Chapter Eighteen: Hoopa Unbound

Kris was on board a small ship Lorelei had "requisitioned" from the EXO forces. She stood behind Lorelei, who had manned the helm, looking in disbelief at the amount of people who had come on board. Before departing Quest Island, Kris had thought she would have to try her best to persuade people to come and help in dealing with whatever both Drake and Pryce had planned for them. Surprisingly, everyone Kris had gathered agreed to come. Iris, Wes, Blaine, Elm, Leaf, Dawn, Barry and even Lyra. She smiled as she saw Iris positioned between Wes and Lyra, who were arguing about something, while Barry was nagging Leaf and Blaine incessantly with questions as they watched Elm type furiously on his laptop. Dawn was gazing over the ship's edge quietly.

Lorelei seemed to notice Kris' stare as she glanced at Kris and spoke up.

"I'm surprised how many people volunteered."

"Many people here have been hurt," Kris said quietly. "Especially by Pryce."

"I also think it had something to do with who asked… you know, we really didn't get a chance to talk before being interrupted," Lorelei said thoughtfully. "What did you do before the Sevii Cup? Were you leading a trainer group in your area, maybe worked at a Pokémon Gym?"

Kris snorted so loudly she feared she would get snot on Lorelei, prompting her to sheepishly look down.

"Uh… no," she chuckled humorlessly. "I wasn't… well, doing anything, really. Mostly fantasizing about what I'd do once I became a trainer."

"How long ago was that?" Lorelei asked curiously. "You're very young for someone so skilled."

Trying not to let the hype get to her head (and failing miserably, as she realized she was grinning), Kris now looked up at Lorelei. "Uh, it's been almost a year, I think."

Lorelei raised her eyebrows at Kris and smiled before turning back to the helm.

"What about you, though?" Kris asked. "Wes tells me you know Red… and Yellow?"

Lorelei quickly turned to look at Kris, now frowning and taking one hand off the wheel to adjust her glasses.

"Uh, Yellow is a friend of mine also," Kris said quickly. "I've met Red. Apparently, he put together a group to fight Team Rocket, corruption in the Pokémon League and everything…"

Kris was rambling, but Lorelei seemed to be satisfied as she focused on steering the ship again.

"It's true, me and Agatha supported Red when he had become Champion and proposed changes in how the League and the Pokémon Association do things," Lorelei said. "Lance and Bruno were in opposition, but the vote from the League Chairman in their favor solved it. Days after Red had quit his position, me and Agatha received letters informing us that we'd no longer be members of the Elite Four. Agatha because she was to retire, me because of…" Lorelei paused to sigh heavily. "...'inappropriate behavior and dress while representing the Pokémon League'. Can you believe it?"

Kris remembered how many teenagers in her school used to drool over Lorelei when she was in the Elite Four, but decided to keep the knowledge to herself, so she just shook her head.

"That's messed up… I used to look up to Lance…"

"Well, I don't really blame him," Lorelei said thoughtfully, "as much as I blame the League. They were pressuring Lance to take over as a more manageable Champion, and most of his family works for the Association in one way or another. Lance getting fired or something would devastate the whole clan. From what I understand, Lance was trying to let me keep my job, actually."

Lorelei paused again to look at the horizon, all this reminiscing making the words pour out.

"After we got fired, Red approached us," she said. "Recruited us into his organization. Together, we started investigating anything suspicious related to the Pokémon Association. Corporate donations, cases of Pokémon abuse, those kinds of things. Eventually me and Agatha landed on a big case: the Navel Rock Research Facility. I'm sure you heard of what happened there from Wes."

Kris nodded.

"Our information pointed to the facility planning to position a group of Pokémon trainers with military training from the E4 Task Force to bolster their existing security force," Lorelei explained. "Me and Agatha were too high-profile, and Red had already disappeared by this time. So Yellow and Yellow's friend and member of the group called Cal joined them, just before the incident happened. Cal died in the incident and Yellow had to go on the run. But thanks to them, we found out something."

"Yeah?" Kris asked.

"Navel Rock researchers were after pieces of an ancient text called 'The Prophecy'," Lorelei said. "Just like Drake and his men were. I don't know if they're connected or if they're both after a similar goal…"

Kris once again kept the information to herself. Her conversation with Hoopa would no doubt be crucial information to Lorelei's group, but Kris wasn't ready to share it yet. Not to mention trying to explain everything without sounding crazy sounded too exhausting.

"We're almost at Resort Gorgeous!" Lorelei called out, pointing in the horizon.

"Sweet!" Kris said, shivering a bit. "Looks like Agatha's lit a fireplace. I see some smoke!"

Lorelei frowned.

~o~O~o~

Location: Resort Gorgeous, Chrono Island, Sevii Islands

Agatha was hastily packing her necessary belongings. Lorelei had only sent a brief but decisive warning, but it was something she had been preparing for a long time. And with the arrival of Doctor Gideon, Wes and everyone else on the islands, it was only a matter of time before somebody would silence her for good.

Fortunately, all the research had been backed up on an external hard drive while all computers had been wiped clean, all papers had been shredded and everything else had been buried in a locked container dumped in the sea. The current would wash it away soon enough, and Resort Gorgeous would never be thought of anything other than an abandoned manor of a rich old lady who disappeared one day.

Agatha's Gengar was most helpful, floating around the house to get things Agatha herself hadn't always even remembered, dropping them in her bag. Satisfied she had anything, Agatha snapped her bag closed. She heaved it on her shoulders, wincing a bit from the weight of it all. Her joints had been aching for many days in a row, but she refused to let it bother her. She wouldn't lay down and take a desk job like old codger Oak.

As Agatha made her way to the back door, however, it was suddenly slammed open. Matt, the burly Team Aqua member had just entered, pointing a finger at Agatha.

"Like, hold it right there, bro!" he shouted in a surprisingly high voice. "Hand over your research stuff or, um, else! Hoo hah!"

Agatha looked over her shoulder, seeing Team Magma Admin Tabitha approach, having entered through the front door.

"Better do what he says, you old Golbat!" Tabitha spat, holding a Poké Ball. "I don't want to report to the boss that I had to beat down an old lady!"

Matt sent out an Azumarill while Tabitha opened his Poké Ball to reveal his Mightyena, who growled menacingly at Agatha. However, the old woman just smiled. She raised her finger, and a bolt of lightning came down from the ceiling on the Mightyena, paralyzing it instantly. The Azumarill looked startled and looked up, but only saw a shadow in the ceiling, from where a dark energy sphere suddenly flew and hit the Azumarill in the face, sending it tumbling backwards on Matt.

From the shadow in the ceiling, Agatha's Gengar emerged, startling Tabitha enough to make him run out of the building. But as Agatha grabbed her bag again, she heard a voice from outside that shook her to her core:

"Houndoom, Flamethrower!"

They were trying to smoke her out. Agatha saw Matt already scrambling out through the back door, so Agatha followed him, Gengar hovering next to her, grinning all the while.

She turned out to be just in time, escaping the maddening heat and increasingly thickening smoke as flames engulfed Resort Gorgeous. Magma Admin Courtney's Houndoom ran around the manor, spreading its Flamethrower all over, easily spreading around the old, wooden building. Aqua Admin Shelly and her Sealeo were standing in wait, ready to mock.

"You've lost, ya old bag!" she taunted. "Give us the goods and we'll bugger off. Don't… and you're toast, mate!"

"Research data," Courtney said in a dull voice, approaching Agatha. "Please."

Frowning, Agatha signaled at her Gengar, who instantly made a beeline towards Sealeo, dodging the Ice Beam sent its way and striking the Sealeo with a Shadow Claw. Just one hit from the powerful ghost-type made Sealeo fall unconscious. However, Gengar was struck down with a Dark Pulse attack from Houndoom. Agatha had little time to give out commands, focusing on trying to take down the intruders. She whipped out her cane, sweeping Courtney off her feet and trying to strike Shelly, but she blocked the hit with her spear.

Agatha tried to counter the attack, but couldn't react as fast as Shelly did, instead taking a hit in the gut from the spear's side. Meanwhile, two Golbat, sent out by Matt and Tabitha, were assisting Courtney's Houndoom in trying to take out Agatha's Gengar, who was struggling to hold its own against multiple attackers. Shelly kicked Agatha's ane away from her and aimed the sharp end of the spear at her head, preventing Agatha from getting up.

"Good fight, gran," Shelly said. "But you need to-"

She was suddenly interrupted by a strong gust of wind nearly blowing her off her feet. Courtney, in the meantime, tumbled over, as did one of the Golbat attacking Gengar, giving Gengar the opening to blast it with Thunderbolt.

The wind came from the flapping of the wings of a massive bird, a Pidgeot, with Kris and Wes sitting on the back of it. Kris quickly jumped off when the Pidgeot was low enough, sending her Chandelure out into action. A quick Flame Burst attack dealt with the second Golbat, knocking it out. But Shelly and Courtney already sent out a Golbat of their own, leaving the others' Pokémon surrounded.

"Good effort, good effort," Tabitha said, clapping mockingly as Kris and Wes helped Agatha back on her feet. "But nothing has changed. There's four of us, all in the prime of our lives, against a moody teenager, an old lady and... You," Tabitha gestured at Wes. "Uh… you're from Orre, so... shut up."

"If you're so prejudiced against him," came a sudden shout from the trees above, "how do you feel about someone 300 years from the past?!"

Both Kris and Wes let out happy cries as they saw Lunick emerge from the tree, in full Ranger uniform and armed with a sword of some kind. He landed behind Tabitha and the rest of his group, pointing his sword at them.

"And by the way, there's four of us now," he added, apparently thinking he looked cool. Kris just sighed.

The four criminals just laughed at him, until a Thunderbolt from the tree struck Shelly's Golbat and knocked it out cold. Another Thunderbolt took care of Courtney's Golbat. The source of the attack was Lunick's Luxray, while Lunick's Sceptile emerged from another tree, taking a swipe at Courtney's Houndoom.

The fire-type dodged just in time, and Houndoom focused on pursuing Sceptile, blasting Flamethrower after Flamethrower at the grass-type. But while it was preoccupied, Kris' Chandelure fired a Shadow Ball at it. While this did little, Houndoom was briefly immobilized, allowing Agatha's Gengar to use the last of its strength to fire a Focus Blast attack, which struck Houndoom right in the head, knocking it out cold and sending it flying several meters backwards.

Shelly let out a battle cry as she rushed Lunick with her spear, but one swing from his sword cut the spear in half while a hit from the sword's hilt in Shelly's face sent the former Team Aqua Admin down on the ground. Roaring, Matt rushed in to punch Lunick, but Lunick managed to get the jump on him… literally, as he launched himself into the air and jumped on Matt's shoulders, then wrestled the large, shirtless man into the ground, grabbing him in a half-nelson.

Meanwhile, Sceptile had whacked Courtney with its tail, knocking her to the ground next to her comrades while Tabitha was shocked into submission by Luxray. Within a minute, the four criminals were bundled up neatly in a package, their hands and legs tied together by rope Lunick had also brought along.

As soon as Lunick was done, Kris and Wes both rushed to hug him, which he accepted, letting out a slightly confused laugh. Even more confusing was Wes holding on for a while even after Kris let go.

"Damn, bro, we missed you!" Wes shouted as he finally let go, slapping Lunick's shoulders. "And what were those moves? Damn!"

"Good to see you both," Lunick smiled at the two as he walked over to Agatha next, handing the old woman her cane and helping her up, earning a suspicious glance from her. "Sorry I wasn't at the tournament, Kris. The EXO people brought me here with them, but they asked me to hang out here. They believed this house would be a target of an attack or something."

"What!" Agatha yelled at Lunick, back to a 100% surprisingly quickly. "You mean somebody knew I was here?"

Lunick shrugged sympathetically, and Agatha just shook her head and sighed.

"So legs working fine now, I guess?" Kris asked carefully, remembering the severity of Lunick's wounds earlier.

"Fine?!" Lunick exclaimed. "Better than fine! I'm feeling so energetic! Thanks to the procedure they did back in Alola. Kris, Wes, I was wrong to doubt them!"

Lunick had an almost manic look in his eyes.

"With their technology and our skills, we can do this!" he almost shouted. "We can beat any cult or any evil Pokémon or any criminal organization… anything!"

"All right, all right, I believe you," Kris said. "We can discuss everything once this is all over, but I'm afraid this isn't over yet."

In a matter of minutes, Lorelei's ship had arrived, with Iris, Lyra, Elm, Blaine, Leaf, Dawn and Barry disembarking from it as well. Lorelei had a reserved but serious reunion with Agatha while Iris greeted Lunick excitedly, the non-stop babble about what she had been doing recently starting almost immediately. Kris smiled at the sight, not even remembering the last time she was surrounded by so many friends.

But the fun times were soon over, as Lunick got off the line with someone from EXO. Frankly, Kris was surprised that Lunick knew how to use an Xtransceiver.

"EXO reinforcements are on the way, but they said it will take at least 30 minutes," Lunick said quickly. "Meanwhile, according to them, Drake will be here in… well, less than ten."

"So, old Drake is coming to kill me personally," Agatha surmised quietly. "What an honor…"

"EXO sent us ship schematics," Elm rattled on, having sat on a rock to keep using his laptop. "Looks like aside from his Pokémon, we have to watch out for the four X-42 Blaster Cannons Drake has installed on his ship."

"They're cannons that shoot energy blasts," Blaine grunted to the confused people in the crowd. "One or two shots would certainly be enough to blow this mansion into kindling."

"Okay, but so what?" said Wes, putting a hand on Lunick's shoulder. "My boy here just took out all four of his henchmen. Drake is just one guy!"

"Those cannons will tear us apart before any one of us has a chance to even get a word out to our Pokémon," Leaf said.

"Well, I don't even need to do that," commented Lyra. Not to brag, she was just innocently stating a fact.

"Yes, thanks, Lyra," Leaf said quickly. "But regardless, we need a plan. We can't just take him head on."

"I've got one!" Lorelei said, standing up on a rock to gather everyone's attention. "Listen up! Drake will be here in a few minutes, so here's what we will do! Those energy spheres can be shot down by electricity. Who here has electric-types?"

Wes, Lyra and Lunick raised their hands and Lorelei nodded.

"Your duty is to get as clear of a view as possible out to the sea and shoot down any incoming projectiles," Lorelei said. "But we need a target, something we know Drake will target. So, Agatha…"

"You want me to stand on the cliff as bait?" Agatha asked in an amused tone. After some consideration, she shrugged. "Sure. My Pokémon are not fit to fight anyway."

"Uh, Lorelei!" Wes exclaimed in shock. "You sure?"

"Don't worry about me, boy," Agatha said calmly as she stood up straighter than Wes had ever seen her. "I've known Lorelei for years. I'd put my life in her hands a thousand times over."

"Three might not be enough, so fire should also work," Lorelei remarked. "Dr. Blaine, Leaf," she said. "I've seen your fire-types in action, you should support the electric-types."

"Uh, excuse me!" Barry said loudly, upset over not being noticed. "I have a pretty strong Infernape, if I do say so myself."

"Didn't ask," Lorelei said sharply. "But yes, you help out too, then. Electric team, take position behind the rocks near the cliff. Fire team, closer to the manor, acting as a vanguard."

Recognizing Lorelei's authority, Blaine nodded in confirmation, grabbing a Poké Ball from his pocket. He then rushed Leaf and Barry to follow him to the manor. Wes and Lunick chattered excitedly as they went to take their positions, but Lyra stopped to look at Kris.

"Good luck," she said softly.

"You too," Kris replied. "You don't have to do this, you know…"

"Oh, I know," Lyra said nervously. "Don't even want to. To be honest, I wanna go home. But I'll help you guys out. I'm never running away anymore."

Kris smiled as Lyra left to join the others. Lorelei then turned to address the remaining people: Kris, Iris, Dawn and professor Elm.

"I trust the rest of you have water Pokémon?" Lorelei asked.

Kris and Dawn nodded, while Iris took out a Poké Ball which she kissed for good luck.

"I have Dragalge with me, it can ferry me around just as well as any water-type!" she said.

Lorelei nodded, while Elm sighed and pushed up his glasses.

"I'm afraid I cannot help you directly," he said. "But, er, I can stay in contact with EXO. I can coordinate their reinforcements until they get here. I'll just, erm, hide somewhere. By those trees, I suppose."

"Good," Lorelei said simply. "Time is of the essence. The three of you," Lorelei gestured at Kris, Iris and Dawn, "will be with me. We'll hang back around the cliffs, there's a small cape we should be able to wait in undetected. Once we see Drake's ship and he's busy trying to attack the resort, we'll swoop in and use everything we've got to try and sink it. Let's move!"

Within minutes, Kris, Iris, Dawn and Lorelei were sitting on their Pokémon in the cape around the cliff, the smoking resort still visible. Kris was using Croc, who had mostly recovered from his battle with Deoxys, though she decided not to let him battle too much. Iris was on her Dragalge, Dawn was using her Empoleon and Lorelei her Lapras.

Soon enough, Drake's ship came into view, approaching the cliffs and Resort Gorgeous directly. As instructed, Agatha stood at the edge of the cliff, facing the approaching vessel. Squinting, Kris noticed that the ship had to be controlling itself, as Drake was standing in the bow of the ship, his captain's jacket flowing dramatically in the wind.

Kris still found it hard to believe this man wanted to kill everyone at the stadium.

Lorelei signaled everyone to move, and the four trainers moved towards the ship, swimming as quietly as they could.

Fortunately, Drake was preoccupied, taking out a megaphone to address Agatha.

"Attention!" Drake shouted. "I have come for you, Agatha, formerly of the Elite Four. You and Lorelei have disturbed the work of the Circle of the Torn World! The punishment that will occur is your destruction! Only then can the world as envisioned by Lord Giratina come to fruition!"

"He's crazy," Iris whispered as she and Dragalge swam besides Kris.

Kris couldn't help but to agree, while also wondering how she couldn't have seen it coming. She talked with Drake numerous times, believed everything he said, all of his praise… had that been a lie as well?

"Fire!" shouted Drake, and one of his cannons fired at the cliff Agatha was standing on.

However, the white sphere of energy fired from the cannon was quickly deflected by three simultaneous Thunderbolt attacks. Lyra's Ampharos, Wes' Zebstrika and Lunick's Luxray came into view from behind their rocks. Drake waved his hand again, with two cannons firing this time, but once again, they were deflected. Agatha ran and fell back towards the resort as Lorelei had instructed.

The next volley of cannon fire shot three energy spheres, with the last one managing to reach past the cliffside and towards Resort Gorgeous. However, Blaine's Magmortar managed to shoot it down with an extremely powerful Fire Blast it shot from its cannon.

"I don't care how many people you hide against!" Drake roared. "I will follow you to the ends of the Earth! Go!"

Red flashes were seen on board Drake's ship, and his Salamence and Flygon flew towards the resort, the latter having recovered from the previous battle already. As Lorelei gave the signal to rush forward, Kris was forced to tear her eyes away from the ensuing battle, praying that Lyra and the others could handle it.

However, as soon as the group was close to Drake's ship, a Pokémon emerged from the water nearby - a Kingdra. Kris quickly sent out Froslass to deal with the situation, as she could float above water as they fought. Of course Drake would have left other Pokémon to cover his ass.

"Iris, target the cannon!" Lorelei ordered.

"Acid Spray!" Iris instructed her Dragalge.

The strange, wispy dragon-type spat acid at one of the cannons as Drake had just finished firing off a four-cannon salvo. Dragalge's attacks corroded the cannon, so when Drake ordered another volley, only three fired. This finally drew Drake's attention as he glanced over the ship's edge, noticing Lorelei's group.

"Flygon!" Drake yelled, the Pokémon in question having already defeated Lyra's Ampharos and Wes' Zebstrika and was now struggling against Lunick's Luxray and Sceptile at the same time. "Retreat and go after her!"

Flygon understood what Drake was gesturing towards and broke off from the battle on the cliffs, flying at full speed towards Lorelei.

"Attack the ship!" Lorelei instructed. "I'll take care of it! Lapras, Ice Beam!"

Flygon dodged the attack, but all it could do was dodge as Lapras fired one attack after another, following Lorelei's commands. Meanwhile, Iris' Dragalge and Dawn's Empoleon fired an attack at Drake's ship, managing to dent the hull.

Flygon was finally dealt with as it tried to get close to Lapras, only to be shot down by a Sheer Cold attack. Flygon fell in the sea, but Drake cared little, instead focusing his remaining cannon attacks at the cliff crew. One attack finally got through the defenses, blasting a huge hole in the mansion's wall. Panicked screams of Drake's henchmen were heard as they tried to escape Drake's indiscriminate fire as well as they could while tied up.

Kris didn't fare much better, as Kingdra had blinded Froslass with Smokescreen before its Hydro Pump shot Froslass down. Fortunately, Lorelei was already on her way back.

"Lorelei, gimme a lift!" Kris shouted as she withdrew Froslass. "Croc, take care of it! Use Slash"

Lorelei understood and guided Lapras as close to Kris as possible. Croc roared in acknowledgment, and Kris jumped off of its back and on Lapras while Croc swam at Kingdra, readying its claws for a Slash attack.

Soon enough, Iris and Dawn managed to take out the remaining cannons while Lapras and Lorelei targeted the ship directly, Lapras' Hydro Pump managing to blast a hole through its hull. The ship wasn't sinking yet, but would most likely not perform nearly as well. Kris guided Croc in its battle while Kingdra was left to its own devices as Drake focused on ordering Salamence around as it fought the combined forces on the cliffs. Eventually, Croc overcame and defeated Kingdra while Salamence fell in the battle at the top, with a lot of cheering commencing. Lunick was currently helping an injured Leaf walk away from the battle.

"Drake!" Lorelei shouted, standing up on the back of her Lapras. "It's over! Surrender now or we will destroy your ship!"

Drake didn't reply, pacing back and forth on the deck of his ship, removing his captain's hat and wringing it in his hands as he muttered something inaudible. Kris took her eyes off him as she heard her PokéGear ring. Frowning, she picked it up.

"Yo," Kris said flatly. "Who be calling?"

"Erm, sorry, Elm here, I wasn't sure how to get a hold of you or Lorelei otherwise," came the reply. Kris looked up at the cliff, but couldn't see Elm, figuring that he was still hiding in the bushes somewhere. "Kris, bad news! A boat is about to arrive here!"

"Is that all?" Kris scoffed. "EXO reinforcements, right?"

"No!" Elm said in a panicky voice. "I received word from them, they picked up additional boats from Alder and the International Police and won't be here for a bit longer. It's someone else, Kris! It could only be-"

"Pryce," Kris said tensely.

Lorelei frowned, but quickly realized what to do. "Electric and fire groups, ready for battle!" she yelled up at the cliff. "Get the wounded to safety and assume battle positions!"

But the strange ship had soon arrived. It was a yacht, and by the look of things, an expensive one with a powerful engine. A small, bald man wearing colorful robes stood on deck at the bow of the ship, having assumed a similar position as Drake. For his part, Drake ran across his ship's deck so he would face this new arrival. Lorelei's group retreated further from the two ships, though the people on board paid them little notice.

Kris frowned as she looked at the small man, remembering what Blake Hall had told her. This had to be 'old baldy'. Grand Master Greevil.

"YOU!" Drake roared at the Greevil. "You have something of mine!"

"This?" Greevil asked calmly, holding up the Master Ball Domino had used to capture the Deoxys at the stadium. "Please, my dear friend, come and take it if you can."

"Traitor!" Drake growled. "You call yourself a member of the Circle? You serve no one but yourself!"

Ignoring Drake's ravings, Greevil turned to look at the two people who arrived on deck next to him. Kris felt her blood boil as she saw who had arrived. The other was Pryce, hands behind his back as she strutted on the deck, while the other was the woman who had toyed with her for a week, pretended to care about her, to be her friend… Domino.

Pryce handed Greevil something: an old-looking, ornate white and pink bottle. Handling it with almost reverence, Greevil took it, and at that moment, Kris saw something else by Pryce, Domino and Greevil that made her rage increase even more.

It was Hoopa. The small, impish Pokémon was floating next to Greevil's head, turning its yellow and green directly at Kris.

No, Kris thought. Not this.

"Oh, that's right," Hoopa said, "it's me. And guess what - I am done pretending to care about you, your destiny or anything else. You or your little friend!"

Kris glanced up at the cliff, where Lyra was standing at the edge, staring at Hoopa intensely.

"My plan didn't work quite as well as I imagined since you two didn't gouge each other's eyes out," Hoopa proclaimed loudly, amplifying its voice through psychic means, "but I can forget about it now. With this bottle, my body will be restored-"

Oh no, Kris thought.

"-and Lord Giratina will rise again thanks to me!" Hoopa boomed. "Greevil!" it shouted, turning to the man. "Open the bottle! Do it now!"

Pryce glanced at Greevil, who nodded and slowly removed the cork on the bottle. Next, he took a paper scroll Pryce handed to him and began reading in a voice loud enough for the whole surrounding area here to hear:

"Nafl'fhtagn Hoopa! nogephaii l' ymg' mgleth self ng fhtagnor mgehye l' fahf shuggog llll throdogoth ot ehye!"

It was a language Kris couldn't understand, and based on everyone's looks, neither did the others. However, something started to happen. Hoopa opened its mouth wide and shrieked, the high-pitched noise echoing across the cliffs, bouncing from the surrounding rocks and drowning out all other noise.

As it screamed, Hoopa transformed, a thread of light emerging from the bottle and connecting with Hoopa. As Hoopa glowed, it started growing, more and more massive until it was twenty, maybe twenty-five feet tall, having to float away from the boat to fit. As the glow subsided, Hoopa's other features began to take form. It was still largely purple and gray, but instead of its big eyes and wide smirk, it had a demonic face with a large mouth full of sharp teeth, including two foot long fangs protruding from its lower jaw. Its eyes, on the other hand, became disproportionately small while the horns on the side of its head became bigger.

Instead of two arms, Hoopa now had six, two of them still holding large golden rings. It also grew a pair of reptilian legs and a tail. As it stood up on two legs, there was a large black circle surrounded by another golden ring in the middle of its body. As the transformation was finished, Hoopa let out a piercing, dinosaur-like roar.

"Behold!" Greevil proclaimed. "Hoopa Unbound!"

"If you think you can scare me with your magic tricks, Greevil, you're badly mistaken!" Drake yelled with his megaphone. "Turn 180 degrees and full steam ahead!"

"Are you an idiot?!" Lorelei shouted at Drake as he quickly turned his vessel around. "You don't even have cannons!"

But Drake didn't seem to need them. Shouting as he went and as his ship accelerated, it was moving at full speed towards the now-massive Hoopa that was floating above water, intending to ram it.

"Hoopa, get rid of this unbeliever!" Greevil shouted at the beastly Pokémon. "Hyperspace Fury!"

For a second, it seemed like Hoopa was doing nothing. Then, six rings appeared all over and on top of Drake's ship. This was followed by Hoopa's massive fists smashing the ship from every direction so rapidly that Kris couldn't see what was happening while the sound from twisting metal and Hoopa's roars filled her ears.

Eventually, the last punch from Hoopa collided, Hoopa's fist glowing dark purple as it hit the ship, causing the ship to explode and break apart into dozens of pieces. Drake was nowhere to be seen.

"Goodbye, old friend," Greevil said with a smile.

Now Pryce was the one to step to the bow, his cold gaze on Kris.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get to you," Pryce said and gave Kris a mocking bow. "But here, you can see exactly where my time has gone, and it is truly glorious."

"That's him!"

Ignoring Pryce, Kris looked behind her, watching Dawn glare at Pryce. Before anyone could stop her, Dawn ordered her Empoleon to rush the yacht. Kris, Lorelei and Iris all called out after her, but Dawn pressed on, and Kris realized why. No matter how cool she acted, this must have been consuming her mind ever since the Ranger tournament. Ever since Lucas…

"Let's demonstrate another attack!" Greevil shouted at Hoopa. "Hyperspace Hole!"

Before Dawn and Empoleon reached the yacht, they suddenly disappeared into a purple and black vortex and disappeared. Kris briefly held her breath, but could breathe again seconds later as another vortex appeared closer to Kris and Lorelei and both Dawn and Empoleon emerged, unconscious.

"Lorelei, we gotta save her!" Kris yelled.

Lorelei grimaced, but ordered Lapras to turn while also yelling at Iris to quickly leave. Kris, Lorelei and Lapras arrived right before Dawn started to sink, Kris and Lorelei pulling her on Lapras' back. Kris managed to find Empoleon's Poké Ball and withdrew the unconscious water-type while Lorelei quickly told Lapras to get out.

"All right, Dawn, open your eyes!" Kris grunted as she hoisted Dawn into a better position on the Lapras' back. "Come on! You just got tossed around a little."

Only then did Kris realize Dawn's eyes were half-open. She could hear her breathing, she was definitely alive… but she was completely unresponsive otherwise. Whatever had happened to her was more serious than Kris thought, but there was no time to worry about it now.

Iris was waiting for them at the shore, and together, they carried Dawn on the cliff where Lyra, Wes, Lunick, Blaine and Barry were already standing, all of them staring at the monstrous Hoopa. The battle against Drake's Pokémon had already taken a lot out of them while Hoopa seemed nearly indestructible.

"I've done some crazy-ass stuff in my time," Wes muttered, "but this is something else."

"We've faced worse!" Iris said, looking at everyone turn by turn. "We can do this, guys! Some of us stared down Latias, and Dialga, and-"

"Yeah, but we got support from the most powerful trainers in the world," Kris commented, sounding more pessimistic than she wanted to. "Where is our backup now?"

As if on cue, cannon fire was heard. Suddenly, Hoopa was bombarded by energy blasts similar to Drake's from many directions. And a moment later, ships were approaching from every direction, a dozen of them. Professor Elm ran to the others, panting and huffing.

"A few wounded," he said between heavy breaths as he arrived. "Leaf might not be able to walk unassisted and Agatha hurt her arm, but the injuries were minor."

"The reinforcements are finally here!" Blaine said, slapping Elm on the shoulder roughly. "Well done, buddy!"

"Not just EXO," Elm said breathlessly. "Alder has sent a bunch of Unovan fighters. And the International Police is here, too! And two ships sent by the Aether Foundation!"

"12 ships," Lorelei remarked grimly. "They're not gonna stand a chance."

"Hey, you don't know that!" Iris said, almost desperately. "They can do it."

They couldn't.

From one of Alder's ships, about half a dozen trainers on flying Pokémon launched towards Hoopa. However, a powerful Dark Pulse shockwave from the beastly Hoopa sent all six flying into the sea. More trainers on water Pokémon attempted the same, launching several water- and ice-type attacks at Hoopa, but most of them were sucked into the vortexes the massive Pokémon created while the ones that landed barely seemed to tickle it.

Another ship, this one carrying the Aether Foundation emblem, approached Hoopa, firing a volley of cannon blasts at close range. These ones seemed to finally irritate Hoopa, as it fired another attack, a Psybeam, directly at the ship. One shot was enough to blast a hole in the ship big enough to sink it, forcing the second Aether ship to try and rescue its crew.

The waterborne PoKkémon trainers tried their best to also get in close, but a vortex appeared in front of them and one of Hoopa's fists created a massive wave that sent them all dozens of meters backwards, the trainers separated from their Pokémon. Hoopa didn't have to turn to face them to do that, its attention now on an International Police ship that was the closest. Once again, Hoopa unleashed its Hyperspace Fury, but this time, the crew didn't even try to hold on, jumping out of the ship as a flurry of powerful punches destroyed the ship slowly.

The situation seemed hopeless, but Pryce, Domino and Greevil simply watched, Greevil laughing loudly as Hoopa rampaged on.

"That's it Hoopa! Perfect!" he shouted. "Enough wasting your time on these fools! It's time to put our plan into action!"

With a swing of its six arms, Hoopa created a massive black portal which it walked into, Greevil's yacht speeding into the portal as well before disappearing, the portal quickly vanishing as well.

And all Kris and her friends could do was watch the remnants of Hoopa's rampage, and how much destruction it could do in mere minutes.