Back at the lab, they caught up with each other on what happened, with Oak giving much thanks to Link, Sonic, Mario and Ash. After they did, Mario asked the question.
"Professor, do you know where the key to Nintendo 64 is?" Oak was surprised that Mario had asked that question. He never thought he would hear someone ask that, but with the recent attack from Zox, it was understandable.
"So, you're looking for the controller? My, it's been years since I've even thought about the key."
"Professor, do you know what they're talking about?"
"Indeed I do, Ash. I am the one who was entrusted with the knowledge of the keys, but how did you know that, Mario?"
"I didn't, I just thought I'd ask."
"Well you asked the right person. As powerful as you guys say these Zox are, it's understandable you want it. The key is not far from. It resides in a cave near Indigo Plateau. You must be very careful though, as it's guarded by an extremely powerful Pokemon."
"Wow, really? What kind of Pokemon is it?" Ash asked, excited at the thought.
"One of a kind. There is no other like it, and it exists only for protecting the controller."
"You mean it's been living there all these years? How could that be?" Sonic asked.
"I don't know. I was told that the Pokemon was created by the creators of the Nintendo 64, but it's hard to imagine such a thing."
"Well, then it should be a good opponent." Ash said with a smile.
"What? Do you mean you're going with them?"
"Of course I am! I've already explored the regions of Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn. How can I pass up the opportunity to see a Pokemon that doesn't exist anywhere else!"
"Very well, I'm sure that they could use your help anyways."
"I don't want to put the kid danger." Link said, being cautious.
"I wouldn't worry about that. He's pretty good with his Pokemon. I think he can come in handy." Sonic said.
"Fine then."
"In fact, do you want to come with us on our journey? If we're going to be fighting the Zox, we're going to need all the help we can get." Mario asked.
"Really? That sounds great! That CD nearly destroyed my home, and I don't want that to happen to anyone else."
"Oh, Ash, I nearly forgot! I finished my experiments on your Pikachu. You can take him back now." As Oak said that, a door opened and Pikachu came running out, jumping into Ash's arms. Pikachu was glad to see Ash again.
"Hey buddy! So professor, did you learn anything?"
"Only that your Pikachu is indeed special. Its power levels are quite different from normal Pikachus, but I wasn't able to conclude anything. Either way, thank you for letting me see it."
"We should get going." Link said.
"Hold on, before you go, there's one more thing I want to give you." Oak went over to a desk and opened a drawer, and pulled out a special Pokeball. "Here Ash, take this."
"What is it?" Ash looked it over, and it seemed like a normal red Pokeball, except that it had a small block on the top and bottom.
"It's a special Pokeball I've developed, and it will be the only one you need. You see, it has a link to the transporter here at my lab, and any Pokemon that's here can be instantly transported to that Pokeball when you need it. It's voice activated, so you just say the Pokemon you want and that will be it. This way, you can travel with as many Pokemon you have, instead of just six, with just one Pokeball."
"But isn't that against the rules?"
"Ash, this is not about earning gym badges or having Pokemon battles, this is about saving our planet. Rules go out the door when it comes to saving lives."
"I understand. Thanks."
"You're welcome. Now get going."
Mario, Link, Sonic, and Ash with Pikachu on his shoulder, were walking through a forest when they found the entrance to the cave. A thick covering of plants hid it, but it was right where Oak told them it would be. It was dark inside, so Ash had Charizard lead the way.
"Hmm, it looks like a plain old cave to me, but surely it can't be that simple." Link said. They went further down, but all of the sudden a metal door from behind slid out from the ceiling and closed them off. Sonic was walking right behind them, and as it closed, it cut him off from the group.
"Hey, guys, you all right?" A faint muffled sound of Sonic could be heard from the other side.
"Yeah, we're fine."
"Hold on, I'm going to try and bust through." Sonic said. The others stood there wondering what Sonic was going to do, but then they heard a loud bang against the door.
"Ouch! Oh, my head!"
"Sonic? Did you just do what I think you did?"
"Yes, and it didn't even make a dent. I'm sorry, but I guess I'll have to sit this one out. Good luck."
"All right, we'll see if we can find another way out." As they continued further on, they came to where the walls of the cave were metal walls, with lights on the ceiling, much like the place in Hyrule. With light to see where they were going, Ash put Charizard back in the Pokeball.
"This is looking familiar. This must definitely be the place then." Link said.
When they finally came to the end, they found what appeared to be a statue of a Pokemon. It had the legs of a Blaziken and the wings of a Charizard, but the rest seemed almost human, and three times the size. It's chest was covered by some sort of metallic armor, and all over its body were robotic implants, making it look half Pokemon and half machine.
As they looked at the curious statue, its robotic eye glowed red. As soon as they saw that, they all backed off, and watched, as the stone-looking body became flesh.
"Amazing! So that's how it has been living for so many years! It turns to stone when sleeping!" Ash exclaimed. The Pokemon then faced them, posed to fight.
"If that's the guardian, then we'll find the key if we defeat him." Link explained. The Pokemon then charged after them. It was coming towards Mario as it jumped and did a flying kick, and Mario quickly jumped out of the way.
"Hey, if it's part machine, then a surge of electricity should fry it! Pikachu, go!" Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulders and delivered a bolt of electricity. As it hit the Pokemon, however, he seemed to absorb it. "Or, maybe not." With the electricity it absorbed, it channeled it to its left hand, and formed a glowing sword from the electricity.
"Ash, don't do that again." Link said.
"Well, I thought it would have worked." The Pokemon then brandished its sword by slicing at the wall, making a deep gash in it with ease.
Since he was the sword expert, Link faced the Pokemon. The Pokemon swung its sword down, and Link rolled to the side. Link then tried to swing out at its leg, but the Pokemon blocked with its sword. As Link's sword came in contact with the electric sword, electricity was channeled through Link, and gave him quite a shock.
"Link, are you all right?" Mario asked.
"Eh, I'll live." Ash then got an idea.
"All right, electricity then? Golem, I choose you!" Golem came out of the Pokeball, and the Pokemon was about to attack it.
"Good. Golem, grab the sword!" As it swung the sword at Golem, Golem reached out with its small arms and grabbed the sword, and as it did, the sword turned back into unformed electricity and traveled into the ground.
"All right!" With no sword, the Pokemon then cocked its head back, and let out a blazing fire blast. Rock and ground were resistant to fire, but the heat was so intense, Golem was starting to become lava.
"Good job! Golem, return!"
"Do you have to keep saying that?" Mario asked.
"Huh? Oh, well, um, I guess I don't, have to...I don't know."
"Mario, let's go all out at once on this guy." Link said.
"All right." Mario and Link charged at the Pokemon. With its height, it was hard to attack anything but its legs, so Link went for its right leg. Since Mario could jump high, he jumped up for its chest. Mario was going to swing his fist right at it, but the Pokemon swatted Mario like a large insect, and sent him flying into the wall.
The distraction, however, gave Link a chance to attack its legs. Link aimed for the part with flesh, and shoved his sword right into it. The sword went so deep that the hilt was the only thing sticking out.
The Pokemon screamed in pain, and then screamed again as Link pulled it back out. The Pokemon then kicked Link with its other foot, and sent him to the wall with Mario.
"Steel, electric, flying, fire, and fighting. It's amazing it has so many types, but I think I know just the Pokemon to tackle it. Blastoise, come out! All right, hydro pump!" Two panels on the blue Pokemon's shell opened up, revealing a pair of water cannons. A powerful stream of water came out of them and hit the guardian.
It was apparent that the water was hurting him, but it wasn't that much. The force of the water spray was nonetheless pushing him back, though.
"Eh, Mario, can you, ow, get up?" Link said.
"I think so."
"Come on, Ash found the Pokemon's weakness, this is our chance to get him."
"All right, let's go." The force of the water made it difficult for the Pokemon to walk forward and attack the Blastoise, and while he tried, Link and Mario came back for another attack. Mario and Link delivered several blows, and the water made it difficult to retaliate.
"He has robotic implants all over him, and now he's drenched in water. Blastoise, that's enough. Pikachu, one more time!" The last time Pikachu shocked him, it was used against them, but Ash figured the water would make a difference. As Pikachu delivered a bolt of electricity, the Pokemon's body was gripped in pain. When the shock was over, it fell to its knees.
"Blastoise, finish it off!" As Blastoise started spraying again, the Pokemon got back up and fired a fire blast. The flame went right through the water, evaporating it as it went, and struck Blastoise.
"Oh no! Blastoise, are you all right?" Blastoise was covered in second-degree burns, so he put him back in the Pokeball. The Pokemon then turned to Link and Mario again.
"Oh no, not again." Mario said. The Pokemon raised his hands and was about to smash them, but he then bowed his body forward from the chest, and fell to the ground, flat on his face. As it laid on the ground, they saw Sonic standing behind it.
"Heh, seems this cave has another entrance." Sonic said with a grin. Everyone had a sigh of relief as they saw that the Pokemon was not getting back up.
"Well, now what do we do? We still don't have the key." As Mario said that, the Pokemon got back up. They all stood ready to fight, but then the Pokemon spoke.
"You have proven yourselves worthy of the controller."
"What? You can talk?"
"Yes. I have been sent here by my creators to guard the controller, only to allow those who defeat me in battle to obtain it. You're hearts are of good intent, and so I entrust the safety of it to you." Once he finished speaking, he returned to stone. Once he did, a platform from the ground rose up, and revealed the key.
"One amazing thing after another. Man, what will the next place be like?" Mario then took the controller and put it in his pocket.
As they all stood outside, they received more instructions from Zelda. As Link opened his eyes, he said,
"D.K. Isle, that's where we'll find the next key."
"What? We have to go there? Man, and I bet it's Donkey Kong who knows where the key is!" Mario said angrily.
"What's his problem?" Ash asked.
"Mario and Donkey Kong don't exactly get along together very well." Link said.
"Well, I guess we have to, but just how do we get there? It's just beyond the Mushroom Kingdom, but even that is quite far away."
"Well, we could do the boat thing again, but I wouldn't be able to run the whole way. I could probably run for about an hour, and then jump in the boat."
"You mean push a boat? Hey, I could get Lapras do get us the rest of the way!"
"That might do it. All right, but we should probably rest first." Mario said.
"Good idea. We've been through a lot, and we'll only wear ourselves out if we keep going now."
The group of heroes went to a Pokecenter to spend the night. Afterwards, they got some food and water for their long journey, and got in the boat.
"All right, we're already half way!" Mario said.
"Nintendo 64, here we come!" Ash said.
"Everyone strapped in?" Sonic asked. "Good, let's go!" With blazing speed, they disappeared into the rising sun, trailing across the ocean.