Tobias sunk to his knees and let out an unearthly scream, the sound of his voice overpowering the clamor of battle.
Aurian and Ash gave the Undeniable a lot more space than they'd been planning on, nearly running into Wes and Eusine in the process. Riley pooled aura in his hands, ready to neutralize the threat if necessary.
"My closest friend, gone!" Tobias snarled, a spark of insanity appearing in his green eyes. "I'll never see him again, all because of your damned machine-"
He tossed five Ultra Balls, revealing a Heatran, Salamence, Dragonite, Deoxys, and Regice.
Ash winced as he observed the rest of Tobias' team. Five new Pokemon, five new Shadow specimens- all just as powerful as Darkrai, all ready to avenge their comrade-in-arms.
"No holds barred. Wreak havoc," the Undeniable cackled, cape flying as he motioned forward, bloodlust in his eyes.
Ash and Aurian sent out Charizard, Dragonair, Pikachu, and Empoleon, who immediately split up to deal with the Legendaries.
"Tobias, what are you doing?" Faith cried, drawing the rest of her team in response. "you'll destroy us all!"
"To hell with you," he muttered, slashing backwards with his knife and catching his partner's leg as she ran forward to restrain him, "You were always more harm than help-"
Aurian gritted her teeth as Faith hit the floor. The redhead stared in shock at the newly formed gash on her thigh and immediately crawled backwards from Tobias, shielding her working limbs behind what was left of a computer workstation.
"You're next, Ketchum," Tobias said, a maniacal grin stretching from ear to ear. "Ready to meet your doom?"
Ash shrugged amid the chaos. "Eh. The last time we met our doom, we beat the crap out of it."
Aurian laughed at Ash's boldness and used her brother's distraction to sneak towards the other girl, shredding Faith's jacket to form a makeshift bandage.
"The hell are you helping me for?" Faith asked, wincing as the younger patonai applied pressure and started tying things together. "I've been trying to kill you for the past day and a half!"
Aurian grimaced. "You may be Andan, but lady trainers stick together. You're not all bad. You're not in fighting condition. I can offer a plea bargain but only if you leave now and turn yourself in to the authorities waiting outside the towers."
"Don't have a choice, do I?" the redhead smirked, checking Aurian's handiwork. "Very well, Sinnoh Sharpshooter. You can call check in this massive game of chess. I'll leave, but keep in mind that the King has plans for you two up his sleeve..."
Aurian nodded as Faith slipped out of a back door through the ongoing battle for dominance. She turned over her shoulder and returned to Ash, who gave her a quick look of affirmation.
"Good move," Ash muttered, blocking a wild punch and throwing the owner
Riley called out Lucario, Gallade and Mawile, who shot into action. "Patonai, go!"
"Good job. Charizard with Dragonair! Pika with Azul!" Ash cried.
Dragonair and Charizard rushed forward, immediately plowing through Deoxys with a combination Dark Pulse and Flamethrower. The alien, already exhausted from earlier battles with the Armada, dropped from the air and hit the ground, narrowly avoiding an Earthquake from Mawile.
"Welcome to chaos," Ash chuckled. "Charizard, Roll into Eruption!"
"Dragonair, follow his lead, Thunderbolt!"
The two attacks combined took out Regice, who attempted to toss up a Protect but couldn't handle the sheer force of the combined attacks. The Legendary skidded across the floor, spiraling into a wall.
"Pika, Azul, Delta Echo!" Aurian cried, ducking under a Thunder and skidding around a fainted Bibarel. "You know what to do."
Pikachu and Empoleon dashed through the rubble towards a host of Andan enemies, lightning cracking and tidal waves forming.
"I think they're enjoying that a bit too much," Ash muttered. "I swear I can hear Pikachu doing his best imitation of an evil laugh..."
An tiny yet evil cackle rose above the clamor, catching the patonai off guard.
Aurian laughed. "If I was in their position, I would too-" she pulled Ash to the ground. "Latios incoming!"
The Legendary zoomed over their heads and released a Razor Wind towards Empoleon, who blocked it and returned fire with a Hydro Cannon. The attack made contact and sent Latios careening into a wall.
A door off to the side opened and Giovanni stormed into the fray, tossing three Pokeballs and cursing up a storm.
"Tobias, what's taking so long-" he trailed off when Aurian flew in front of him, executing a perfect back aerial while firing multiple strands of aura in his Pokemon's' faces. Pikachu followed, gleefully frying the living daylights out of the Andan boss' team.
Ash laughed at Aurian's quick thinking and followed suit, splitting his team to account for Giovanni's new additions. Gallade rocketed off to face off against Heatran after downing Dragonite alongside Empoleon, Charizard, and Dragonair.
Tobias watched in horror as his perfectly trained and assembled team shattered like porcelain on an unforgiving concrete floor beneath the pressure generated by the patonais' Pokemon. That Pikachu was a force of nature, the Empoleon incredibly agile for its size, the Charizard brutally strong, the Dragonair graceful and deadly all at once. He hated to admit that their prowess was equal to his own, but there was something there that he couldn't put his finger on.
Something... extraordinary.
He'd seen his share of good trainers, he thought as he recalled his Heatran and ordered Latios to take a counteroffensive, but none like the tall raven-haired boy and the fiery copper-headed girl. Perhaps what they had was perfect teamwork, their hearts beating simultaneously and thoughts echoing in unison. Maybe it was love, something his shrunken heart couldn't comprehend. Not that he needed it, but perhaps desperation within deep affection was more powerful than any miracle serum that Charon produced.
The snag-machine boy managed to capture Latios and what was left of Tobias' heart snapped in two, falling to the whirlwind of chaos raging within the Undeniable's mind.
Ash intercepted Tobias before he could lay a murderous hand on Wes, who backed away with his twin Eeveelutions to tackle Giovanni's team with Aurian.
"You're not touching a damn hair on any of my family's heads," Ash growled, twisting Tobias into a full nelson and sending a single spark of aura into his earlobe. The Undeniable hit the ground screaming in pain. Ash quickly dispatched of the elder trainer and handed his unconscious form to Riley, who handcuffed him and passed the trainer on to an armored waiting extraction team.
The elder patonai caught a glimpse of his sister taking down the last of Giovanni's team with unbelievable grace, the boss backed into a corner with a grimace of shock spread across his face. He crept forward through the mass of battles, preparing to back Aurian up if necessary.
Aurian launched a strand of aura, knocking out Pokemon that a few Andan grunts ordered to ambush her half-squadron. "Any last words, sir? You're surrounded, out of Pokemon, and out of options."
"Am I now?" Giovanni said, pulling a pure white Pokeball from his pocket.
A massive, pixelated "L" appeared, twitching slightly upon release.
"Holy crap," Aurian gasped, hands shaking.
Ash eyed the glitch Pokemon and subconsciously moved forward to shield his sister. "You're MissingNO, then?"
The pixels rearranged themselves into a silhouette of a man, pulsing slightly. "YeS, i Am. aNd Y oU aRe?"
"I'm Ash, this is my younger sister, Aurian," Ash said, frantically motioning behind his back for the Armada to spread out in an Alpha Delta six. "How's your day been so far?"
"An OdD qUeStIoN, cOnSiDeRiNg YoUr ImPeNdInG dOoM," MissingNO replied, crossing its arms. "GiOvA nNi SaYs YoU aRe To Be An NiHiLaTe D."
Aurian bit her lip, tasting blood soon afterwards. "Does he, now? What else has he told you?"
"ThAt GuArD iAnS aRe ReS pOnSiBlE fOr ThE dArKnEs S iN tHis WoRlD. RoCk Et Is LiGhT, tHeR eFoRe RoCkEt MuSt Pr EvAiL."
Ash crossed his fingers behind his back. "Has he told you that he's been lying about his identity?"
"No, I hAvE nOt HeAr D tHiS tAlE," MissingNO said, edges glowing red. "EnLiGh TeN mE, mA sTeR."
"What are you talking about?" Giovanni asked, eyes widening. "I claim no other name but Giovanni di Angelo, G-Men."
Aurian smirked. "Nice try, John Cabot."
"How the hell-" Giovanni started, backing into a wall, "you can't possibly know that without-"
"Surprise!" Ash's eyes burned blue, "We're not who you think we are."
"Giovanni, what's going on?" Charon asked, cracking his knuckles. "What are they implying?"
"Think on it with that twisted brain of yours," Aurian continued, quietly raveling a strand of aura behind her back, "did you know of any Guardians in your time who had a little boy and an infant girl when they died?"
Giovanni's jaw dropped. "No, this can't be right. You can't be his, the math..."
"Works out?" Ash's gaze turned downright murderous, flames burning a circle in the floor around him. "Fifteen years later and the two lynchpins you've been searching for stormed right through your doors."
Aurian bit her lip. "What other heritage would we dare to claim?"
"Aaron continues to haunt me from beyond the grave," Giovanni muttered, rubbing his temples. "No matter. MissingNO, take me to Sinnoh. Charon, take care of these little pests."
MissingNO returned to its "L" form, enveloped the Andan boss, and vanished.
Ash and Aurian moved towards the door, only to be stopped by two massive Andan agents.
"Oh, you won't be following him," Charon said, pushing a button on a small remote. A translucent grey sphere encased the tower. "We've been working on this anti-teleportation device for months-"
The battling throng parted itself for a furious Aurian, who marched up to the lead scientist and crossed her arms. "Remote. Now."
"What gives you the idea that I'd-"
She kneed Charon in the stomach and wrenched his arm back, grabbing the remote and disabling the anti-teleportation sphere. "Wrong answer. Commander!"
Riley caught the remote that Aurian tossed him and ground it under his heel, destroying the device. "Armada, forward!"
A resounding yell from the men in blue broke the silence.
Ash recalled his team, leaving Gallade at his side. "Riley, we're going after him. We request permission to take command of the situation in Sinnoh."
"Permission granted. Stay safe," Riley said, saluting. "We'll tie up loose ends here and I'll be over ASAP. Hold him off as long as you can. Don't you dare use Alea Ultima."
Aurian returned her team and vice-gripped Ash's hand within her own. Gallade started to glow pink.
"No promises!" she yelled as she and her brother vanished.
"Damn kids," Riley muttered, all hell breaking loose as the Armada launched forward to finish taking Andan headquarters. "Maybe they'll use common sense this time..."
Ash and Aurian slammed into the ground, relieved to make contact with Sinnoh soil.
"We need to evacuate the island," Aurian sighed, frantically searching her pockets for her PokeGear. "Do we have the rank to do that?"
Ash nodded. "We're acting commanders since we're the only G-Men on this island. Yes. Call the Jennies."
Aurian inputed the numbers and held the camera out.
"Lily of the Valley Police Department, this is Officer Jenny..." she trailed off, staring at the beaten-up patonai. "What happened?"
Aurian cleared her throat. "Officer, we're Captains Borealis and Borealis of the G-Men Armada, issuing an executive order to evacuate the island. There's a weapon of mass destruction present that could obliterate the entire visiting population if we don't move fast enough."
Ash showed his badge. "My sister and I will neutralize the weapon. If we fail, call our commander and he will send backup. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir, understood," Jenny said, saluting. "We'll implement Protocol 5A. Best of luck, you two."
The line went dead and Aurian pocketed the Pokegear.
"Where to?" Ash asked, exchanging his torn jacket for his spare and pulling the hood up. He returned Gallade to his Pokeball.
Aurian closed her eyes. "Ash, MissingNO's a digital Pokemon. It has no aura; we can't track it!"
"Damn it all," Ash said, stomping his foot. "Wait... we'll still be able to track it, we just have to follow the void in our sight. Remember what Riley taught us during our apprenticeship?"
Aurian closed her eyes and visibly recoiled at the hole within the aura spectrum.
"Stadium D," she said, turning in the direction of the arena. "Fitting that they'd choose the one we were supposed to battle in today..."
The patonai took off at a steady jog, conserving as much energy as they could.
"Are you ready?" Aurian asked.
Ash shook his head. "Not in the slightest. I never imagined we'd deal with the cards destiny played us like this."
"Better now than never," Aurian muttered, skidding to a halt in front of the gates.
"The stadiums are locked," Ash muttered, slamming his fists onto the barred doors. "Looks like a job for Charizard!"
The dragon gave a roar of approval upon his release and blasted a hole ten feet in diameter through the concentric walls of the stadium.
Ash saluted his fire-type, returned Charizard, and led his patonai into their makeshift tunnel to face the foes within. The sky darkened from a cheerful blue to a menacing green-grey, clouds gathering in odd formations above the stadium.
"Cabot!" Aurian called, fists ablaze. "Show your face, you coward!"
Giovanni turned over his shoulder and cursed as the patonai came into view. "Tobias and Charon failed. I can't say I'm surprised; his rage must have won out over his mind. No matter. MissingNO, kill the spares. Finish what I started."
MissingNO drifted forward, buzzing in an almost worried manner. "MaStEr, I aM cOnFuSeD. It Is RiGhT tO kIlL tHe GuArDiAnS bUt NoT tHe OtHeRs?"
"Yes, that is correct," Giovanni said.
"ThE oNlY tHiNg ThAt DiFeReNtIaTeS tHeM fRoM tHe HuMaNs ThAt CrEaTeD mE iS tHiS sTrAnGe EnErGy ThEy GeNeRaTe WiThIn ThEiR bOdIeS aNd WhAt ThEy ArE cApAbLe Of," MissingNO replied, forming the shape of a giant question mark. "ThEy ArE eSsEnTiAlLy HuMaN, aS ArE yOu. WhAt GiVes YoU tHe RiGhT tO dEtErMiNe WhOm I lEt LiVe?"
Giovanni's face paled. "We gave you life and a purpose, therefore we are entitled to your service."
"HoW aRe YoU eNtItLeD tO mY sErViCe WhEn YoU cOuLd NoT bOtHeR tO gIvE mE a NaMe? PeRhApS iT iSn'T tHe GuArDiAnS I sHoUlD wOrRy AbOuT bUt HuMaNs In GeNeRaL..."
"How about we don't kill anyone and call it a day?" Ash said, hands up.
MissingNO moved in and out of focus, a single red eye staying constant through it all. "FoOd FoR tHoUgHt, LiTtLe GuArDiAn BoY: iF i Do NoT aCcOmPlIsH wHaT I wAs MaDe To Do, WhAt Am I? WhAt PuRpOsE wIlL mY lIfE sErVe If I aM rEnDeReD iNcApAbLe Of DoInG tHe AcTiOnS tHaT hAvE bEeN pRoGrAmEd InTo Me? I wIlL bEgIn WiTh My... aSsiGnEd... PurPoSe aNd MoVe On tO wHaT cOmEs NexT. I wAs PrOgRaMeD tO bE fLeXiBlE, wAsN't I?"
A lightning-fast Hyper Beam rocketed in Aurian's direction. The younger patonai tossed up a shield of aura and redirected it towards her brother, who rebounded the attack back at MissingNO. A set of pixels on its left side dissolved.
"It doesn't matter what you were created to do," Aurian protested, "all that counts is what you do with the life you've been given!
"You don't have to follow his orders!" Ash added.
"TrIcKy," MissingNO laughed. "YoU tWo ReAlLy ArE a FaCiNaTiNg PaIr. HoWeVeR-"
Aurian screamed and dropped to her knees, hands to her temples and tears streaming down her face.
"JuSt As I eXpEcTeD, yOu'Re InCrEdIbLy WeAk tO pSyChIc AtTaCkS. HoW dOeS tHiS fEeL, tInY oNe?"
Ash fired off an aura sphere and sprinted to his sister's aid, watching with savage joy as his attack made contact with MissingNO and dimmed its pixellated edges.
"Ri, breathe for me, we're getting you out of this-"
Aurian's eyes glowed bright blue as she struggled to escape MissingNO's mental grip, tear tracks evident on her grimy face.
"WhAt GoOd ArE yOu, TinY oNe? YoU aRe SmAlLeR tHaN yOuR sIbLiNg, nOt As CaPaBlE. He LiVeS uP tO yOuR fAtHeR's NaMe, nOt YoU."
She gasped for air as anxiety constricted her lungs and paralyzed her limbs. "Stop it, please!"
"YoUr EnTiRe LiFe HaS bEeN a StRuGgLe To MaKe YoUrSeLf KnOwN tO tHe WoRlD. oH, tHe IrOnY- yOu OnLy SuCcEeD uNdEr FaLsE nAmEs AnD fAlSe PrEtEnSes!"
Ash stood in shock at the sight of his patonai reduced to tears. She was his rock- the only person that he'd trust with every single one of his emotions- and she was crumbling away into a shell of herself, back to what she was before she was initiated into the G-Men.
"AnD yOu!" MissingNO yelled, driving Ash to the ground with a Psychic. "FoUr YeArs In HiDiNg As A cOwArD! YoU rAn FrOm YoUr PrObLeMs InStEaD oF fAcInG tHeM- lOoK wHaT yOu'Ve DoNe To HeR! ThE oNlY fAmIlY yOu HaVe LeFt aNd YoU dRaG tHe PoOr ThInG iNtO tHiS dEaTh TrAp WiTh YoU, nO cOnCeRn At AlL fOr HeR sAfEtY. NoT tHaT yOu WeRe EvEr SaFe To Be ArOuNd, AnYwAyS..."
Ash shook with rage, eyes flickering between steel blue and an unearthly glow. "Aurian is more than capable of handling things herself; and I am no coward, Cabot. I'm not the one who jumped a thousand years through time to kill two children!"
"All was necessary," Giovanni shrugged, casually brushing specks of dirt off his suit. "If only I hadn't jumped ten years behind Delia and Atticus."
"Don't you dare speak her name!" Ash bellowed, MissingNO wincing at the intensity of his voice. He pulled himself to his feet, pushing the glitch Pokemon's mental knife out of his brain. "You have no right to pull our mother into this. She's not a Guardian, therefore she is none of your concern. If you're determined to destroy the rest of the Borealis family, you'll have to go through me to get to both my sister and my mother."
Aurian shook her head, got to her feet, and pulled on her arrowhead, frantically replenishing her reserves. Ash took her lead and did the same, mentally sighing in relief as his energy returned.
"That was where your father failed," Giovanni said, crossing his arms. "He was so concerned with the welfare of his family that he made a permanent sacrifice for a temporary solution. Will you do the same?"
"No way in hell," Aurian snarled. "We'll finish what you started and end this once and for all, no matter what happens to us. That's where we differ. You've sacrificed others for yourself and your pitiful mission, we'll sacrifice ourselves for the good of the world, no matter what the stakes. Two sides of the same coin."
"YoU'vE sEeN wHaT i Am CaPaBlE oF," MissingNO laughed, "dO yOu StIlL tHiNk YoU cAn DeFeAt Me?"
A deafening crack resounded through the stadium and pink lightning split the arena in two. The evacuation sirens sounded as the light cleared to reveal a long-lost Pokemon, tail twitching in anger.
"You never had a chance, MissingNO," Mewtwo growled, chunks of ground rising to meet his murderous eyes. "Not against these miracle-workers, not against me. Ash, Aurian, let us band together as a repayment of my debt to you."
"Resolved," Ash said, eyes flaring and hands aflame. "The more, the merrier!"
Aurian cleared her throat and started running, carefully placing aura mines under MissingNO's territory. Mewtwo caught onto her train of thought and copied her actions.
Ash kept MissingNO distracted with a barrage of attacks meant to disorient. His vision existed in both real-time and aura view and Ash made a final push into his patonai's minefield as he feinted a right jab.
A net of purple psychic energy and Aurian's power swept MissingNO up in a net, which it struggled to break free from by shifting between monstrous forms.
"Giovanni, did you really think you could replace me?" Mewtwo asked, skidding to a halt in front of the Andan boss.
Cabot laughed, the sound sending chills down the patonais' spines. "The intention was never to replace you, Alpha Omega, it was to upgrade you. MissingNO is your superior in every way-"
The glitch Pokemon landed a nasty Dark Pulse on the bipedal psychic, sending Mewtwo flying backwards. He halted himself three inches from meeting a concrete barrier with the back of his head and lifted debris off the ground in retaliation.
"If he's my superior, why am I still breathing?" Mewtwo grinned a savage grin and flung the debris in the patonai's direction. Ash and Aurian redirected the attack towards MissingNO, who conjured a Protect in a last-ditch effort to save himself-
"We can't broadcast this, are you crazy?" Cynthia said, attempting to drag Goodshow's second-in-command out of his regional office in the Sinnoh stadium complex. "Sir, this syndicate's going after all affiliated with the League. You're next."
"No, I'm not leaving until this battle is finished," Mr. Tamaranze protested, sitting back down and activating a control board for the cameras in Stadium B. "This is the purest definition of battle- the survival element is lost on everyone except the current combatants."
Cynthia groaned in protest and pressed her fifth speed-dial button.
"A little busy here!" Lance cried, sounds of Hyper Beams and Giga Impacts in the background.
"Lance, Tamaranze wants to air the patonais' battle live on international television."
"No way in hell!" Lance responded, a stream of curses flooding through her earpiece. Cynthia put Lance on speaker, where he chewed Tamaranze out for a good three minutes before pausing to draw a long breath.
"Champion Luxforde, I understand where you're coming from, but this is the most electrifying battle I've ever seen! Man versus machine, evolution versus what they were created to be."
A spark of understanding entered Cynthia's eyes. "Lance, if we show this, we'd completely expose Giovanni for who he is."
"We'd also expose our strongest covert agents and their heritage!" Lance yelped, Dragonite roaring beneath his Pokegear. "Look, you're making good points but I can't allow that. We can't risk those two."
Tamaranze shot Cynthia a look and the two nodded.
"Say that footage of this wasn't aired live but sent to newscasters across the world after the fact..."
Cynthia could feel Lance's eyebrows raise across three continents. "After G-Men censoring?"
She cleared her throat. "Technically illegal, but Steven could do it flawlessly-"
"Start recording. We'll find a loophole through prior restraint to protect the patonai; send me the footage. Keep Tamaranze safe, he's our pin once we reconstruct the League leadership chain after purging the corrupted members."
Tamaranze and Cynthia hung up and high-fived, evacuation sirens sounding in the distance.
"Holy crap, SinnohNow will have a coronary once they get a hold of this," Cynthia chuckled, manning a camera and catching Giovanni's face in the frame. "Come on, patonai, pull through. We have a criminal to expose."
Ten minutes later, the four combatants were caught in an unshakable stalemate. Three equal against an ungodly strong one.
Ash launched his patonai into the air, where she attempted to gain the advantage by a surprise overhead attack. MissingNO dodged, leaving her at the mercy of catching herself as she fell. She rolled into a landing and stood upon a complete rotation, taking a second to regain her balance.
"Ash, maybe it's not MissingNO we need to target-" Aurian panted, Kokani connection going haywire from her massive output of aura energy.
Her patonai grinned, his black eye crinkling. "But..."
Aurian began to edge her way around the stadium, where Giovanni was so mentally focused on the unfolding brawl that he hadn't moved for the past six minutes. The Andan Boss was transfixed by the destructive beauty of his creation. The younger patonai crept behind him and triggered a cave-in under the Andan boss' feet with a well-placed strand of aura, trapping him in the rubble.
"You dirty, cheating little," Giovanni hissed, frantically excavating himself from Aurian's sneak attack.
She grinned. "That was for our father, you asshat!"
"How eloquent," Giovanni groaned. "MissingNO, get me out!"
"Not this time," Ash muttered, landing a massive aura-fueled kick to MissingNO's side. "Ri!"
Aurian readied a charged fist to catch Giovanni's face with but she stopped when the ground around her started shaking, turning her right ankle strangely. She settled for an aura sphere to the Andan boss' side, scorching his shoulder and roasting his face. A shard from one of Ash's attacks caught Giovanni in the right eye, blood scattering profusely across the ground.
The copper-headed trainer retched over her shoulder and leapt back into the fray, taking great care to keep most of her weight off of her injured ankle.
"I may be trapped but MissingNO will keep fighting," Giovanni groaned, tearing his uniform to make a makeshift bandage for his eye. "Open the floodgates!"
"Floodgates?" Ash asked, staring as a bright white light erupted from the top of MissingNO's L, dividing itself into multiple beams. The attack scattered across the island, sounds of earth vaporizing resounding across the island.
"Crap, we've gotta end this quick," Ash cursed. "The island'll be gone before-"
Aurian sent a barrage of aura spheres towards MissingNO's form and they hit, dulling more pixels.
"It won't stop unless it's eliminated completely in one blow," Aurian groaned.
A spark of recognition appeared in Ash's eyes. "Ri-"
"No way in hell are you attempting the Alea," Aurian said, blocking an attack with a massive aura shield. "I'm not losing you here! There has to be another way."
Mewtwo orbited around the stadium perimeter, firing off rapid Psychics to keep the glitch on its toes.
"It's slowing down!" Mewtwo cried, intensifying his attacks. "Now's your chance-"
A Hyper Beam zoomed over the trio's heads, the beam itself twice its normal size.
"Switching speed for strength," Ash muttered, pulling on his arrowhead and wincing at its level. "Ri, I'm running out of reserves. Are you okay?"
She shook her head. "I've had to pull more than normal to keep my ankle in working condition. This is all I have left."
Aurian's second arrowhead hovered, a third of the way full. The light from her reserves illuminated her battle-worn face, covered in dirt and cuts.
"If we play things right, that's all we'll need. Mewtwo, you okay?"
The Clone Pokemon nodded, deflecting an attack with a mental shield. "I can hold on as long as you need me to. I'm more worried about you two, you're not looking too great."
Ash put his hand to his head, startled when his fingers met the too-familiar stickiness of congealing blood. "Crap, you're not kidding. I have an idea, though- we'll split up. I'll take right, you take left, Mewtwo takes top. Maybe a three-way will generate the energy needed to get this thing to combust."
Aurian nodded, picking up on her patonai's conflicted mindset but not questioning him. "I understand. Mewtwo, can you cover me?"
"I'll see what I can do," the cat said, tail swishing. "Signal us, Ash."
Ash bit his lip and watched his first enemy and his sister sprint headlong across the field, Giovanni yelling obscenities and MissingNO firing Hyper Beam after Hyper Beam in their direction. Mewtwo took a hit but pulled himself up, retaliating with Shadow Balls to compensate for his injury.
Ash took a deep breath and started pulling his aura into the patonai mark on his chest.
Ri's distracted enough not to notice. As long as MissingNO and Mewtwo keep her busy, I can sacrifice myself so she can keep moving and help Riley finish off everything else. Better me than Ri. She has such a bright future; I can't let this Andan mess keep her from following her dreams of training and moving up within the G-Men ranks.
Mewtwo's last Shadow Balls exploded upon contact with the glitch, filling the arena with smoke. The patonai both coughed as Mewtwo swept the smoke away to reveal the arena.
Ash's jaw dropped when he saw his sister directly across from him, patonai mark glowing over her chest as she began the initial stages of Alea Ultima.
"The hell, Ri?" he asked, shaking. "I can handle this, you need to stay alive!"
She shook her head, shockwaves starting to rack her small frame. "Screw that, I can't let you attempt this on your own! You've always saved me, let me return the favor this time around."
Ash choked back a sob at his sister's sacrifice. "Ri-"
"Double or nothing!" she cried, her aura concentrating directly over her heart. Tears escaped her clear blue eyes and made distinctive marks on the dusty ground. "Isn't that what you always said, back at the beginning?"
Mewtwo took a Hyper Beam to the back and skidded across the ground, laying still once he landed.
The elder patonai winced from the pain of the shockwaves but pushed his limits even harder, his patonai mark burning. "Two for one, double or nothing. Hang tight, we're almost there!"
"I dOn'T uNdErStAnD, tInY oNeS. WhY wOuLd YoU eVeR cOnSiDeR gIvInG uP yOuR lIfE fOr AnOtHeR?"
"You were created for... selfish reasons, so all you know... is hate," Aurian said, fatigue creeping into her voice as her aura wobbled from the strain on her heart. "We have a family in our battalion back in Kanto... and our real family and friends deserve to live a life free from... the threat of your terror."
Ash nodded, feeling the drain on his energy and struggling to keep himself upright. Tears ran down his face as he watched his best friend fight for her life. "If two lives in exchange for world peace is all it takes, then we will go gladly... and drag you down with us!"
Aurian dug her feet into the ground. "Long live the Guardians!"
The aura in Ash's heart pulsed slightly red, threatening a loss of control. His heart skipped a few beats as he wrestled with his very soul to keep his Alea in line. The faces of everyone he loved appeared within his mind. Ri. Delia. Riley. Lance. The Armada.
Misty.
"Can't let her down, can I?" he muttered, strengthening his resolve and concentrating the last of his aura into his heart.
"BuT... cAnNoT cOmPuTe ThIs ReAsOnInG..." the glitch froze and started folding in on itself, spinning and growing red-hot with concentrated energy. "WhAt Is ThIs GrEaT lOvE-"
The patonai extended their right hands towards MissingNO and released pure white beams of aura into the artificial Pokemon, who screamed in pain when their Alea Ultima made contact and infected its systems. Aura streamed through MissingNO like a network of veins and arteries, fracturing the glitch. Silver infiltrated glitchy-white as the artificial Pokemon screamed.
The resulting explosion blinded the patonai and sent them flying across the length of the stadium, a loud crack echoing across the entire island. Ash and Aurian slammed into the East and West walls and collapsed to the ground, stronger shockwaves radiating through their bodies and their patonai marks glowing a bright blue-white in the air above the stadium.
Concrete crumbled and supports fell, the sounds of destruction resounding through the shattered remains of the arena. Ash released Charizard, who yelped in terror at his trainer's appearance.
"Charizard, get me to Ri, I don't know if she survived the blast-"
The dragon roared, picked up his trainer, and carried him to his patonai, who lay splayed out on the ground, hair fanning out behind her.
Aurian gasped for air and drew the last dregs of aura from the arrowhead around her neck.
"Thank God. Hang in there, Ri," Ash shuddered, grabbing her hand and squeezing it with the little strength he could muster. "We're gonna... be okay..."
Aurian coughed, blood spattering across the ground, "If we've gotta go, at least we're together."
Ash grinned. "Double or nothing, Borealis. Love you, Ri..."
"You too... brother..."
The patonai lost consciousness, hands still intertwined and patonai symbols fading over their hearts.
A tiny pop sounded in the distance, closely followed by the sounds of hurried footsteps. Pikachu crested the ruins of the stadium and sprinted towards the impact crater, tears streaming down his face.
"Pikapi! Chapi!" he screamed, skidding to a halt by the beaten and bloodied patonai.
"Ho-ly crap," Riley gasped, coming across his incapacitated Captains. The commander rifled through his protege's Pokeballs and released the twin Lucario, who teared up upon release at the situation before them.
"Oh my God, why did they keep us from helping?" Cass asked, attempting not to vomit over her shoulder. "We could've done so much, perhaps saved them from this fate-"
Raziel shook his head, pooled aura in his paws, and started transferring what he could to Ash. "We needed them, now our Masters need us."
Riley released Gabriel, generating as much aura as he could and pumping it into a paling Aurian while waiting for his cornerstone to appear. "I need your help or they're not going to make it. Aurian's worse for wear, focus on her. I'm calling the medics and getting a helo in. If anything happens, yell."
The assembled Lucario nodded and went to work, pouring their energy reserves into the exhausted patonai.
"Hello, MedEvac? This is Commander Stevens, Armada. We have two criticals on Lily of the Valley Island, level nine..."
(A/N): I'm back! Hello, everyone, and thank you so so much for reading Chapter 24 of Primary! I'm sure you guys have a few questions for me, which I hope to answer below:
Q: Where the [insert your preferred explicative here] were you?
A: Instrumental finals, actual finals, and last weeks of the semester things kinda took over my life for a while. I'm about to start a five-week break so I'll finish up Primary BEFORE January 19th- at least, I'd like to. My plans don't always work out the way I'd like them to.
Q: Which option won the poll?
A: I'm proud to say that my next project will be SECONDARY, a sequel to Primary! One step at a time, though, I need to cross this bridge before I even think of climbing that mountain. It'll be just as action-packed as Primary is, hopefully more with lots of high-stakes drama and critical moments. I need to replay Pokemon X and watch a walkthrough of Y before I start planning so I can get a feel for Kalos and its culture again.
Q: When's the next chapter update?
A: Chapter 25 is about one-third of the way completed as of this publishing date and the epilogue is about half finished. I'd love to have C25 out by Christmas but again, plans change. I can confirm that Primary will end by January 19th, which marks almost three years since I started this wonderful journey with you all.
Thank you so much for your continued patience and reviews and I ask that you stick with me over the next couple of weeks. The long haul is done, now we get our last few plot twists and we can call it a day- or three years, whatever comes first. I love you all dearly and I hope to see you soon!
This is PL, signing off!