XXV

i. TWELVE MONTHS AGO

Ash stood in the center of the stadium, the gentle breeze of the day made humid by the warm bodies in the stands all around him. In a half-circle radiating out from him were grouped his royal court, along with his Pokemon; facing the other way was Misty and her entourage / "sideboard" consisting of Tyler, Dawn Berlitz (flesh still puckered in places from all the bee stings), and Damian. They all had carrying cases of some sort for their Pokemon, except for Damian, who rolled his around in his hand. An insouciant snarl had taken root on his scarred face.

In the middle of the circle stood his mother, Delia, head down in a sign of hopelessness.

Ash spoke into the lav mic pinned to the front of his shirt. "Thank you all for being here today to witness the final battle!"

He grinned as the cheers erupted from all around. He waited till the last shout and clap died down before continuing.

"Before we begin, a couple of announcements. First of all, we have a special referee for today's match. Please welcome my mother." There was a hushed silence as he turned, for most of those left in the stands knew of his difficult history with his mother. They were all on her side, as well. His team was either on the arena floor or safely stowed away in other places - that was part of the plan.

"Mom," Ash said quietly, turning to her and lowering his gaze as she lifted hers, "I just want to say … I'm glad you're here with me today to witness this." He tried to hide the manic glee in his eyes as he said it, but wasn't sure how successful he was.

He looked down at Greninja, at his side, and gave a curt nod. Greninja pulled a book out of a satchel he'd had around his neck, and began to incant in a low, grumbling tone.

"Now!" Ash yelled, and he could not contain his grin anymore. "Now for the second announcement! If you look around you you'll notice that the only ones around you in the stadium are those of you who came to support, or are yourselves, betrayers!"

The crowd began to look around nervously, and some were clearly already about to bolt, so Ash quickened the cadence of his speech.

"The book Greninja is reading from is one I found during my travels years ago! Prepare for my final prank - an actual spell!"

Greninja's low grumble turned into a faster, louder avalanche of buzzing. Ash felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. People were now standing and starting for the exits, clamoring nervously.

Ash yelled even louder. "The spell is called Tear Down the Walls!"

Drew's laughter joined his own as the wind picked up and Greninja's mumbles became incomprehensible, guttural roars.

The first bolt of lightning was so sudden that Ash would not have been able to tell what it was if it weren't for those that followed. Instead of a crack of thunder there was a deafening ripping noise, as if the world itself was being torn apart down the middle.

Ash fell to his knees, breath whooshing out of his mouth as blood spurted out of his nose. He gripped the ground for purchase, afraid he might fly off at any second. He looked around, but his head moved too quickly and felt like it might spin off his head like a rogue windmill arm. He saw Misty leaping at Greninja, shouting what he assumed could only be NO but sound was meaningless anymore. She grabbed him, but Greninja's mouth kept moving, and he seemed immobile, the pivot around which the rest of the loopy, unhinged universe revolved. Misty kept pulling, trying to wrest the book from Greninja's grip.

Behind them Ash could see Drew, blinking wildly and rubbing at his eyes. His fingers came away bloody. Something was very wrong here.

Ash tried to stand, but it was like being on Team Rocket's Viking ship going at a thousand knots per hour.

His head swiveled the other way, and he saw Evelyn rush to Tyler. Apropos nothing, she exploded like a star going nova, meat and red drops spattering everything around. Tyler dropped to his knees.

Nearer, Serena had grabbed hold of Jade and Sapphire. They were all crying. Ash crawled toward them, and reached out. Jade took hold of his hand, and he pulled himself up towards her.

With no warning there was a sound of rushing air, then a pop! Serena and Sapphire disappeared as if they were never there. Ash hugged Jade to him, felt her face against his abdomen. He couldn't believe it. They were gone in an instant, his … uh … who was it, again? He shook his head to clear it, but that was a mistake.

This wasn't what was supposed to happen!

Finally able to open his eyes again, Ash was greeted with the sight of his mother's mouth opening wider and wider in a scream. Her jaw distended while her cranium forced its way back, and still her mouth continued to stretch, until she was literally eating her own body inside out, from inverted head on down. Her spine began to appear one disc at a time.

Lightning flashes began to hit in quick succession, but oddly the world did not darken. The wind was so strong Ash began to fear he'd be swept away, but it stayed bright. The air did take on a violet, lambent glow, however.

One thing, for sure, though, the walls of the stands were being torn down. The people left on them were screaming and clutching onto chairs and stands, trying to make their way to exits. But lightning flashes were claiming some, turning them to black stains where they had stood picoseconds before, while others were being ensnared in twisting foliage. Ash had no idea where the deadly vines had come from, but they were squeezing people until they popped like overripe fruit.

Many of them just grabbed onto something and stared straight up, screaming as the infrastructure collapsed violently around them.

Looking up? Why?

Ash looked up himself and felt his knees give way again. He clutched Jade tightly to himself as he felt the muscles in his legs turn to mashed potatoes. He fell back, still holding her to his chest, willing her not to look up. Up, into the horrible, enormous, sky-filling eye that was slowly opening, giving off its lambent violet glow. It seemed to exist behind the sky somehow, as if it drew breath behind everything, an inevitable, horrific denouement to the visible world.

Ash began muttering a repeated denial - no, no, no - but it was useless against something so immense and so inescapable.

He felt the soft loam beneath his head and thought he saw small black specks moving toward the eye, tiny insects moving toward the hate-filled mien of god.

Ash lost consciousness when the mouth beneath the eye showed itself and began to open, revealing nothing but cold cosmos and sharply honed, never-ending rows of teeth …

ii. The present ...

Ash looked like an escaped prisoner with blood covering his face and jawline, bloodshot eyes, and dead stare. A prisoner who was in for false prophecy, maybe.

Ash stared at the scattered Necromancers before him; all the Pokemon, including Greninja and Delphox, his conscience for so long; Brock; Damian; Misty; Tyler; Jade.

"It's so weird," Brock muttered. "I wasn't even in here the day that everything went down. I was out back getting some peanuts from a vendor I liked. We didn't realize what was happening until the building started to collapse. A piece of masonry flew right into my eye. That's why I have this." He pointed at the eyepatch.

Misty said, "Huh, I'm so used to it now, I'd ... completely forgotten about that patch."

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "It really just kind of slips under the radar."

Brock shrugged.

"Jade, honey," Ash said softly. "Daddy has to go away for now. Can you be a big girl for me?"

Jade ran up and hugged him, but said "yes" into his pants leg.

Ash looked at Misty. "Watch over her, will you?"

Misty gave a sharp nod. "Of course."

Tyler spoke up. "I don't get it. What are you going to do?"

Ash smiled. "When we fought that sentient lightning … I learned a little trick. And my best friend here knows it, too."

Pikachu walked beside him, sighed, and nodded glumly. "But first," Pikachu said, "there's something I gotta do. The world needs a Pikachu."

Pikachu took a ridiculously deep drag on the cigar in his mouth, and his body began glowing, then … engorging at the stomach. Slowly but surely, a copy of himself began to be birthed from his body, and another Pikachu eventually stood right beside him, shaking its head.

"You've gotta stay here," said Pikachu Prime. "Enjoy this life."

"No!" yelled Pikachu Beta. "No! Let me go!"

Pikachu Prime slapped Pikachu Beta. "It's gotta be me!"

Pikachu Beta slapped him back. "No! We've got the same memories!"

Pikachu Prime slapped Pikachu Beta. "But you're newly born, you fool!"

Pikachu Beta slapped him back. "It's not fair!"

Pikachu Beta began to cry. Pikachu Prime slapped Pikachu Beta. "Who said anything about fair!"

Pikachu Beta sniffled, then reached out and pulled the pack of cigars from Pikachu Prime's hiding place and stuck one in his mouth. "Fine," he mumbled despondently, then wandered over to stand by Misty.

"Are you ready, buddy?" Ash asked, and Pikachu nodded, putting one arm down and the other up, like Superman about to take flight.

"Wait!" cried Amy Lee of Evanescence. "I believe I am called to join you!"

"Huh?" Ash was confused.

"Ever since that mysterious man I met at the traveling carnival in Nepal with the mummy's paw and the puzzle box told me of my future, I knew this day would come." She turned to her band. "I apologize for leaving, but …"

"We all knew this day would one day arrive," said drummer Will Hunt, nodding understandingly. "We shall activate the live model decoy clone we've stored away for just this circumstance."

"Good," replied Amy Lee. She looked to Ash. "Are we ready?"

Ash nodded. "And I have to say, I'm especially pleased that someone with your surname feels comfortable coming with me. I'm glad after the things my people have done to yours, we can come together in this sign of solidarity."

"Uh … I'm from Riverside?"

"Oh." Ash shuffled for a moment, eyes darting around in his bloodstained face. "Let's do it!"

He clanged his samurai swords together, and a flash of lightning popped into existence. Ash flew straight up it, launching himself at the immense being above him. Pikachu also launched himself with a lightning blast, as did Amy Lee. The three of them shot into the sky, growing smaller, smaller, then finally becoming indistinct dots against the enormity of the evil creature above.

There was a long moment of silence. Damian holstered his pistol and looked around, amazed. "I can't believe I made it," he muttered.

"Is that … was that good?" Misty asked. "Did we win?"

"The fight that is occurring now," answered one of the Necromancers, "happens on a scale unimaginable to the human mind. There is no way we shall ever know if-"

A loud noise, like someone who had just been walked in on masturbating zipping up, sounded from above, and the eye and mouth disappeared. Distantly, a bird began trilling a happy song, and the sun immediately seemed brighter.

"Oh," the Necromancer said, shrugging as he nodded. "I guess we're good, then."

Vampire Jamal wandered over, poking at his teeth with his tongue."What did I miss? I got distracted with gnawing on a bone and fell asleep for a while."

Everyone stared back at him. The silence grew uncomfortable, and he started using a long nail to try to get something from between two teeth. "What?"

Everyone laughed.

THE END