A/N: This chapter has a bit of stuff in it dealing with God and Satan, but nothing much. Just trying to make it fit in with the plotline. So if you aren't a Christian, don't give up on the fic or flame me to death. If you are and you find this religiously offensive, I apologize. I'm a Christian as well, and I just see this as the best way to go about integrating it into the story. Without it there would be no fic at all. So just tolerate it. If you like the fact that I found a way to fit religion in with Pokémon, thanks for the support! But for anyone else, just please endure it and I'll not mention it again. And now, back to the story.


Chapter One
"MECHA!" the steel bird screamed, glaring at the two glowing creatures that dared oppose it. "AVIAN!"

"Go back to where you came from and no harm shall be done," Gary said, managing to sound calm and confident. "We don't want to have to fight you."

Mechavian shook its intimidating head. "MECHAVI! AVIA MECHAI! MECHAVIAN MECH VIA!"

Gary glanced at Ash. "What did it say?"

It said, "I'll never go back! I will destroy this town and then the next, until I destroy this human world!" Ash reported. And I think it knows that it can very well do it, too.

The steel bird glared at them, its stare seeming to burn holes right into the trainers' souls and see what they were thinking. "MECHAVIA!"

Ash saw it first. Gary, it's powering up for an Aeroblast! he shouted, leaping at the metal bird. The crystal on his forehead flashed, and the legendary bird shrieked and fell back as the Icy Wind blew out of nowhere.

"Ash, look out!" Gary shouted, throwing an orb of pure white psychic energy at the steel bird right before it would have fried Ash with a Flame Wheel attack.

Now Mechavian was just plain mad. "MECHAVIAN!" it screamed, diving at the two friends on the ground. Gary ducked, but Ash could not dodge the steel talons that descended and clamped tightly around his back like a hawk carrying away its prey.

It soared up into the sky, past Gary's psychic range. The red ridges that lined its entire body flashed deep crimson, and then Ash felt a strange tugging sensation.

Too late, he realized what was happening. He tried desperately to reverse the effects, but it was too late by then.

With a flash of bright blue, Ash reverted to human form again.

"Ash, what are you doing?!" Gary shouted at the top of his lungs. "Why'd you change back to human?"

"I didn't do it!" Ash shouted as Mechavian began to tighten its grip. "It made me change forms when it glowed like that!"

"Hang in there!" Gary yelled, focusing hard. If he could focus hard enough to use any sort of levitating power, he could fly up and fight Mechavian in its element.

"Hurry!" Ash screamed as the talons began to crush the air out of him.

Gary succeeded in levitating a little, and gained altitude quickly once he got the hang of it. He readied his psychic attack, ready to blast Mechavian out of the sky.

Ash was beginning to see red. He knew the steel bird was trying to kill him by crushing him in half or suffocating him. Maybe even both at once.

Gary was only a few feet away when Mechavian noticed him. It whirled around and tightened its grip on its prize, squeezing the life out of him.

Ash's last conscious thought was, "I wish I could go back home." Then he blacked out.


Chapter Two
Tracey, still in Pidgeot mode, soared into Oak's new lab. Is Ash back yet? he demanded to the Pokémon Professor.

"No, he isn't," Oak said. "Neither is Gary. How long have they been gone?"

About five hours, Tracey said as he landed on the floor and switched forms to human. "I searched all of the ruins of Pallet Town and didn't see them anywhere. Misty's currently looking in the Viridian Forest, and Pikachu's still searching through the Pallet Woods. Where could they have gone? It's as if they just disappeared..."

There was a blinding red flash from outside, and a sonicboom shook the lab. Ceiling tiles fell, Pokéballs spilled out on the floor, and Tracey was nearly positive that something had exploded again.

"MECHA!" a metallic voice screamed outside, and there was the roar of a raging fire.

Tracey stared out the window in terror. "Professor!" he yelled. "PROFESSOR!"

Oak ran to see what Tracey was so horrified about. When he saw it he stood stock-still and nearly screamed in panic. "It's here!" he whispered hoarsely.

Outside, flying over the Viridian Forest, was a seventeen-foot-tall steel bird with fire blazing around it. It screamed again in the metallic voice, shaking the ground.

Mechavian was in Viridian City, two weeks early.

A cloaked figure flitted around the created legendary bird, glowing with pure white energy. It seemed to be trying to get something away from Mechavian without harming it.

"That's Gary!" Oak yelled. "He's levitating and attacking Mechavian! But where did he come from? Where did Mechavian come from?"

"Professor, look!" Tracey shouted, pointing to the steel bird. Or rather, what it was carrying in its talons. "That's Ash! And he's in human form again!"

"Get out there, now!" Oak ordered. "Try to get Ash away from that thing! I'll call Pewter Gym and get Brock's trainees out here, fast! Call Misty and Pikachu in! And see if they can get some of those 'Battle Angels' to come along too!"

Tracey immediately changed to Pidgeot form and streaked out the window towards the huge steel bird and the two humans. Misty, Pikachu! he called to the two spirits. Ash and Gary are back, and Mechavian is in Viridian! Repeat: MECHAVIAN IS IN VIRIDIAN!

Instantly, Misty and Pikachu appeared next to the soaring human-turned-Pidgeot. It's too early for Mechavian to be here, though! Misty pointed out. We had two weeks to prepare!

I'm not sure how he did it, but I think Ash managed to screw things up again, Pikachu said. I'll fetch the Battle Angels. You two get Ash down to the ground and away from that bird! Go go go!

Pikachu vanished in a green flash. The Pidgeot and the shimmering blue spirit were left with only one choice of action.

Attack! Misty yelled as she shot towards the legendary like a bullet fired from an anti-tank missle launcher.

Wait for me! Tracey yelled, increasing speed to somewhere near Mach One, only half speed for Pidgeots.

Misty appeared right next to Gary, who was charged up with bright psychic power. "Thanks for finally arriving!" he yelled to her. "We've got a problem here!"

No, really? Tracey said sarcastically as he zoomed into battle mode. What happened...never mind, tell us later. Let's just get this thing away from the city!

"MECHA!" Mechavian screeched, a circle of dual aerial energy gathering in front of its beak.

"Look out, it's gonna fire!" Gary yelled.

Tracey veered off the attack, away from the Aeroblast. The beam passed harmlessly by, went right through Misty without her even noticing, and then nailed Gary dead-on.

Gary! Misty and Tracey yelled simultaneously as the psychic trainer disappeared into the raging white beam of avian power.

Get Ash while it's distracted! Gary's psychic voice clearly rang out from the center of the whiteness, startling them.

Tracey immediately whirled around and streaked in, going just under Mach Two. He raked his talons forward, skimmed along Mechavian's underside, and snatched at the unconscious teenager in its claws. He felt talons close around Ash's shirt, and yanked hard.

Mechavian, taken by surprise, let Ash go. Tracey hauled wing out of there as fast as he could, carrying the former trainer away from the massive steel bird.

"MECHAVI!" it screeched once it saw that Ash was gone. It stopped using Aeroblast, and the white beam faded away. Gary hovered there, surrounded by a blinding shield of white psychic energy. And he didn't look very happy, or hurt.

"Where are those Battle Angels?" Gary yelled to Misty.

On the way! Pikachu yelled, swooping down to the small attack force they had managed to put together. Behind him flew fifty human angels, all armed with fiery swords. Each was accompanied by a Pokémon of any kind, all powered up with a strange energy. A hundred all together.

Mechavian stared at the attack force arrayed against it. Then it threw its head back and laughed, a strange screeching noise that surprised everyone. [You think you have me outnumbered,] it said in the Pokémon language. [But I too have allies! Battle Demons, arise!]

Out of nowhere, fifty dark-cloaked humans appeared, armed with black swords. Each was accompanied by a Dark-type Pokémon, all surrounded by an evil red glow. That made a hundred of those "Battle Demons" against the one hundred Battle Angels.

Tracey, get out of here! Misty yelled to the Pidgeot. He had been struggling to stay aloft while carrying Ash in his talons. The poor kid looked like he'd been crushed by having a bus thrown on him, and was out cold.

Tracey began to fly away, towards Oak's new lab. Mechavian saw the Pidgeot trying to escape, and instantly shouted, [Battle Demons! Get that Pokémon!]

A hundred heads turned in Tracey's direction. Tracey glanced over his shoulder and saw the dark Pokémon starting to come after him.

Uh-oh, he said.

Gary soared across the path of the Battle Demons, temporarily blocking them from reaching Tracey and his unconscious passanger.

Go! he yelled psychically, throwing an orb of psychic energy at the Battle Demons.

I'm gone, baby! Tracey said in a mock-hippee accent, hauling tail out of there. Of all the times to get funny...

As soon as the Pidgeot was out of sight, the Battle Angels charged the Battle Demons. The humans used their supernatural swords to fight, and the Pokémon battled each other using light and dark attacks.

Misty found herself face-to-face with another spirit, this one on Mechavian's side. The new spirit looked like a girl of seventeen, with long red hair and a white Team Rocket uniform. The spirit sneered at Misty.

Hello there, little girl, she said nastily.

Jessie! Misty snarled.


Chapter Three
While all this was going on outside, Oak was yelling over the telephone for all the help he could think of. Brock and his trainees were already on the way from Pewter, all the Jennys in the area had been alerted, and all the local Pokémon Centers were on full alert. There would most definately be wounded people and Pokémon as long as Mechavian soared the skies.

"No, this is not a joke!" Oak yelled at the Gym Leader on the other end. "There is a Team Rocket-engineered legendary bird on the loose in Viridian City, and it's on a rampage! You have to alert all the other Gym Leaders and get them out here now!"

"Yeah right," the young Gym Leader said. He sounded unconvinced. He was Falkner's replacement after the Pallet Town Bombing, and obviously hadn't been in the Gym long. Otherwise he would have known how famous and important Oak was to the entire Pokémon world. "And why should I believe you?"

Oak opened his mouth to answer when the wall abruptly fell in. Dust clouded the room, and an evil red glow came from the hole in the wall.

When the dust cleared, a reddish human spirit glared at the Pokémon Professor. Then it leaped into the air and soared into combat with a blue spirit that was coming to confront it.

The Gym Leader, who's name was Corey, had gone completely pale. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, unable to say anything.

Outside, the giant metal bird soared past the opening in Oak's lab wall. In clear sight of the Gym Leader on the videophone. "Now do you believe me?" Oak demanded.

"I'll call them up immediately!" Corey said at last. The connection was cut off as the Gym Leader knocked over the videophone in his panic to find the other Gym telephone numbers.

Professor! Tracey's thought-speak voice yelled.

Oak turned around and saw the Pidgeot soaring through where the wall had been. He grasped an unconscious teenager in his talons, and laid him gently on the floor.

Oak ran to Ash's side. "What happened to him?" he asked Tracey. "He looks like he's been run over by a bus."

Mechavian sure has a tight grip, Tracey said. Evidently it generates some sort of field that counters Ash's transforming powers, and changed him back to human. Then it tried to crush him to death. Fortunately I got him away quickly, though. Otherwise he'd be dead by now.

Oak was about to ask more, but then there was the sound of beating wings. Listening closer, Oak could make out five different birdlike calls.

The five legendary birds streaked overhead, heading for Mechavian. Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Ho-oh kept going. But Lugia split off and turned towards Oak's lab.

I thought you might want some help! Lugia called as it approached. So I whistled up all the legendary birds, as well as a friend of Ash's!

A gray and purple shape blasted overhead, trailing a bright blue light. It slowed down a bit as it got near the metal bird, clearly letting anyone nearby see what it was.

I don't think so, Mechavian! it shouted to the steel bird. *I'm* the only Rocket-engineered clone allowed to attempt world domination! And you won't, not while I'm around!

It glanced over in the direction of Oak's lab, and flicked a hand.

Ash's eyes flew open, and the look on his face stopped Oak and Tracey from even breathing. "MEWTWO!" Ash practically screamed in shock. "IT'S BACK!"

Even from a half a city away, the Battle Angels could hear him clearly. So could the swiftly approaching group of trainers from the Pewter City Gym. As for Mewtwo, he was definately getting a major headache after releasing the trainer's memories of the New Island incident.

Lugia landed right outside Oak's lab, and looked in as Ash calmed down. The teenager winced as he finally felt the pain from his crushed ribs, and he coughed. "Ouch," he said. "What happened?"

Mechavian almost killed you, Tracey said. I think you'd better go back to Suicune mode. It should be uninjured from the attack since you were hurt while in human form.

Ash nodded, and with a flash of blue he was the water legendary dog again. He stood up, and looked out at the raging battle. All right, how did Mechavian get in Viridian City? he demanded. The last thing I remember was time-traveling with Gary and being attacked by that steel bird in Pallet of seven years ago. Then it changed me back to human and I blacked out.

You *time-traveled*? Tracey exclaimed.

You must join the battle, Lugia said. The Battle Angels need your help. Especially Misty. She has encountered an unexpected old enemy.

And who would that be? Ash asked, a chill going up his Suicune spine.

A Jessie Musashi, Lugia said. Known to you as Jessie from Team Rocket, the destroyer of Pallet Town.


Chapter Four
Jessie sneered at Misty, who just stared in shock at being confronted by the spirit of their old archrival. Jessie looked basically like Misty did; shimmery and transparent, only the former Rocket glowed with red instead of blue.

I guess that bomb killed you too, Jessie said, ignoring the battle that had begun to rage around her. She laughed, a harsh, cold sound. And that twerp is out of the action permenantly. Because you'll never win against Mechavian! He gets his orders from my boss directly!

'Her boss?' Misty wondered. 'Does she mean Giovanni? No, she's dead so she can't be in Team Rocket anymore. But then who...?'

It hit her like a slap in the face. If God was her boss in this battle, then Jessie' boss had to be Satan. The two had always been fighting for power, and God was always above the Devil. But that wouldn't stop that demon from wrecking the Earth with Mechavian at his command. Knowing him, Misty figured that he had given the Rockets the directions to create Mechavian and then destroy the witnesses.

"MECHA!" Mechavian screamed, blasting past the two spirits. It plowed into a battalion of Battle Angels and they scattered. Some looked hurt.

I thought angels couldn't get hurt! Gary said psychically to Misty as he dodged a Battle Demon's sword swing. What's going on?

If it's from a demon they can be injured! Misty yelled back. So watch out! Those swords are nasty if a mortal gets in its way!

Gary glanced at her, and then the shimmering blue spirit saw the smoking hole on the shoulder of his cloak. As you can see, I've already found that out, he said in battle humor. Luckily these powers come with pain supression-WHOA! He dodged another sword swing, then brought a glowing fist into the Battle Demon's face. Then while the dark spirit was distracted, he lunged in and snatched away the black sword. As soon as it left the Battle Demon's hand, it changed so it looked exactly like the blades the Battle Angels were weilding.

HAH! Got one! he crowed, diving into the fray.

Misty looked back at Jessie, and zoomed backwards in midair just in time to avoid being impaled on a black blade that had somehow appeared in Jessie's hand.

Misty held her hand to her side and a blazing green sword appeared. She raised it to the en garde position, and mock-saluted the red spirit that had once been Jessie.

Lets begin, Jessie said, crossing her black sword over Misty's. The blades crackled on impact, and then the two lunged at each other with blades flashing and spirit powers blazing.


Chapter Five
Tracey took off into the sky, soaring into the fray above Viridian yet again. Ash bounded across the grass, leaped onto Lugia's back, and the two streaked into the sky.

Ash temporarily switched to human mode, finding it easier to hold onto Lugia's neck feathers with just his hands rather than trying to stand on the legendary bird's back as a Suicune. He tranformation hadn't completely healed his broken ribs, but he could somehow dull the pain to tolerable levels. And it had been several days since he had last stayed as a human for a while.

'I wish I could fly like Lugia does,' Ash thought as they approached the paranormal battle.

There was a strange sensation of falling, and Ash held tight to Lugia's neck to keep himself from getting too dizzy. When it stopped he opened his eyes and looked at his hands.

They were paws again. But not delicate Suicune paws. No, these were the rough broad front paws of an Entei, the fire legendary dog.

Startled, Ash looked himself over. Sure enough, he was an Entei. Complete with winglike appendages on his back that would allow him to fly if he tried hard enough.

'I thought Misty and Pikachu only gave me one choice of transformation...' he thought, stunned. 'What happened? Did I do this myself?'

Lugia arched its long neck around to look at him. What did you do? it asked, puzzled. I thought you could only become a Suicune.

"So did I," Ash said, accidentally speaking out loud. He slapped a paw to his Entei muzzle as he heard the deep, booming roar of the legendary dog *speaking in English!* "Did I say that?"

How in the world did you manage to look like *that*? Lugia asked.

Ash looked at himself closer. He seemed to be an Entei, but there were some differences. For one, his front paws were more like hands. For another, he could walk on his hind legs like a human or all fours like an Entei. And lastly, because he could still speak in regular human language. "I...I don't know," Ash stammered, still startled to hear the deeper voice coming from his mouth. "I just did it, somehow."

Then he looked up at the raging battle, and he got a strange expression on his face. "Charge!" he yelled, laughing, and leaped off of Lugia's back.

A thousand feet up in the air, and he wasn't falling! Ash had spread the winglike things on his Entei back, which caught the air and let him soar into the sky.

"Yeah!" he yelled, and released a Flamethrower into a group of Battle Demons. They screamed and scattered, but a Houndoom spirit absorbed the rest of the attack into itself and fired it back.

Ash countered it with a Fire Spin. The Houndoom was blown back by the force of the impact, not by the attack itself. It roared in frustration and zoomed in at the flying legendary dog, using Crunch on his arm.

Out of reflex Ash roared, and the Houndoom reeled away in extreme pain. After only a few seconds of the onslaught, the dark spirit vanished. Either killed or just on its way back to where it came from.

"Murkrow!" another Pokémon screamed behind him, darting in. It had some kind of freakish spirit attack all powered up, and it was too close for Ash to deflect!

There was a HUGE green flash, and suddenly the dark Pokémon screamed and dropped out of sight. One of the Murkrow's wings had been cut off.

That's when Ash noticed what the green flash had been. It was a blazing spirit sword, held by none other than Gary himself. The psychic trainer twirled the fiery sword in his hand in an expert manner, and looked over at Ash. "How the heck did you manage *that*?" Gary asked.

"Stop asking me that," Ash growled in his new voice. "I don't know, and if you don't then no one does. And in case you haven't noticed, we *are* in the middle of a battle here."

Gary nodded in agreement, slashing at a red Battle Demon that was charging at him. The spirit countered with its own black sword, and sparks flew.

"Where are those trainers?" Ash thought, looking around. "They should be here by now..."

That's when he saw why. Mechavian had landed on the ground, towering over a group of trainers. Brock himself was pinned to the ground by Mechavian's long whiplike tail.

"Lugia!" Ash called, and within seconds the legendary bird was next to him. Ash landed on its back and switched back to human, hanging on tight. "Get us down there quick! Brock's in trouble!"

Lugia went into a steep dive, and as they approached Ash made another transformation.

Mechavian was just about to kill Brock and his trainers when a huge Thunderbolt came out of nowhere and struck it. It screamed in pain, the bird part of it weak against electricity.

"RAIKOU!" the yellow legendary dog shouted as it landed on the ground. Lugia swooped overhead alone, heading back for the spirit battle.

The Raikou bit Mechavian on the tail, and it screeched. Mechavian pulled back, and Brock was free from the pressure of the steel bird's tail.

"I thought you might want some help," the Raikou said in an electric-sounding voice as it reared up onto its hind legs. Brock and all the trainer stared at it in shock, and it grinned.

"Ash?" Brock said cautiously.

The Raikou switched to a humanoid Entei form, then a humanoid Suicune, and back to humanoid Raikou. It winked. "Yep," he said. "And before you ask how, I don't know. I just *can*."

Brock nodded, and turned to his trainers. "All right, we're here and so is that bird! Release your Pokémon and begin the battle!"

All the trainers released their Pokémon, and there was every type of Pokémon represented. There were Fearows, Raichus, Machamps, Charizards, and pretty much anything you could imagine. There was even some bizarre-looking electric dragon that looked like a cross between a Tyranitar, a Dragonite, and an Electabuzz.

Ho-oh flew overhead chasing a group of five Battle Demons. The legendary bird released a Sacred Fire attack, and the three of the demons disappeared. The other two were taken care of by Articuno, who swooped down and used an Ice Beam.

Mechavian had recovered from Ash's Bite attack, and now it looked just plain mad. It powered up for another Aeroblast, ready to annihilate all the trainers opposing it.

"ZZZZZZZAAAAAAAPPPPPPP!" a screeching birdlike voice shouted, and a bolt of lightning hit the steel bird before it could fire. The Aeroblast passed harmlessly into the sky, and Zapdos screeched another challange.

[Battle of the birds!] Moltres laughed in the Pokémon language as it appeared next to the other three. Lugia, soaring high overhead in the center of the battle, plowed through the red spirits and joined the force of legendary birds against Mechavian.

Mechavian looked at all the birds, then screeched and took to the sky. But before it could get very far, its path was blocked by a gray and purple figure that didn't look too happy. At its side was a white-pink catlike Pokémon that glowed with bright pink energy.

"Mew and Mewtwo!" Ash yelled, scaring everybody. "Both of them are here?"

"What're you talking about?" Brock asked, confused. Mewtwo hadn't released the mind block on Brock yet, just Ash. And when Misty had died Mewtwo had no control over her memories anymore, so she already knew about the psychic Pokémon.

"Never mind," Ash said. Then he changed into a different humanoid Pokémon. Now he was a fifteen-foot-tall Lugia.

Just then, three streaks of red, yellow, and blue came rushing from the forest. One seemed to sail above the ground. One moved like a flash flood. The other looked like lightning.

It seemed that the legendary dogs had gotten wind of the battle, and decided to help out. The fight had been rowdy before.

Now it was going nuclear.


Chapter Six
Misty and Jessie swordfought for a long time. Both were equal in strength and skill, so neither one was hurt at all. Every now and then Gary would fly by, chasing another Battle Demon with his blazing spirit sword that he had stolen from a demon spirit.

At one point in the battle Misty thought she saw a flying Entei that looked vaguely like Ash, but dismissed it seeing as she was a bit busy at the time.

But things began to get *really* interesting when a Fearow showed up, with a blue-haired trainer on its back with a Meowth on his shoulder. "Prepare for trouble!" he shouted at the red spirit that had been Jessie.

Jessie froze in mid-swing, her black blade motionless. "James?"

"Meowth, dat's right!" Meowth said.

"Jessie, you have to stop," James said as his Fearow flew closer. "You know this isn't right. You aren't a Rocket anymore. If you keep going the way you are, you'll be destroyed completely instead of just a spirit."

Jessie hesitated. "But what else can I do?"

"You can turn and fight Mechavian," Misty said, lowering her blazing sword. "You can fight with us, against the Battle Demons. You could be a Battle *Angel*. What do you say?"

Jessie thought about it for about five seconds. Then her sword changed from black to green, and the glow around her became a bright blue. Her face no longer had that evil look. Instead it shone with radiance that only angels have.

"I'm going to fight with you," she said.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Mechavian glared at all the legendaries surrounding it, then laughed. [You know you'll never stop me,] it said in the Pokémon language. [Legendary power only boosts my energy! I am unbeatable!]

"That's what you think!" Ash yelled through his black beak, his voice sounding vaguely musical. A faint blue aura had started to gather around him. "This is my hometown and you'll never destroy it!"

Mechavian just laughed more. [Little fool. I have been engineered to be undefeatable in combat! You cannot resist my power and live!]

"My son can withstand anything you throw at him!" Giovanni's voice yelled out of nowhere. Everyone spun around to see him standing at the edge of the legendary ring, looking furious.

"Dad! You didn't have any part in this?" Ash asked.

"Of course not!" Giovanni Ketchum said, glaring at Mechavian. "This bird was created by a rogue group of Rockets named Cassidy and Butch! They broke off from Team Rocket as soon as they found out the so-called 'Twerp,' namely you, was in fact my son. And with the help of unmentionable powers, they created this Mechavian creature and set it free upon the world!"

"What happened to them, then?" Ash wondered out loud.

Mechavian smiled evilly. [I destroyed them, just as Mewtwo did with his creators*]

Giovanni's black look got even darker. He had a look of barely-contained rage firected towards the steel bird in front of him. "You will pay for that," he said coldly. "I'll destroy you with my bare hands if I need to!"

[You and what army?] Mechavian demanded.

"Me and my powers!" Giovanni shouted, shifting into a fighting stance. There was a flash of white and suddenly he was a humanoid Persian, already in battle mode.

Ash was staring at his father in shock. Giovanni had just transformed in the exact same way that Ash could, and Ash hadn't known he could do that!

Giovanni saw Ash's startled expression and winked. "It runs in the family," he said simply, then looked back at the steel bird. "Will you surrender or not?"

In response, Mechavian gathered power for another Aeroblast. The dual aerial energy began to appear in front of its beak.

It fired the Aeroblast straight at Giovanni, intending to kill him instantly and then take out the rest of the legendaries.

It never got that far.

A white blur dashed in front of the attack, trailing bright blue energy everywhere. The Aeroblast impacted the swiftly-moving creature directly on the side, and it slowed down.

The white blur stopped and panted hard, balancing itself on its wingtips. The blue psychic energy faded into a light blue shield around its body as it glared at the steel bird. "Don't try that again," Ash said in his Lugia voice. "I'll just protect my father again."

"Cats kill birds all the time, don't they?" Giovanni said, leaping at Mechavian with catlike agility. He Fury Swiped across the steel bird's face, then bit its right wing. Mechavian screamed in pain.

Suddenly the air was filled with red spirits, what was left of Mechavian's army. Some had "died" in battle, others were simply caught up in swordfights with the Battle Angels. But either way, they were ready to defend their leader Pokémon.

"Uh-oh," Ash said.


Chapter Seven
No sooner had Misty and Jessie made their peace, all the red spirits disappeared. They all reappeared over the Viridian Forest, surrounding Mechavian and its opponents. Misty could see Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia, Ho-oh, Raikou, Suicune, Entei, Mew, Mewtwo, and what looked an awful lot like a humanoid Lugia next to a Persian-human.

All Battle Angels, follow me! Pikachu yelled, brandishing his own blazing sword as he flew towards the mass of spirits and legendaries.

All of the remaining Battle Angels turned and followed the yellow mouse, flying as fast as their angel wings would take them. Some even had the opportunity to use a strange variation of Teleport.

"Mew!" Gary yelled, and suddenly the pink catlike Pokémon was next to him. He hugged the Pokémon spirit and stroked its fur, tears running down his face. "I thought I'd never see you again, dead or alive," he babbled to the Mew spirit.

"Mewmew," Mew murmured, wrapping its tail around Gary's shoulders. I'm sorry you had to go through that, it said, the first time anyone had ever heard it use thought-speak. But at least I saved all the Pokémon from that town you lived in."

"That you did, Mew," Gary said. He calmed down a little, and got serious again. "Mew, let's go. One last battle for old time's sake."

Mew nodded. "Mew!"

"And speaking of Mew..." a new voice said from behind Jessie and Misty. The two spirits turned, and Jessie gasped in surprise.

"M-mother?" she stammered.

"It's been an awful long time, Jessie," Myamoto's spirit said. The former Rocket glowed true blue, and was followed by a white Mew spirit. The same Mew that she had been after when she had died in the avalanche. It looked almost comical, hovering there like it always did with the same playful look on its face mixed with seriousness of knowing its mission and its consequences.

"Ladies, I hate to interrupt a family conversation but we're kind of in the middle of a small-scale war here!" James interrupted after telling his Fearow where to fly next. Meowth was already powering up for a TM-taught attack called Pay Day. He had never been able to learn it by himself, and somehow after the Pallet Town Bombing James had found a TM hidden in all the rubble of Oak's lab. Oak didn't want it anymore so he had given it to the ex-Rocket, and he had taught it to Meowth.

"Right," the three spirits agreed. Gary didn't add in any comments because, as Misty noticed a split second later, he was already gone. Teleported all the way over to where Mechavian and the legendaries were gathered, ringed by Battle Demons and Battle Angels.

"Let's go!" Misty yelled, materializing over to the battalion of Battle Demons. Jessie followed a moment later using her own spirit powers.

James steered his Fearow over towards the group of spirits, and yelled to Meowth, "Pay Day now!"

"Meeeowth!" Meowth yelled, making a throwing motion with his paws. Dozens of coins appeared out of nowhere, pelting Mechavian's head.

The steel bird looked up in annoyance, and saw the Fearow and its riders. A dark look crossed its face, and a dual aerial energy circle appeared in front of its face again.

"Oops," James said.