A New Chance For Adventure

by ARCEUS-master

Sequel to A New Chance At Life. Finishing the Johto region while traveling with two Legendary Pokémon, Latias and Latios, was certainly a joyous experience for Ash. With that region behind him, Ash has now set his sights on a new tournament: The Hoenn League, a journey that promises new challenges, new friends and rivals to be met, and a powerful evil ready to rise…

23. Rustboro Raid: Pokémon Heroes

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

Author Notes: So, the chapter is finished! First, I want to wish every single one of my dear readers that have remained with me throughout the years Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year 2020!

I also want to give special thanks to the entirety of my Discord server, as they were the ones who basically bullied me into somehow writing this entire update in less than two weeks. You people in my server are all awesome!

Thank you so much for providing such a lovely and wholesome place to interact with you all and to have fun every day, you're all very special to me and I am overjoyed you are all part of the server and that amazing community we are building!

In that regard, special thanks go to SilverWolf99 and DG00100, the main culprits of bullying me into getting this update done for Christmas, haha. So, big shout outs to the two of you!

If anyone else wants to join the discord server and form part of our growing community, go right ahead! Links are in my profile page and DA account!

Anyway, into the chapter we go! The Rustboro fight is about to end, and trust me, it'll be a grand climax! So, let's go straight into it! Don't forget to leave a Review with your thoughts! I'd greatly appreciate that!

---

Chapter 23 – Rustboro Raid: Pokémon Heroes

---

Shelly immediately whirled around and rushed back to Matt's position. As she ran, she took out a combat knife from a holster on her hip and skidded to a halt while pivoting so she was directly facing the newcomers again. She extended her arm to the side and deftly held the knife close to Joseph Stone's neck. "Stop right there!" she shouted aggressively, but bristled visibly when she felt her arm freeze on the spot as Metagross glided onto the rooftop, their eyes shining a faint shade of blue.

Before Metagross could do anything further, Shelly's Crawdaunt swiftly sprang into action and lifted one of his pincers, wrapping it around Mr. Stone's neck threateningly. The Rogue Pokémon glared at Metagross, who returned the glare with still-glowing eyes.

Metagross settled down and pressed their underside to the floor, allowing Steven to calmly step down from the powerful steel-type's back. Steven began to walk towards the Team Aqua admins, his head held high and his expression full of confidence while his eyes never broke contact with Shelly. Metagross levitated from the floor and joined their trainer's side, with both of them stopping next to where Mawile had landed from her earlier leap.

Skarmory tilted his head, looking at Ash and his Pokémon. "Please stay here, we'll take it from here. However, be ready just in case something happens," he instructed before walking ahead, with his sharp metallic talons clicking on the rooftop with every step he took. Once Skarmory joined ranks with his trainer and teammates, the rooftop settled into a chilling and deathly silent standoff with both groups of trainers and Pokémon staring each other down unflinchingly, with only the blowing wind and the crackling fires on the other tower faintly echoing in the vicinity.

Steven gave his three Pokémon a brief and affirmative nod. The two mega-evolved steel-types, Mawile and Metagross, slowly and wordlessly began to move to the sides to fan out and give each other more space and further box in Team Aqua and their Pokémon. Shelly's enormous Wishiwashi, who still towered ominously over the whole structure as he levitated above it, let out a deep and menacing growl as he tracked Metagross' rightwards movements. Matt's Swampert tensed noticeably, her eyes following Mawile's calm strides as she moved farther to the left. Skarmory stayed at Steven's side, ready to defend his trainer from any direct attacks if needed. As Steven's Pokémon moved into position, Joseph Stone calmly watched the events unfold with a relaxed expression on his face despite having Crawdaunt's sharp pincer and Shelly's knife at his neck.

"Order your Pokémon to stand down, Steven," Shelly commanded in an apprehensive tone. "No Psychic attacks either."

"I'll do it when you lower that knife," Steven countered coolly, still maintaining fierce eye contact with the Aqua admin.

Shelly stood still for a few moments, her face thoughtful. "No," she responded at last. "At least not while your Pokémon are still out."

Steven crossed his arms. "Well, what do you hope to accomplish with that?" he questioned.

"The threat on your father's life is the only thing that's keeping your Pokémon at bay," Shelly answered. "That's what."

"Very astute," Steven acknowledged with a slight hum. His gaze then hardened considerably. "However, I hope you're also very much aware that if you go through with it, then there's nothing stopping my Pokémon from making sure you all meet the exact same fate as my father," Steven pointed out in an unsettlingly calm tone. Backing up his words, Metagross' gaze also hardened and their large metallic claws flexed warningly. Mawile's hands balled into fists while she crouched down slightly into an offensive stance, with the sets of jaws behind her grinding their teeth forebodingly.

A chill ran down Shelly's spine at Steven's thinly veiled threat, with no doubt in her mind that his Pokémon would carry it out without question. Wishiwashi and Swampert glared at Steven angrily, adamant to defend their own trainers at all costs if needed be. Shelly regained her composure quickly and defiantly met Steven's hardened gaze. "Then it seems we're at an impasse here."

"Indeed, we are. However, I have all the time in the world," Steven replied. "Do you?"

Shelly scowled at him, quickly noting that he was indeed right. The longer the standoff was prolonged, the stronger Steven's bargaining position became. "Release the Psychic," she ordered abruptly.

Steven looked on thoughtfully for a few instants before nodding slightly. "Fine, it's not like it'll improve your position in any way," he conceded. Metagross' eyes stopped glowing, releasing the psychic hold they had on Shelly's arm.

The Aqua admin let out a relieved breath, and slightly lowered the knife to ease a bit of the tension that had permeated the standoff. However, she still kept the weapon close to Mr. Stone for good measure. "Good," she said simply.

"Well, do you want to resolve this impasse like gentlemen, or with violence?" Steven questioned. "I can do both of those fairly well. And, I'm sure you're clearly aware one of those two will end really bad for you. I suggest you try to avoid it if you know what's good for you."

"Noted," Shelly replied drily, the grip on her knife tightening instinctually as her mind frantically raced for a way out. She could literally feel the cold sweat building up on her forehead and on her hand, slightly moistening the knife's handle.

"So, what now, Commander Shelly?" Matt questioned, his voice a hushed whisper. "Orders? Do we fight them or what?"

"No, Matt," Shelly replied anxiously. "We have to be very smart here. Remember what I told you on the ship. We're no match for him. It's in our best interest to solve this with words."

"Come on! We've got Wishiwashi and Swampert out and ready to rumble, we can win this," Matt objected. "It's two on two!"

"Hey! What about me!?" Azumarill shouted indignantly, his face turning red with anger.

"Three on three, if you count that Skarmory and Azumarill," Matt corrected. Even if he couldn't understand Azumarill, he had a fairly good idea of what he had said. "I say we go for it!"

Shelly sighed in exasperation, unsurprised by the burly admin's antics. "Listen, Matt, just this once let me do all the talking, please. We're in very grave danger right now. We're facing off against two opponents we simply cannot defeat."

"It's that bad?" Matt asked in a sad tone, his once excited demeanor turning to one of disappointment.

"Yes, that bad." Shelly winced and warily glanced at Mawile first. "That Mawile is downright insane. She's a beast whose physical strength is simply unrivaled, she's the strongest there is. It's said no other trainer-owned Pokémon in the world can achieve the sheer feats of strength that she can. And, despite that, she's not even close to being the biggest threat here." Shelly then slowly turned to look at the white and golden Metagross, her gaze growing nervous as her eyes met those of Steven's ace. "Then there's that… thing, it's renowned as the most powerful trainer-owned Pokémon in the whole world, a title it shares with just one other Pokémon from another champion. It's a monstrosity, an aberration of nature, a once in a generation thing." She swallowed, her already tense tone growing dreadful. "That Metagross is a supernatural Pokémon that's never once been defeated."

Matt's eyes widened in disbelief. "…What!? That much?" he questioned incredulously, his horrified eyes focusing on Steven. "No way! The gap between us and that man can't be that big! I refuse to believe that!" he cried out in denial, frustratingly holding his head between his hands.

"Well, it is and there's not much we can do about it," Shelly responded with a sigh, rolling her eyes. "So, start acting smart before you get us both in an even bigger mess than we already are."

Steven chuckled, amused by the two admin's reactions. "I see you've done your homework."

"There wasn't that much homework to do about you, really. Your reputation precedes you, Steven," Shelly commented.

"Good, and you've knowingly put yourself on the business end of those same two Pokémon you just described," Steven responded sharply. "Congratulations, you've played yourself."

Shelly scoffed. "Whatever."

As the pair talked, Ash looked on admiringly towards Steven's Pokémon. "Woah, they were awesome enough when they mega evolved. Now? They're even more amazing. It's no wonder he used to be league champion. I kinda want my own Mega Evolution now."

"I doubt any of us can Mega Evolve, Ash," Pikachu said with a small laugh. "Anyway, agreed. It feels a lot better knowing that we have them on our side. Right, guys?" He looked to the side, and frowned when he noticed that Latios looked oddly stressed. "What's up with you?" he asked, slightly worried.

"Hush, I'm busy," Latios responded quietly. Pikachu blinked in confusion, but then just shrugged it off and said nothing. With Shelly's complete attention centered on Steven and his Pokémon, Latios' eyes glowed dimly as he slowly spread his mind out and very gently entered Shelly's mind, doing his best to ensure she felt nothing. Very smoothly, the dragon began to probe into her memories, digging through her mind to learn about Team Aqua's endgame.

"So, Shelly, if I may speak up," Mr. Joseph Stone abruptly spoke up, causing Shelly, Matt and Steven to look at him. "You're right, we're at an impasse. Well, as you put it earlier before my son got here, it's time to do business. I'll return the same offer you made to Ash and give you an easy way out of this situation, for sake of just ending this whole pointless debacle quickly." He made a short pause to gather his thoughts before elaborating. "Return whatever you've stolen from the company, set me free, and we'll let you go unharmed and with your dignity still intact."

Shelly snorted, admittedly slightly impressed. "Smart move, old man," she replied. "I can appreciate it. Turning the situation around and attacking me with my own words."

"It's either that or fight my son," Joseph retorted, gazing at the admin with a condescending look. "Your choice, and I don't think I need to remind you that you aren't in any position to make counter-offers."

Shelly frowned thoughtfully, considering the elder's offer. As she carefully pondered it, she realized that accepting the offer would also mean reporting complete failure to Archie. "No," she responded. "You're mistaken. I still hold a card here. Namely your life, so I will counter-offer. We'll keep what we stole, the rest stays as you offered."

"You're bold," Joseph admitted. "But I won't accept that."

"If you follow through with my father's offer, then I'll respect it and let you go," Steven spoke out. "However, anything else or you try to pull anything funny? You know what happens to all of you." Mawile and Metagross slightly shifted their stances to ones that were more aggressive, wordlessly echoing their trainer's threat in a deafening manner and prompting all three of Team Aqua's Pokémon to tense noticeably.

"This may take a while," Latias whispered to her friends while Steven, Joseph and Shelly talked. "Should we try and help them out?" she wondered.

"No," Pidgeot answered tiredly. "Let them handle it. They know what they're doing."

"Actually," Latios spoke up telepathically so that no one other than his teammates and trainer heard him. "I've got a plan just in case the negotiations break down with an unfavorable outcome for us. We'll need Steven's Pokémon, though." He frowned, looking at Metagross as he tried in vain to establish a telepathic communication with them. 'I hate how my telepathy doesn't work on others I'm not acquainted with, ugh,' he thought in annoyance.

"I sense you're trying to contact me," Metagross spoke up telepathically, startling the dragon. "I've established a telepathic link between us, you may speak."

"Alright, thanks." Latios took a deep breath, compressed his idea into a single but elaborate thought, and then sent it towards them. "There it is."

Metagross' powerful mind rapidly analyzed it, running thousands of simulations in mere milliseconds. "It's very risky," they noted. "I'm not sure it's worth going for it should this situation turn hostile."

Latios winced. "It's something. Trust us."

"We'll keep it as an option. Right now, there's too many variables to accurate conclude where this situation is heading," Metagross said while establishing telepathic contact with Steven, Joseph, Skarmory and Mawile, sharing Latios' plan with them.

'Trust them, guys,' Skarmory thought as he went over the plan. 'I've been fighting alongside them for a while now. They may be far less experienced than us, but they're very strong and competent. They have my full support.'

'I see…' Steven thought.

'Don't quite look forward to it, but, I can vouch for Ash's Pokémon too,' Joseph thought. 'Ultimately, it's up to Steven and Metagross to make the call.'

"We'll see," Metagross replied.

Latios smiled. "Thanks." He then began to share his thoughts with Ash and the rest of his teammates.

Oblivious to the telepathic scheming going on at the opposing side of the field, Shelly held her tense stance while clearly unsure on how to proceed. It wasn't often she found herself so close to being completely checkmated. "That was my final offer," Shelly said at last. "Take it."

"I also made a final offer," Joseph countered. "And if you don't like it, you can take that up with Steven's Pokémon."

Shelly growled, visibly annoyed.

…

Elsewhere, Aqua Admin Amber anxiously paced about on the bridge of Team Aqua's mighty Sea Titan battleship. Occasionally, the bald admin would glance to the main screens of the bridge, where a map of Rustboro City was being displayed with numerous flashing blue dots on it showing the positions of the numerous Team Aqua strike teams still operating in the city. He frowned and kept pacing around, his hands buried in the pockets of his pants. "What's taking everyone so long!?" he finally questioned in frustration.

"There hasn't been any radio communication with Commander Shelly or Admin Matt for a few minutes now," a grunt on one of the bridge's consoles reported dutifully.

Amber sighed. "What's wrong with them? We should've finished this boring attack a long while ago!" he exclaimed in exasperation. He looked up to the main screen to survey the situation another time before walking over to the bridge's front windows. "Huh?" He paused and looked closer, noting a distinct feature on the city that he hadn't seen the previous time he had glanced out the window. Levitating right above one of the imposing towers of Devon Corp. was a monstrous navy blue-colored fish-shaped water construct. Even from the distance of several miles out into the sea, the sheer size of Shelly's Wishiwashi made him easily discernible above the city's skyline.

"Well, there's no mistaking that stupid thing," Amber murmured to himself. He turned around, walking to a pair of grunts at their consoles on another section of the bridge. "If Shelly dared to unleash her Wishiwashi, that means something's probably gone horribly wrong." He looked down at the grunts. "Release one of the reconnaissance drones. I want to get a better look out there."

"Yes sir," the Aqua grunts responded obediently, typing several commands into their computers.

On the exterior of the vast Kyogre-themed battleship, the main hangar bay doors started sliding backwards, opening to allow a drone no more than four or five feet long to fly out and swiftly shoot towards the city while also rapidly increasing its altitude.

Amber walked over to the main screens, looking up to them. "Show footage."

The city map previously displayed on the screens disappeared, switching to a live feed of the drone approaching the city. The drone flew high over Rustboro City, its powerful camera zooming in on the Devon Corp. rooftops as it passed by.

Amber rolled his eyes and shook his head in disappointment as the drone's footage revealed Shelly's current predicament. "So much talk for avoiding that Steven dude." Amber gave the screens a disgusted look. "Seriously, I knew Shelly would screw things up. I told her to just steamroll the city with this ship and get everything over with quickly. What a mess." Amber whirled around, raising one of his arms imposingly. "Everyone, prepare for combat!" he ordered boldly.

The grunts looked amongst themselves in confusion and uncertainty. "But, sir," the grunt serving as the ship's helmsman began to speak, and gulped nervously when a very annoyed Amber turned to glare at him. "A command like that can only be authorized by Commander Shelly."

"I'm aware," Amber responded, clearly irritated. "But, she's at the moment unable to give us such authorization because she's currently tied up facing off Steven Stone. She also needs our help. So, as I said, prepare this ship for combat!" he ordered again, raising his voice angrily.

"Yes sir…" some of the grunts responded, most of them sounding unsure or anxious. They kept looking amongst themselves worriedly, but nonetheless started slowly carrying out Amber's order.

"Switch the battleship from submarine mode to airship mode! Turn on the main engines and empty the ballast tanks! I want all weapon bays open and ready, load the computer with the preestablished strike coordinates I entered earlier," Amber commanded decisively. He walked up to the bridge's front windows, his eyes burning with glee as he looked at the defenseless city ahead.

The grunts staffing the bridge looked at Amber in alarm. "But, sir!" the helmsman began again, looking at Amber with a horrified expression. "We… I don't think we should be firing missiles against a city full of civilians!" he protested. "This isn't Team Aqua's mission!"

"Eh, whatever." Amber shrugged nonchalantly. "If that Steven Stone dude is as powerful as he is revered to be, then he'll stop them, right? Let's put Hoenn's famous former champion to the test," he responded, waving a hand dismissively.

The grunts looked at each other nervously, whispering indecisively amongst themselves. "Okay, I guess," the grunt helmsman relented, his voice full of insecurity.

Amber chuckled slowly. "This is where the fun begins." He grinned savagely, an unhinged expression settling on his face. "Let's strike fear in the hearts of our opponents. Sound the foghorn!"

The mighty eight hundred foot long Sea Titan battleship began to gear into action. The two massive Kyogre-themed fin-like structures jutting out from the sides of the battleship began to shift upwards. Massive metal plates began to displace, opening outwards to reveal two massive rotors that immediately began to spin. The battleship's rear steering rudders, which were shaped just like Kyogre's tail fins, started relocating themselves upwards to reveal two enormous jet-like engines that roared deafeningly as they ignited. A deep rumble filled the air as the combat ship began to lift above the sea's waves, displacing large rings of water under it in the process. Two large armored plates that flanked the ship's bridge began to shift to the sides, revealing a series of missile canisters. As the airship began to gain altitude, a deep and resounding boom echoed across the city as it's foghorns blared.

The moment the foghorn's deep call reached them, everyone on the Devon rooftop instantly looked to the side. Their advantageous viewpoint due to the sheer height of the Devon Corp. towers gave them a clear view of the vast ocean sprawling past Rustboro City, and the gigantic airship slowly rising from it.

"Pikachu, now's your chance!" Latios hurriedly said in the electric-type's mind. With everyone distracted by the battleship's sudden intervention, Pikachu abruptly used Quick Attack and dashed to the side. He rushed towards one of the tower's ventilation structures to use it as cover as he got out of Team Aqua's field of vision as fast as possible. Once hidden, the electric-type smirked and used Quick Attack again to rapidly run further to the side and flank his opponents.

Shelly looked on incredulously towards the coastline. "What the…? I didn't request anything, did you?" she questioned, glancing at Matt.

"It wasn't me," Matt answered while shaking his head rapidly. "I'm not authorized to, anyway."

"So, that isn't part of your plan?" Steven asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Shelly answered truthfully. "I had faith in our still ongoing negotiations."

As the imposing airship raised itself to a height comparable to that of the towers, two jets of flames ignited atop its upper hull. In a huge plume of smoke and fire, nine large missiles emerged in rapid succession from the ship's missile bays. The missiles rapidly rose high into the sky and left thick columns of smoke in their wake.

Shelly's eyes widened as she drew in a shallow breath. She immediately reached to her earpiece, activating the radio on it. "Sea Titan ship, what are you doing!? I did not authorize a missile strike against the city! I repeat, I did not authorize this! Cease hostilities immediately!" she shouted angrily into the radio. "Amber! What do you think you're doing!?"

"Use this opportunity to escape, dumbass!" was Amber's sole response through the radio. Shelly gritted her teeth angrily, cursing under her breath.

As Steven watched the missiles surge higher and higher into the air, he sharply whirled to face his Metagross. "Metagross, analyze!" he shouted urgently.

Metagross' eyes glowed briefly, using their psychic powers to get acute awareness of the situation at hand. "Nine missiles have been fired against Rustboro City, but it's too early to tell accurately what their trajectories and targets are. However, it's fairly obvious they will target important or highly populated parts of the city. Each missile is approximately twenty feet long, so they most likely carry a considerable explosive payload," Metagross reported.

Steven grimaced, concerned. "Can you stop them?" he asked hastily.

Metagross' powerful supercomputer-grade mind then rapidly ran a series of simulations as they tried to come up with a solution. "If Latios and Latias aid me, we can stop all nine missiles before they hit the city! There's no time to lose!" they said urgently as they rapidly levitated off the ground and shot towards the coastline.

Steven immediately turned around to face the younger trainer. "Ash! You heard Metagross! Go!" he shouted.

"Latias, Latios, go! Help Metagross out!" Ash pleaded, pointing towards the coastline.

"Right!" Latias replied, taking off and flying after the Iron Leg Pokémon.

Latios growled, looking between the coastline and Shelly's group. "Guys, you can still execute the plan!" he shouted before also shooting off after the other two Pokémon.

Metagross swiftly soared across the sky, propelled by their mighty psychic powers. As they approached the incoming missiles, they used their psychic power to feel their way inside the inner workings of one of the missiles, rapidly formulating a way to destroy them before they could hit their intended targets.

"We're here," Latias said as both she and Latios easily caught up to Metagross.

"What do you want us to do?" Latios asked.

"I've devised a way to destroy each missile in the air. However, due to their fast movement speed, in order to successfully land an accurate psychic attack into their internal mechanisms and destroy them, we need to be within close proximity of them," Metagross explained. Their eyes then glowed slightly as they inserted detailed imagery showing how to destroy the missiles into Latios and Latias' minds, as well as instructions of which missiles each of them would target. "That's three missiles for every one of us. Be careful." With nothing else to say and wholly trusting the two dragons, Metagross shot ahead towards their assigned targets.

Latias and Latios looked at each other, gave each other a reassuring nod, and then accelerated ahead. The three airborne Pokémon crossed over Rustboro City's coastline while steadily gaining altitude, just as the nine missiles fired by Team Aqua's airship began to curve down on their flightpaths towards the city.

Meanwhile, back at the Devon Corp. building's rooftop, Shelly looked on as Ash's and Steven's Pokémon rapidly flew towards the incoming missiles. Her mind raced as she went over her current predicament and thought of what her next move should be. While she was furious at Amber for launching an uncalled missile strike on the city, she was acutely aware that such action had effectively removed the biggest threat that was facing her, Steven's Metagross. Latios and Latias leaving as well was definitely welcome, too.

Shelly eyed her remaining opponents, with her attention lingering on Steven's Mawile the longest. Making her decision, she grabbed Mr. Stone by the arm. "Retreat! Back to the helicopter, now!" she ordered her Crawdaunt and Matt. She then looked upwards. "Wishiwashi, stand guard and protect our escape!" With her commands given, Shelly turned around and started walking hastily, pulling Mr. Stone along with her.

"Swampert, Azumarill, protect our escape!" Matt ordered as he turned around and rushed towards the helicopter as well.

Steven glared angrily at the two Team Aqua admins as they hastily retreated, his hands balling into fists. "Ash, ready your Pokémon, we can still pull off your Latios' idea with the Pokémon we have left!" he called out firmly.

Ash nodded at the former champion, giving him a thumbs up. "Come on, Pidgeot! Let's save Steven's dad!" He exclaimed and then ran up to Steven. Pidgeot spread her great wings and began to flap them, taking off and ascending into the air.

"Let's get this done," Steven said, briefly smiling at the younger trainer as he stopped at his side. Next to them, Skarmory also spread his bladed wings and began to take off, flying a couple dozen feet up to join Pidgeot. Both avian Pokémon remained in position, not yet charging ahead.

Ash looked ahead, focusing on the giant Wishiwashi, giant Swampert and Azumarill that were standing guard between them and Steven's father. "Can we still get through them fast enough without the others?" he questioned with a frown.

Steven chuckled. "Oh yes, we can. You wanted to see Mega Evolution in action? Well, here's your chance, Ash." Steven's lips curled into a fierce smirk as he glanced at Mawile. "Mawile, clear a path towards the helicopter for Skarmory and Ash's Pidgeot." His eyes narrowed. "Neutralize their Pokémon."

Mawile grinned broadly and leered at the trio of Team Aqua Pokémon with utter glee in her eyes, the two sets of jaws behind her echoing her grin in delightful anticipation. "Oh, Steven. It'll be my pleasure!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, laughing for a brief instant. Mawile abruptly dashed ahead, fearlessly charging at her three opponents head-on.

"Bwahahahaha!" Azumarill laughed raucously, pointing a stubby arm towards her. "I'm gonna get you!" he boasted bravely as a potent surge of water enveloped him. "I'm so pumped right now! My Huge Power is fired up, I used Belly Drum to max power. I'm ready to tear you apart!" he called out daringly as he lunged at the incoming Mawile with a speedy Aqua Jet.

"Do your worst!" Mawile taunted as she skidded to a halt and held an arm out, an elated chuckle escaping her lips.

As Azumarill approached her, he leaped and let his Aqua Jet dissipate to reveal a fiery pink aura that rapidly spread across his body. As he flew towards his target, Azumarill reared one of his arms back. "Feel the full force of my unstoppable Play Rough attack!" Azumarill roared at the top of his lungs as he swung his arm at her, throwing a fierce punch with all his might.

Mawile smirked and caught it with her open palm, making a very audible metallic clank echo across the rooftop in the process. Azumarill's attack and momentum were stopped dead in their tracks, and Mawile's arm didn't even move an inch backwards. "That… was anticlimactic," Mawile commented with an unconvinced expression in her face.

Azumarill's eyes widened in horror, his jaw dropping. "Wh-what?" he questioned in disbelief.

Mawile narrowed her eyes, painfully tightening the grip her hand had on his chubby arm and using it to keep him off the ground. Azumarill screamed and thrashed in pain, vainly trying to use his other arm to pry open her excruciating grip. She held him close to her face, to the point his horrified eyes were only an inch away from her resolute eyes. "Even between users of Huge Power, there's pecking orders," Mawile stated as she reared her other arm back and then threw a single punch into Azumarill's gut.

Azumarill couldn't even scream as the air was knocked out of his lungs. He was instantly knocked out cold and violently flung back, prompting Swampert to swiftly raise a hand to catch him midair. Swampert glared at Mawile as she gently set her fallen teammate down onto the floor.

"That's one down," Steven noted while keeping track of Shelly, Matt and his father. By now, they had already boarded the helicopter, which was currently in the process of speeding up its engine and rotors for take-off. Three massive blasts in rapid succession echoed in the far distance, prompting him and Ash to look out to the coastline. Nine columns of thick smoke still rose high into the sky and then arched towards the city from the hull of the Team Aqua battleship. However, only six were still continuing on their path downwards, with the other three ending in three large explosions of fire and smoke.

Swampert let out a rumbling growl, drawing the two trainers' attention back to the battlefield. Swampert reared back and then charged ahead at full speed, each of her heavy strides causing the rooftop to tremble noticeably. Mawile smirked as she lifted her head, looking at the incoming behemoth with unbound excitement in her eyes. "You look very powerful," she gushed eagerly. "Come on, don't disappoint me! Give me your best hit. I won't dodge!" she declared encouragingly, her clear challenge issued and her resolute decision to take Swampert's attack head-on made final.

Swampert glared angrily at the diminutive Pokémon, her expression shifting to one of clear indignation at being underestimated. As she approached the mega-evolved Deceiver Pokémon, a brown outline surrounded her body, causing the quakes her strides generated to grow in intensity. Swampert imposingly rose to her hind legs and lifted one of her muscular arms high above her, and then roared furiously as she violently brought her arm down with the full force of a crashing Earthquake behind it.

Mawile rapidly turned around and lifted both of the extra sets of jaws that sprouted from the back of her head so they were above her. She opened them wide to reveal the rows of razor-sharp teeth in them and then braced herself for impact. She caught Swampert's gigantic fist, which was larger than her entire body, in both jaws, which immediately snapped shut on each side of it. The floor under Mawile cracked and caved in noticeably from the sheer force of Swampert's attack, pushing Mawile down into a crouch from the potent impact. Mawile winced as the devastating shockwaves of the Earthquake attack tore through her body and dispersed to the ground below, triggering a thundering quake that rattled its way across the rooftop. Mawile growled, standing strong to bring the attack to a complete deadlock.

Swampert gritted her teeth, grimacing as Mawile's teeth dug deeply into her skin and began to draw blood. Nonetheless, she pushed down with as much strength as she could to try and crush the smaller steel-type. Her arm trembled visibly as she kept adding force, going as far as to tilt her body forward to add as much of its imposing weight as possible into her push. However, much to her utter shock, Mawile refused to budge any further and by all accounts had completely stopped her right in her tracks.

Mawile's mouth curled into a savage smirk as she began to slowly lift Swampert's arm away from her, causing Swampert's eyes to widen in alarm. Mawile let out a resounding shout and abruptly rose to full height while pushing the gigantic Swampert's arm away from her. Swampert stumbled back in pure shock, nearly losing her balance in the process.

Mawile chuckled as she turned around with a bright pink aura erupting around her, courtesy of her Play Rough attack. "You're very strong. I'm very impressed with you," she praised, the tone in her voice distinctively pleased. "Now, it's my turn." She crouched down and then jumped towards Swampert, rearing one of her arms back as she flew ahead.

Swampert swiftly recomposed herself and used Hammer Arm to tense both of her arms, coating them with a powerful white glow. She raised and crossed them in front of her to shield herself and braced for the imminent impact.

Mawile threw a colossal punch straight into Swampert's crossed arms, causing a blast of cartoonish smoke and golden stars to fly off and a visible shockwave of pink light to blast off in every direction. Swampert let out a harrowing screech of agony as a sharp pain immediately shot up the arm Mawile had hit. Mawile let out a war cry and finished pushing the punch all the way through, violently lifting Swampert off her feet and hurling her back from the sheer strength behind the punch. Swampert flew through the air and crashed dangerously close to the edge of the building, causing that section of the roof to collapse and drop her to the floor below with a giant plume of dust and debris that obscured her immediately.

Ash's eyes widened in shock, his jaw dropping incredulously. "What!? No way!"

"Oh my…" Pidgeot said, speechless, as her beak dropped open in surprise. After a few awkward instants, she resumed speaking. "Is that the same Swampert we spent the best part of the last hour fighting?" she questioned disbelievingly.

Skarmory laughed, infinitely pleased. "That's Mawile for you."

"She's kinda overshadowing you, you know," Pidgeot commented teasingly.

"That's because of her Mega Evolution," Skarmory answered. "I don't have one, so I kind of fall behind whenever they use it. Without it I can fight any of my teammates pretty much evenly."

Pidgeot nodded slowly. "Oh, yeah. That makes sense."

"Two down," Steven noted, his eyes still fixated on the helicopter behind the last remaining Pokémon from Team Aqua, just as the aircraft began to slowly lift off the ground.

Wishiwashi growled threateningly, focusing the entirety of his attention solely on Mawile. He opened his gigantic jaws, causing the hundreds of fish duplicates that made them up to begin moving about erratically and out of control. A ferocious whirlpool of water stirred from deep within it, with the water swirling faster and faster until it was thrashing like a stormy ocean within his mouth.

Mawile laughed eagerly as she watched the colossal water-type prepare to attack her with an excited glint in her eyes. "Go ahead." She threw Wishiwashi a thrilled grin. "Give me your best attack. I won't dodge either," she dared him.

"She won't dodge? She's doing it again?" Ash asked, surprised. "Why's that?"

Steven smiled fondly. "That's Mawile's personal style. When she's fighting an opponent that she finds worthy of her, she likes to take on their absolute best head-on, and then prove herself the stronger fighter by crushing it through her overwhelming strength."

Mawile crouched slightly, a silver veil of energy surrounding her body. The veil erupted into a blinding silver light that encased her completely, with her head and her two sets of jaws shining the brightest. "Attack me with everything you've got!" she roared challengingly.

Shelly's Wishiwashi reared his head back and then thrust it forward, spouting a massive blast of high-pressure bright blue water towards the diminutive steel-type. Mawile braced and stood strong, her Iron Head attack raging at full might as she met the Hydro Pump attack head on. Literally.

The attack hit Mawile with the full force of a smashing tidal wave, shoving her back a considerable distance before she firmly pushed down onto the floor with her feet to gain as much traction as she could. Wishiwashi's attack was torn upon impact with her, resulting in powerful geysers of water shooting in every direction from the point of collision with Mawile and causing false rain to fall down all over the place. Sections of the floor all around them were completely torn apart by the highly potent and unpredictable waterspouts.

Mawile grunted as she brought the attack to a stalemate, and then slowly took a step forward against the monstrous current mercilessly crashing against her body. Then another step. Then another step. Little by little, she started taking strides against the booming mass of water violently battering her every single second. Mawile let out a defiant scream as her pace picked up into a light sprint, with the metallic energy surrounding her flaring vibrantly and pushing back Wishiwashi's humongous Hydro Pump. Once she was close to the massive water-type, Mawile crouched down and used all her strength in her legs to make a potent leap upwards while tearing her way right through his attack.

Wishiwashi immediately took note of it, and abruptly shut his mouth to end the Hydro Pump attack. As Mawile approached him, Wishiwashi's physical structure began to quiver strangely. Suddenly, a hole opened in the formation of Wishiwashi replicas to create an empty, open space for Mawile to harmlessly pass through.

Mawile narrowed her eyes as her fist met nothing but empty air. 'Smart, can't punch him if he hollows out his body where I'm about to hit him. However…' she thought, smirking afterwards. Arcs of electricity began to swirl within the two large sets of jaws behind her as she used Thunder Fang. The electricity increased in intensity until it began to fly off in every direction, spreading towards Wishiwashi's water body that was all around her as she passed right through it.

Wishiwashi growled in pain, its water-construct trembling and crackling as static uncontrollably flowed through its highly conductive body. Mawile emerged from behind Wishiwashi, landed on the roof behind him, and then whirled around without losing a single instant. Wishiwashi slowly began to swivel around, glaring at her as he opened his jaws and prepared another Hydro Pump. She ran ahead and jumped once more, growling viciously as she lunged at him. "You look extremely powerful. It's not every day I get to freely punch someone with all my strength, so here goes!" Mawile screamed, rearing back her arm while a powerful pink swirl of sparkles surrounded it once more.

Wishiwashi tried to open his body formation to dodge Mawile's onslaught once more. However, he found that with the electricity still annoyingly coursing through him, it was hard to command every individual replica to move out of the way in time. Left with no other option other than to take Mawile's attack head-on, Wishiwashi snarled angrily and braced himself.

Mawile threw her punch using every single ounce of strength she had, crashing her fist into the water construct with an unmeasurable amount of strength behind it. A massive explosion of pink fairy energy tore through Wishiwashi's water formation, lighting up the entire thing in a solid maelstrom of pink light that caused him to scream in pain as every single one of the replicas were rattled to their very cores. The floor under them cracked from the sheer force of the shockwaves the attack emanated, and Wishiwashi visibly recoiled as large chunks of its once imposing water construct were violently blown off his body and sent crashing into puddles of harmless water on the rooftop. The punch's shockwaves kept reverberating across Wishiwashi and causing continuous damage, causing him to thrash about uncontrollably as more and more of the individual duplicates outright lost formation and haplessly fell apart.

"Simply unbelievable," Ash breathlessly commented in pure awe as his jacket and cap were ruffled slightly by the wave of pink light as it passed through them. "Just… wow."

"Skarmory, now!" Steven called out, looking up. "That Wishiwashi is basically out of the picture now!"

Ash quickly snapped out of his shock and regained his composure. "Pidgeot, go!" he followed up, pointing forward towards the Team Aqua helicopter.

"Let's do this!" Skarmory shouted as he and Pidgeot both flapped their wings and charged ahead.

Shelly looked on in utter shock from her spot at the helicopter's doorway as Wishiwashi fell back, no doubt heavily damaged and in immense pain. She gritted her teeth and then elbowed Matt, who was standing beside her with an equally baffled expression. "Matt, get them out of there before that Mawile hurts them further! They're no match for her! Get them out of there!" she shouted urgently, holding out her Dive Ball. "Wishiwashi, return!" she called out.

Matt quickly pulled out a Heavy Ball and regular Poké Ball and pointed them at both of his defeated Pokémon. "Azumarill, Swampert, return now!" he shouted quickly.

The three red beams of energy shot out from the electronic spheres. The unconscious Azumarill was the first one to be hit, safely dematerializing him back into the device. Swampert, who was struggling to get out of the crevice Mawile had punched her into due to one of her arms being badly injured, was recalled next in a bright red flash of light. Finally, the red beam from Shelly's Dive Ball collided with Wishiwashi's water formation. The real one quickly swam up to it, still wincing in pain with every movement he did. As soon as he touched the red beam, he was safely tucked back into the ball's confines. Without the main Wishiwashi, the rest of the formation came crashing down onto the rooftop and the side of the building, collapsing and running down the sides in torrents of shapeless water.

Mawile pouted in disappointment as she looked up at the rising helicopter with disdain. "I guess the fun's over," she commented sadly.

Shelly looked down at the powerful steel and fairy-type Pokémon, her face reflecting a frightened look. Never before had she encountered a Pokémon as terrifying as her, and never before had Wishiwashi been defeated so fast and soundly. "She really lives up to her title of the physically strongest Pokémon there is," Shelly murmured wearily.

"I can't believe we lost this badly," Matt commented somberly as he glanced down as well. "I love battles, but this… This wasn't a battle. It was a massacre."

Shelly sighed. "And the scariest part is that as powerful as Mawile is, that stupid Metagross is far stronger. Just how powerful is Steven!?" she wondered. Three blasts in the distance caught the Aqua Commander's attention, making her look up and notice that another three of the missiles that Amber launched had just been neutralized. She scowled, knowing that once the last three were destroyed, Metagross and the two dragons would be returning to face her. She turned and looked into the helicopter's cockpit. "Pilot! We're done, get us out of here!" she called out hastily. The Team Aqua helicopter flying above the building sharply turned to the side and then accelerated to fly away. Just like the previous occasion, Pidgeot and Skarmory chased after it.

Ash and Steven ran towards the edge of the rooftop until they were right at the security railing, where they were joined by Mawile. "Go get them, guys!" Ash called out, cupping his hands around his mouth to boost his shout.

Matt sighed in exasperation when he noticed the two flying-types trailing the helicopter. He tapped Shelly's arm and then pointed towards their pursuers. "Commander Shelly. The last time I tried to escape, those two brought down my chopper by flying into the rotors. Be careful!" Matt advised warily.

Shelly nodded once. "Noted." She looked back, motioning for her Crawdaunt to approach. "Watch their every movement, Crawdaunt. Don't let them get anywhere close to the chopper," Shelly instructed. Crawdaunt nodded once and glanced out the doorway, keeping track of the pair's movements.

As tense second after tense second passed, Shelly narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She keenly took note that while they were trailing the helicopter, neither Skarmory nor Pidgeot were closing in for a decisive blow. "Something's wrong here," she said aloud, glancing around to see if there was anything she was missing.

Mr. Stone, who was still standing next to the red-haired woman, smirked slightly. "You can't win," he spoke out all of a sudden.

Shelly glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "Just did."

Mr. Stone chuckled. "I really mean it."

"Gotcha!" Pikachu suddenly shouted as he jumped out from under one of the helicopter's seats, his tail beginning to glow in a dull silver-colored sheen due to an Iron Tail attack. Pikachu swung his hardened tail in a sideways slash, roughly hitting Matt's arm on the side and causing him to fall back into one of the seats while groaning in pain and clutching his injury. As he landed on another seat, Pikachu deftly jumped towards Shelly and spun around to swing his tail at her.

Shelly reacted in time and dodged to the side to avoid a direct hit. 'Wait, why is that Pikachu here!?' she thought in alarm. Her eyes widened when she realized the yellow electric-type had been strangely absent from most of her exchange with Steven and she had failed to notice that. 'It must have flanked us and preemptively hidden on the helicopter while we were distracted by Steven!' she realized.

Shelly's well-timed dodge meant that Pikachu hit the fuselage that was behind her instead, leaving a deep gash in the metal. He looked up, noticing Shelly's Crawdaunt lunging at him with one pincer opened wide. Pikachu dodged it by jumping up, and then used his tail to slap Crawdaunt's pincer away and propel himself forward in the process, aiming for Mr. Stone. Pikachu tackled the elder by his midsection, pushing both of them right out of the helicopter. Mr. Stone couldn't help but let out a short scream as he plummeted, but soon found himself landing on a soft, feathery cushion.

Pidgeot winced noticeably at the sharp sting in her back as Mr. Stone's landing exacerbated her previous injuries. She spread her wings broadly, doing her best to stabilize and maintain her flight balance. Mr. Stone wrapped his arms around her neck in terror while shutting his eyes so he didn't have to look down and remember the fact they were hundreds of feet up in the air. "I'm way too old for this," he grumbled under his breath.

"Relax, we got you old man," Pikachu said while patting the elder's back comfortingly, even if he was aware that he wouldn't be understood. He looked at Pidgeot, frowning at her grimacing expression. "You doing okay?" he asked in concern.

"I'll be fine," Pidgeot wheezed in exhaustion, finally letting out a deep breath when she stabilized in midair.

Pikachu nodded, and smiled understandingly at the large flying-type. "It's over now, Pidgeot. Our little daring rescue worked. Just fly us back to the bui-" he began speaking, but then his eyes widened when his acute hearing picked up the distinct sound of an energy attack being charged. He immediately looked up towards the helicopter, noticing Shelly's Crawdaunt charging a Hyper Beam attack in each of his two pincers.

"Dammit! Pidgeot, incoming!" Pikachu shouted in alarm. Pidgeot angled her wings to begin dropping altitude, trying to put as much distance between them and the helicopter as possible. However, with Mr. Stone on her back and her injuries slowing her down, she was acutely aware she wouldn't be able to do any tight maneuvers to dodge.

Skarmory rapidly flew towards them, glaring angrily at the water-type on the helicopter's door as it pointed both of its pincers towards Pidgeot. "Oh no you don't!" he shouted defiantly.

Crawdaunt let out a fierce battle cry as two potent Hyper Beams erupted from his claws in a fiery blast, blazing down towards Pidgeot. Skarmory bravely flew into their path, intercepting one of the beams and causing it to violently detonate against him in a large explosion. However, through the fire and smoke, Skarmory's eyes widened in horror, cursing as he saw the second beam continue on its path towards Pidgeot.

"Dad!" Steven screamed from the rooftop, his eyes widening in horror while time seemed to slow down for him, as he could do nothing but watch the Hyper Beam mercilessly approach his father and Ash's Pidgeot.

"Pidgeot, shield yourself with Giga Impact! Hurry!" Ash shouted as loud as he could, cupping his hands around his mouth again.

Steven looked at Ash incredulously. 'Giga Impact… as a shield? What?' he thought in shock, and then rapidly returned his attention towards his father and Ash's Pidgeot.

Pidgeot spread her wings as Ash's barely-audible distant command reached her ears. She gathered what little strength she had left and formed a powerful orb of volatile yellow energy in front of her, which expanded into a large stream of golden beams that enclosed her. A thick purple veil of energy further enveloped her not a second too late, as the Hyper Beam that had been flying towards her collided against her Giga Impact at full force. The attack exploded against her shield in a fierce blast of fire and smoke in midair, completely obscuring Pidgeot in the fiery explosion.

Steven, Ash, Skarmory and Mawile watched with bated breath as the wind began to dissipate the smoke, and let out a collective sigh of relief when a bright sphere of golden and purple light was revealed. Pidgeot let out a shrill and resounding squawk as her Giga Impact faded away, and, doing her best to ignore her immense exhaustion and the aftereffects of using Giga Impact, she turned and began to fly back to the tower with Mr. Stone safely on her back. Skarmory joined her side, his metallic body still smoking slightly from the attack he had received while protecting her, and dutifully escorted her.

Ash grinned as Pidgeot returned to the boundaries of the rooftop. "You two did it! Congratulations, Pidgeot, Pikachu! It worked out perfectly in the end," he praised elatedly.

"Thanks!" Pikachu beamed as he gracefully jumped off Pidgeot while she passed by, perfectly landing in Ash's arms. "I was kind of nervous since a lot of this rested on me, but we did it!"

Ash laughed, patting Pikachu's back. "You're amazing, buddy." He looked up and then began to move towards the spot Pidgeot was descending to, along with Steven. "Pidgeot!" Ash called as Pidgeot spread her wings and slowly landed. Pidgeot gave Ash a weary acknowledging nod and then stood upright to allow her passenger to disembark.

Steven smiled, walking to her side and offering his father a hand. "You alright, dad?" he asked affectionately.

Mr. Stone glanced down as if double-checking they were indeed over solid ground, before accepting Steven's hand and using it to balance himself as he stepped off Pidgeot's back. "I am," Joseph answered shakily. "Flying on a Pokémon is not my thing."

As soon as Joseph was off her back, Pidgeot looked up in relief and let out a final breath before closing her eyes and collapsing forward. She landed on the floor with a heavy thud, throwing several small puffs of dust up into the air. "Pidgeot!" Ash called out in concern, crouching next to her head.

Pikachu jumped off Ash's arms, landing on the other side of her head. "Yeah, she's out for today," Pikachu commented, patting the side of her head tenderly. "It was a long and complicated battle. Even I'm exhausted. I just didn't take the beating she did."

Ash nodded slowly, gently stroking Pidgeot's mane with one hand while reaching towards her Poké Ball with the other. "You did amazing today, Pidgeot. Thank you for your help. You earned a good, long rest."

Steven and Joseph looked on as the young trainer recalled the unconscious Pidgeot. Skarmory also looked on as the larger avian disappeared into her Poké Ball, an admiring expression on his face. "That is one very well trained Pidgeot," Joseph complimented with a small clap. "Ash, son, thank you so much for all the help you've given us today. I owe you a great deal for what you've done."

"We both owe you," Steven corrected with a small chuckle. "Thanks, Ash. I must admit, you and your Pokémon completely blew my expectations."

Ash laughed embarrassedly, scratching the back of his head as he stood up. "It's no problem, guys. I love helping whenever I can."

"Don't undersell your part, you prevented Team Aqua from escaping with me for the longest time and then had your Pokémon actually pull off that daring rescue," Joseph commented. "Which, by the way," he began, looking towards Pikachu. "Thank you for saving me, and thank that Pidgeot on my part as well."

"You're welcome, and I will!" Pikachu replied with a nod.

"He says you're welcome and that he will," Ash translated.

"I'm very impressed with you, Ash. That's saying a lot, by the way. I'm very hard to impress seeing as I'm used to being with Steven and witnessing the crazy feats his Pokémon are capable of. You're a very interesting and one of a kind trainer," Joseph Stone praised. "Once again, thank you so much, Ash."

Steven nodded in agreement. "I second that." He looked up, glancing around. "Now, let's see if the others are done." Like him, Pikachu, Ash, Joseph and Mawile looked up.

The last three missiles flew steadily over Rustboro City towards their intended targets, appearing as three long streaks of smoke marring the otherwise blue sky. Latias flew swiftly, catching up to the final missile she was assigned to take down. Her eyes began to glow as she flew beside it. Just like she had done with the previous two, she began to psychically feel her way around the missile's internal mechanisms near the front section. Once she had found the contact detonator at the front, she gathered her psychic power and struck it firmly.

With the contact detonator triggered, Latias surrounded herself in a protective Psychic shield and then pulled away. The missile flew for a few more seconds before suddenly exploding in a massive blast, echoing a fierce boom over the city. Fire and shrapnel hit the dragoness' shield, but failed to penetrate it. Latias let out a relieved sigh. "That's my three," she commented to herself before looking back. In the distance, she saw Latios following one of the missiles and then pull away. Seconds later, it also detonated. She began to fly towards him, noticing the final missile also exploding on the skies above the other side of the city, courtesy of Steven's Metagross.

"Latias!" Latios called out as he noticed his sister approaching. "Everything good? You alright?" he asked.

Latias smiled. "Everything alright, Latios. We got them. The city is safe."

"Great!" Latios beamed. He turned around, looking towards the Devon Corp. towers. "Let's head back. I really hope they succeeded in rescuing Steven's dad."

"I'm completely positive they did," Latias replied firmly. "I trust our friends."

The two dragons flew back towards the skyscrapers, and were soon joined by Steven's Metagross along the way. "Good job, both of you," Metagross acclaimed. "Without you two, some of those would have undoubtedly hit the city. Thankfully, we prevented that."

"Thank you," Latios answered with a curt nod, while Latias beamed happily. He looked down as they flew to the rooftop, noticing Team Aqua was gone and Steven's father was unharmed. "I guess it's all over now. We won."

"Well done, Metagross," Steven praised as his ace Pokémon arrived. "Thank you." He turned around, looking at Latias and Latios as they flew to Ash's side. "You two as well, thank you for stopping those missiles and helping save the city." He paused and smiled. "Today, Rustboro City has Pokémon heroes."

…

"No, no, no, no!" Amber shouted over and over again, glaring furiously at the monitor in front of him. "For fuck's sake, no!" he screamed while punching the screen, completely shattering it in the process. "This isn't how it was supposed to end! Where's my glorious destruction!? Where's my grand finale!? Ugh! Stupid Pokémon and stupid failed whatever champion and stupid… gah!" he babbled uncontrollably.

The grunts on the command bridge looked at each other awkwardly as they listened to Amber's delirious ranting, with none of them daring to even say a single word to the clearly deranged Admin.

"That's it! They won't make a fool out of me any longer! I'm Amber! I'm an Admin of Team Aqua! I'm going to show them exactly who they're dealing with!" Amber yelled dramatically before whirling around to face his crew. "Prepare the Sea Titan's main cannon!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

The airship's bridge fell into a deathly silence afterward, with the grunts looking at each other in complete shock. Finally, one of them mustered enough courage to weakly speak up. "Uh, but… sir, Commander Shelly's helicopter is already on its way out of the city, I don't think it's needed."

"I don't give a fuck if it's needed or not!" Amber snapped irately, causing the grunt to recoil on her seat nervously. "I said, prepare the main cannon!" he ordered adamantly.

The grunt in charge of operating the weapons systems gulped. "I… uh, presume, a smaller yield ignition just to draw their atte-"

"No!" Amber interrupted sharply, causing the grunt in question to cringe visibly. "Prepare the airship for a full reactor ignition. Now!" he barked.

A chorus of gasps echoed all around the unhinged Admin. "But, sir, we can't do that to a city full of innocent civilians!" a grunt protested in disbelief. "It's one thing to cause a ruckus all over the place like we've been doing so far, that's fine. But, it's a whole other thing to fire a weapon of this caliber on it!"

"Commander Shelly would never approve of something like this!" another grunt pointed out in a horrified tone.

"Sir," the helmsman grunt began to speak in an even tone, trying to reason with the Admin. "The Sea Titan's main cannon is for the sole purpose of killing the false god Groudon. And maybe shooting at Team Magma scum. It's not there to be fired on a defenseless city. This is madness. Killing isn't the goal of Team Aqua."

"Oh yeah! It's absolute madness and I love it," Amber snarled as he walked to the back of the command bridge. He closed the doorway, sealing everyone inside of it, and slowly turned around while smirking. "Seriously, guys. Chill. Killing isn't the goal of Team Aqua? Please, don't make me laugh! You're all delusional. Think about it for a moment. When we use Goddess Kyogre's great power to expand the oceans just like we intend to, we'll probably kill millions of people on coastal cities worldwide with the massive floods we'll cause in the process. Any of you ever thought about that?" After several moments of complete silence in the room, Amber laughed raucously. "Yeah, I thought so. Shortsighted morons. Think big, dudes! All we're doing is getting the people of Rustboro City just a little bit early."

Amber grabbed a Poké Ball and pointed it to the center of the room. The device opened in a flash of bright white light, releasing a large Crawdaunt that towered at least a head or two above Amber's. "The next idiot who dares oppose me gets his arms pincered off," he threatened sinisterly as he walked back to the main controls. "I said, and I won't repeat myself, prepare the main gun! Full reaction ignition! Aim right for the heart of Rustboro City!" Behind him, his overgrown Crawdaunt glared at the grunts while ominously opening and closing his razor-sharp pincers, making the sound of sharp clacks echo across the now eerily silent room.

Essentially taken hostage as none of them had any Pokémon with them, the bridge's grunt staff reluctantly began to carry out Amber's irrational orders. On the exterior of the airship, the entire top section of the hull began to slide down to the sides of the ship, with blue-colored plates giving way to a large, complex-looking, cylindrical laser cannon that began to slide into position through a series of thick rails on its underside. The armored plates that had just opened then began to slide upwards, flanking the cannon to give it support and protection as it settled into firing position. Soon after, a loud buzz began to emanate from the weapon as a dim orange light began to form from deep within it.

On the ship's bridge, Amber grinned maniacally. "Let's see you muscle your way out of this one, Steven Stone. I fucking dare you!"

Back at the rooftop of the Devon towers, Ash, Steven and Joseph had been talking amongst themselves about the outcome of the conflict with Team Aqua when Metagross suddenly froze still for a moment and then abruptly shifted sideways. The Iron Leg Pokémon hurriedly levitated to the side of the building that faced the ocean, their eyes focused on the far distance. Steven frowned, looking at them in slight confusion. "Metagross, is something wrong?" the former champion asked in concern while walking towards the building's edge, placing a hand on one of Metagross' metallic arms as he arrived. Unsure of what was going on, everyone else moved after the pair.

"Yes, something is indeed wrong, Steven. I detect that Team Aqua's ship is currently emanating a very large amount of raw energy," Metagross reported dutifully.

Steven sighed, slightly frustrated. "Well, in that case, I have a feeling that we're not done yet."

"I thought they would just retreat and go away after barely escaping from you. Well, seems like that was wishful thinking after all," Joseph murmured. "What are they up to now?"

Steven leaned forward and squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look. However, being several miles out on the ocean, he couldn't make out any relevant details from the airship by himself. "Metagross, analyze that," he said, opting to use his Pokémon instead.

Metagross' eyes glowed briefly. "Judging by the shape of the structure above the airship and the way the energy is being gathered within it, it seems to be a powerful energy cannon of some kind," they concluded. "The ship's currently gathering energy from its core and compressing it within the cannon at a rapid pace."

Steven nodded slowly as he processed that, his expression changing to one of alarm. "Metagross, calculate how powerful it is and how long it'll take to fire," he requested.

"Understood." Metagross' eyes flashed again. Their powerful minds rapidly stormed through thousands of calculations based on the sensorial information their vast psychic powers were perceiving. "Judging by the structure of the cannon itself and the expected power output of a ship of that magnitude, and the rate it's currently charging and compressing energy at, it will be ready to fire between seven and nine minutes. The expected amount of energy it'll release will generate an explosion with a lethal damage radius of up to three and a half miles in diameter," Metagross reported, their eyes subsequently widening in horror.

"What!?" Steven asked incredulously. "Are you serious?" he questioned, just to be sure. Joseph, Mawile, Skarmory, Ash, Pikachu, Latios and Latias silently looked at Metagross in disbelief.

"Yes, I'm sure," Metagross answered. "I almost don't want to believe my own numbers either, but math is math and that's what the numbers say. For more accurate results, I can refine the calculation with every passing second as I can track its energy gathering rate, but that's most likely pointless."

"If that thing fires…how many deaths… would we be looking at?" Joseph asked unsteadily as if struggling to find his own words, the color completely drained from his skin.

"It's difficult to calculate that accurately given that the city has most likely entered various stages of curfew or evacuation since Team Aqua's attack began, and the vast majority of people have gone indoors by now. But, if it hits my projected epicenter, we could still be looking at a number in the tens of thousands," Metagross replied somberly.

Joseph bristled visibly, his legs shaking to the point he had to grab the security railing so he didn't fall over. "Oh my…" He slowly turned to gaze out to the ocean, not realizing that his breath had drastically quickened in pace.

Ash looked on at the enemy airship, glaring angrily at it. "Why would they be doing something like this? It doesn't make sense!" he questioned, his hands balling into fists and his jaw clenching.

"I don't know why, but regardless of the reason we have to think of something, fast," Pikachu answered restlessly. "Or else this city is going to be wiped off the face of the planet."

Steven looked out to the ocean, noticing the orange light shining above the airship beginning to brighten with every passing instant. He reached up with a hand, wiping some sweat off his brow before shifting his attention back to his ace Pokémon. He took a quick breath to relax himself before asking, "Are we within range of the blast?"

"Yes," Metagross confirmed with a saddened nod. "Devon's complex is close to the geographic center of the city. That's where that cannon is aiming. We´re less than half a mile from it, so we're well within lethal blast radius."

"Metagross, calculate if you can stop it," Steven followed up, his voice beginning to grow desperate. "You've taken a lot of enormous attacks before. Surely, this isn't anything out of this world for you."

Metagross' eyes glowed, their minds rapidly simulating Steven's request. "I calculate that I have a one hundred percent chance of successfully surviving a direct collision against an energy blast of that magnitude. However, just because I can survive it doesn't mean I have the means to actually deflect or block an explosion that big. If I meet it head on, I may be able to cause it to detonate prematurely, but that would still cause the blast to happen within the city."

Steven's hands tightened into fists to the point his knuckles turned white, letting out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding throughout Metagross' entire speech. "Thought so. However, if moving the blast away from the city center will cause less casualties, it's worth going for it."

"It would be," Metagross agreed. "But, as I stated earlier, it's difficult to accurately calculate which option would turn over less casualties given that I'm not explicitly informed of the city's curfew or evacuation status."

"So, what do we do now?" Ash asked desperately, interrupting the pair. "We can't just let that thing attack the city! There has to be some way we can do something about it!" he protested.

Mawile nodded in agreement. "I agree with him. Metagross, Steven. Let's get Aggron and Steelix up here. If we all attack that thing head on, maybe we can overpower it!"

"There's two problems with that, Mawile. First, we're all mainly physical attackers. To use our power to the fullest, we'd have to clash directly against that blast. However, I'm the only one that's capable of flight," Metagross pointed out. "Second, as I just mentioned, just stopping the actual energy blast isn't enough. That's something I can actually do on my own anyway. Problem is we somehow have to contain the inevitable explosion that will follow afterwards, something we cannot do at the moment."

Mawile scoffed. "Well, I don't plan to just sit here and watch that thing destroy what's basically our home. Even if there's the slightest chance of success, no matter how small, we have to try to the very end!"

"I do agree with Mawile, as brash as her idea is," Skarmory interjected. "There has to be a way we can do this."

"Yes, Skarmory. But what? Wait, I have an idea. We could try attacking the airship directly. That would mean destroying that cannon before it fires," Steven suggested quickly.

Metagross' eyes flashed briefly, quickly computing that option. "Possible, though unlikely. A cannon designed to support that kind of energy output is ought to be highly durable, that's on top of the fact a ship of that size is bound to have defense systems. Even so, assuming we somehow damage the cannon enough, the energy it's gathered so far still has to go somewhere. And from there on, what happens with it becomes highly unpredictable," Metagross answered. "It could end up better or worse than the current situation. It's a very high stakes gamble."

Ash looked out towards the ocean, and to Team Aqua's airship. By now, the orange light that had been forming at its main cannon had progressed into a large, blinding sphere of volatile orange energy that reflected on the waves below like the sun itself. Ash slowly whirled around, his red eyes reflecting an aggrieved expression as he gazed at Metagross. "S-so, y-you're saying… that thing's u-unstoppable?" he asked in a shaky voice.

"Essentially, yes," Metagross responded solemnly. "I ran all the calculations with all the options Steven and I could come up with. We don't have the means to completely stop it as things stand. All our current options only amount to partial solutions that at best will only slightly minimize casualties of Rustboro citizens. But, even so, all of those also carry an innate risk of just making things worse."

A very heavy silence fell on the group as Metagross' damning words resonated with every single one of them, and the full scale of the unavoidable horror that was about to come became apparent.

"Steven," Joseph began as he turned to face his son, his voice unnervingly calm despite their deeply troubling ordeal. "Leave."

Steven gasped, completely taken aback. "What!?" he asked disbelievingly.

Joseph frowned. "Metagross is rarely wrong with anything they calculate. If there is no way to stop that thing and it's inevitable, then leave." He gave Steven a tender smile. "You're still young and have a long life ahead of you." He turned to look at Ash, offering the child a warm look. "Same goes for you, Ash. Neither of you deserve to have your lives end here." He paused and took a deep breath as an eerie sense of peacefulness befell on the elder. "As for me, I will stay right here."

Steven walked forward and grabbed his father by the shoulders, forcing him to look at him straight in the eyes. "Don't say that! I WILL find a way to stop that thing, I'll-"

"Silence, Steven," Joseph interrupted, startling the distraught Steven and causing him to freeze slightly. "I admire your confidence, that's exactly how I raised you. Confidence, fueled by years of invincibility. However, just because you're unbeatable at Pokémon battles and have some of the strongest Pokémon in the world at your disposal doesn't mean you can beat down and outmuscle every single problem you face in life. Today, sadly, a problem has arisen that's outside even your control. You need to understand that there's nothing to be ashamed in that. Failure, costly as it may be, exists and is a natural part of life."

Joseph paused and took a small breath, letting the trembling Steven process what he had just said before continuing. "Leave, have Metagross fly you away and save yourself. There's no need for you to be one more in the long list of casualties because you tried to push through an impossible solution." Joseph smiled. "Besides, someone needs to make sure Team Aqua pays dearly for this. And that someone will be you."

"Are you really staying? Why?" Steven asked, his voice a barely audible whisper.

"Yes, I'm staying here," Joseph replied adamantly. "There's still hundreds of employees within these two towers who day in and day out trust that I will keep them safe while they work for me. I'm not abandoning any of them to die while I save my skin like a coward. A captain must go down with his ship and his crew, and in this case, Devon Corp. is my ship."

Steven closed his eyes, trying and failing to fight back the tear that made its way down his cheek. "I… can't." Steven's head hung low as a wrecking sob escaped him, his grip on his father's shoulders instinctually tightening.

"You can and you will," Joseph said firmly, trying to remain as calm as he could to give his son strength through this moment of hardship. "Think about your wife, Steven. She needs you alive with her more than I need you dead with me."

Steven froze completely and weakly lifted his face to gaze at his father with wet and reddened eyes, unable to respond anything.

Pikachu watched the father-son exchange with a saddened expression from Ash's shoulder before tapping the trainer's head with a paw. "Ash, there's nothing we can do about it. If even Steven of all people is being forced to leave, then so should we."

Ash's eyes widened, looking at his best friend in shock. "But, Pikachu…"

Pikachu stared steadfastly into Ash's eyes. "Ash. We leave. Now. We need to hurry if we want to get Bianca and Brock out before that ship blows this city into nothingness." He turned around, looking towards Latios and Latias. "Come on, let's go!" he shouted at them, taking note that the orange light emanating from Team Aqua's airship had grown so bright the sky and ocean themselves were beginning to turn orange. Pikachu blinked, slightly alarmed when neither dragon moved a muscle. "I said, let's go!" Pikachu said louder, an irritated expression on his face.

Ash slowly turned around and faced both dragons, realizing that up to this moment, neither of them had spoken a single world. "Latios? Latias?" Ash asked, clearly worried. "Are you two okay?"

"Latios!" Pikachu cried out loudly.

"Latias!" Ash shouted, walking towards the two.

Both calls went completely unheard and unnoticed by both dragons, who were staring out towards the sea and Team Aqua's airship with dilated eyes and completely lost expressions as if they were in a deep trance.

Before the two dragons' very eyes, the whole world around them began to melt into darkness. The bright daytime sky began to darken into a murky, cloudy night. The mass of orange energy facing them from Team Aqua's airship slowly faded into nothingness, replaced by a tranquil full moon partially obscured by clouds. The orange-tinted horizon vanished, melting into a ferocious tidal wave whose roaring currents destroyed everything in its path as it loomed on them.

Latios and Latias gasped and looked at each other, realizing that they were now alone and levitating atop the spire of a building they recognized all too well. As they glanced around and took in their new surroundings, they saw they were in Rustboro City no more. Modern skyscrapers and elegant pavement roads gave way and melted into the shadows, revealing small, antique buildings as if from a different era and a myriad of lifeless, empty canals.

Alto Mare.

For a brief moment, the two dragons felt completely at ease. Peace that wasn't shattered even by the massive tidal wave that was in front of them and rapidly approaching them.

"It's just like back then," Latios commented as he gazed out to the incoming wave with nostalgia. "First it was Alto Mare. Now, it's Rustboro City."

"Indeed it is. This time not by the water of a tidal wave, but by the fire of a man-made weapon," Latias noted, reflecting on the stark contrasts between the two occasions. Latias' gaze drifted downwards, looking at the empty canals and the gloomy city around them. "Latios, this… Vision. You know what it means. It's up to us now. It's up to us to save Rustboro City from destruction. Only we can do it."

Latios took a deep breath. "When we did it back then, we almost paid a heavy price. That… could happen again."

"It won't, Latios," Latias said back confidently. "We're stronger now."

"The threat facing us is stronger as well," Latios noted. "Not even Steven can stop it. Yes, it's up to us to stop it. But, what if we fail? Last time, we failed and I almost… died."

Latias smiled, extending a claw towards her brother. Latios looked at it for a brief moment before extending his own arm, joining claws with her. "Latios, if we fail, then we'll fail together and we'll pay the price together. Moreover, if we succeed, we'll succeed together. We saved Alto Mare. We can save Rustboro City," Latias said confidently. "I'm aware of the danger. But, I won't flee or stand with my arms crossed watching tens of thousands of innocent people and Pokémon die."

Latios squeezed her claws with his own. "Let's do this, then. Latias. Everyone is counting on us. The population of Rustboro City. Roxanne. Steven and Joseph Stone. Steven's Pokémon." Latios paused, taking a deep breath. "Our friends too. Brock and his Pokémon. Bianca. Candace. Ash. Pikachu. Pidgeot. Treecko. Larvitar. Phanpy. It's all or nothing if we want to save them all."

Both dragons looked into each other's eyes and gave each other a single, determinate nod as their decision was made final. With that, the tidal wave approaching them engulfed the city around them in an apocalyptic maelstrom.

…

"Yes! Scram if you know what's good for you!" Roxanne raved triumphantly as she watched what remained of the Team Aqua strike team and their Pokémon run away and flee into the surrounding streets. Officer Jenny along with the many police officers and police Pokémon that were with her immediately broke ranks and began to chase after them.

"Great job, everyone! We did it!" Brock cheered while clapping from his spot next to his ever loyal and trusty Onix. His Crobat and Forretress also echoed their trainer's victorious call. However, all three of the former Gym Leader's Pokémon looked distinctly weary.

"Indeed, we did," Roxanne agreed, placing a hand on her Probopass' side. Thankfully, by the time Team Aqua had arrived, she had gotten just enough time to heal her Pokémon after her gym battle with Ash. Probopass let out a tired drone-like noise of approval. "You did amazing, Probopass," she kindly praised with a smile. "Thank you. Our school is safe now."

One of the teachers that had fought alongside with her in the defense of the Pokémon Trainer's School walked up to her. "Excuse me, miss Roxanne, do we give chase as well? We can't just let them escape after what they tried to do!" she argued.

Roxanne hummed in thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, let the authorities handle them." She raised her hand. "All school personnel will stay within the school's boundaries," she announced definitely.

Brock nodded in agreement as he walked to Roxanne's side. "I agree with that. The entire student body is probably panicked after all that's been happening. Besides, the police are on it."

"Yeah," Roxanne responded. She smiled warmly at her fellow Gym Leader. "By the way, thanks a lot for your aid, Brock. It was invaluable."

Brock grinned and gave her a thumb's up. "You're welcome, Roxanne."

"Alright, everyone, listen up!" Roxanne spoke up loudly, gathering up the teachers that were outside with her. "Take all of your injured Pokémon to the school's infirmary, then reunite with your classes and ensure every single student is safe and accounted for," she said in a commanding voice.

"Good idea, I approve," Brock muttered to himself as he watched Roxanne and the teachers getting to work. He jumped slightly in fright when Crobat suddenly bumped into him from behind. "Hey, what gives?" Brock asked as he spun around, and frowned when he noticed Crobat's extremely anxious appearance. The Bat Pokémon let out a series of distressed vocalizations of his name. Forretress and Onix also joined Crobat's side, echoing the same distress.

Brock sighed. "I'm sorry, guys. I can't understand you without Ash." Hearing a few odd noises behind him, he glanced back and noticed that most of the teachers' Pokémon as well as Roxanne's Probopass had all begun acting in a strange manner. Like his own Pokémon, they were looking as if they were greatly worked up over something.

Brock immediately grew worried. He knew from experience that Pokémon had better senses than humans did, and for so many Pokémon to start acting like this at the same time, it could only mean that something bad was coming. Brock glanced at the street that led to the Pokémon Center. 'I hope that Bianca is okay, and…' He looked up. 'I hope Ash is alright too. He took the most dangerous task out of all of us.'

It was then that Brock noticed something was definitely off. He paused, clearly confused. "Wait, why is the sky turning orange? It's… not afternoon is it?" He glanced at his fellow Gym Leader. "Hey, Roxanne. What time is it?" he asked curiously.

Roxanne reached down and dug into one of the pockets of her dress, took out a simple yet elegant pocket watch to look at, and then put it back into its pocket. "It's half past two. Why?" she answered, perplexed at the seemingly random question.

Brock pointed upwards. "I'm fairly certain it's too early for the sun to set."

Roxanne looked upwards, and blinked in confusion when she saw the strange phenomenon in the sky. She had been so caught up with the aftermath of the attack on the school that she hadn't noticed it beforehand. "Why is half of the sky turning orange?" She looked around, noting that the half of the sky that was in the direction of inland Hoenn was clear blue, while the half of the sky over the ocean had turned into a dull orange. "This is very strange."

"Everyone! Get indoors now!" the Principal suddenly shouted from the main gate of the Pokémon Trainer's School. "The news says something really bad is about to happen! GET INDOORS NOW!" he screamed desperately before disappearing inside.

Roxanne was taken aback for a moment by the elder's outburst. But, having known the man for years, she knew such a reaction from him meant serious trouble. Coupled with the Pokémon's strange behavior and the mysterious orange tint in the sky, she put two and two together. "Everyone, inside! Fast!" She quickly recalled her Probopass back into his Poké Ball, and started hurrying the teachers back into the school.

Brock hastily recalled his Pokémon back to their Poké balls as well, and ran into the school alongside the teachers.

…

Bianca let out a soft hum, wiped a trail of sweat off her brow with her forearm, and then resumed working on wrapping a bandage around an injured police Arcanine's leg. Once she was done and had clipped it into place, she took a step back to examine her handiwork. She glanced at the fire-type's other injuries that she had tended to already, double checking to make sure she hadn't missed any. "Okay, that looks good for now. Take it easy now," Bianca said in a friendly manner to the large Pokémon. The Arcanine let out an appreciative bark and reached forward, licking her cheek affectionately.

Bianca laughed slightly, petting the fire-type in response. "I'm glad you're happy." She gently pushed the canine off her and helped him lay down on the blanket he was on. To her surprise, almost as soon as he had laid down, the Arcanine raised his head again and his ears twitched. After a few moments, the Arcanine let out a worried yap and laid down again with his ears pressed flat against his head.

"Now, I'm sorry but I have to leave you. There's many other injured Pokémon waiting to be treated." She stood up and walked through the Pokémon Center's main lobby. The place was absolute chaos. Dozens of Chansey and Blissey worked tirelessly to tend to the massive influx of injured Pokémon, who at this point had flooded the Pokémon Center to the point many were being tended to in the hallways and the lobby. Thankfully, Bianca noted, many citizens of Rustboro with medical knowledge had actually arrived to volunteer shortly after Team Aqua's attack had begun, enabling the workload to be shared among many more individuals.

Bianca noticed Candace, her Smeargle, working on helping a nurse Chansey apply medicine to an injured Growlithe's side. Bianca smiled and once she had made sure Candace was doing alright, headed over to the next Pokémon in the waiting line. Something that didn't escape her attention, however, was that many of the Pokémon, both patients and nurses, had begun acting in an oddly apprehensive manner. Before she could ponder it further, she was interrupted by the two police officers that had been standing guard outside of the Pokémon Center suddenly barging in.

"Attention, everyone! Get away from all windows, hold your patients steady, and brace yourselves!" one of the officers shouted urgently before running into the hallways to alert the rest of the Pokémon Center's occupants. Bianca blinked in confusion and looked around uncertainly, as did many of the volunteers.

"Now!" the other officer shouted urgently and then turned around. After taking a quick glance outside to make sure no one was being left outside, she shut the Pokémon Center's doors closed and locked them.

Bianca gulped when she noticed the fearful expression of both officers, which she realized was most likely tied to the Pokémon's abnormal behavior. 'Ash, Latios, Latias, Brock… please be alright, everyone…' she thought before turning around and carrying out the officer's orders.

…

"Ow," Matt complained, wincing.

"Hold steady," Shelly hissed at him.

"Trying," Matt responded meekly.

Shelly rolled her eyes before resuming her work on tending to Matt's injured arm, which had a rather deep slash cut into it, courtesy of Pikachu's Iron Tail attack. "Just a bit more and I'll be done."

"Alright," Matt answered, leaning back against his seat. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he spoke again. "Do you think Archie will be mad at us? We failed to kidnap Mr. Stone."

Shelly hummed, thinking for a moment as she wrapped a bandage around Matt's arm, eliciting another wince from the burly Admin. "Probably not," Shelly replied. "We got a copy of Devon's important files from their database and we stole the Fossil Restoration Machine. Two out of three targets in such a dangerous mission isn't so bad."

"True," Matt said, looking down to examine his bandaged arm.

Shelly stood up walked back to her seat. She leaned back, and casually glanced outside to see the passing clouds and the horizon. After a few moments, she frowned when she noticed their helicopter was stopping and was looping around. "Pilot, what's going on?" Shelly asked, standing up and peeking into the cockpit.

"Commander Shelly, you may want to see this. I'll properly align the helicopter so you can look out the doorway," the pilot responded.

Shelly quickly stood up and opened the helicopter's side door to get a better look outside. She froze in horror at the sight that greeted her. Already dozens of miles away from Rustboro, the city by now was mainly a large grey mass of nearly indistinguishable buildings, though she could still make out the imposing Devon Corp. towers.

However, what caught her attention was the massive orange mass of light forming close to the horizon out in the sea. One she recognized immediately and had her paling in horror immediately. Matt glanced out of the doorway, and paled as well.

Shelly instantly reached into her earpiece and turned on the radio. "AMBER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" she screamed into the radio at the top of her lungs. "I did not authorize the use of the Sea Titan's main cannon! Cancel that charge at once! NOW!" she added angrily. She growled at the lack of response. "Sea Titan battleship, come in, now! This is Commander Shelly, your superior officer. I order you to stand down and cease all hostilities! I repeat, sta-" Shelly froze, her eyes widening.

"What!? What's wrong, Shelly?" Matt asked in concern. "Why did you stop?"

Shelly slowly reached up to her earpiece, taking it off and looking at it. "Amber. It has to be him. He… he turned off the Sea Titan's radio as I was speaking. We can't communicate with the ship anymore."

Matt gulped, horrified. "That means he really is going to fire that at Rustboro City!"

Shelly sat down, dejected and defeated. "I shouldn't have left him in charge of the ship!" she screamed, tightening her grip on the earpiece in her hand so much that the small machine broke into several pieces. "This, this is bad. This is very bad."

Matt sat down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder as a comforting gesture. "Is there anything we can do?" he asked.

"No. With our ace Pokémon injured there isn't anything we can do about it." Shelly looked out the doorway towards Rustboro City and the impending doom about to rain on it. "Let's just hope that the almighty Steven Stone can find a way out of this one too." Shelly looked down, biting her lip angrily. "And Matt? As soon as we get our hands on that scumbag Amber. We are killing him."

…

"Latios! What's wrong with you?" Ash asked exasperatedly, shaking the dragon's neck. "Wake up!"

"Seriously, if you two don't snap out of it right now, I'm going to shock you both!" Pikachu shouted while glaring at Latios and Latias, clearly aggravated.

Latios' lost look suddenly vanished, his eyes focusing once more. Blinking several times, the dragon shook his head a few times before looking around as if slightly disoriented. Latias did the same, shaking her head a few times to clear her head before glancing around.

"Finally!" Pikachu exclaimed. "About time."

Latios smiled at Ash and Pikachu, eyeing the pair with fondness in his bright red eyes. "We'll be back in no time." He levitated upwards, rising about several dozen feet in the air.

Pikachu blinked. "What's gotten into you two?" he questioned in confusion.

Ash looked between Latios and Latias, completely taken aback. "Uh, guys?" he asked slowly. "What's going on?"

Latias dainty flew over to Ash and gently pressed her forehead against his as an affectionate gesture, making a faint rosy blush spread to her cheeks almost immediately. "Ash, I will always keep you safe. Always." She pulled back, looked into his bewildered eyes for a moment, and then leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek, just like she had done at Alto Mare all those months ago.

"L-Latias?" Ash asked, uncertain at how to react to her gesture, and marveled at the soft sensation of her feathers and tender lips pressed against his cheek.

Latias pulled back. "And that is a promise." She flashed the shocked trainer a loving smile, and then flew upwards to join her brother.

The two dragons locked eyes with each other for a brief moment before focusing on the imminent danger ahead and rearing back. With a final glare full of determination, they rocketed out of the rooftop, heading straight towards the ocean. As they charged Team Aqua's airship head on, both dragon' eyes began to glow in a very bright shade of white light. The blazing psychic light spread across their bodies, enveloping them completely in its alluring veil until they united into a single blinding white projectile.

Ash's eyes widened, recalling the last time this happened all too well. "Oh no, not again! Latios, Latias!" he shouted, horrified.

The commotion interrupted Steven and Joseph, who looked out to the departing dragons. "What?" Joseph questioned, shocked, as he watched the spear of white light heading towards the mass of orange energy currently being emitted by the airship.

Steven frowned, using his sleeves to wipe the tears off his face. He looked at Metagross. "Calculate their odd of success," Steven requested quickly.

Metagross' eyes flashed for a brief moment. "Based on the current power output of Latios and Latias and the current power radiation of the ship's cannon…" Metagross' gaze turned somber. "They have a zero percent chance of success. They are vastly outmatched."

Ash gritted his teeth. "I don't care about numbers. They will make it. They won't let us down!"

The Sea Titan airship's engines flared to help stabilize itself with the cannon finally reaching its breaking point. The sheer mass of energy that had coalesced within the cannon was released in a near blinding flash of orange light that almost blotted out the sun, generating a tremendous clap of thunder in the process that boomed across the city and the surrounding landscape as the cannon's full power was unleashed upon the hapless city and its inhabitants.

The ship recoiled back several hundred feet as a monstrous beam of orange energy, looking much like a Pokémon's Hyper Beam attack, was fired from its main cannon. The attack turned the sky bright orange and split the ocean underneath it in two in a truly apocalyptic scene as it flew towards Rustboro City.

Latios and Latias roared valiantly from within their coalesced spear of psychic light as they charged directly at the colossal blast of energy that was facing them, much like they had done against the tidal wave that had threatened their hometown not long ago.

The two dragons fiercely collided against the massive orange energy beam head on.

They stood absolutely no chance against it.

The deathly energy beam immediately overtook them, destroyed all of their momentum and carried them along with it on its path. Both screamed in excruciating pain as their minds struggled to withstand and fight against the sheer amount of energy bombarding them from every direction.

As the destructive blast continued on its path towards Rustboro City unabated, Latios and Latias shrieked in distress as the airship's powerful beam burnt its way through their psychic spear without mercy until it had been torn apart almost entirely. As the last remnants of their psychic power broke down, they could do nothing but feel immense agony as the blazing energy reached their front feathers and scorched its way through them and the flesh underneath…

---

Chapter 23 End