From Riley's hands emitted a wave of distortion, ebbing out in a ranged sphere several dozen feet in a radius around him. Being further away from him than Ash was, Annabel had time to back away. Ash, however, was caught in the distortion field, yet nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen yet. Stopping in his tracks, Ash looked briefly at his hands before turning his attention back to the madman.
"What did you do?" He asked, thoroughly perplexed.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough!" Riley said, before looking back, discontent with failing to catch Annabel in his field. "Still too far, huh? Whatever, I'll just kill him first!"
Not giving his opponent a chance to strike first, Ash leapt into the air, his arms transforming into Scyther limb blades. As he attempted to bring his arms down on Riley's head, he stopped.
"What?!" He gasped, unable to move his body.
Looking through the invisible barrier Riley had formed, Annabel noticed the orbs on his arms began to glow again. Suddenly, Ash's position reversed yet again, flying backwards to the point he stood before he even transformed his arms, his normal hands now in place of his scyther ones.
"This again?!" Ash said, bewildered. "What is this?!"
"That's the..." Annabel said under breath, noticing what the orbs grafted into Riley's body truly were.
Riley began to charge up a shadowy fireball in his hands, throwing it in Ash's direction. Dodging the attack, Ash used Extreme Speed to circle around Riley before attempting a drop kick. That too, proved fruitless, for when Ash attacked, a new clue about Riley's mysterious powers came to light. In all the attempted strikes Ash made up to this point, for just a brief moment in time, Riley's body seemed to blink out of reality, as if in a moment, he wasn't really there. Afterwards, Ash's position in time went back to normal, standing where the fireball had intended to hit.
"Look out!" Annabel shouted at her dazed brother.
"Ugh!" Ash exhaled, the fireball hitting him square in the chest, sending him flying back.
Pulling out a folded blade from his pocket, Riley ran towards the downed emperor, poised to strike. In retaliation, Ash fired off an Aura Sphere in self defense. Seeing her opportunity to strike Riley from behind, Annabel fired an Aura Sphere of her own into the barrier.
"Tch!" Riley scoffed, noticing he was gridlocked.
As his orbs lit up again, things once again snapped back into place as they were a few seconds prior, with Ash never firing off an Aura Sphere and Riley never charging him with a folded blade. One thing of particular note Annabel noticed was her own Aura Sphere. It began traveling back to Annabel, but once it let the barrier, it immediately changed course and flew in its intended flight pattern when she aimed it at Riley. With him no longer standing where it was aimed at, it simply flew into the void shaped floor, bursting into pieces before dissipating.
"That's it!" Annabel said to herself, before calling out to her Master. "Ash! His ability is time manipulation! It seems he can turn back time several seconds on anything that's in this strange field he made here! But it looks like he's affected by it too!"
"Time, huh?" Ash panted, transforming his body. "It's tied to those gems on his arms."
"Yes! But it also looks like he can't effect attacks once they left the barrier!" She replied. "When my aura sphere rewound in time, it left the barrier, then went back on its normal course!"
"So that means we can win if we coordinate our attacks!" Ash said triumphantly. "I love how smart you are!"
"As if I'll let you do as you please!" Riley scoffed, holding a sphere, black as night.
Lobbing it outside the area his time powers effected, the sphere began to meld into shape. The weird shadowy mass of plasma and antimatter formed into the visage of a Lucario, it's body black like the void and its eyes a sinister, bloodshot crimson.
"When I achieved this perfect body, I learned that I've no need for companions, henchmen, or Pokémon. As long as I feed off the life force of others, I can achieve my own immortality." Riley said, gesturing to his foul creation. "I took the soul from my Lucario. His sacrifice was the first step I took to attaining greater heights. With my powers, I can create copies of those I absorb. Watch."
Clutching another mass of dark matter, Riley let the orb simply float away, down the stairs and out to the exit. Using his still established link with Greninja, Ash directed his Pokémon to look for the abnormal ball of malice. Greninja noticed the orb, landing further down the mountain. Suddenly, the dark energy coalesced, forming into the visage of Groudon.
"Groudon was not truly dead until I came along. I should thank your pathetic morals, Ash." Riley sneered, had you truly aimed to kill, I wouldn't have another pawn to crush your little sex slaves. Soon enough, I'll get my hands on you, and then I'll do to you what I did to those two."
"You're welcome to try!" Ash said, thoroughly enraged, his body now transformed, Ash' hair now like an Infernape's.
Breathing hot white fires at Riley in a deadly flurry, Riley simply dodged by sidestepping, running up to Ash with his hand raised.
"Ash!" Annabel replied, though her attention was focused on the shadow creature Riley had created.
Forming a blade of aura in he hand, she sliced away at the Lucario, her blade making contact, but seemingly to do little damage. Seeing the opportunity to strike, Annabel concentrated her Aura Sphere to target Riley, hoping to force him to rewind time in the space time field. Her shot was knocked off course, however, her aim thrown off when the blighted Lucario struck her in the face with a tremendous punch. The aura sphere flew into the barrier, all the while Riley focusing on Ash alone.
Quickly thinking, Ash broke off his fire breath, his nemesis' hand mere inches from his throat. Suddenly, metallic prong sprung from his neck, their appearance akin to Magnamite magnets. Releasing an electric Discharge, Ash permeated a area of lightening around his whole body. Noticing once again that Riley blinked out of existence just before time was brought back again to before Ash had breathed fire. Riley himself was back in his original position, awaiting Ash to make the first move.
Unbeknownst to him however, the Aura Sphere that Annabel shot off rewound as well, leaving the barrier and returning to original trajectory, flying back into the barrier, right where Riley stood.
"Shit!" Riley gasped, turning his shoulder accidentally into the attack. "I can't rewind yet!"
Smashing into the Adamant Orb, the violently rotating sphere of Annabel's righteous soul tore into Riley's shoulder, doing tremendous damage to his corrupted body. Suddenly, the field he erected around himself and Ash was dissolved, his power over the Adamant orb lost as the holy relic of the God of Time shattered into pieces.
Knocked to the floor, Riley struggled to his knees while Ash wasted no time in attacking. Forming a bolt of electricity in his hands, Ash threw the bolt like a spear, the precise accuracy he had unmatched. Riley began reeling from the damage even further, the nerves in his body getting lit up by the voltage. Before Ash could do more, the Lusterous Orb in his other shoulder flew, forming a space rift that moved Riley to another point in the Hall.
"How dare you..!" He growled, his anger on Annabel, who was still distracted by his foul creation. "How dare youuuuuu!!"
Forming a pike of vile energy in his hands, he sprinted towards the violet haired beauty to slay her, only for her younger brother to intercept.
"I won't let you hurt her!" He yelled, blowing Riley back with a burst of wind.
Getting up on the other side of the hall, Riley stood back up, trying to regain his composure.
"It's about time we end this!" Ash said, despite how he'd used up a great deal of his energy.
Without his Vigor Stone, Ash had no means to reproduces the sheer amount of Aura he exhausted when fighting and transforming with his godly powers. Despite how time was rewound in that space time field Riley made, Ash felt exhausted all the same, as if that energy that should have rewound back to him was consumed regardless. Forming a massive Aura Sphere in his hands, Ash prepared to launch it, when all of the sudden, a tremendously acute pain surged from his gut.
Keeling over in pain, Ash began to cough up blood, his eyesight suddenly going hazy. Realizing he'd focused too much on Riley in the moment, he turned his attention to his Greninja, only to see a horrible scene. Greninja was bleeding profusely, a horrible slash across his chest etched into his skin from the vile claws of the Groudon visage Riley created. With the other girls and Pokémon distracted with their own battles, Greninja faced down the monster alone, and he was losing.
The battles from before were taking their toll on Greninja. Thoroughly exhausted, and on his own, Greninja was the only line of defense from Ash's slave girls being outflanked. Sensing another attack was coming, Ash could hear Greninja's voice in his head. He knew his trainer would risk losing everything if trainer suffered the same damage his Pokémon would.
"Wait, Greninja, you can't!" Ash protested. "If you do that, you'll lose for sure! You might even..!"
He couldn't bring himself to say the words he dreaded would be his Pokémon's fate, but yet even as his trainer refused to do what was needed, Greninja simply croaked goodbye, severing the bond phenomenon himself. The sights, sounds, and all communication he had to the outside was not cut. With no way of knowing what would befall his Greninja, Ash's soul burned hot with rage.
"Riley!!" Ash screamed, rushing down his enemy, beating him with a flurry of Mega Punches. "You destroy my house! You hurt my mother! My friends! You sealed them away in an Aura Gem, and you brought war to my Kingdom! And now you plan to kill everything I love?! I WON'T LET YOU HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF DEATH, YOU BASTARD!!"
Knocking Riley onto the floor, Ash knelt down on top of him, his legs trapping his enemy's hands beneath him. Concentrating all of his hatred, his rage, his bloodlust, all into his strikes, Ash continuously beat Riley's face again and again. Punching out teeth, dislocating his jaw, bludgeoning his eyes to the point they swelled. Ash beat his enemy with a side of him he never thought he had, and despite all that rage thrown at him, Riley simply laughed once Ash finally stopped to catch his breath.
On the other side of the room, using the tricks she learned from the book brought by Mia! Annabel constructed an aura construct, constructing the Shadow Lucario's movements with chains formed from her immense life essence. Panting for breath, Annabel began to make her way over to her younger brother, sensing his anger and sorrow. Hoping to help end this war once and for all so that she may help comfort him, Annabel continued to approach, only to stop when she noticed Ash forming an Aura Sphere unlike any other.
It's color unlike any other, Ash's Aura Sphere reflected his state of mind. His unbalanced aura began forming a blood red Sphere, Ash began bringing it closer to Riley's now deformed face.
"Looks like I finally broke you..!" Riley weakly replied, his bruised lip and busted teeth making it difficult to speak. "But I'm not all out of tricks yet..."
Blinded by rage, Ash never even noticed the Lusterous Orb began to glow yet again. Warping his place in space time, Riley was transported right behind Ash. Still knelt over, Ash could only look back as Riley grabbed him neck from behind, rapping his fingers around his trachea. Seeing Ash's life force being drained from his, his skin shriveling and hair freeing, Annabel was on the verge of tears.
"Leave him alone!" She cried throwing an Aura Sphere at him.
Backing off to avoid another sneak attack, Riley stepped back while Annabel made her body a shield against her brother's would-be killer. She wanted so desperately to turn back to him and give him the healing aid he needed, but she knew what he would say.
"I know, Ash." She said remorsefully, knowing full well she lacked the strength to face Riley, she prepared for the worst outcome, making sure she got in words worthy of speaking. "I won't back down! I'll protect you, and your dream with my life! Just know this! I'll always love you!"
As she began to charge Riley, Aura sword in hand, Riley began to form a vile blade from his own wretched soul. Before the two could make contact, however, several blasts came from the entrance of the hall, hitting Riley from the side, once again surprising the madman. The point of impact being on the side the Lusterous Orb was contained, the holy relic of the God of Space now, too, was destroyed. Stripped of his most deadly powers, Riley looked in seething wrath towards his attackers.
Before him were Serena, May, Dawn, Misty, and Cynthia.
"We won't let you hurt our Master any more!" The five said in unison.
"You girls..." Ash muttered weakly, getting up from still being hunched over.
Sensing her brother needed help, Annabel rushed over to him, giving him her shoulder.
"You started this with us!" Cynthia responded.
"We were the first slaves you ever claims among dozens, Master!" Misty followed up.
"With our combined strength, I know there's no need to worry!" Dawn cheered, optimistic as ever.
"Yeah, as if we'd let you have all the fun!" May joked.
"Your other slaves are still out there, fighting, and defending! Your Pokémon are as well!" Serena spoke at last. "Everyone's putting it all on the line for you to achieve your goal! You can do it, honey! We all believe in you!"
As the five first slaves of Ash readied themselves for battle, the Hall of Origin shook with mysterious tremors. Both Riley and those of Team Rose alike, looked to the center of the room. The alter where the Stones of Power rested began to sink into the floor, leaving only the three gems floating in the middle of the room. The Life Stone now repaired, the three relics began to spin in a circle around the triangular platform.
With their spinning and the lowering of the alter came the ritual of rebirth. With the Life Stone opening a wormhole inside the ring the three gems spun into existence, a large golden egg emerged from the portal, gleaming with majesty and might.
"This is what I saw in my visions..!" Ash noted, recollecting the golden egg. "I have to get over there..!"
"Here, let me help you!" Annabel insisted, helping her Master across the room, back to the shrine.
"Oh, I don't think so!" Riley shouted, trying to reach the egg first.
"We won't let you!" Ash's other slaves shouted, intercepting him and locking him in combat.
As the corrupted Aura Guardian fought against the new generation of Guardians, Ash and Annabel hobbled over to the egg together. Inching closer and closer, Ash and Annabel stopped in front of the shrine. With the golden egg floating several dozen feet above the alter, the shrine emitted a set of transparent and glowing golden steps for them to ascend. Seeing his enemy was mere steps away from defeating him, Riley found a chance to break out of the crowd, using enhanced speed to reach the egg.
With Ash's slaves not fast enough to pursue, Ash knew this was now of never. Making it to the last stop, the egg was but a couple feet away. Letting Annabel lean them in to touch it, Ash and his sister were on the verge of awakening the slumbering God, Arceus. Rushing up the stairs, Riley was on top of the duo in an instant. In an infinitesimal second, time seemed to have slowed down. Riley was mere inches from making contact with Ash.
He proved to be the loser, however, for in that one moment in time, Ash and Annabel made contact with the egg. Suddenly, a surge of light overcame Ash and Annabel, enveloping the duo, alongside Riley and the Stones of Power. The other slaves in the Hall could only stare and watch as the trio seemed to be sucked into the egg.
"Ugh, what happened?" Ash noticed, starting to realize his vigor had returned to him. "Annabel!.
"I'm okay..!" She moaned, regaining her sensing while still holding onto her brother's hand.
"Where are we?" Ash asked, before turning around, noticing Riley knelt down before him, locked in an ivory cage and wrapped in golden chains.
"You are in my world, Ash Ketchum." A familiar voice spoke out. "Or rather, the bridge between your world, and mine."
Floating from the heavenly and fluorescent star filled void they resided in, the Creator of the world descended to greet the Chosen One.
"We meet now, truly face to face now, Chosen One." Arceus continued. "It's time we talked. It's time you learned the truth of your world."