desperation-didn't make him look the same as she had last seen.

"Are you Origin Captains?" Ben asked breathlessly to the four Origin Captains. Dumbfounded, they nodded. But what truly surprised them was that this boy was wearing battered silver and blue headphones-and they knew who those belonged to. Kotone and Silver noticed as well, and also gasped. "Good," the boy sighed, taking the headphones off. "I need to ask you guys a favor for Axel."

"Wait, a favor for Axel?" Annabelle asked. "Do you mean Axel Nightblazer?" The boy nodded. "Who are you?"

It was at that point that Marth and Ike suddenly appeared in front of them, having used Shun-po to catch up with the motorcycle. "This is a friend of Axel's," Marth replied. "His name is Ben, and he wants to save Axel, but he needs your help to do it."

"Marth! Ike!" Ashura was a bit surprised to see those two Origin Captains…with a human. "Are you sure we can trust him? He's only a h-"

Ben's shoulders were about to sag at the last sentence, but Ike stepped forward and cut into the conversation. "This human shouldn't be treated like any other, Ashura. He's perfectly aware that this invasion of Cipher's will become a battle between higher beings eventually, and yet he still charges in for Axel's sake. Besides, he's clearly committed to helping us. Now go and tell me we can't trust him."

Ashura traded a look with Salvo, Rosie and Annabelle. Then he looked back at Silver and Kotone. Both of them seemed to believe in him. "You have that much faith in him?" Ashura asked, glancing at both Marth and Ike, who nodded. "I guess I can only go along with it, then. What can we help you with, Ben?"

Ben held up the headphones. "I need your spiritual power. Axel's loss defeat has caused him to get depressed, and then that made his Bankai return to an incomplete-"

"Wait, incomplete?!" Salvo repeated. "Things are that bad already?!"

"It gets worse," Ben continued. "You know that weird black mist around Mt. Coronet? Is it dangerous at all?"

"It's miasma," Ashura replied. "It's a toxic, corrosive gas which appears in the Distortion World when the fabric of space-time has been damaged. This is hazardous to all life; if you inhale it, your life functions are impaired, and if you have spiritual powers, they also weaken over time in it. In other words, being in miasma is akin to a slow and painful death. If you're planning to go there, then-"

"I have to," Ben replied, and by looking at him one would have to wonder if anything Ashura said had bothered him in the slightest. "I was the only one who saw that Axel went…alone…to Mt. Coronet. And a little while ago, a few waves of his reiatsu came from the mountain, which means he's definitely still there. You probably sensed them, didn't you?"

"We didn't," Ashura replied. "It's also hard to sense reiatsu in miasma. There was probably a fluctuation at that moment in the miasma covering Mt. Coronet, but the waves passed barely able to be felt-and most prominently felt where you were. Anyway, if Axel's there…yeah, everything just became a lot worse. We temporarily defeated Demon Lugia, but Cipher carried him off in that direction, so Axel may end up fighting him again. And if that happens in his current state, it won't go well for Axel." Ben began to worry already, but Ashura cut him off: "Don't worry, Ben, Axel's not that stupid. He'll be able to survive long enough if he fights Demon Lugia. And you have our support, don't you?"

"Wait, you guys seriously are going along with this?" Ben asked, surprised. I didn't think it would be that easy… The Origin Captains, Kotone and Silver nodded. "Okay!" Ben was pleased that his plan was going this smoothly, and held up the headphones. "Can you guys put your reiatsu into these? I put mine in, and so did Marth and Ike, but that won't be enough for Axel…And, I can't see spirits yet, but you haven't performed Konso, have you?"

"We were about to when you interrupted," Rosie replied. "Why does this matter?"

"Can you ask them to put their reiatsu in as well before you send them off to Soul Society?" Ben asked. "I don't know how to do that."

"That might be a bit hard, but I can do it," Ashura declared. He put his hand on the headphones, and azure blue energy flowed between them. Looking at the headphones as this happened, Ben thought for a moment the scratches began to disappear, but didn't quite. "May I take these?" Ashura asked, pulling the headphones from Ben's grip. "I'll need them to put the reiatsu of the dead in."

Salvo walked over and placed his own hand on them, as did Rosie and Annabelle. Verdant green, bright crimson, and soft lavender filled the air as they each transferred their own power inside. Then Ashura left with the headphones and walked around the Frontier for a few minutes, seemingly doing conversations with thin air. Several minutes later, Ashura returned. "Sorry it took so long; here you go."

When Ben touched the headphones, he was surprised when he felt the sheer amount of power inside them- and the many different kinds of energy inside. "Whoa," he breathed.

"Hey wait, we haven't done anything yet!" Kotone suddenly shouted, and ran over, almost slamming her hand on the headphones and knocking them out of Ben's grip. Silver, muttering something about how Kotone was really not paying attention, followed and put some of his in as well. Now a green glow and a silver one entered the headphones. "Hope it helps Axel," Kotone told him, smiling encouragingly. "Also, do you think we could come with you as well? We can't do anything else here, so we'll help you."

"Thanks, guys," Ben smiled. "This'll help a lot…anyway, I'd better get going! Bye!"

"Good luck!" Ashura called as Ben ran off with Kotone and Silver. "We hope you succeed! Don't let Axel down!"

When Ben finally arrived at the shore, he brought out his Empoleon to surf over to Snowpoint (because the ferry was destroyed in the carnage, and he forgot to get a flying Pokémon), he tried to check something on his Pokétch. However, the churning waters caused him to stumble. Empoleon groaned as he struggled to stay above the waves. "Hang in there, Empoleon!" Ben shouted encouragingly.

"I don't think he's going to make it," Kotone murmured worriedly as she watched from the back of her Tropius. Silver, held by Charizard, also watched with concern.

Suddenly, the waves began to calm. "And that's the reason why Aetherean Magic makes everything better," Ike declared, snapping his fingers as he flew above the waves. "Don't ask us to teach you, by the way. We don't have time for that kind of thing."

"I wasn't planning on it," Ben replied, as Empoleon resumed surfing. He began checking through his email on his Pokétch…

"Wait, what are you looking at?" Marth asked, looking at the Pokétch.

"I'm checking if Anabel got my message; last thing I remember, she was still in Eterna City," Ben replied. "I wanted her to meet me at Snowpoint, so I don't have to make so many stops. Ending up at Snowpoint to change my party to have a flying Pokémon, then flying to Eterna, and then Oreburgh will take too long. This way, we can save some time. Understand, guys?"

"It will take time for her to get from Eterna to Snowpoint in the first place," Marth replied. "I don't think you should count on her being back so soon. Maybe you should just take the flight."

"Well, I guess that's true," Ben sighed.

TOTALLY contrary to what Marth just said…

Anabel sighed as she stared out the window of the hotel room she got in Snowpoint, looking out towards the sea. "Does Ben usually run this far behind schedule?" she asked, turning away from the frost-covered window.

"You can't blame him, the ferries aren't here, so I'd assume they were destroyed by that 'Demon Lugia' your friends messaged you about," Cynthia replied, lounging in an armchair. "But Ben's a reliable guy. He might not make it on time, but he'll arrive without fail."

"I hope," Anabel muttered doubtfully. When Cynthia gave her an annoyed look, Anabel sighed and continued. "Cynthia, Chris came back to Eterna, and Silver and Kotone sent messages that they were alright and repairing the Battle Frontier with the Origin Captains who made a timely arrival. But we got no messages from Ben, and none of our friends knew where he was. Anything could have happened between the time he sent the message and now. Why, Demon Lugia might have wiped him out on his way here! How can you be so certain he'll arrive alright this time?"

Cynthia put a hand on her head and groaned. "You just can't trust him for once, can you?" She got up and smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. You remember that incident with Dialga and Palkia? He got through that alive. Is it so hard to believe now?"

"…okay, I'll trust your judgement," Anabel sighed reluctantly. "So, should we head to the meeting place right now, or should we wait a bit longer?"

"Let's wait a bit," Cynthia replied, standing up. "In the meantime, have you been to Snowpoint Temple?"

"That's the place where Articryo's Sanctuary is, isn't it? And no, I haven't been there before," Anabel replied, shaking her head.

"Well, maybe I could show you the place; since you're an Elemental yourself, maybe Regigigas would let you in," Cynthia suggested, standing up. "Shall we go now?"

"Hm…" Anabel stopped to think: it might be a good idea to have Ben meet them in there; maybe they could use the power of the Sanctuary? "Sounds good," she answered, standing up. "Let's go right now!"

As they walked out to Snowpoint Temple, Anabel found it annoying that she couldn't stop shivering, even through her lavender snowcoat. The weather had been quite bad lately in Snowpoint, and from how things looked, it wouldn't get better for a while. "Are you even sure we're going in the right direction?" she shouted over the wind. "I can't see for even a few feet ahead!"

Cynthia was getting worried herself. "The weather's blocking my Pokétch's connection…I can't tell where we are either. I can't believe the weather is so bad now. Perhaps your psychic power will do it?"

"I'm not sure what exactly I'm looking for, but…here goes," Anabel sighed, and closed her eyes. There was an unusually large amount of reishi in the air at one point…and the path that led there was only a few turns away. "Found it," Anabel declared, opening her eyes. "Come on."

The two young ladies battled their way through the blizzard until they finally found the temple, and ran in, glad to be out of the wind and snow. "Glad that's over," Anabel sighed, taking her hat off and whacking it a few times to get the snow off. "But it's kind of dark in here…"

Cynthia pulled a pocket flashlight out and shone it around the room. "Is that better? It looks like Regigigas has gone dormant again, though…"

"You said Regigigas randomly awakened when you were battling Saturn, though," Anabel noted. "But how did it do this? That's what I'm wondering."

"Perhaps it sensed the power of Articryo?" Cynthia suggested, but then frowned and shrugged. "No, if that were the case, he wouldn't have attacked from the start; he did pause when he saw us. Maybe it was something else…it might take us some time to find out."

"Speaking of which, do you think we should have taken Chris with us?" Anabel asked. "He doesn't know we left the hotel, so won't he get worried?"

"Doubt it," Cynthia dismissed, and nothing more was said about that subject.

At that moment, suddenly there was a sound of two trucks coming. Both ladies turned in surprise and found Cipher Peons jumping out of said trucks. "Let's go! Secure the area!" they shouted.

"So Cipher's launching another operation here…" Cynthia growled. When Anabel gave her a confused look, she replied, "A Cipher Admin was stopped in her mission to take the Sanctuary for reasons I won't know. Now they've come to finish the job." She reached for a Pokéball and held it just in case.

The Cipher Peons entered the temple-and saw Anabel and Cynthia. "What the-? What are you doing here?!" they demanded. "Whatever. Just do us a favor and come with us." A few detached from the main squadron and positioned themselves around the two.

Cynthia decided it was time to make a move now. "Go, Milot-" she began, pressing the button. But nothing happened. The Champion stared, dumbfounded at her Pokéball not responding. "Is it broken?" she wondered.

"Oh yeah, we forgot to mention," smirked a Cipher Peon. "We put a machine in our truck. Now Pokéballs are disabled here-except ours, which we designed to block the waves from the machine. You can't call on your Pokémon this time!"

"So I can't do anything…"Cynthia grimaced and sighed. Why do these guys keep besting me? "Sorry, Anabel. You'll have to handle this."

"And I'll do that gladly," Anabel replied, holding up her Pokédex Ultra, thumbing the button and causing the kanji for "mind" to appear.

What appeared to be a human female appeared on the screen. Anabel pulled the Pokédex back, whipped it behind her and her free hand in front, and a lavender sphere appeared in her hand with the kanji for "mind" on it. Anabel raised the sphere, then brought it and the Pokédex together, sending brilliant lavender sparks everywhere. "Come forth, my friend!" she shouted. "Psychic Elemental Ressurection!" She brought the two apart, giving birth to a storm of lavender light.

Soon, the light began to fade, revealing a pale, disturbingly human white face that with eyes of lavender was set upon a head that possessed lavender hair and a pair of ears that spiked backwards in two points. Thread-like purple lines dripped like tears from her eyes to either side of her chin, in a similar manner to the face of Ulquiorra Schiffer. The eeriest thing was that this face lacked a mouth. She wore a strange tiara that possessed a gently pulsing amethyst, which also held two locks of her hair in long streaks that draped over the front of either one of her shoulders.

Her arms were just as pale as her face, with form-fitting purple elbow-length fingerless gauntlets that featured diamond-shaped openings in the back of her arm near her elbows and in the backs and palms of her hand, revealing round sapphires embedded in the arms and hands underneath. Four ribbon-like appendages similar to Suicune's tails emerged from the back of her white dress and appeared to be suspended in the air, each one angling forward from either side of her, one from below and one from above, with a pearly iridescence that one could catch flashes of green, blue, and pink within. From a belt cinched at her waist dangled all the way to the bottom of her flowing skirt a strip of cloth that was elaborately patterned, with a square that featured the kanji for "mind" in the center.

The figure that used to be Anabel descended upon a glowing lavender circle labeled Psychicfrom her evolution, and stopped just before touching the ground. She spun around in a dance-like move, filling the air with blindingly fast slashes from her "ribbon" appendages, before flaring them out in four directions, still waving in the wind, and striking a battle pose. "Anticipate, Oracle Seishira!"

Hope she'll be powerful enough, Cynthia thought to herself. She heard a Cipher Peon sneak up behind her and suddenly spun around, kicking him in the chin.

Seishira whipped her appendages through the air, sending slashes of psychic energy that slammed into the Cipher Peons before they could even raise their Pokéballs. A Houndoom bounded upon her from behind, which she instinctively blasted with a burst of psychic energy to no avail. Slammed into the wall by the Houndoom as he ripped at her with his teeth, Seishira let out an angry hiss and whipped him with her appendages, Slashing him and forcing the Dark Pokémon to jump away.

But then Seishira gazed at him with her lavender eyes-which flashed with the power of Miracle Eye. Then Seishira threw her hands out, appendages flapping as though there was wind, and a wave of psychic power rippled out from her body. This was followed with five similar ripples striking Houndoom, now able to be hit thanks to Miracle Eye. The Dark Pokémon was sent sprawling from the force of the impact and fainted within the minute.

Next, a Sharpedo sailed at her from the right. Seishira pointed her hand at him and generated a clear lavender sphere which she blasted him with, knocking him out in one hit. (All Elementals can use Aura Sphere. If they are experienced enough.) Then she pointed and launched several beams of multicolored lights, knocking out the Arbok hanging from the ceiling above her. Unfortunately for him, I have no blind spots, she thought to herself. The Arbok hissed and fired a blast of poisonous sludge at Seishira, who dodged the attack and dispatched the Cobra Pokémon immediately with another Psybeam.

Cynthia watched as Seishira utterly trashed each Pokémon within seconds. "She really is amazing," the Champion mused.

"Huh!" a Cipher Peon behind her snorted, loudly (and obnoxiously) enough to make Cynthia turn around to face him. "She's just a Pokémon! Why should you look up to her? Or is it because you think a mere beast is vastly superior to yourself?"

"Seishira is not just a beast!" Cynthia spat, and before the Cipher Peon could say anything else, Cynthia roundhouse-kicked him in the side, knocking him into the wall. Good thing Ben randomly challenged me to that kung-fu thing. Don't know why he likes doing it, but whatever. Then she looked back at Seishira, valiantly battling the Cipher Peons' Pokémon despite them outnumbering her. But how long can she keep this up? she worried to herself. She reached for her Pokétch and began to type a message…

Seishira, meanwhile, whirled around to fight Pokémon from all sides. It was starting to get annoying, having to fight so many. Will there be any end to this? she thought in frustration. A Mienshao was taken care of with a single Zen Headbutt, and while her tiara still glowed with the lavender energy Seishira whirled and knocked out a Medicham. Spying a Shiftry charging a Dark Pulse, her eyes flashed with Miracle Eye, then she unleashed an invisible Extrasensory attack that crashed into Shiftry and defeated him in one hit (ironic, since Extrasensory was once actually Shiftry/Nuzleaf's signature move).

A Tyranitar rushed up to her and raised his hand preparing for a massive Giga Impact, but Seishira dodged the attack and blasted him with an Aura Sphere. The Armor Pokémon staggered, but recovered and began to charge Hyper Beam. Another Aura Sphere flew, and Tyranitar slumped, unconscious. But the damage had already been done by his Sand Stream ability; sands were being whipped into the air and slashing Seishira as they went. The Psychic Elemental winced with each small scratch across her body; even such a small pain could be a distraction to her psychic attacks.

The Cipher Peons, sensing victory, brought out their next Pokémon: a Metagross. The Iron Leg Pokémon strode boldly through the Sandstorm, his mighty steel legs unable to be scratched by the sand. He raised his leg, which glowed bright silver, and attempted to smash it into Seishira with the force of a meteor. Seishira flew backwards out of the way, and Metagross turned to fire a Hyper Beam at her. The Psychic Elemental dodged the Hyper Beam, but couldn't take advantage of the Recharge time because a Bronzong suddenly dropped down on her from above.

Seishira threw the Bronzong off her with psychic energy, to which the Bronzong charged sunlight and fired it at her. Then both Metagross and Bronzong used their power to shake the earth…which had absolutely no effect because Seishira Leviates. But because Bronzong also levitates, and Metagross had used Magnet Rise to stay aloft as well, no one was hurt. Well, except for all the unlucky non-flying/levitating Pokémon. At least no one IMPORTANT was hurt.

Then both Bronzong and Metagross lanced out with psychic energy at the Psychic Elemental. Seishira felt the waves approaching, then scoffed. Her skin suddenly turned reflective, and the waves bounced back at Bronzong and Metagross even faster and stronger. Don't challenge me to a match of whose Psychic power is stronger, Seishira thought, blasting both of them with her own Psychic and knocking them out immediately. Then, sensing another presence behind her, she whirled around and blasted a Psybeam…but nothing happened.

Almost dumbfoundedly, Seishira stared. Hovering in front of her almost lifelessly was a Pokémon that made no movement whatsoever; not even a twitch. This was a Shedinja, the Shed Pokémon. And seeing the white and purple parts of its body, Seishira knew that it was an XD-series, and with its Wonder Guard ability, this was an opponent she could not win against by herself.

Shedinja blasted the Psychic Elemental with an ultra-fast Shadow Ball, causing her to fall back. Noting the Shadow energy inside, Seishira got up and formed a barrier of yellow hexagonal plates of light, so the next Shadow Ball exploded against it. Unfazed, Shedinja fired a needle through the Light Screen, which buried itself in Seishira's arm and glowed with lavender energy. Seishira's muscles seemed to tighten as her energy was leeched out and zoomed into the Shed Pokémon. Cursing, Seishira summoned more plates-blue this time and arranged them on top of the Light Screen. Now the Shed Pokémon attempted to slash her with its wings, but they bounced off the barrier harmlessly.

Now Shedinja glowed with dark purple energy, and suddenly Seishira's barriers disappeared. With them gone, before she could reconstruct them, he rammed hard into her with shadow energy, slamming Seishira into the wall. The Shed Pokémon began to whip up a storm, blasting her with darkened gales. Before Seishira could get up, Shedinja emanated shadowy aura again, casting shadows over the room. Suddenly, Seishira found her senses going wild, and she couldn't see anything straight. Was Shedinja growing in size, or…? She began to panic and quickly summoned barriers, but they failed to her dismay.

But then, the playing of a flute was heard, and Shedinja shrank. The intense feeling of danger disappeared, and Seishira could see properly again. Cynthia lowered the Yellow Flute and breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing this Yellow Flute works on even Elementals."

Thank you, Cynthia, Seishira telepathed, and she began to slash the ground with her ribbons, then lifted the chunks of rock out of the ground and threw them at Shedinja. However, the Shed Pokémon dodged each one and raced at Seishira herself, striking her with an X-shaped attack from its wings. As Seishira stumbled back, Shedinja fired a Shadow Ball to keep her away from it.

The Shed Pokémon suddenly summoned dark purple flames around itself, which began a bizarre dance, and then surrounded Seishira. Suddenly, they grew in size, and the embers landed on her, causing burns. Seishira grimaced from the pain, but then she raised her hand as her ribbons danced around again, there was a ringing of a bell in the air, and the burn marks disappeared from her skin. Even so, Seishira was still worried. How long can I keep this up?

It was then that there was suddenly a blast of ice, and in front of her now was a humanoid figure with pale silver fur, and icy blue streaks running across his legs perpendicular to them, as well as across his back and face. Two crossed elaborate sabers with guards shaped like elegant snowflakes and pale blue tsuba rested on his back. A silvery-white headcrest bearing resemblance to part of a snowflake sat on top of his head, and irises glowing a pale blue against his white sclera and fur. So you're finally here, Seishira thought with annoyance. Took you long enough.

"Shut up, real heroes have lots of things to deal with…and more important ones," Articryo replied offhandedly. Seishira seethed in anger, but said no more about the subject. Articryo pointed his sword at Shedinja and fired a shard of ice-but it didn't work! Shedinja charged forward and took the attack head-on, then slashed Articryo as it went by with its wings, suddenly seeming very metallic in texture. Articryo shouted in pain, then turned to attack again, but sludge crashed into him, seeping in and badly poisoning him. Then Shedinja flapped its wings several times, launching gusts at Articryo, who was blown back hard by them.

"Even Articryo's being defeated by it?!" Cynthia gasped, watching the fight continue. "And Seishira can't win…do we even stand a chance?"

At the Pokémon Center in Snowpoint…

"Come to the Snowpoint Temple. We'll be there. Just going sightseeing, don't worry." Ben couldn't help smirking at Marth. "Guess you were wrong, huh?"

"I never said I was right about everything," Marth replied, although he seemed truly annoyed.

"Riiight," Silver sighed as they walked into the building. "Well, anyway, just get Empoleon healed, and then we can g-"

Ben suddenly noticed he could feel clashing reiatsu in the air…and it was powerful. Then he noticed that Silver, Kotone, Marth, and Ike all wore expressions of concern. "Uh, guys? Something's wrong, isn't it?" he asked, trying to get their attention.

"Don't you feel it? Anabel's in trouble," Kotone replied worriedly. "Her reiatsu is fluctuating crazily."

"What? Oh no! What do we do?" Ben panicked. He couldn't tell it was Anabel's though; he could only remember anyone's reiatsu after he met them. Or he could only remember Axel's because he was wearing an object filled with it on his head.

"Get Empoleon fixed up from that ride on the waves. Then we'll meet you at the Temple," Silver replied hurriedly. Both Kotone and Silver ran out of the Pokémon Center immediately afterward.

"Marth, Ike, are you guys going?" Ben asked. The Origin Captains had not moved yet.

"We'll follow, but I have a feeling we're going to have even worse problems later," Ike replied. "Come on, Marth!" The two followed Kotone and Silver out the door.

By now, the blizzard had died down, but snow still fell thickly from the clouds. Kotone and Silver were finding it hard to see as they ran. "A little light would be nice," Kotone muttered. Silver held up his hand, and fire appeared in it, lighting the way. "That's better," Kotone sighed, looking at her Pokégear. "Now if I remember correctly, the Temple's that way…"

They turned and kept running, but then suddenly found something huge blocking their way. It was a Haxorus! "It's Shadow! Watch out!" Silver shouted. The two dodged the shadowy meteor she immediately called down, but then a blast of magma struck her and forced her back.

"We'll handle this guy!" they heard Ike shout as he drew Ragnell. They could also hear Marth drawing Islinger. "Keep going!" And so Kotone and Silver continued on in the snow.

Eventually, they found a truck outside the Temple. "Here we are!" Silver declared. "Let's go!" As the two ran inside, they immediately activated their Pokédex Ultras. Indigo fire engulfed Silver, and a heavily muscled, clawed arm with spikes lining the back of his arm burst out of the flame, with a deep red gem appearing on the shoulder. A long tail with many spikes rapidly materialized, and clawed feet took form to precedent "armored" thighs with the knees adorned with diamond-shaped armor and a spike on each thigh pointing up. Two deep red gems on the dragon's chest appeared, and still more spikes ran up his back. Four great wings unfolded, each one something like bat wings with spikes on the edges. The spikes continued up his neck all the way to the head, which was streamlined backwards and featured fin-like protrusions on the sides of the head.

The dragon, still wreathed in fire, blasted upwards before soaring across the sky, and then, spiraling and shining, roaring and streaking, dove downwards at alarming speed before landing on an indigo platform with "Dragon" in kanji on it, spreading its wings, and throwing its arms out, expelling all the indigo flames on its body, revealing a deep violet and indigo color scheme, sans the gems. The dragon roared, blasting flames everywhere. "Soar, Ascendant Drakanohi!"

A storm of wind-swept petals zoomed around Kotone, and when it dispelled, a young lady with rose-red hair was revealed. Her eyes were grass green, and an armor plate resembling three leaves placed together rested on her forehead, doubling almost like a tiara. Long leaves extended from her wrists, and she was wearing a leaf skirt, composed of around 8 large leaves hanging from her waist. Yes, they went down to just above her knees. A full armor of a strange leaf green steely substance covered her body. Her torso was encased in a scale-armor of leaves, her shins were guarded by steely plates with leaf-like kneecaps. She held a glossy shield on her left arm, with the emblem of a rose on it, and wielded not a sword but a wooden staff in her right hand. She looked distinctly human, but make no mistake, for looking like a human is far from being one.

She jumped down, shouting as she whirled her staff. She lightly on the ground and slammed her staff into the ground, whirling about a storm of leaves. She held up her shield, and an Energy Ball charged in front of it and blasted forth, exploding somewhere. "Arboreon Magna!"

It was only then that the two realized that their opponent was an XD-series Shedinja. "Uh…this may have been one of our more embarrassing moments," Drakanohi grumbled.

"Agreed," Arboreon nodded. "Change to Pyrelios. You may be big in that form, but Shedinja won't be harmed by any of your attacks."

Drakanohi engulfed himself with indigo flames, and they disappeared to reveal Silver. But something blurred, and his Pokédex Ultra was out of his hand. "What the-?" Silver suddenly heard a loud screeching, and turned to see his Pokédex Ultra…in the hands of a Ninjask! "Hey! Give that back!" Silver shouted. He ran at the Ninjask, but she was just too fast! Arboreon slashed at it as well, but with her ever-increasing speed, the Ninja Pokémon just couldn't be caught!

And then Shedinja began to emit a dark purple mist which covered the room in darkness. No one could see a thing, and even sensing reiatsu went wild. Arboreon looked around nervously in the darkness, and suddenly was struck from behind by a Gust! She screamed and whirled around, firing an Energy Ball in the direction the Gust, but never found out if it hit its target. She just couldn't see if it hit or not. But then another one struck her from behind, and she realized the enemy was still unharmed.

Seishira couldn't sense a thing. To her, the Psychic Elemental, it was both frustrating and frightening to have her senses clouded. Second time today, she thought with disgust. Suddenly, a slash of darkness struck her in the back, and she whirled to Psycho Cut the source, but nothing happened. Then she heard Arboreon's scream…but it seemed to echo all around her. The Psychic Elemental couldn't tell where it came from! She began to run in a random direction, not knowing where she was going…

Silver pulled out a Pokéball from his belt. "I'll have Charizard blow it all away with Defog," he decided. He pressed the button on his Pokéball…but nothing happened. "What?! My Pokéballs won't work?!" Silver realized, dismayed. "Shit, that means…I can't even do anything!"

Seishira suddenly got an idea, and used her Miracle Eye. But to her dismay, she couldn't see anything clearly even with that. For several moments, she thought she could see Ninjask darting around, but the mist would always obscure her vision. Seishira sighed and waited until she could see Ninjask again, and then her eyes glowed. Ninjask was suddenly caught by telekenesis, and couldn't move no matter how she flapped her wings. Now you're mine, Seishira thought, blasting the Ninja Pokémon with a Psychic. But then something flew in front, and Ninjask disappeared. What-Shedinja?! Seishira thought, and then a Shadow Ball struck her, sending her crashing to the ground.

There was suddenly a yell, and then thick snow flew everywhere. A large clump struck Arboreon and smashed her into the wall, freezing her in place. "Augh! Who threw that?!" she wondered. She tried to move, but another one struck her and reinforced the ice. Arboreon frantically threw an Energy Ball in the direction of that attack. Big mistake; an icy blue flame surged at her and began to burn, freezing and hot at the same time. Panicked, Arboreon let off an aroma to destroy the ice and cure her burn. But then shards of ice flew at her, forcing the Grass Elemental to run.

Silver also was struck by one and sent into the wall. "This is an Elemental's power…" he muttered in surprise. "Stop! You're going to destroy us, too!" But that had no effect, because more and more snow continued to fly at him. Silver was powerless to stop any of it, even with the sweet aroma in the air destroying the ice gradually…

Seishira was struck dead-on as well. She had no time to activate a Safeguard before she was frozen. That fool! What does he plan to accomplish by attacking wildly?! The ringing of a bell sounded, and the ice shattered on her. Before any more "mistakes" could happen, Seishira quickly caused a blue-green veil to surround her, and the blizzard which struck her next failed to freeze over, instead freezing the barrier. Hope I can keep this up before this madness kills me! Seishira thought.

The ringing of the bell coupled with the aroma shattered the ice even faster. Silver watched as it all cracked away. "Nice of them to do that," he muttered, but then he heard a howl and decided it was time to keep moving. Suddenly, something sharp and cold struck him in the back, and Silver toppled. "An…icicle?" he groaned. Then suddenly he heard another howl, and felt his body go cold. Literally. With horror, he realized it was Sheer Cold, and began to run as fast as he could away from the spot, ignoring the pain of where the icicle struck him.

Then the signature screams of Ninjask echoed through the room. All the combatants save Shedinja and Ninjask began to groan, as this scream is very agonizing to listen to. From the sounds of it, Articryo had had enough, and a blizzard raged through the cave, regardless of who it was hitting…

It was at that moment that Ben rushed to the Temple's entrance. He was met instantly with the dark purple mist. "Whoa, I wonder what that is?" he muttered.

"It's Shadow Mist," Niko replied, examining. "It messes with the senses of non-Shadow Pokémon, and lowers evasion as well…or any other chance to do anything. I think it's best if we blow it away. Bring out your Empoleon and use Defog."

"Alright, here we go…" Ben pressed the button, but the Pokéball did not respond. "Weird," he commented. "Wonder what's going on?"

Beep.

"What was that?" Ben wondered, turning. It came from the truck, he realized. Then another one came, and another. Ben looked inside the truck, and found a strange machine with an antenna sticking out, and several dials on it. Deciding to shut it off, Ben pressed the power button. "Cipher's probably not doing anything GOOD with that," he muttered. "Let's try this again." He pressed the button, and this time Empoleon burst out. "Good! Use Defog!" Ben ordered. Empoleon flapped his wings, and the mist cleared out with several strong wingbeats.

"The others are probably in really deep mud right now," Niko noted. "Let's head in there and see!" Ben and Niko ran in…and were shocked by what they saw. Articryo, Arboreon, and Seishira all seemed to have been defeated…but iced over, Arboreon and Seishira looked as though it was Articryo who defeated them! Shedinja gazed blankly at him, and Ninjask continued to fly around the room with the Pokédex. Silver was also on the ground, bleeding from the back.

Arboreon looked up to see them. "Ugh…where have you been?" She tried to stand up, but there was too much ice for her to do so.

"Um, yeah, sorry I'm late," Ben lamely apologized. "So, um…"

"What happened in here?!" Niko wondered. He didn't have time to wonder much more, because then Shedinja fired a Shadow Ball at him. "WHOA!" Niko shouted, jumping back. "Why, you-"

"I'll deal with Shedinja! Quickly, get the Ninjask!" Ben shouted, and he unsheathed Wado Ichimonji while charging at Shedinja. He slashed, but the blade had no effect whatsoever on Shedinja. The Shed Pokémon fired a Shadow Ball, which Ben slashed in half.

"It's useless, Ben!" Silver shouted. "Shedinja can't be hurt by your sword! It'll only be hurt by-"

"Just watch," Ben replied simply, and he struck again. Wado Ichimonji flickered as it harmlessly struck the Shed Pokémon, and Shedinja slashed with its wings, which Ben parried. Another strike…the blade flashed now, but still Shedinja was not hurt. It launched a needle at Ben, but he dodged quickly.

"What's he trying to do? He couldn't possibly hurt it," Arboreon murmured as Ben continued to strike at Shedinja, in a seemingly futile effort.

But then Ben stood, Wado Ichimonji shining brightly. "Found it," he declared, and raised his sword one more time. Shedinja rushed forth for an X-Scissor…and Ben swung the blade down, knocking out the Shed Pokémon instantly. Everyone gasped as it fell to the ground, except Niko.

At that moment, Niko struck Ninjask with a Shock Wave which homed in on the Ninja Pokémon, and whipped his tail around, firing an Electro Ball and knocking out the Ninja Pokémon for good. He caught the Pokédex and handed it to Silver. "Looking for this?" he grinned.

"Thanks, Niko," Silver groaned, standing up. Arboreon held out her hand and began to heal his back wound. "What did you do there, Ben?"

"Let's just say it's a new power. I really can't explain," Ben replied, helping him to his feet. "Are you all okay?"

Seishira glowed with lavender light, and reverted to being Anabel. "We were having problems until you arrived. I don't know what you did there, but good job."

Ben could tell that they were all awed by Wado Ichimonji now. "Um, so, anyway, Anabel," he finally managed in the awkward silence, taking the headphones off and holding them out to her, "I suppose you know what happened to Axel? Because of that, I'm trying to save him now…" He explained everything to her, and Anabel was visibly shocked. "Can you give me some of your reiatsu? I'm going to need it to save Axel."

Anabel placed her hand on them, and her hand glowed lavender. "Let's hope you succeed, Ben. To us, the Elementals, Axel is an irreplaceable friend. He may be obnoxious, but along with the other Origin Captains he helped us master our powers. We're very indebted to him."

"Thanks, Anabel," Ben smiled, taking the headphones back. Even a little more energy is just fine…

Cynthia, who had hid during the chaos, now walked up to Ben apologetically. "I don't have power or anything like that…I don't think I can help you this way. I can't place power in there…but will it do if I wish you good luck with what you're doing?" she asked, clasping his hand.

"That's just fine," Ben smiled. "Even that can help us." Then he turned away. "Chris, you've heard everything, so could-wait, Chris?" Everyone had to turn and look. Chris was lying on the ground, completely motionless. In him lay a giant wooden splinter, and rocks and ice shards lay all about. Lingering spectral and mental energy lay in the air. But what everyone knew had happened…

It was Kotone that finally spoke words that cracked like ice being crushed under one's heel. "Ben…when you arrived…the Shadow Mist disoriented all of us. With Shedinja attacking us at various points…Chris couldn't take it, and started attacking everyone. We got carried away and attacked back…but…"

Ben rubbed his eyes with his wrist. "This isn't the time for shedding tears, even for friends," he blatantly spat out the untrue words. "W-we need to stop Cipher. They killed one person today, they killed hundreds yesterday, and they won't stop killing until they have what they want. We can't let them have it. And…he almost killed you guys. So I'm fine."

"Ben, you're just going to-" Anabel wasn't the only one who was utterly shocked, it seemed. Everyone had realized quickly what this just came to.

And Ben was aware what they were thinking: his previous life, against the pressures of death and violence, had come to an end. "We can't let one death stop us. If anything, this should be a reason for us to continue. Are you coming, then?"

"We'll go to Mt. Coronet first," Silver decided. "We can put a wrench in Cipher's plans now and buy you some time. Best of luck, okay?"

"Yeah. I'm counting on you guys." Ben took one last moment to hug Cynthia and whisper some parting words, then ran outside into the blizzard.

Ike and Marth followed, having defeated the Haxorus, but soon noticed something was wrong with him. "Hey, you seem a bit off. What's up?" Ike asked, falling in step with Ben.

The Champion did not reply.

Silver looked back at Chris' body one last time. "Well, you heard him. Any respects you want to pay?"

"…not…particularly…" Cynthia admitted, and the others said nothing as well. While they all felt guilty from his death, they had few fond memories of him, and so they had no parting words to say.

"Let's bury him, then, and hurry. We have a promise to keep," Silver reminded them.

Mt. Coronet...

Axel's eyes opened when he felt the final pulse of reiatsu. His eyes held no new dismay, however, but rather only the old despair, drilling deeper into his conscience. He stood up, ignoring the pain lacing through his bones. "I must continue," he flatly murmured, and Shiruba-Getsu lifted from the rocks again.

Black wings appeared on his back, and black daitos were brandished in his hands, as the Hell Angel took to the sky once again.

The Battle Frontier...

Ashura dusted his robes off. "That's the last of them. Now we'll have to go to Mt. Coronet as well to help that boy save Axel, I suppose."

"I hope that idiot didn't get himself killed so hard we can't save him," Annabelle muttered in an attempt to sound snarky about something she actually was hoping.

"Indeed," Ashura agreed grimly. "When his emotions are on the down curve, they slope to a rather dangerous point. We need to make sure that our moonlight angel continues to shine.

Because he has offered his life solely to his friends already. There isn't much we can give back in return."