Imma be honest, recent episodes of Pokemon Journeys heavily influenced half of what I wrote in this chapter, I just couldn't help myself. But hey, it is what it is, hope you enjoy it!
"Aura Sphere!"
"Rock Slide!"
Ash and Peonia took no time to get started and immediately launched the moves courtesy of Lucario and Tyrantrum respectively. Regieleki, now at least a little familiar with one of its opponents, knew better than to take the move head on and dodged the incoming attacks by using Extreme Speed to easily dash out of the way.
Goh, Brandon and Chloe opted for a similar strategy and just tried to deal some chip damage to start off, with Cinderace firing a Pyro Ball in sync with Eevee, and Regirock letting loose a Hyper Beam. Contrary to its electric friend, Regidrago decided to match the moves head on, the colliding moves exploding and creating a smokescreen in the center of the room blocking everyone's vision.
As everybody was blinded by the smoke, Ash knew he already had the advantage thanks to his Pokemon's capabilities. "Rush into the smoke Lucario and find Regieleki!"
The steel-type immediately sprinted into the smokescreen at its trainer's command, its eyes flaring a bright blue color, and used its aura abilities to locate the opposing trainer fairly easily. Once it found its target, he quickly charged a Force Palm in his left hand, and Regieleki, not being able to see a thing, was sent into the air above the smoke, giving a certain Pokemon a free shot.
"Ancient Power Tyrantrum!" A familiar blonde haired girl ordered as she took the chance offered by Lucario's assistance to snipe the electron Pokemon midair with a giant silver ball. The Regi Pokemon could only stand and take it, being projected all the way into the ceiling after making contact with Tyrantrum's move. "Bullseye!" Peonia cheered.
On the other side of the room, Brandon had also thought to locate its opponent through the smoke, using his famous Lock On strategy. Regirock made a familiar yet incomprehensible noise to signify to its trainer it had found a target.
"Stone Edge! Follow the move you two!" The Pyramid King shouted, specifically talking to Goh and Chloe. The two Vermillion City trainers did what they were told and Chloe ordered her Eevee to copy Regirock's move and Goh told Cinderace to chase the rocks with Blaze Kick.
Blinded just like its companion, Regidrago couldn't tell where the moves were coming from, and eventually got hit by back to back Stone Edges. Surprised by the combo of same moves, the red orb Pokemon didn't notice Cinderace right behind the rocks charging up fire in it's right leg and kicking it with the fiery move, causing it to stagger back quite a lot.
At this point, the smoke had finally dispersed. The two opposing Regis, having taken quite some damage, decided to stop playing around. If the strangers wanted a fight, they were going to get it…
Regieleki commenced their counterattack by setting up Electric Terrain, surrounding everyone in the room in a yellow dome. Regidrago opted for another boost in power and speed as it used Dragon Dance, and the two orb Pokemon rushed towards their opponents.
Regieleki started crackling with energy and launched two Thunderbolts whilst still rushing Lucario and Tyrantrum, and the two trainers did their best to avoid it.
"Double Team!"
"Protect!"
Ash and Peonia gave their commands to Lucario and Tyrantrum respectively, with the Aura Pokemon creating multiple copies of itself to avoid the bolt of lightning and the despot Pokemon simply blocking it with a green shield. Unfortunately for the pair, they had failed to notice it was but a mere distraction, as the Thunderbolts gave Regieleki enough time to float above the group in the blink of an eye due to its unmatched speed and start building up a Thunder Cage.
Peonia, having seen how powerful the move was before, quickly gave instructions to her Pokemon. "Tyrantrum get out of there! Ash watch out!" The blonde haired girl tried to warn.
Since Ash didn't know what the move did, he ignorantly ordered Lucario to use Aura Sphere. The bipedal Pokemon's copies of itself disappeared and it quickly built up a blue sphere in its paws and sent it towards the Regieleki above it. Just as it looked as the move was about to connect, the electric type Regi Pokemon poured down a barrage of bolts of electricity onto Lucario, quickly destroying the Aura Sphere in its path and dealing massive damage.
"Lucario!" Worriedly screamed out the Alolan Champion. The move looked like it did quite a lot of damage, especially with the Electric Terrain, and Lucario struggled to pick itself up after being knocked down by the attack. "What on Arceus is that move!?" He asked.
"Still don't know, but whatever it is, I'd recommend dodging it next time…" Peonia replied. Slightly distracted by Ash's surprise, she failed to notice Regieleki get on the move again, running into Tyrantrum multiple times with Extreme Speed, The Galar native's Pokemon being forced to just tank the hits as Lucario slowly regained his strength.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Regidrago didn't waste any time in putting the pressure on Brandon, Chloe and Goh. The dragon type Regi Pokemon had started off by launching a Dragon Energy towards the trainers' Pokemon. The Pyramid King had warned the two other trainers to avoid the move at all cost, so they did what they were told and commanded their Pokemon to dodge the move. Regidrago wasn't done yet in the slightest though as it rushed the three opposing Pokemon with a Dragon Claw one by one. Chloe's Eevee was its first victim, as the Evolution Pokemon foolishly tried to match it, ending in disaster for the normal type as it was easily overpowered with the help of Regidrago's ability. Cinderace tried to keep its distance and launched a couple Pyro Balls from afar, landing a few good hits in the process, but the dragon orb Pokemon pushed through and eventually landed a direct hit onto Goh's Starter. Finally, Brandon ordered his Regirock to stop it in its track by using Stone Edge, but even that wasn't enough to stop Regidrago, as the Pokemon simply destroyed any pillar in its path and striked Regirock dead on with a third Dragon Claw.
The three humans were left stunned at the sight of three of their Pokemon getting completely overwhelmed by the mysterious Pokemon, with Goh commenting: "Y-You weren't kidding when you said they were strong…" A simple nod from Brandon was all he got as a response.
The trio of trainers temporarily diverted their attention towards Ash and Peonia after hearing the constant damage being dealt by Regieleki's Extreme Speed, noticing the two trainers were struggling as well.
After a few more moments of Ash and Peonia desperately trying anything to deal with Regieleki's speed, the electron Pokemon oddly retreated back to the middle of room, and Regidrago did the same, the two Pokemon now side by side. Ash, Peonia and their respective Pokemon quickly rushed to the rest of their group, worried about the Regis' next move.
"Sheesh, I never expected them to be this strong…" Ash confessed, surprised by the excessive power they had.
"You can say that again, we can barely get a good hit on them before our Pokemon are just overpowered…" Goh added on to Ash's thought.
"Let's fight as a group from now on, we're going to need all the teamwork we can." Brandon said, switching up the strategy to the unanimous agreement of everyone.
The group of trainers alongside their pretty roughed up Pokemon starred down the two Regis on the other side of the room. The pair of mysterious Pokemon made some incomprehensible noises, seemingly trying to communicate with each other, and soon after their body started glowing their respective colors, as they prepared a pair of powerful attacks.
"That doesn't look very good…" Chloe stated the obvious. Fortunately for the group, it was just about time for Ash to come up with something to turn the tides.
"Alright…" Ash started off, turning his signature cap around before announcing: "I got an idea…"
"YES! FINALLY!"
… … … … ….
A moment of silence occurred, as Peonia suddenly cut Ash off rather loudly, and the group turned and looked at the Galar native strangely. Even the Regis on either side of the field froze up for a second at the sudden shout from one of the strangers.
Peonia quickly covered up her mouth, as she didn't mean to say that out loud, and sheepishly explained: "Oops, s-sorry!... It's just whenever you say that and turn your cap it usually means you've come up with some sort of insane strategy to suddenly get back into a battle…"
Ash briefly looked at his other companions, all wearing the same baffled look, and blinked before saying: "H-How do you… you know what, I'm not even going to ask..." The Alolan Champion said before sighing, then resumed explaining his idea. "Anyways… Chloe, Peonia and Brandon, you keep them distracted with long ranged moves, Goh, I'm going to need the help of you and Cinderace."
"You got it Ash!" Exclaimed the young Vermilion City researcher, as he and his Pokemon gave the Hyper Class trainer a confident smirk, making the latter chuckle.
Around this time, the Regis had finished building up their attack, and launched a powerful Thunderbolt and Dragon Energy at the group, prompting the travelers to simultaneously give the same order: "Dodge it!"
Expecting the moves, the travelers' Pokemon managed to evade the attacks, as the yellow and purple beams for the Regi Pokemon were launched straight into the wall, making a huge dent.
Chloe did a double take on the impact of the moves from Regieleki and Regidrago, now really happy they hadn't decided to match them head on. Orders from Brandon and Peonia quickly snapped her out of her surprised state though and she quickly said. "Eevee, copy Tyrantrum's Ancient Power!"
Her Pokemon loyally obeyed the command, summoning a giant silver ball in front of her similarly to Tyrantrum, and them alongside Brandon's Regirock kept Regieleki and Regidrago occupied, making the two orb Pokemons forced to dodge the attacks, leaving Ash and Goh an opening to approach the Regis.
"Charge in Lucario!"
"You too Cinderace!"
The two Pokemon dashed off towards their opponents, Lucario in particular radiating Aura as he ran. Ash had got an idea seeing the two Pokemon there were facing were completely opposite, meaning their weren't totally in sync with each other, so Ash had thought that maybe if they managed to make them battle close together, they would eventually mess each other up since they weren't on the same page, with Regieleki mostly attacking in favor of it's excessive speed but less powerful attacks, whilst Regidrago favored staying still and attacking with powerful moves.
Seeing Lucario and Cinderace getting close to their target, Ash tried to confuse the two opponents. "Double Team, surround them!"
Goh, noticing what Ash was trying to do, ordered his Pokemon to act accordingly. "Quick Attack, annoy them as much as you can!"
Regieleki and Regidrago, being too preoccupied by the other Pokemons' constant barrage of moves, barely noticed Lucario formed a dozen or so copies of itself and surrounded them. Not really knowing what to do, the two Regi Pokemons tried to get rid of the copies, except they struggled with a certain fire type constantly running into them with Quick Attack.
Frustrated by a mixture of things, Regieleki decided to take things into its own hands and suddenly rushed Cinderace with an Extreme Speed, quickly catching up to the Striker Pokemon. Meanwhile, after firing a couple Dragon Energies to keep Chloe, Brandon and Peonia's Pokemons at bay, Regidrago chased after Lucario. During this time, Lucario and Cinderace looked at each other and gave a nod, before quickly shifting directions towards their counterpart. The Regidrago and Regieleki were still chasing both Lucario and Cinderace respectively, as the latter two were seemingly about to run into each other, but their trainers were ready, and just before they made contact, their trainers said:
"Use Force Palm on the ground!"
"Slide under them Cinderace!"
In the blink of an eye, Lucario propelled itself into the air with the use of a Force Palm and Cinderace slid on the ground. The two Regi Pokemons, obviously not expecting this, inevitably collided into each other, giving the travelers a perfect opportunity to strike.
"Now Aura Sphere!" The Aura Pokemon quickly turned around midair and shot out a blue sphere of energy towards the two stunned Regis from up above.
"Pyro Ball" Cinderace, thanks to its speed and agility, swiftly jumped, turned around and launched a burning rock towards Regieleki and Regidrago all in a single motion.
"Hyper Beam!" "Rock Slide!" "Aura Sphere!" Added Regirock, Tyrantrum and Eevee, launching a move of their own towards the mysterious Pokemon, who were not able to dodge the attack and were sent flying into the wall.
"Awesome you guys!" Goh complemented as he gave Ash a high five after the group successfully dealt some good damage to the Regis. Brandon, Peonia and Chloe quickly joined the two young trainers, Pokemon by their side. They silently watched the smoke of the explosion clear to check the state of the mysterious Regi Pokemon.
Regieleki and Regidrago looked pretty damaged, but were still more than capable to fight, noted by screeches coming from them, much to the dismay of the trainers, Peonia even letting out a grunt of annoyance: "Can they just faint already!?" She complained.
The two Regis unfortunately had other plans and Regieleki looked to be setting up another Electric Terrain, despite the field already being covered in electricity, greatly confusing the opposing trainers.
"Uh… What exactly is Regieleki doing?" Chloe first asked.
"It looks to be trying to use Electric Terrain, but the room already has that effect…" Goh replied, not sure himself.
Brandon had a questioning look on his face, also confused at what Regieleki was doing, but his look quickly became one of urgency as he finally clocked what it was planning, his eyes widening at the realization. "It's trying to let out a discharge of energy, brace yourselves!"
Realizing the danger they were now in, Peonia, acting instinctively, shouted out. "PROTECT TYRANTRUM!"
A green shield quickly engulfed the trainers and Pokemon, as Regieleki released a huge amount of electricity, causing the entire room to shake. The electron Pokemon had used the energy dispersed when using Electric Terrain similarly to how the move Discharge is used, except it wasn't only aiming for the Pokemon, but the trainers as well.
Tyrantrum's shield luckily was up before the move electrocuted both the Pokemon and humans, though the sheer power of the attack from the electron Pokemon was causing the shield to slowly break. That on top of the ground shaking was enough to greatly worry just about everyone.
"NOT GOOD NOT GOOD NOT GOOD!" Goh screamed out in a panic, struggling for what felt like the millionth time this trip to stay on his feet.
"I'M REALLY STARTING TO BE GRATEFUL YOU TEACHED YOUR TYRANTRUM PROTECT PEONIA!" Chloe admitted to a similar state as Goh.
"Well thanks but this shield isn't going to last long!" The blonde haired girl warned, as she silently hoped, just like against the Greedant at the Dyna Tree, a mysterious mythical or Legendary Pokemon would come to help them.
Unfortunately that was not going to be the case, as the only Legendary Pokemon in proximity were the two currently trying to hurt them, as Regieleki kept pouring out an endless amount of electricity.
The shield was continuously starting to break, and Brandon even pointed out another horrible thing for them. "Regidrago's preparing something!" He shouted in a deep voice, as his Regirock approached the end of the shield and prepared to limit the damage with Iron Defense, though even he knew that wasn't going to help much.
As Regidrago could be seen charging up a Dragon Energy, most certainly powerful enough to completely shatter their defenses, Ash suddenly felt a familiar burst of Aura. He quickly turned towards Lucario, and despite the bipedal Pokemon not doing anything of note, he felt… something. The Hyper Class trainer couldn't describe it; it wasn't like the times Lucario was trying to tell him something, it was different than that, but he didn't know what it was, and judging by Lucario's look, it didn't know either.
The Pallet Town trainer quickly glanced at Regidrago, who was just about to fire off its Dragon Energy, and Ash's heart rate was starting to sky rocket, forcing him to put a hand on his heart, but what he found especially strange was that he was almost certain it wasn't because of fear. He looked back at Lucario, who once again seemed to be in a similar state, as Ash easily noted its breathing also started to get heavier. After a moment, Lucario suddenly gave a light nod to its trainer and its body started radiating an insane amount of Aura.
Finally, Regidrago launched its attack towards the group, and time for Ash froze instantly. The Alolan Champion looked around in shock, as he was easily able to move, yet his friends were frozen solid. "W-what's… w-what's happening!?"
His hands were starting to shake, not liking whatever was happening one bit, only for Lucario to let out a cry, alerting him, seemingly trying to tell him to relax. Ash, still confused, hesitated, but nevertheless tried to calm himself down.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was still incredibly worried and nervous, as even with the amount of strange experiences he had gone through he had never felt anything quite like this. Ash tried to shake the nervousness out of him, did his best to keep his cool, and let himself relax, just like Lucario seemingly told him to do.
Unknowingly to the trainer, his breathing was slowly becoming in sync with Lucario's. Ash slowly started to feel his body glow, similarly to Lucario's Aura. He started getting a strange feeling in his palms, almost as if the Aura inside of him was building up energy.
'... I can… I can feel it…' Ash thought to himself. 'Lucario's Aura…' This situation was slowly starting to remind him of something. It reminded him of that time he met Sir Aaron's Lucario back in Hoenn, and he formed an Aura Sphere using his gloves, the feeling he got in his hands back then was the same as now. Except this time, he didn't feel like he was using his own Aura, he felt as if he was connecting with Lucario's, almost as if they were sharing their Aura to become stronger.
Ash smirked, feeling more and more Aura radiate between him and Lucario. He could feel the energy seemingly bursting out of him and his Pokemon, which was definitely a strange feeling, but Ash kept his cool. He unconsciously put his hands together, and his Pokemon did the same. Ash didn't feel or sense anything else during this time. It was only him and Lucario, side by side, in complete sync, and Ash kept his eyes firmly shut. Despite this, he could vision the Dragon Energy coming towards them, and Ash felt the will of both him and his Pokemon to save everybody from harm. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity…
"... AURA SHIELD!" Instinctively shouted out Ash, he himself barely acknowledging the words that had just come out of his mouth.
In the span of milliseconds, time went back to its normal state. Ash and Lucario's eyes shot open, both pairs flaring a bright blue, and the two, in complete sync, put their hands in front of them, one slightly above the other, and miraculously, a bright blue shield formed in front of them and the entire group. The Dragon Energy accompanied by the Electric Terrain/Discharge easily shattered Tyrantrum's shield, but came to a complete halt at Ash and Lucario's.
The rest of the group, barely even realizing what had just happened simply stood, in probably the most disbelief they've ever been in.
A solid moment passed of complete silence, the only sound being heard was the friction between the Dragon Energy, Regieleki's Electric Terrain and Ash and Lucario's shield holding firmly against the pair of moves.
Chloe was the first person to have any sort of visible reaction. "... A-Ash?... W-Wh… W-What…?"
The person in question didn't seem to be able to hear the girl, as he was completely focused on putting up a shield with Lucario's aid.
Eventually, Regieleki and Regidrago got too tired to keep up the barrage of moves, and eventually let up. Ash and Lucario kept the shield up for a few more seconds after that, before slowly putting their hands back together, once again, in complete synchronicity, as if they were moving as one.
Ash and Lucario's eyes slowly opened back up, returning to their regular colors, and soon after, the pair seemed to feel the effects of what just happened, and dropped to the ground, landing on one knee, completely exhausted. Chloe was the first one to check on Ash's condition.
"ASH! A-Are you alright!?" She said, holding a bit of his weight.
"I… I think so…"
"W-What… WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT!?" Goh shouted, not comprehending at all what just happened to him or Lucario.
"H-Honestly… I wish I could tell, but I genuinely have no idea. It was as if Lucario and I… combined our Aura and we just did… that…" Ash replied, slowly picking himself back up from the ground with the help of Chloe, before checking on Lucario's condition, who seemed to be somewhat okay.
"That… That wasn't an actual move was it!?" Peonia asked generally, shook at what her idol just managed to do.
"If it was, I've definitely never seen it before…" Brandon responded, doing the best out of the entire group to hide his shock.
"Well Lucario, looks like we just learned a new move…" Ash said whilst chuckling slightly. His Pokemon gave a light smile before shaking off the exhaustion he felt, getting back into a battling position. Ash did something similar, shaking himself to try and get rid of the sensation of exhaustion, and readjusting his cap to its regular position.
The Regis, still a little stunned by what the strange human and Pokemon just managed to do, ignored their surprise and went straight back to attacking, with Regidrago charging straight for Tyrantrum.
Peonia hadn't fully gotten back into the battle, and, consequently, her Despot Pokemon got hit with a powerful Dragon Claw, sending it crashing into the wall alongside a huge explosion.
"Oh no! Tyrantrum!" The blonde haired trainer worriedly shouted out. Due to its fatigue of holding up the shield on top of all the battling it had already done, Tyrantrum fainted. Peonia slowly returned the Pokemon back to its Pokeball. "Thanks Tyrantrum, take a nice rest…"
Before Peonia even had time to think, Regieleki had immediately dashed towards her. The rest of the group had realized Regieleki's intention and they each called out a move to stop the electron Pokemon in its tracks, but Regidrago intercepted the attacks with a Dragon Energy. It seemed inevitable that Peonia was going to get tackled by the yellow floating blur, until…
"PIKA-PIKACHU!"
Out of nowhere, another yellow blur, this time a more familiar one, suddenly tackled Regieleki just before it was about to collide with the Galar native, sending the electric type Regi Pokemon flying, the Pokemon clearly not expecting the move.
Pikachu swiftly landed in front of the girl, and gave a little cry alongside a confident smile, his cheeks sparkling of excess electricity.
"... Pikachu!?"
"Pikachu!"
"Pikachu?"
Said Peonia, Ash and Goh accordingly, all having different reactions to the mouse Pokemon's appearance. The electric type scratched the back of his head at the different reactions of the humans. Goh was the first one out of all of them to say anything.
"Where did you even come from!?"
"Pikachu! You're all good again!" Ash completely ignored his research partner and bent down to greet his best friend, who was seemingly completely healed of the battle against Regidrago from earlier, strangely looking raring to go more than ever, with Pikachu running around in circles at extreme speeds with little sparks of lightning seemingly bursting out of its body. "W-Woah! Slow down there buddy, wouldn't want you to faint again!"
Chloe, having deduced Pikachu had been taken out by the Regidrago earlier, wondered how he had recovered enough energy to battle again, heck probably more so than it was before. "Wait so, if you're saying Pikachu fainted against Regidrago, how does he have this much energy already? That was probably at most just ten minutes ago, and I've never seen him this lively before…"
"I think I have an answer for that…" Brandon suddenly perked up, gathering the attention of everyone. "Regieleki using Electric Terrain the way it had earlier probably gave Pikachu an excessive amount of electricity, and since Regieleki is supposedly capable of fueling Galar's entire energy, it wouldn't be surprising if it's capable of recharging an electric type's energy."
"Huh…" Was all Peonia said, before she bent down similarly to Ash as the mouse Pokemon quickly ran to her. "Well thanks for saving me Pikachu… I guess this forgives you for almost making me lose my mind earlier because you can't make a single decision…"
Pikachu decided to take this as a positive answer and let out an adorable cry before glancing at Ash. The two smiled and gave each other a nod, seemingly understanding what the other wanted, and the electric type swiftly placed itself defensively in front of Peonia as Ash retreated back to his Lucario, much to the confusion of the blonde haired. "Uh Ash… W-What is Pikachu doing-"
"You better watch out for Regieleki, it didn't seem to like that surprise attack from earlier…" The Hyper Class trainer cut off, not bothering to turn around to explain anything.
"W-What!?" Peonia, still confused, turned to her right only to find Regieleki charging up a Thunderbolt on a crash course directly towards Pikachu. Instinctively, she said an oh so familiar phrase. "P-Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu loyally charged up his own Thunderbolt, way more powerful than before thanks to Regieleki's overdose of electricity, and met the electron Pokemon's move head on, causing a mini explosion in the middle of the room.
"... D-Did… d-did I JUST COMMAND ASH'S PIKACHU!?" Peonia proceeded to have a mini freak out, to the point where the rest of the group, and, heck, even the Regis started to question the girl's sanity.
Ash, slightly disturbed at how excited she was, said. "It r-really isn't that big of a deal Peonia…"
"OH BUT IT IS! I'VE DREAMED OF THIS MOMENT FOR YEARS! YEARS! I FEEL SO POWERFUL, SO UNBEATABLE, SO-
Her excitement was swiftly interrupted by a familiar bolt of lightning, courtesy of Pikachu, electrocuting her. Peonia promptly dropped to the floor fried, and, whilst slowly picking herself up from the ground, said : "I-I've also d-dreamed of this moment for y-years…"
Regieleki and Regidrago at this point had had enough of the interruptions and were getting impatient, so they rushed the group once more. Floating side by side, Regieleki started glowing a peculiar purple, and Regieleki a peculiar yellow.
"Stone Edge!"
"Blaze Kick!"
Commanded Brandon and Goh accordingly. The two opposing Regi Pokemon evaded the incoming pillars of rocks with relative ease, Regidrago slightly slowing down to slash the pillars into pieces, whilst Regieleki kept its speed and moved side to side.
Seeing the Regieleki approaching, Cinderace built up fire in its right leg and swung, only for Regieleki to swiftly dodge it by flying above, causing the bunny to lose his balance. The electron Pokemon then used Thunder Cage, unleashing a barrage of lightning bolts onto the Striker Pokemon.
Seeing her ally in trouble, Peonia ordered Pikachu to use Iron Tail on Regieleki to stop its attack. The mouse Pokemon jumped and was about to swing its tail, only to be blocked by the left arm of Regidrago, who then used Hammer Arm with its other arm to send the Pikachu crashing towards the ground. The Dragon Orb Pokemon then proceeded to attack Regirock, letting loose a Dragon Claw, which Brandon's Pokemon tried to block with little success, as his Pokemon was sent backwards due to the force of the move.
Being the only ones not getting attacked, Ash and Chloe needed to find a way to regain the advantage. "Chloe, we need to-
Ash was cut off by Lucario and Eevee being brutally tackled back to back by Regieleki's Extreme Speed, the Pokemon having let Cinderace go for just a moment after seeing the two other young trainers not paying attention. "Lucario!" "Eevee!" Screamed out the two trainers.
The two Pokemon bravely shook off the damage, but the impact it had was very visible. The two Regi Pokemons then retreated back after completing their series of attacks, knowing that if they got too close they would just get outnumbered, and they started teasing the travelers from afar, floating in circles peacefully, as if to say they were barely breaking a sweat.
Brandon gritted his teeth and ordered the group to regroup, to which everybody obeyed. He quickly scanned the Pokemon's conditions; Cinderace and Eevee seemed almost at their limits, whilst his own Regirock, Ash's Pikachu and Lucario didn't seem much better, but still seemed to have a little fight in them despite receiving very heavy blows. He knew they needed to end the fight soon, but it was clear the Regis still had a good amount of stamina left. Knowing winning at this point would be greatly difficult, he thought of another way to end this battle, a last resort to best the mysterious Pokemon.
"Alright listen up…" The Pyramid King started off. "We are going to end this right here, right now, with one final push."
"But how? Regieleki and Regidrago still seem raring to go." Peonia remarked.
At her response, Brandon pulled out two strange Pokeballs from his pockets, and gave one to Goh, who upon realizing the rarity of the type of Pokeball Brandon gave him, let out a gasp and said: "These are Timer Balls… How do you have them!?" The young researcher had obviously heard of them, but they were so incredibly rare to obtain he found it surprising that Brandon had some in his possession.
"Being a Frontier Brain has its perks…" The Regi Master first said, before explaining his idea. "Defeating these two Pokemon would be too difficult at this stage, considering the condition of our Pokemon, and even though we have more, the Regis have probably enough strength to deal with all of them one by one."
The man stared intently at his and Goh's Pokeballs and continued. "Our best bet at this stage is to catch them, so Pikachu, Lucario and Regirock will lead the line of attacks since they have the most energy left, and Eevee and Cinderace will support them from afar. We wait for when they least expect it, then me and Goh throw the Pokeballs, they should be even more effective than usual since the battle has been going on for quite some time, and if we land a few good hits, we should be able to catch them with a little luck. Got it?"
"Luck doesn't seem like something you'd try to rely on, but you're right, if we just try and keep fighting with all our Pokemon, we probably won't get very far…" Ash conceded, to which the rest of the group nodded approvingly. "Alright, I'm sold, let's do this!"
"One last push everyone!" Brandon shouted, seemingly telling his group and Pokemon to give it their all. The Regi Master took one last look at his group of traveling trainers and Pokemon, then pointed to Regis and shouted: "GO!"
At the experienced man's command, Lucario, Pikachu and Regirock dashed off first, whilst Eevee and Cinderace stood back. Noticing the humans still fighting, the Regis quickly stopped their taunting and launched a Thunderbolt and a Dragon Energy.
"Block the Thunderbolt with Pyro Ball!" Goh quickly ordered.
"You too Eevee!" Chloe ordered as well.
The pair kicked two different rocks in the way of the Thunderbolt, stopping the move from reaching the group of three leading the line, and Ash and Brandon ordered their Pokemon to use Aura Sphere and Stone Edge to do the same with the Dragon Energy.
The colliding moves in the center of the field created a smokescreen in the center of the field, but because there was some much electricity from the still active Electric Terrain, it created some sort of thunderstorm in the middle of the room, with dark clouds going all the way to the top of the far ceiling bursting of electricity. Lucario, Regirock and Pikachu halted their movements once in the thunderstorm, not expecting this as a result.
"What in the world!?" Chloe said out loud, noticing just how big the thunderstorm was in the enclosed space. Wind started blowing around the temple and the group was forced to shield their faces.
"Guys, you need to get out of there-
"Wait!" Brandon said, interrupting Ash. "This could be our chance to surprise them, we need to attack from every angle!"
"On it! You guys get the sides, I'll get above." Before the Alolan Champion could question how exactly she was going to do that, Peonia had already given out her command to her temporary Pokemon. "Pikachu! Run up the electricity with Quick Attack!"
"Pika!" The electric mouse swiftly built up speed and miraculously started using the electricity provided from the thunderstorm to climb up the smoke.
Ash, a bit taken aback on how Peonia figured that out, stood still. That is until Brandon told his Regirock to rush to the left of the opposing Regis, to which the Hyper Class trainer implied a similar strategy by ordering Lucario to flank their right.
Regidrago and Regieeleki then suddenly rushed to the center of the smoke, and the former used Dragon Dance, after having their vision blurred by the thunderstorm. The boosted powered Dragon Dance was so strong it was able to make the thunderstorm disappear with strong gusts of wind from the speed of the move alone. Once the smoke was completely gone, the two Regis were surprised to find three of their opponents completely gone, until suddenly…
"Thunderbolt!"
"Hyper Beam!"
"Aura Sphere!"
Three moves from above and from both sides of the Regis suddenly came towards them. Barely having any time to react, Regidrago quickly shielded itself with its claws whilst Regieleki quickly got out of the blast zone thanks to its speed. The three moves collided with Regidrago and the Pokemon was sent flying backwards.
Goh impulsively saw the opportunity to capture Regidrago and prepared to throw his Pokeball. Brandon eyes' widened at this, as Regieleki had spotted the human trying to throw a Pokeball and rushed Goh, knocking him back and making the Pokeball fall out of his hands and roll on the ground.
"GOH!" Screamed out his companions in worry. The Pokeball kept rolling gently across the room, and Regieleki was about to take off for it, but was stopped by Cinderace, who looked absolutely furious and started relentlessly attacking the Regi Pokemon in a surprising display of power, eventually overpowering the Regi Pokemon after landing a powerful Blaze Kick to the Pokemon's chest, sending it crashing to the opposite wall hard.
Everybody was shocked by the Striker Pokemon's power, with the bunny growling and shaking in anger. Goh was the first to react, slowly picking himself from the ground, and grabbing his Pokemon by the shoulder. "H-Hey Cinderace! C-Calm down it's alright, I-I'm okay…"
Cinderace seemed to come back to reality, and slowly turned around to find its trainer smiling softly at it. "It's okay Cinderace… Thank you…" Goh added in a soft tone. The Striker Pokemon smiled slightly, before collapsing to the ground exhausted. Goh caught him right before he hit the floor, pulled out its Pokeball and, before returning his Pokemon, said. "Thank you Cinderace… Take a nice rest."
Still shocked by the dramatic events that happened just a few seconds ago, everybody was practically frozen in place. That is until a hard round object gently brushed up against Chloe's leg, bringing her out of her paralyzed state.
She let out a light gasp and was about to pick up the Timer Ball, when suddenly Regidrago rushed the maroon haired girl and was about to collide with her. Chloe closed her eyes in fear, but she was abruptly shoved out of the way. Expecting to be launched backwards, the girl's eyes shot open and to her horror, she saw Regidrago colliding with Ash instead, after the Alolan champion had pushed her out of the way. She screamed out his name as he was sent backwards instead, the trainer hitting the ground with a rough sound, and Chloe rushed to his side.
"ASH!"
"I-I'm okay… I-I owed you that one…" He said whilst holding his hand up. Chloe was left speechless, as Ash, similarly to Goh, slowly picked himself off the ground, and stared down Regidrago. Lucario quickly rushed in front of its trainer and growled at the opposing Pokemon, its body glowing a frightening blue as the bipedal Pokemon trembled furiously.
"Calm down Lucario…" Ash abruptly ordered, the Pokemon in question turning around to face its trainer, still agitated. "Use that anger as your power…"
Lucario quickly glanced back towards Regidrago, who had retreated close to Regieleki, not really knowing what the human and Pokemon were planning. The Aura Pokemon took multiple deep breaths to calm itself down, and it and its trainer closed their eyes.
"Lucario…" Ash called out to his Pokemon gently. Lucario seemed to relax, and the bipedal Pokemon kept its eyes closed whilst waiting for its master's orders. Similarly to earlier, trainer and Pokemon matched each other's breathing and started glowing blue. The pair simultaneously extended both their hands in front of them, and Ash repeated: "...Use that anger as your power…"
At the Hyper Class trainer's words, Lucario unconsciously started building up an Aura Sphere in its paws, which started growing bigger, much bigger than usual.
"More Lucario… Stronger…" Ash ordered with his eyes still shut. The Aura Sphere kept growing even more, to the point where it was already twice its normal size. "Stronger… Even Stronger…"
Moments passed, and the Aura Sphere courtesy of Lucario with the support of Ash grew almost gigantic, to the point where it was radiating so much Aura that it was illuminating the room. Both Pokemon and trainers alike stood and watched, completely captivated by what the young trainer and his Pokemon were doing. Even the opposing Regis were completely stunned.
Lucario had seemed to reach its limit on how big he could make the Aura Sphere, the giant ball of Aura practically towering over everyone, and when Ash sensed this, he said. "Alright Lucario…" The trainer lifted his arms to the sky, and Lucario did the same, holding the blue sphere of energy in the air. "...The proof of our bond!" Ash smirked, feeling the Aura between him and Lucario become one once more. His and Lucario's eyes opened abruptly, flaring an astonishing bright blue, and the trainer, with a determined look on his face, shouted. "OUR FULL POWER! GIGANTIC AURA SPHERE!"
Ash and Lucario suddenly threw their arms in front of them, which caused Lucario's humongous Aura Sphere to be launched forward, splitting the ground in half as the sphere traveled towards Regidrago and Regieleki, who were simply too shocked to move, and the Aura Sphere inevitably collided with them, creating a massive blue explosion on contact.
Despite being in disbelief by what his partner just did, Goh quickly rushed towards the Timer Ball that was still on the floor. He grabbed it, and simultaneously alongside Brandon, shouted. "Go Pokeball!" As the two trainers threw the Pokeballs into the explosion, both of them absorbing Regieleki and Regidrago.
Once the smoke from the Lucario's Gigantic Aura Sphere disappeared, all that was left was the sight of two Timer Balls laying on the floor, where the two Regis used to be. The group stayed silent, as abruptly…
They shook once…
They shook twice…
They shook for a third time before…
Two dings were heard, and Goh's Pokedex said: "Regieleki's data will be added to your Pokedex!" Whilst Brandon's Pokedex said: "Regidrago's data will be added to your Pokedex!"
… … … … …
"... I can't believe it…" Chloe expressed out loud softly.
"... We did it…" Goh said in a low voice.
"... We actually did it…" Peonia repeated in a similar voice.
… … … … …
*grr* *grr*
Suddenly went Ash's stomach. Everybody turned their heads towards the Alolan Champion who abruptly ended the silence of everyone currently in the room with the sound of his stomach asking for food. The trainer nervously put both his hands in front of him and stuttered. "W-What!? Y-You guys try making an Aura Sphere with your Pokemon! I-It takes a lot of energy, you know!"
And with that strange ice breaker from Ash, the group erupted in cheers, ecstatic they had finally bested Regieleki and Regidrago.
Just a quick heads up, next chapter should (knowing me I change ideas every two seconds when writing this so honestly I'm not sure) be the last one of this story, as I don't necessarily want to stretch it out more than it should, so I just wanted to thank everybody who has read this far, I really appreciate it! See ya next time!