a/n:
Legends Arceus final trainer battle done. Beat it first try!
I'm starting to wonder.
What's next after this fic?
And I think I've decided
As we reach the final act of the show these next few chapters I'll reveal more.
XYZ Ash in JN POV:
Ash was ready to face Cynthia. After many long years, trials and a journey across time, this would be his moment.
As he walked into the stadium, he could hear the deafening roar of the crowd. He took a deep breath and walked forward.
Little did he know, his match would be postponed.
Cynthia gave the crowd a wave before gazing at Ash and nodding.
Ash reached for his belt, as did Cynthia.
Cynthia gave Ash a smile, "Ready?"
Ash nodded
The rotom drone screamed, "Begin!"
And the show was on
"Alright, let's do this Pikachu!" Ash yelled
"Roserade, let's go!" Cynthia yelled
Both pokemon emerged and stared each other down, and Ash was about to give his first orders, but the faint sound of thunder could be heard, distracting him.
Evidently, Cynthia seemed curious about it as well, considering she gave no orders to her Roserade, who looked at the sky curiously.
The thunderclap could be heard again, this time even louder than before.
The crowd went silent; they could tell something was off as well.
Ash grimaced; he suspected something was up and got ready for trouble.
Just then, trouble arrived. And no, not team rocket and their schemes.
A portal opened above Ash, and a loud booming voice was heard from the skies.
"Ash Ketchum, your life is forfeit for violating the timeline. Do not resist as your counterparts have"
Two massive pokemon flew out from the skies and released a roar
It was Palkia and Dialga
"The gods of space and time…" Cynthia said to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by sudden attacks
Dialga roared and released a dragon pulse that Ash rolled out of the way of.
Palkia launched a hydro pump and Pikachu countered by defending Ash with a massive electro ball that evaporated the attack into mist.
Pikachu landed by Ash's side who stared down the gods of space and time.
Cynthia looked on, and Ash took a deep breath. He had faced legends before, and this would be no different.
Dialga and Palkia flew above him and started circling over his head.
Ash reached for his belt to get some help, when Dialga beat him to the chase by unleashing a flash cannon.
Suddenly, Roserade launched a solar beam that intercepted the flash cannon.
Cynthia was in the fight now.
Palkia roared, and fired off an ice beam towards Roserade, but Pikachu melted it using a thunderbolt.
Dialga fired off an even harder dragon pulse. Palkia vanished, and reappeared above Roserade, slamming into Cynthia's pokemon.
Ash reached for his belt, releasing his Solgaleo, also known affectionately as Nebby. He realized the intensity of the situation, it was now or never, and he'd have to go all out.
Upon seeing his legendary, Dialga issued a challenge and Nebby matched it with a roar of his own. In the blink of an eye, both legendary pokemon vanished, slamming into each other at speeds faster than Ash could even comprehend.
Cynthia reached for her belt and released her own ace. A massive Garchomp emerged and sped towards Palkia who was abusing poor Roserade, slamming into the lord of space and toppling the deity into the ground.
Ash yelled at Pikachu, "Try and strike one of them with rapid-fire thunderbolts!"
Garchomp and Palkia were exchanging increasingly powerful headbutts and Cynthia gave her command.
"Roserade, use stun spore on Palkia!" Cynthia commanded
Roserade launched some yellow dust towards Palkia, and after pausing for a moment, the lord of space turned around and the space around Roserade started to warp and even shatter, suddenly, purple lines which could best be described as the literal chains of reality itself came down and struck the grass type.
Roserade cried out in pain and fainted instantly from the blow.
Meanwhile, up in the sky, Nebby was losing his advantage slowly but surely. Dialga kept getting faster, stronger, and hitting harder attacks. Pikachu's thunderbolts started to miss more frequently.
Ash realized he was on the defensive now, and the longer the gods remained on earth, the more danger he would be in.
"I need to get out of here and get the fight away from the crowd," Ash thought to himself as Cynthia's Garchomp was sent flying from a dragon pulse.
But Ash looked at the crowd and noticed how the whole stadium was nearly empty. He shrugged and turned his attention back to the fight
As Ash started to panic more and more, a massive psychic dome was constructed over the battlefield, protecting Ash and Cynthia. Lucario and Gardevoir stood next to a Gengar, and a group of trainers ran out along with their pokemon.
Just then, Goh and Chloe ran onto the field along with a few others leading the way he didn't recognize…..May? And another trainer Ash didn't recognize and….. was that himself?
May ran towards Ash and put her hand on his shoulder, much to Chloe's distaste. "Ash, I know this is crazy, but you need to-"
"Come with me if you want to live," Ash's counterpart interrupted
30 mins ago….
A portal opened in the upper layers of the stadium, and JN-Ash alongside May and Lucas emerged from the purple portal in a janitor's closet in the stadium.
"Lucas, move your leg" May said loudly
"May, move your elbow away from my face" Ash said
May replied, "I'm sorry, it's just pitch black in here and I can't"
Ash flipped the light switch, and May pulled the doorknob. All three trainers stumbled out of the door, and took a deep breath before regaining composure.
"So how exactly do we know when Ash will be attacked?" May asked
"We don't. It won't be long, but we're going in blind, we could wait five minutes or it could be a day or two, better to be early then late though." Lucas, something of a leader for the three answered
"So what's stopping us from snatching him now and leaving?" May asked
Lucas's expression widened, and he released his Lucario who waved his arms, and a blue ball of aura flew out of Ash who looked surprised "Besides the fact that we'd get stopped because we're in a stadium? Dialga and Palkia have an aura lock on this version of Ash from marking you, considering you guys are counterparts. If we can stop or distract them for a while, my Lucario can remove the aura lock and we can escape,"
"Oh… ok," Ash said
"Anyways, let's find some empty seats and wait out until the match starts.." Lucas announced
Ash's gaze turned towards the snack bar across from them, "Fine by me, is it cool if we get snacks?"
Lucas laughed, "And how do you suggest we pay for those?"
"Oh….good point…" Ash said
"Come on guys, let's find seats closest to Ash's side of the arena!" May announced as she took off running towards the other side of the arena.
Ash noticed Lucas staring at May a second or so longer than a normal person would and smiled. He was finally starting to get it now.
The trio walked around the stadium for a few minutes, searching for any empty seats that could help them.
Finally, just as they were starting to lose hope, Ash's gaze turned towards two familiar friends of hiss.
Ash took off running down the stairs towards two teens sitting on seats while May and Lucas watched in confusion and slight amusement.
One of the trainers saw Ash running towards him and smiled, a bit more than he was used to. Maybe she was just proud?
"Ash! You're supposed to be battling for like two minutes, why on earth are you here!" Goh said
"Wait…. Ash love, why'd you change outfits?"
Ash looked very uncomfortable with Chloe calling him that, "Goh, Chloe. It's me! Your Ash, the Ash from before the time traveling. The one with a Lucario, Dragonite and a"
"Oh my Arceus. Ash!" Goh yelled
Goh ran out of his seat towards Ash and hugged him, "It's awesome to see you! I don't understand, how on earth could this happen? What will happen to the Ash here right now? Wait, oh no. How will this affect Chloe?"
"What about her?"
"Well ummm the Ash that time traveled…. He sorta…"
"Ash, I'm dating you now. Or at least the time traveler Ash…"
"Oh…..oh boy this is awkward….Chloe, you're a great friend and all but I just don't see you that way,"
"Ash please, one of you is enough. I have no interest in dating you."
"Well….that's good because I'm sorta dating Serena now.."
"Isn't she the Kalos girl?" Goh asked
"Yeah, that's her. I sorta woke back up in Kalos, and fixed some of my mistakes and started dating her."
"That's great to hear, but we need to address a major question before we keep talking about our dating lives. How on earth did you travel back through time again?"
"I didn't"
"What?"
"Well, I sorta made some new friends and we're here to stop a really bad event from happening. Oh look, here they are!"
Lucas and May walked down the stairs towards the fieldside seats where Chloe and Goh were chatting with Ash
"Who are they, Ash?" Lucas questioned
"My friends from my original timeline," Ash replied
Lucas sighed, "Well…..allies always help. Are they strong trainers?"
"Maybe not strong enough to beat a god, but they can help us."
"Alright, good. Just make sure they can pull their own weight," Lucas said
"Oh, look! The match is starting soon!" May said excitedly
Ash's eyes darted towards his counterpart, his very own Pikachu was following him.
Ash looked at his own shoulder, Pikachu was staring at their counterpart quite uncomfortable as Ash was.
"Well, let's take a seat guys, this match could still happen remember," May said
Ash nodded, and took a seat next to Goh
"So how's Greninja?" Ash questioned
"Oh that transformation thing you guys do is as crazy as ever, I'm still shocked you basically never mentioned it. If I were able to do such a crazy feat, you best believe that I'd be doing it daily and bringing it up in every conversation,"
Ash laughed, "It's good to see you again Goh,"
Just then as the trainers walked out on the stage and released their pokemon, a loud snap of thunder could be heard throughout the arena.
Everyone's attention turned towards the sky, and a few moments later, even louder thunder could be heard throughout the arena.
Ash cursed lightly as he saw a small wedge form in the sky, and a portal opened which two legendaries flew out of.
Lucas stood up and slapped Ash's shoulder. "It's go time," the Sinnohan said
May nodded and reached for her belt.
But Ash made a valid point, "Wait for just a second guys, let's not rush in right away. We need to make sure the crowd gets to safety first."
"Your counterpart is more important."
"Cynthia is there. Which means her Garchomp also is. They'll be fine, now help get people through those exits!"
May reached for her belt and released a Gardevoir, "Gardevoir, use teleport on those groups!"
Gardevoir's eyes glowed, and she teleported towards a large section of the stands and extended her dress which enveloped the confused spectators. Gardevoir vanished and then reappeared a few moments later. She repeated this process for many of the sections.
"Goh, Chloe, you guys try to stop stray projectiles!"
Goh called out his Inteleon who started sniping stray remnants of a dragon pulse or hydro pump. Chloe called out her Eevee, and ordered her to mimic the attacks.
After a minute or so, and even with Ash calling out Nebby, which he made a mental note to go talk to his counterpart about, the stands were clear from innocents, and the trainers could move in.
Lucas, Ash and May jumped over the barriers, and sprinted on the field where Cynthia's Garchomp stood fighting Palkia, while Nebby and Pikachu dueled Dialga in the sky.
—-
May ran towards Ash and put her hand on his shoulder, much to Chloe's distaste. "Ash, I know this is crazy, but you need to-"
"Come with me if you want to live," JN-Ash said
XY-Ash looked confused before looking at Dialga who roared in anger before sighing, "Let's do this. And I appreciate the reference."
The boy Ash didn't recognize called out a Lucario before Lucario began to draw some blue aura ball out of Ash, struggling with it.
"Everyone, protect him while Lucario works!"
Cynthia shrugged and ordered Garchomp to strike Palkia. Goh's Inteleon started shooting at Dialga, and May's Gardevoir began launching pink orbs towards both gods.
Palkia unleashed a massive hydro pump towards the group, and May released her Swampert who blocked the massive water attack easily.
But Dialga suddenly caught Goh and Chloe off guard when a point blank roar of time smashed into the two trainers' pokemon, knocking out both Eevee and Inteleon instantly.
"Alright, you two! Get out of here now! This battle will only heat up more, plus we won't stick around much longer, so say your goodbyes now!" Lucas barked at Goh and Chloe
Lucario finished extracting the ball, and nodded at Lucas who just pointed at Dialga
Chloe understood the memo and sprinted towards XY Ash and pulled him into a hug which he returned, ignoring Nebby who was being stomped on by Dialga before Lucario's aura sphere knocked him off balance.
Lucas ran up to Cynthia to explain some plan to her
"Hey…" Chloe said
"Hey…." XY Ash replied
"Looks like I'll be leaving soon," XY-Ash said with a sad smile
Chloe didn't say anything, just staring at her boyfriend who would soon be ripped away from her
"UGH, I hate goodbyes" XY-Ash said sadly
"Yeah….. But this isn't really a goodbye. I'll see you again, I know the other Ash will get you home," Chloe said
"Where's home?" XY-Ash replied
Chloe punched his arm, "With me idiot."
She stood on her toes and kissed him
Ash hugged her and leaned in
May interrupted the two, "As much as I appreciate a good romance story, now is NOT the time for this. Ash, we are LEAVING."
XY-Ash pulled away and nodded at Chloe who just waved at him.
"See you guys soon…." XY-Ash said as he ran towards Lucas who had just popped the bottle and a portal opened
Cynthia called out her Spiritomb and Togekiss, while everyone recalled their pokemon.
Cynthia screamed, "Garchomp, draco meteor! Togekiss and Spiritomb, use dazzling gleams together! Blind everyone!"
Cynthia's team obliged, distracting the gods while Chloe and Goh gave one last farewell to the Ashes.
The group stepped into the portal.