Pokemon Legends: Sinnoh Saga
Chapter 36
Dawn Versus Dusk
Many emotions, thoughts ran through Dawn's mind. Confusion. Rage. Panic. She was prepared to be disappointed, to find out Cyrus lied to her. She didn't at all expect to suddenly find herself with 30 seconds to figure out a way to either get everyone out of the building or stop a selfdestruct sequence that she had started.
Make that 25 seconds.
"Charon, is there any way to stop this thing!" Saturn yelled. Charon shook his head.
"I'm afraid not," Charon replied. "Once the countdown has started, the only way to stop it is to remove or defuse the explosives. But they are in the very bottom of this building. We wouldn't be able to get there in time, let alone accomplish that task."
20 seconds.
Dawn shook her head, snapping out of her daze, and looked around the room. There had to be SOME way out of this mess! It didn't take long for her to figure out at least one possible solution. There was a chance there'd be nothing to gain by it, but Dawn didn't have time for trial and error. Now was the time to act.
15 seconds.
"Well, if you plan to do something, I would suggest doing it quick," Charon said, then started toward the exit. "I, however, am not taking my chances on you two. I'm leaving." Charon left, hurrying toward the exit while Dawn put her desparate plan into motion.
"Saturn! You said something about a button?" Dawn asked. Saturn didn't voice a response, instead reaching over toward the computer and pressing a red button on the keyboard.
Ten seconds.
The tubes surrounding the three legendary pokemon opened and the wires attached to them dislodged, freeing the pokemon of the lake. Shaking off the lingering pain they felt from the treatment, they emerged from their containment. The pink-headed one, Mesprit, nodded to Dawn. All three of the lake pokemon then disappeared in a flash.
"I wonder if they'll really help us..." Saturn muttered, recalling the way they had been treated. He regretted it, though only because of his leader's recent betrayal.
"If there's anything they can do, they'll do it," Dawn assured him.
Meanwhile, the clock continued to tick. Five seconds remaining. Four. Three. Two. One. An explosion was heard in the distance and Dawn prepared for the worst, but the building remained standing. Though she couldn't tell what it was they had done, it appeared that, at least for the moment, they were safe.
Saturn was the first to move after the timer had stopped. He bolted out of the room and, without thinking, Dawn followed. Saturn went back down the hall Dawn came down before, past confused scientists and the strange tubes of green liquid, arriving at the room where Dawn had initially confronted Cyrus. There, Saturn immediately moved to a console sitting in front of nine monitors and started messing around.
Some kind of security station? Dawn wondered. She watched Saturn typing away at the console for a moment, then her eyes moved to the monitors. Different images flickered on the screens until, eventually, one of them showed an image from what looked like a hidden storage room. There, the three pixies could be seen surrounding a fireball. Each pixie had their eyes closed in concentration and a blue glow was surrounding the fireball, which seemed to be held in place by them.
"They're holding the explosion at bay it seems," Saturn said to Dawn. "For now, at least. But the building needs to be evacuated while we have the chance." Dawn nodded. For once, she was in complete agreement with a member of Team Galactic.
With the explosion being held in place, Dawn and Saturn were able to evacuate everyone from the building. Dawn alerted the gym leaders and Saturn took care of everyone left in Team Galactic. Charon had disappeared by the time everyone was out, and every member of Team Galactic was to be taken in for questioning. Including Saturn himself and Maylene's father, who was happy to find everyone still alive and promised to find a real job.
Once everyone was finally out of the building, the pixies took their leave as well. They vanished from the storage room and reappeared outside the building, at which point it was engulfed by an explosion. Debris was thrown all around the city, but the gym leaders were ready and had their pokemon spread out to destroy any threatening debris.
Somehow, everything turned out okay I guess, Dawn thought. She let out a sigh of relief and then turned her attention from the building to the pink and gray pixie floating next to her. "So should I take this to mean you'll be coming with me to Mt. Coronet?" she asked it. Mesprit nodded.
"-Yes, and thank you for rescuing us!-" Mesprit said. "-Uxie and Azelf will likely meet us there as well.-"
"Eh?" Dawn blinked in disbelief. "I understood that fully..."
"-It's because I felt a connection to you, so I decided to form a bond!-" Mesprit said happily. "-I'm Mesprit, the being of emotions!-"
"Well that's good to know." Dawn smiled wryly. "I don't suppose that you have a way to get to Mt. Coronet in a hurry?" Dawn then asked, but Mesprit shook its head.
"-Our more potent powers, such as what you witnessed before, are only available when the three of us are together,-" Mesprit said to her.
"Great..." Dawn sighed. "So I have to walk and Cyrus already has a good lead too."
"Not necessarily," someone said to them. Dawn and Mesprit turned to see Lucas approaching them. Floating next to Lucas was another pixie, this one with a yellow head. "Since I've been there once before. I can get Abs to teleport us to the base of Mt. Coronet. We'd just have to climb from there."
"Wait... Lucas, why is that pokemon with you?" Dawn asked, pointing at Uxie in disbelief.
"Apparently because I'm smart," Lucas replied, trying not to grin at that. "Anyway, you're going after Team Galactic's leader, right?" he asked. "I'll go with you too. Might give me the chance to face Mars again."
"Can't argue with that I guess, since I'm getting a quick ride there," Dawn replied, nodding. "Okay, let's go then."
Dawn and Lucas left the crowded scene in front of the ruins of the Galactic building and found a secluded place to teleport to Mt. Coronet. None of the gym leaders even noticed them leave, however. They were too busy dealing with the rest of Team Galactic.
Mere moments after leaving the crowded scene in Veilstone City, Dawn and Lucas reappeared along with Abs, Mesprit, and Uxie, on a familiar bridge at the foot of Mt. Coronet. Dawn recognized the area as the spot she had stopped to train her pokemon and had encountered Ashley. With the mountain in sight, Dawn scanned the top and a sudden realization dawned on her.
"I just remembered something," Dawn muttered, rubbing her head in frustration.
"What's that?" Lucas asked her.
Dawn shook her head and smiled at him. "Nevermind. You go on to the top of the mountain. I'll catch up to you in a bit. There's something I need to take care of first."
"Huh..." Lucas raised an eyebrow and looked around, wondering what she meant. Seeing nothing, he shrugged. "Well, whatever you say. Let's go, Abs," Lucas turned and recalled his alakazam, then continued across the bridge and into the mountain with Uxie following along behind him. Once she was sure he was gone, Dawn spoke up.
"I know you're watching, so you might as well come out now and get this over with!" Dawn said impatiently. Mesprit looked around in confusion, wondering who she was talking to.
"So, you remember what I said, then?" a voice that seemed to come from nowhere said to Dawn. "And yet..." On the other side of the bridge, a vortex suddenly opened on the ground and a young girl wrapped in a purple cloak stepped out. "You still intend to go there, don't you? The one place in Sinnoh I told you not to go."
"You've probably been watching me all this time, so you should know the answer to that," Dawn replied, taking a pokeball from her belt.
"Hmph..." Dusk stretched out her hand, gesturing toward a spot on the ground in front of her to open another vortex. "Of course, I knew it would come to this the moment you confronted Cyrus. But from the way things are looking, now is definitely a bad time for you to go up there." From the vortex in front of her a black, ghostly doll emerged. "So just leave quietly and leave this to me."
Dawn forced a smile. "So you're going to handle it? That's reassuring!" Dawn said, but her smile quickly turned into a frown. "Did you really think I'd say something like that at this point? Even ignoring what's going on here, I think it's about time I faced you seriously!" Dawn held out the pokeball she had grabbed, releasing Captain Falcon onto the bridge before her.
"-Wait! What's going on here!-" Mesprit asked, confused by the sudden confrontation.
"Long story short, she thinks me being in the wrong place at the wrong time will cause a disaster," Dawn explained to Mesprit. "And the top of Mt. Coronet is one of those places she told me not to go. So if I want to go there..."
"She needs to get through me first," Dusk said. "But, you know, it's hardly fair that you have seven pokemon, one of which happens to be a legendary pokemon," she added, a smirk crossing her lips. "So I'll be going all out today. There's all sorts of fun ways for me to use my power that I haven't shown you yet!"
"Then let's see them!" Dawn called back. "Captain Falcon, rise up and then attack with Aerial Ace!" Captain Falcon flapped her wings and began to rise into the air. As she gained altitude, she finally recognized her surroundings, remembering how close she had come to finally escaping.
"You can't hide from us in the air," Dusk said. "Seeker, use Will-o-Wisp." Dusk and Seeker both stretched out their hands, Seeker seemingly aiminging straight ahead with its attack. It soon became clear to Dawn what Dusk was doing, though, as a pair of vortexes suddenly opened. One in front of Seeker, and one above Captain Falcon.
She's using the vortexes to direct her attacks! Dawn realized. Sure enough, the purple flame that Seeker fired emerged directly in front of Captain Falcon and she flew straight into it. The vortex then closed before Captain Falcon could fly through that as well, but the damage had been done. The flames grazed Captain Falcon's right wing as she tried to move out of the way, leaving a nasty burn.
Great, that's going to be a problem, Dawn thought, wincing. In spite of the burn, Captain Falcon suddenly made a sharp turn and down straight down toward Seeker. In a flash of movement, she shot toward the ground and pulled up at the last second to slash across Seeker's body with her beak. Seeker grimaced in pain and was knocked to the side slightly by the attack, which was weakened by Captain Falcon's burn.
"Excellent, Seeker. You may return for now," Dusk said, then opened another vortex for Seeker to disappear into. The vortex then closed and another one opened, this time revealing what looked like a fan surrounded in plasma. "Shocker shall take the field now."
"Captain Falcon, that's enough for now. Return," Dawn called out, taking Captain Falcon's pokeball in her hand and recalling her. She then switched the pokeball with another. I get the feeling Dusk's going to switch pokemon a lot, so this should even things! she thought. "Assassin, I choose you!" The pokeball opened and released the small, scorpion-like pokemon onto the bridge.
The power this girl is using... somehow, it seems familiar to me, Mesprit thought, narrowing its eyes in contemplation. Have I felt this power somewhere before? These strange energies she appears to be giving off?
"Sending out a bug-type?" Dusk smirked. "Then I guess you don't realize what Shocker can do in this form. Shocker, show her! Use Air Slash!" Shocker's fan whirled, sucking in air and then firing a blade at Assassin. Assassin screeched in pain as the blade slashed across her body.
"-Owowow!-" she cried.
"I know EXACTLY what I'm doing!" Dawn replied with a smirk. She had a plan, though she did wish she didn't choose such an opponent to enact it against. Still, she knew exactly how to put this match in her favor. "Assassin, use Toxic Spikes!" Assassin nodded and aimed her tail and claws forward, then fired a barrage of spikes across the battlefield. The poisonous spikes embedded themselves in the bridge and ground beyond, threatening to jab any pokemon Dusk sent out.
Tch! That will actually prove to be rather annoying, Dusk thought. Though her ghosts did tend to levitate, most stuck close to the ground and well within range of the spikes. Dusk glared at the bug pokemon that had fired them. Regardless, I'll finish this one off before it causes too much more trouble.
"Shocker, use Air Slash again!" Shocker powered up its fan again, sending another blade of air slashing across Assassin's body. The skorupi cried out in pain and nearly collapsed. She was only barely able to withstand the second attack and definitely couldn't take a third.
"Assassin, let's attack this thing while we can! Night Slash!" At Dawn's command, Assassin gathered her strength and shot forward. She weaved between the toxic spikes on the bridge, not that they would have affected her, and quickly approached her target. At the last moment she jumped and sliced Shocker across the side as she passed by, landing behind it. Sparks flew from Shocker's body and it staggered from the blow, but quickly shook it off and turned to face Assassin.
"Shocker, finish it off with a quick Thundershock," Dusk said to it. Shocker nodded and fired a quick blast of electricity at Assassin. Assassin didn't even cry out in pain this time. She just collapsed, and Dawn immediately recalled her.
Even though Assassin was defeated so easily, she's cleared a path to victory for me! Dawn thought. She clipped Assassin's pokeball to her belt and took another one in her hand. "Captain Falcon! Your turn again!" she called out, releasing the bird onto the field once more.
This one again? She must be planning something, Dusk thought. Not wanting to take any chances, she immediately called for an attack, hoping to finish Captain Falcon quickly. "Shocker, Discharge!"
"Captain Falcon, climb quickly!" Captain Falcon shot straight up into the air as Shocker discharged a wide blast of electricity from its body. Captain Falcon was narrowly able to get high enough in time.
"Now! Use Aerial Ace from directly above it!" Captain Falcon winged over to where Shocker was, positioning herself above it, then dove straight down. She seemed to disappear as she gained a burst of speed in her dive, striking Shocker directly from above and pounding it into the ground. This was the effect Dawn had intended for, as hitting the ghost pokemon into the ground meant it had now hit the poison spikes that she had spread previously.
"Well that wasn't very nice," Dusk muttered bitterly. Shocker slowly floated back up, wincing from the poison that had become mixed into its ghostly form.
"I'm just getting started!" Dawn shot back, grabbing a pokeball in each hand. "Captain Falcon, that's enough for now! Return!" Dawn recalled Captain Falcon and then held out her other pokeball. "Bahamut, your turn now!" The pokeball opened, and now Bahamut emerged with his arms crossed in front of him.
"-This time... VICTORY!-" Bahamut growled.
Seems Dawn can be quite the tricky opponent when she gets serious, Dusk thought. I'm sure my pokemon are still stronger than her's, but she's giving me a hard time. I've taken one of her pokemon out and yet I feel like I'm against the ropes here. Shocker definitely can't finish her pokemon off before the poison gets to it, at any rate...
"Shocker, that's enough for now!" Dusk called out, opening a vortex directly behind it. Shocker moved back into the vortex, disappearing. It closed briefly, only to be replaced by another portal from which Dusk's froslass emerged. She winced as she floated out, her long arms reaching down just far enough to touch the spikes from where she was.
How expected, Dawn thought. And I bet I know what she'll do when I attack, too.
"Bahamut, Flamethrower!" Dawn called out. Bahamut opened his mouth and charged forward, stopping just as he reached the spot on the bridge where the toxic spikes started.
"-INCINERATE!-" Bahamut shrieked, loosing a blast of flames toward the white ghostly pokemon.
As the flames moved through the air, Dusk made a slight motion with each hand. "No." Two vortexes opened, one in front of Bahamut and one behind him, cutting off the attack shortly after it had reached Freezer. Bahamut yelled in shock as his own flames suddenly engulfed him, but Dawn only smirked.
"I thought you might do something like that!" Dawn yelled. "Bahamut, now's your chance! Burning Claw!" Bahamut grinned and extended his claws, still breathing fire into the vortexes surrounding him. Dusk realized what he was doing and closed the vortexes, but was too late. As soon as she closed them, a flaming gabite lunged toward her pokemon.
"-FLAMINGDRAGONBURNINGCLAW STRIIIIIIIIIKE!-" Bahamut shrieked as he came down toward his target. Freezer was so shocked she didn't even have time to move. The flaming dragon pokemon landed on her, slashing his claws across her face. The flames dispersed almost immediately upon impact, but the damage was done. The frost ghost was left lying on the ground under Bahamut, out cold. Bahamut immediately jumped back, avoiding the spikes as he moved away.
"Tch... you're getting to be awfully annoying today," Dusk muttered. With a motion of her hands, the two vortexes over the bridge vanished. Another opened over Freezer and a dusknoir emerged, grabbing the unconscious ghost pokemon and throwing her inside. The dusknoir's lower body was resting on the spikes when he emerged, though, and poison seeped into his body.
"I'm going to be more than annoying! Today I'm going to beat you!" Dawn shot back. Glancing toward her own pokemon, though, she realized she had a problem as well. Being on fire let Bahamut make a powerful attack against Freezer, but his body was now covered in burns and scorch marks.
That's two pokemon I managed to get burned now, not good! Dawn thought. I'll have to be a bit more careful, otherwise my own pokemon will wear down as quickly as Dusk's. I have a plan to deal with this one, though.
"Bahamut, that's enough for now! Return!" Dawn called out, holding out Bahamut's pokeball and recalling him. She then swapped his pokeball for another one. "Ryu! Go!" The pokeball in Dawn's hand opened, releasing a small riolu onto the field in front of her.
"-Ready to fight!-" Ryu shouted, sliding into a fighting stance with one hand held out in front of him and the other at his side.
Another seemingly poor matchup for her. I wonder what she's planning? Dusk thought. Shaking her head, she decided on a course of action she thought would be safe. "Reaper, use Will-o-Wisp!" she called out while moving her hands to open the appropriate vortexes, one in front of Reaper while he launched the flames and one behind Ryu. Ryu, however, could sense something amiss when the vortex opened and moved out of the way before Reaper even fired. When the purple flames came through, they missed entirely.
"Ryu, Foresight!" Ryu closed his eyes and focused. He felt for the auras around him and, with much concentration, was soon able to feel the ghost's aura. He focused on that, identifying Reaper.
Even if she does that, it doesn't give her any special advantages. Her pokemon's attacks will just hit normally, Dusk thought. Still, seems this one is going to be rather annoying, but its not very strong. We'll just attack full power.
Dusk snapped her fingers, closing the two vortexes, then called out her attack. "Reaper, Focus Punch!" At Dusk's command, Reaper began to draw back his fist, focusing his power into it.
This is bad! Ryu doesn't have any ranged attacks to counter with that, and it'll be ready to punch by the time he gets close! Dawn thought, gritting her teeth. Here's hoping Ryu can take it then...
After charging enough power for his attack, Reaper charged across the field. Seeing the attack coming, Ryu braced himself. He wasn't confident he could avoid it, so he could only hope to take it. When Reaper was almost upon him, Dawn finally called out an attack.
"Ryu! Counter!" Ryu only had a brief moment to register the command before Reaper was upon him, striking down with an immensely powerful punch. Ryu was able to endure the blow, bracing against the ground against it, but it obviously dealt an incredible amount of damage.
Ryu responded to the punch by leaping toward Reaper, jumping alongside his arm and delivering a punch to the ghost pokemon's face that threw its own power back at it. Despite being a ghost, Reaper dropped like a sack of bricks. The only thing that stopped it from hitting the ground was the vortex that opened, allowing him to fall into it.
"I suppose I walked right into that one, but your pokemon won't hold up much longer either," Dusk said to Dawn. "In fact, you only have two pokemon that aren't already severely weakened. So I'll just finish this one off quickly." Dusk gestured toward the vortex in front of Ryu, causing it to flicker briefly as she replaced it with another. From this new vortex, Seeker emerged, avoiding the hazard of the toxic spikes by appearing on Dawn's side of the field.
"Ryu, good job! Return!" Dawn called out, recalling Ryu and placing his pokeball on her belt. Dawn then took a pokeball in each hand. "Bowser, go!" Holding out one of the pokeballs, she released Bowser next. When Bowser appeared he was no more than a few feet away from Seeker.
"Seeker, use Will-O-Wisp!" Dusk called out, not bothering with vortexes this time due to the short distance between the two pokemon. As Seeker stretched out his hands, though, something strange happened. Without a word, Dawn immediately recalled Bowser and sent out a pokemon from the other pokeball in her hand. As the purple flames fired out, the pokemon that appeared to take the hit was...
"Axel! I choose you!" Axel emerged from the pokeball in Dawn's other hand, almost immediately being subjected to the Will-O-Wisp attack that Seeker had fired. However, the attack had a very different effect on Axel. Rather than inflicting a burn, the flames seemed to envelope Axel's body, causing an immense fire to surround him.
"-Ohhh yeah! Now we're cooking!-" Axel said with a grin.
"Wh-what the hell!" Dusk cried out in shock. "You can't just switch pokemon so suddenly like that!"
"Can and did!" Dawn replied, smirking. "Now, let me show you the full fire power of this Flashfire-empowered ponyta! Axel, FIRE BLAST!" Axel opened his mouth and shot a fireball at Seeker. The fireball was still small when it hit but was still pushing Seeker back, expanding and taking the familiar stick figure shape as it burned against the ghost pokemon's body. It was almost across the bridge when it finally exploded in a burst of flames, sending Seeker plummeting to the ground on the other side. The ghost pokemon was now lying on the spikes, but it didn't matter. It wasn't getting back up.
Ah, seems Dawn has this battle under control now, Mesprit thought. The lake pokemon had been silently observing until now, while also trying to figure out the source of Dusk's power. Still, even after this long, I haven't figured out a thing! Why does that power feel so familiar and yet I don't have a clue!
Great, there goes half my pokemon now, Dusk thought, bitterly opening a vortex so a pair of shadowy, purple hands could reach out and pull Seeker inside. The vortex immediately closed after. Shocker doesn't stand a chance. Looks like my best bet is to use Caster against this one, and I'll end it in one move!
Dusk made a gesture with her hands to open another vortex, and from this one a witch-like ghost pokemon emerged. "Caster, use Perish Song!" Dusk called out immediately. Caster then began to sing in a dark, melancholy tone.
"Perish Song, huh?" Dawn smirked. "Then I guess we should finish this quickly! Axel, Fire Spin!" Axel opened his mouth and fired a spiralling burst of flames. The flames struck Caster and swirled around it, creating a vortex of fire that kept her trapped.
"Okay, now get ready with a Fire Blast," Dawn whispered. Axel gave a slight nod and opened his mouth.
"Think I'd let you trap my pokemon like that?" Dusk asked Dawn while making a gesture with her hand. A vortex opened near the base of the swirling flames, sending almost the entire column into whatever abyss it was that the vortexes lead into and freeing Caster.
"AXEL! NOW!" Dawn called out. Axel shot the fireball he had readied, but another vortex suddenly opened up between him and Caster. The fireball he had shot disappeared into this new vortex.
"Yeah, no, don't think I didn't notice you muttering something to your pokemon just now," Dusk said, narrowing her eyes at Dawn. "You've been surprising me quite a bit today when it should have been me pulling out the surprises, but that's enough of that."
"Fine. That was such a good plan, too," Dawn muttered. "Well, in that case, attack with Flame Wheel instead!" Axel charged forward at Dawn's command, spewing flames from his mouth to surround him.
"Just have to hold out a little longer," Dusk muttered. "Caster, Confuse Ray!"
Caster didn't have time to try its attack. As Dusk was calling out, Axel jumped into the air and spun into a cartwheel. Axel struck Caster and grinded against her, flames burning her repeatedly until the attack threw her into the ground. Both pokemon ended up landing on the spike-covered side of the field and were poisoned as a result. It was particularly painful for Axel, grazing one of his hooves against a spike.
Just great! Now all of my pokemon are poisoned! Dusk thought, gritting her teeth. It didn't seem to be a total loss, though. As soon as Caster got back up, it fired a ball of light at Axel. The light swirled around him, leaving him confused when it finally disappeared.
"Axel, good enough! Return!" Dawn called out, holding out Axel's pokeball and recalling him. She placed the pokeball back on her belt and held out the one she was still holding from before. "Bowser, let's go! Time to finish this!" The pokeball opened and Bowser emerged onto the field once more.
"-I'll actually do stuff this time, right?-" Bowser grumbled. He had no warning whatsoever prior to Dawn's switching before.
I don't want to admit it... but I think she's got me, somehow, Dusk thought, grimacing. But I won't give up so easily! Dusk held out her hand, opening a vortex behind Caster. "Caster, return before that Perish Song can take effect!" Caster nodded and quickly floated back, retreating into the vortex. Dusk then opened another one in its place to call out her only other pokemon, Shocker.
This is it, Dawn thought. All that's left for Bowser to do is to put his defenses to good use and stall Dusk's last two pokemon until they collapse from poison. Dawn smirked. And Bowser has just the technique to do that!
"Wipe that smug look off your face! You've beat me only when you've won!" Dusk growled. "Shocker, Air Slash!" Shocker grinned and let its fans whirl, sucking in air and firing a blade at Bowser. Bowser grimaced in pain as the blade of air slashed across his backside.
"Well, I've pretty much won at this point anyway," Dawn said to Dusk. "Bowser, use Synthesis." The bushes on Bowser's back began to glow as he absorbed light into his body. Within seconds the damage inflicted by Dusk's Shocker was completely healed.
"So you're going to stall me out... was this your plan from the beginning?" Dusk asked her.
Dawn shrugged. "More or less. Having such a nice head start is just icing on the cake." With that, Dawn pointed toward Shocker, who was looking a bit woozy before suddenly collapsing. "The rotom takes damage from poison and faints. And then there were two."
"I hate to admit it, but you might actually be a decent trainer now," Dusk grumbled as she motioned to open another vortex near Shocker. Again, a pair of shadowy, purple hands emerged to pull the unconscious pokemon inside. Dusk then opened another vortex. "Well, this next one will definitely surprise you!"
Dusk, I can't allow you to use that pokemon, a voice said to her.
Wait, what! What gives! Dusk thought in response.
Given the current situation, we can't risk you being incapacitated, the voice said to her. Though it will likely mean Dawn will get by you, it is better this way so you may still act freely if something happens.
"Fine," Dusk grumbled. "Well, seems my wonderful spiritual advisor won't let me use that one. So I'm handicapped a pokemon," Dusk said to Dawn.
"Ah..." Dawn smirked. "The mysterious final pokemon could not be used, and then there was one."
"Well, I'll just have to rely on Caster to finish this!" Dusk replied, still holding onto some hope for victory as she opened another vortex. Again, though, nothing emerged.
About that, you seem to have forgotten that you don't have the same benefits as other trainers when you recall pokemon since you do not use pokeballs, the voice said to her. Therefore...
"Perish Song wasn't negated..." Dusk grumbled. "So I'm actually out of pokemon..."
"And the last pokemon fell to its own Perish Song, and then there were none?" Dawn said, smiling sheepishly. "Well, come to think of it, you just send them away to another plane or something, right? You should consider just investing in pokeballs."
"Duly noted..." Dusk grumbled. "Well, don't think you've seen the last of me! I just have to work on my strategy a bit more!" Dusk said, then quietly added, "And get pokeballs..." With one final gesture, Dusk opened a vortex under herself and dropped in. Then, the vortex closed, and Dusk was gone without a trace.
"Phew..." Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad I brought Assassin with me today. Toxic Spikes really helped out in this battle..."
"-I'm still confused about that one,-" Mesprit said. "-Just where does she get those powers?-"
"-Oh, hey, we've got someone tagging along now?-" Bowser asked, finally noticing Mesprit. "-Wait a minute! You're that pokemon! From the lake!-"
"-That's right.-" Mesprit smiled at him, though it only showed in its eyes. "-I'm Mesprit, we met when you were still an unevolved pokemon I believe. You've both made a lot of progress since then!-"
"I don't know exactly, but apparently a legendary pokemon is involved," Dawn said to Mesprit. "Anyway, we need to get going so we can catch up to Lucas already!"
"-Of course, of course,-" Mesprit replied, nodding. Dawn, Bowser, and Mesprit all headed toward the entrance to Mt. Coronet. All the while, though, Mesprit couldn't help but wonder what legendary pokemon could possibly be giving Dusk her power. Surely if such a pokemon existed in the Sinnoh region, Mesprit would know about it, wouldn't it?
Meanwhile, back in Veilstone, the rest of Team Galactic had been rounded up and were now being carted away under the supervision of the gym leaders. While supervising the arrest, the gym leaders took turns heading to the local pokemon center to restore their pokemon, and Byron was waiting anxiously for the operation to be completed.
"Damn it, I can't believe she just ran off like that..." Byron grumbled under his breath.
"Is there a problem, Byron?" a voice called out from behind him. A voice that caused Byron to freeze up instantly. "This operation seems like it was a success. As you said, the involvement of the Elite Four wasn't necessary at all. So there wouldn't be anything bothering you, would there?"
Byron let out a sigh and slowly turned around. Standing behind him was none other than Cynthia, the current Elite Four Champion. "The operation was a success, but most of the higher ups have escaped," Byron explained to her, trying to retain his composure. "We believe, based on our interrogation, that they're currently heading toward the summit of Mt. Coronet."
"Well, that would be a simple matter to handle, would it not?" Cynthia asked. Though Byron was obviously nervous, Cynthia didn't seem the least bit imposing in her questioning. "As soon as you're finished here the gym leaders can depart for the summit and take care of it. Or is there more to it than that?"
"There is," Byron said to her. "We believe a civilian trainer by the name of Dawn is chasing after him as we speak. She couldn't have gotten far, though, so we're confident we can still beat her there after we're finished."
"Dawn, you say?" Cynthia asked, raising an eyebrow. "Pre-adolescent girl? Sort of blue hair? Ridiculously short red jacket with seemingly nothing under it?"
"She has wind pants, actually," Byron said.
"Certainly an improvement from flashing her panties then," Cynthia mused. "Regardless, in that case there will be no need for the gym leaders to get involved any further." Byron was left completely dumbfounded by that statement. Cynthia turned, looking off toward Mt. Coronet with a small smirk on her lips.
"I'll see to the rest of this personally."
Author's Notes: Based the idea of how the lake trio stopped the explosion on how they can seal Palkia or Dialga's powers. Speaking of the lake trio, wonder where Azelf disappeared to?
Finally a full battle with Dusk. Dawn won with most of her pokemon still standing, although still in rough shape. Though, Dusk didn't get to use her final pokemon. It wouldn't have made a difference, though. Originally I was going to include it but cut it for plot-related reasons. It just made more sense not to use it, though I really wanted to show that one this chapter...
Observative readers will notice something interesting about all of Dawn's pokemon that she used. Something that will become much more important by about... I'd say Chapter 39. Huh. Now that I think about it, looks like the Sinnoh Saga will be a lot more chapters than I was planning for originally. Think I've been including a lot of things I didn't originally plan for though...