RS: Voidmoon: Actually, Kroc can't use Ice Punch…yet. I'm glad for your confidence in Blaze. Sorry to disappoint you, but Blaze…well…he… kinda gets terminated…

nanC: Bored? Your bored? That's what my fic is for!

blackheart: You like my story? Thanks!

The title is corny, I know. I haven't updated in a long time. I'm really slow at updating.

But here's chapter 12!


The Mighty Cloud Dragon

A girl about the age of seven screamed as a gigantic explosion rocked the arena. Her twin brother looked on with astonishment. They were at the Rivet Arena watching a rare match. The Rivet Town noble was battling! The evil noble's Cloud Dragon had blasted a Hyper Beam at the challenger's Charmander, which had shot a Flare attack. The attacks connected, but it wasn't clear who the winner was. Smoke and dust filled the area, then quickly lifted up as flapping noises were heard. The Cloud Dragon had flapped away the smoke to reveal a knocked out Charmander.

"And the winner of the match is Eric and his Cloud Dragon!" Boos echoed from the crowd. The boy, Jon, joined in too. Camil, his sister, just hid behind him. The challenger, who was wearing a black hooded sweater and brown pants, was joined by a yellow and black clothed boy and a girl with a green top and blue jeans. He walked to his Charmander and it disappeared in a red light. Suddenly, several Shades came out with a couple of Graveler with them. One Graveler grabbed the black hooded sweater boy. The other boy was carried off by the other Graveler. A Shade grabbed the girl's wrist and forced her to walk away. The crowd booed Eric, the noble, and threw some trash on the stage. Then Shades with clubs went to the bleachers and "escorted" the audience out.

Jon whispered to Camil, "Hey, they were about to beat the noble. We were so close to freedom." Camil sighed. "Well, yeah, but Eric is super buff…." She brushed back her blonde hair that was tied back into a ponytail.

The two were walking down a street back to their house. They were chatting about how bad the Pidgeotto got torn up when they saw the girl that fought Eric running past them. A Shade was close behind her. He was clutching at his sensitive organs.

Jon looked at the passer-bys. "Do you think we should help that girl?" "Yeah, she did try to save our town." The twins chased after the person who was chasing after the girl.


Celia turned a corner and ran into a dead end. The Shade that pursued her was still clutching the part of him that she kicked, hard, to escape. But then he took the beating stick hanging from his waist and advanced on her.

"Get away from me!" Celia yelled. "Heh, you think that's going to heAAAAAHHHHHH!" Sparks of electricity flew from him. He got back up and turned around. A pair of twins commanding a Plusle and Minun stood there.

"You brats are going to pay!" The Shade charged at them with his beating stick.

"Plusle!" "Minun!" "USE THUNDERSHOCK!" The red and blue Pikachu clones sparked up electricity from their cheeks which flew straight at the Shade, frying him. He then whipped out a stone, calling upon his Geodude.

"Helping Hand!" The two mice held hands. Then blue colored lightning bolts flew between them.

"Rock Throw, Geodude!" Chunks of rock flew at the pair of mice.

"Spark!" Still holding hands, the Plusle and Minun both had electricity flying out of them. Then they jolted forward, dodging the rocks. The Geodude was slammed back by the double Spark attack, flying into the Shade's head. He was effectively knocked out.

"Good job Plusle!" "You rock Minun!" The twins took out their own stones and returned the two Pokemon.

Celia walked to them. "Thanks for saving me." "Hey, you guys tried saving us first, so we were just repaying a debt!"

Celia checked her Pokedex. She clicked on the Pokeball icon with the Totodile. She accessed the health icon. Kroc was in bad condition from the fight.

"Hey…uh… My name is Celia!" "I'm Jon!" "I'm his sister, Camil!"

"Jon, Camil, I'm asking a big favor. Could you guys take me to your house and let me rest my Pokemon?"

"Of cour----huh?" Camil pulled Jon to the side.

"What about MOM?" "Celia's our hero!" "SOOO? Mom's gonna get hecka mad! We aren't supposed to even battle!" "…um…uh oh… we got no choice now…RUN!" Jon pulled Camil and ran off. Celia quickly followed.

Camil screamed, "LET GO! Why are we even---" She turned around and saw 5 Shades accompanied by 5 Geodude. "Oh… okay…AAAHHHH!" Camil jumped to the side right before a boulder smashed into the ground she was standing in a second ago.

They ran and ran down the street. They turned into a market. The Shades couldn't find them in the crowd of people. They gave up in defeat.

"Phew…" Celia stood up from behind the fruit stand they were hiding behind.

"I've got to go save my friends! Thanks for your help…" She ran off.

Jon quickly followed, but was pulled back by Camil.

"We can't follow her! Man, you are ALWAYS the wild one… I always have to watch you!" Jon smiled. "Then you have to watch me while I run off to help her!" He took off after Celia.

"UGH!" Camil followed.


Brian was tossed into a cell. He watched through the bars as Andy was thrown into the cell across from him. They were in a narrow corridor filled with cells on both sides. There were only two exits, one at one end of the corridor, the other at the other end.

They are so stupid. They didn't even take away our packs! Brian thought to himself.

Brian released all three of his Pokemon. Claws was fine, since he didn't battle. But the other two were seriously hurt. He got out the medical stuff from his pack and got to work. Andy did the same with Blaze.

Brian was bandaging Zeck's arm when he saw a bright flash. He poked his head out of the bars and looked left. He saw a Pikachu trying to blow away the bars with a Thundershock. It tried and tried but it was all in vain. It sat down in misery. Brian called out to it.

"FLASH!"

The Pikachu perked its head up. When it saw Brian, it jumped straight up in joy.

Andy said, "Well, we found Flash. He's still alive at least…"


Celia was in Jon and Camil's house. Jon had led her there. His parents weren't home.

Jon said excitedly, "I FOUND THE MEDICAL KIT!" Celia took it and worked on Kroc, fixing her injuries.

They opened the door, Celia in front, followed by Jon and Camil.

"Ok, do you two know where the prison is?" "It's close to the Rivet Arena. I'll show you!"

When they got there, two guards were standing in front of the entrance. When one of them turned around and saw Jon and Camil, he gasped.

"Those are the twins that attacked me!" He immediately sent out Geodude. The other Guard sent out another Geodude.

"Rock Throw!" The Geodude chucked chunks of rock at the trio. Celia took out her Pokeball and flung it in the air. Kroc materialized, and shot Water Gun by herself to deflect the rocks.

"Water Gun!" Two wet Geodude lay defeated on the ground. The two Shades screamed and ran away. Kroc shot down the door with Water Gun and they charged in.


"Claws, Rock Smash!" Claws' foreleg glowed brown, then it slammed on the bars. It didn't break, but it did leave a dent. Zeck and Dekor, who were fully healed by now, turned at the noise.

The Shade watching them saw the attack. He sent out his Graveler, who went to Brian's cell, reached in, grabbed Claws, and slammed him on the ground.

"Claws, are you ok?" Claws dizzily stood up and snarled at the Graveler.

The Shade said gruffly, "Don't try that again…" After the Graveler walked away, Brian whispered to Andy, "We gotta find a way out." "Our best hope right now is to wait for Celia."

As if that were the signal, the Shade's Graveler was suddenly pushed back by a stream of water. Brian saw the source: A Totodile followed by Celia and a pair of twins.

"Use Bubble!" Kroc sucked up air, then blasted a stream of bubbles toward the Graveler, knocking it out.

The Shade quickly returned his Graveler, then ran out the back

"FLASH!" Celia screamed as she hugged Flash through the bars.

The bars to Brian's cell collapsed as Claws Rock Smashed it again. Claws freed Flash, then opened up Andy's cell.

Brian said, "Okay, we are all together. What do we do?" Celia pointed to the entrance in front of them. Brian looked up and saw the noble's assistant standing there with a whole group of Shades behind him. Without warning, he sent out his Sandslash.

"Kroc, use Water Gun! Flash, use Quick Attack!" "Zeck, Bullet Seed! Dekor, Metal Claw! Claws, Rock Smash!" "Blaze, use Flamethrower! Nidor, Double Kick it!"

The flurry of attacks was too much for the Sandslash. It fell in defeat. The assistant laughed, then sent out his abnormally large Graveler. The other Shades sent out their Geodude and Sandshrew.

(Pokenese)

Blaze yelled, "Attack whoever you want!" With that, the whole group's Pokemon charged at the Rock and Ground types.

Rocks, seeds, flames, and streams of water were flying around everywhere.

Kroc yelled, "Get back, I'm gonna try a Surf!" The group backed up. Kroc then sent a wave of water flying from the ground, knocking out all but the Graveler.

The Graveler raised his fists and sent a Mega Punch at Claws. Claws ducked, then slammed a Rock Smash at him. They continued fighting while the rest of the team used projectile attacks to weaken the Graveler.

But before they knew what was happening, more Shades came in the other entrance. The group was stuck in the middle of the prison corridor.

"We're stuck!" Celia yelled as the other Shades sent out their Sandshrew and Geodude.

But as fast as they appeared, they got knocked out by another Surf attack. But Kroc was getting tired. Luckily, all the Shades and their Pokemon were knocked out.

The group got out of the prison from a hole created from the Surf. Just as they were about to escape, the assistant's Graveler grabbed Claws and flung him against the cell bars. Claws yelled to the others, "Go get the noble! This hunk of rock is mine!"

Zeck yelled back, "No! We'll beat him together!" "You'll run out of time! Go now!" Blaze turned to Zeck and said, "He's right. Let's go!" Zeck nodded and ran off with the others in the direction of the noble.

Claws got up and faced the Rock/Ground type, who's unfortunate trainer had been knocked out by the water.

"I'm taking you down!" Claws split into 10 Linoone with his Double Team. All ten attacked with the supereffective Rock Smash. Nine of them passed through, but the tenth had smashed into Graveler, chipping part of his shoulder.

"AAARRRHHH!" Graveler shot out with a Mega Punch. But unfortunately for him, Claws was too fast. Before he knew it, the speedy Linoone had flew behind him and landed another Rock Smash.

Claws laughed. "Is that the best you can do?" Graveler slammed both his large arms into the ground, sending towers of rock at Claws.


(Normal)

Brian said to Celia, "We're almost there!" The group had returned their Pokemon to conserve their strength, except for Jon and Camil, whose Plusle and Minun were riding on their shoulders. Brian worried about Claws fighting the Graveler by himself, but he trusted his Linoone. They ran back into the noble's building, kicking down the door. They turned back into the corridor, but sped into a side room when they saw 20 Shades walk past in a hurry.

"They must be headed to the prison!" Brian exclaimed. "Claws is dead if we don't hurry!"

Celia was thinking to herself. Then she stood up and opened the door to walk out.

"Where are you going?" "I'm gonna help Claws!" "I'm supposed to say that! He is MY Pokemon after all!" "I've got Kroc and her Surf attack! I'll be alright! Here, take Flash! He will help you with the fight with Eric." She handed Brian the Pokeball and ran off. Brian got up to follow her, but Andy stopped him.

"Focus on the noble Brian." Brian then stood up. "What are we waiting for?"


Claws jumped to the side to avoid the columns of rock coming out of the ground. He flung some rubble at the Graveler, temporarily blinding him.

Claws jumped up high, then fell toward the Graveler. Gaining momentum, he charged up energy for Rock Smash. Inches above the Rock type's head, Claws slammed his foreleg into the Graveler's forehead. A miniature crater was left there. The Graveler walked around dizzily, then fell down, defeated. Claws smiled, but then he stopped when he saw 20 Shades walking toward the hole in the wall. He quickly dug underground, and hoped they wouldn't be able to find him.


Brian and Andy retraced their steps, trying to find the noble. They searched through all the rooms, but couldn't find him. They rushed out to the courtyards followed by Jon and Camil when 5 Shades running toward the prison saw them and ran to them instead.

"What to do? We are running out of time! The Shades are going to overwhelm us!" Brian said.

Andy released Blaze and Nidor. "I'll take care of them. You go find the noble!"

"But—" Jon and Camil cut in. "JUST GO!" Plusle and Minun jumped off their shoulders and prepared to fight. Brian ran off, faintly hearing Andy's command to Blaze. A moment later, a singed Sandshrew flew into the air and landed beside him. Brian took pity on it and caught it with a Pokeball. Then he continued to find Eric.


"Surf!" A huge wave of water washed down another mob of ground and rock Pokemon. Claws peeped out from his safety hole and saw Celia with Kroc fighting off the 20 Shades' Pokemon. He jumped out and knocked out a Geodude with Rock Smash.

"Claws! There you are!" Claws smiled at her and continued fighting. But after defeating another mob of Sandshrew and Geodude, 3 Shades came in with 3 Graveler. They all used Magnitude, knocking out Kroc. Claws had jumped just in time. The Shades went to Celia and tied her up. She yelled to Claws, "Go help Brian!" Claws nodded, and ran in the direction of the arena. The Shades gave chase, but couldn't keep up.


Brian ran into a final courtyard that had a greenhouse in the center. He went inside to find a gardenyish sort of place. There were cages containing bird Pokemon everywhere. They all looked unhappy.

I only have three Pokemon. They won't be enough to beat Eric…

Brian followed a stone path that led him to a secluded area, where Eric was holding his crystals in hand. He noticed Brian coming in.

Eric stood up and said, "I come here to relax. The people of this town are ungrateful little brats that cause me too much stress."

"Have you thought of being nicer to them?" Brian replied.

"You won't understand. They are vermin. And vermin are to be treated like vermin."

Brian got mad at this. "I challenge you to a rematch!" Eric smiled. "Well, I guess you don't learn the first time. Maybe you will learn this time! Go Pidgeotto!" "Dekor, you're up!"

(Pokenese)

"Well well well, if it isn't the shiny rat!" the bird mocked. Dekor became extremely furious

"You are toast, you little mockingbird!" Dekor leaped into the air, Metal Claws blaring.

Pidgeotto flew out of the way and slammed its wing on Dekor, sending him flying down.

"Hah, the little rat can't beat me!" "AAAHHH! SHUT UP!"

"Dekor, use Rock Blast!" Dekor sucked in air, then blasted out rock pellets at the bird. Pidgeotto flew over the attack, then dodged another. Then it spiraled down and Drill Pecked Dekor.

"Hah, stupid shiny rat!"

Dekor was now intensely aggravated.

He jumped over a Steel Wing and latched himself on Pidgeotto. He then slammed two Metal Claws into Pidgeotto's back. He jumped off safely. However, Pidgeotto slammed into the ground.

But then something unexpected happened. Both its wings grew a bit shorter, but into claw shapes. The bird ran toward Dekor and slammed one of them into him. Dekor thumped against a tree, stunned and surprised.

"Pidgeotto can't use Metal Claw!" "Ah, but they can use Mirror Move!"

Pidgeotto clawed at Dekor again, doing serious damage. Dekor retaliated with his own Metal Claw, but missed, due to Pidgeotto's agility. He was hit by another Metal claw from behind.

"Shiny rat! Shiny rat!" "STOP CALLING ME A SHINY RA—" Shiny? I could use this to my advantage…

"Pidgeotto, Steel Wing the little brat!" Pidgeotto flew into the air, but space was limited in the greenhouse, so it couldn't gain too much momentum by flying high. It's wings grew grey and it flew down, straight at Dekor.

This better work… Dekor shifted his body so that sunlight bounced right off of it. He pointed the sun rays at Pidgeotto, rather, Pidgeotto's eyes. The maneuver caused the bird to shut its eyes and turn its face, making it spin around wildly. It crashed into a tree.

"Metal Claw!" Dekor smiled. "Look who's gonna get filleted!" He jumped right in front of Pidgeotto, and sent a Metal Claw straight at Pidgeotto's head, knocking him out.

(Normal)

"That's my Dekor!" Dekor jumped happily into Brian's arms. Eric returned his beaten Pokemon, then sent out a Golbat.

"Dekor, can you fight him?" Dekor nodded, then jumped down, ready to battle.

"Golbat, use Supersonic!" Golbat opened its huge mouth and let out high pitched sound waves at Dekor. Dekor's eyes turned swirly and he moved around dizzily.

"Leech Life!" The energy fangs appeared around Golbat. Then they zoomed toward the confused Dekor. After they connected, strands of energy were extracted from Dekor. They flew back to Golbat, energizing it even though it was fresh. Dekor, weak from the battle with Pidgeotto, immediately fainted.

"Dekor!" Brian ran to Dekor and carried him in his arms. He returned him, then pulled out another Pokeball. Celia…

"GO! FLASH!"


Andy, Jon and Camil were valiantly fighting off the Shades. Mostly Andy, since Plusle and Minun couldn't really do anything other than use Helping hand to boost Andy's Pokemons' strength.

"Finish them with Flamethrower!" The beefed up Blaze opened wide and sent a stream of fire straight at the remaining Sandshrew. It fell down, overcooked.

But before they could celebrate, more Shades came, this time with Sandslash and Graveler. Andy was outnumbered.

"Run! Lead them away from Brian's direction!" Andy returned Blaze and Nidor and ran away from the Shades. Jon and Camil followed.

They went back into the courthouse, then out the entrance. They rushed for the city's exit. But then two Graveler blocked the way. They turned around and saw the Shades that gave chase. Andy let out his Pokemon, but they were quickly beaten by a barrage of Rock Throws and Mega Punches. The Shades tied them up. Jon and Camil shrugged off Plusle and Minun and told them to go help Brian. The two red and blue mice jumped off the twins' shoulders as they ran as fast as they could to the courtyards.

Jon looked up to Andy.

"What do we do now?"

Andy sighed. "We hope that Brian has it in him to beat Eric…"


Flash dodged another Leech Life as he sent a Thundershock straight at Golbat. The bat was fried, but not defeated. It zoomed down with both wings outstretched for the Wing Attack.

"Flash, Thunderbolt!" A column of lightning generated from the yellow mouse. The Golbat ran head first into the blast. The beyond-overcooked Golbat rocketed to the ground.

"Good job Flash. Celia would be proud of you right now." Flashed grinned.

"Charmeleon!" The red lizard appeared out of the noble's stone.

"Flash, do you want to continue?" He nodded.

"Charmeleon, use Ember!" Fireballs were sent toward Flash. But he reacted on command and used Quick Attack to dodge, ricochet off a tree trunk, and slam into Charmeleon. They both toppled over, Flash on top.

"Discharge!" A yellow sphere formed around Flash. It grew bigger and bigger until it exploded, instantly paralyzing Charmeleon and doing serious damage. But Flash was lying on the ground, apparently fainted.

"Flash! Oh no! I forgot Discharge takes off half the user's energy to use!" Brian was about to return Flash when a white blur appeared from the ground and knocked Charmeleon off its feet. The creature's right foreleg glowed brown, then slammed into Charmeleon's head. It did a mid-air 360 degrees spin before landing on the ground.

"CLAWS!" The Linoone turned around at Brian and gave him a thumbs up with his claws.

But the Charmeleon wasn't defeated yet. It slowly stood up and then got into a fighting stance. Claws did too.

"Slash!" the two trainers yelled at the same time. Claws dashed at Charmeleon and sliced at the lizard. But Charmeleon evaded the attack and landed a Slash on Claws' shoulder. He spun around but landed on his feet.

"Rock Smash him!" "Flamethrower!" Claws disobeyed Brian and dug underground just as red-hot flames flew over him.

"Darn that Linoone…", Brian said as Charmeleon scanned the area for Claws. But then a large tree leaned a bit too far and then fell down, right next to the Charmeleon.

Brian was confused. "Huh?" But then he saw Claws at the base of the tree then understood. He dug under the tree and then used Rock Smash to uproot it…

Claws disappeared back into his hole. The Charmeleon, stunned by the fact he almost got crushed, snapped back to his senses and ran to where Claws was last seen. But then another tree started falling, almost crushing Charmeleon again.

"Your Linoone is smart, Brian."

Claws uprooted more and more trees until the whole garden was a mess. But the Charmeleon couldn't keep up the constant dodging. It was getting tired. He dodged another tree by jumping over it. He landed in front of one of the larger trees.

"Claws, knock that one over!" The Charmeleon turned and saw the giant tree. He thought for a moment, then realized that Claws was going to uproot it onto him. The Charmeleon screamed, but then dropped to the ground when Claws surfaced behind him and bonked him on the head.

"Your Linoone seems to be more intelligent than you are, Brian." "Thanks…wait a minute… HEY!" "Well, now you will have your whole afterlife to think about the truth of that statement. Cloud Dragon, I call upon you!" The majestic demonic (kinda contradicting) dragon appeared. It screeched, making Brian flinch. Claws seemed to be taken back as well.

"Let's end this one quickly. Hyper Beam." The Altaria opened its beak and orange orbs of energy collected. But before it could completely charge, Claws kicked up sand at the Cloud Dragon's eyes. It lost sight temporarily, and blasted the beam in a random direction. That random direction happened to be the ground below it. After the attack cleared, a good-sized crater was all that was left.

"Claws, jump and use Slash!" "Black Shadow!" Dark energy flowed from the Altaria. The energy took the form of an orb that floated at the roof of the greenhouse. The whole area instantly turned to night. Despite the menacing darkness, Claws jumped up and Slashed Altaria's face, leaving a red scratch mark. The Cloud Dragon screeched in pain.

"Shadow Wing!" "Try to dodge!" The dark Altaria swooped down with both its flaming wings outstretched.


Christina was teaching Silver to herd Mareep. But the youthful Pokemon was scared of the Mareep. Compared to them, he was a really short midget. The Mareep knew this and didn't bother about him. Christina laughed when Silver tried jumping on a Mareep, but slid down its cushiony fur. Suddenly, all the Mareep scattered and ran back into the barn. Silver was badly frightened. Christina held him in her arms and looked off toward Rivet town. She could see the contrasting shadowy darkness in one part of the town.

She muttered softly, "Brian…"


"CLAWS! NO!" Brian ran to the badly injured Linoone. The Shadow Wing would have destroyed Claws completely if he didn't jump partly out of the way so that only his shoulder was hit. Claw's brown-striped white fur was stained with red because of the blood flowing from the shoulder wound. Brian solemnly returned Claws into his Pokeball, which disappeared into his Pokedex.

"Like I said before, your Pokemon do not stand a chance. And now you will pay the price for that mistake…with your life. Send out your last Pokemon!"

Brian took out his last remaining Pokeball and flung it. His very first Pokemon, Zeck, took the field.

"Come on Zeck! Let's do this for Claws, for Flash, for Celia, heck, even for Andy! For all the people in Rivet Town! Iron Tail!"

Zeck funneled energy into his tail, making it as strong as steel. He jumped in the air and slammed it at the Altaria with amazing speed and power. The Cloud Dragon stuttered back a little bit, but then flew at Zeck with the two Shadow Wings. Zeck nimbly dodged and slammed with Iron Tail again. The Altaria dropped toward the ground, but quickly regained balance and flew upward. It circled around back toward the Treecko.

"Quick Attack!" "Dragonbreath!" Green-colored flames burst out from the Altaria's mouth. They enveloped the grass and tree trunks, setting them on an eerie green-colored fire. Zeck rolled left to avoid the flames, then dashed straight at Altaria, the Quick Attack connecting. The Cloud Dragon flapped its wings to regain the balance it had lost. But it was hit by another Iron Tail. The Altaria was getting tired.

"Cloud Dragon, go use Hyper Beam!" The orange colored beam tore up the green-flaming garden. A fissure appeared where the Hyper Beam had struck. But Zeck had dodged again and sent a barrage of Bullet Seeds at the Cloud Dragon.

"Dragonbreath the area around the Treecko, then immediately use Shadow Wing!"

The Dragon opened its mouth to once again breath out the green silky flames. But this time, it set the ground around Zeck on fire. There was a ring of green fire around the Treecko. He couldn't escape. The fire was too intense and if Zeck jumped he would be in a vulnerable position to be attacked. But it didn't matter, since the Cloud Dragon was coming straight at him with the Shadow Wings powered up.

Brian screamed, "ZECK! GET OUT OF THERE!" But he couldn't. He was in a lose-lose situation. A death-trap. He knew with certainty that it was the end. But before the oncoming Dragon hit him, something intercepted it. A bolt of lightning struck the Altaria, sending it on a detour instead of hitting Zeck.

"Flash? Oh right, I forgot to return him!" Flash was panting heavily from the attack. Earlier, while using the Discharge, he had lost a lot of energy. That attack made him lose even more.

The Altaria turned and aimed a Shadow Wing at Flash. Zeck jumped out of the ring of fire but was too far away to intercept. But ironically, a pair of lightning bolts struck the Altaria.

"Plusle! Minun!" The two pika-look-a-likes waved at Brian. The Altaria was slightly paralyzed and was trying to regain movement. Flash limped over to the two positive and negative mice. He said something to them, but Brian couldn't understand. He saw Minun yell out in protest, but Plusle stopped him. Flash nodded. They both shot out blue electricity at Flash. That's the Helping Hand attack. It boosts attack power. Why would Flash tell Plusle and Minun to use it on him? Unless, he's trying to power up to …use one final attack!

"Flash! DON'T DO IT!" It was too late. Flash, with blue electricity flying out of him, jumped into the air. The yellow sphere already generated around him. The Cloud Dragon was directly in front of him. Then the Discharge exploded.


The whole greenhouse-- walls and all --collapsed. Everything was rubbletized. Brian was knocked off his feet. Zeck, Plusle, and Minun appeared fine. The Cloud Dragon was no where to be seen. Brian saw Eric. He was completely blackened by the attack. But Brian wasn't looking for him. He was looking for Flash. He searched and searched until he saw a spark of electricity fly up. Brian frantically scrambled there. He found Flash under a large portion of a tree trunk. Brian managed to slightly push it out of the way to grab Flash.

"Flash…Flash! Why? Why? You were so stupid! Celia would never have let you done that! Why?"

(Pokenese)

Plusle said to Zeck, "Wow, your trainer cares a lot for Pokemon, even other people's." "Yeah I know. That's what makes him a good person. He cares…"

But then out of the blue, the Cloud Dragon zoomed down from the sky and struck the spot where Plusle and Minun were. They would have been crushed by the Shadow Wing if Zeck hadn't grabbed them and jumped out of the way.

Zeck said to them, "Stay here, I'll take care of it!" He stared at the Dragon. It's eyes were a blackish red.

"AAHH!" Zeck flung himself at the Altaria, only to get knocked down violently by a Shadow Wing. He flew into the ground with quite some force.

"Zeck!" Zeck heard his trainer faintly calling. He saw the Cloud Dragon approach Brian from behind. It knocked Brian over with a Wing Attack. Plusle and Minun both used Thundershock to zap it.

Momentarily distracted, the Altaria flew up high.

Zeck saw Plusle and Minun come to him and help him up.

"Are you ok?" "I'll be fine…" An idea sparked in his head.

"Both of you, use Helping Hand on me!" They nodded, then sent blue thunder at the Treecko. Zeck stared up into the sky and saw the oncoming flaming demon bird.

Zeck flowed all the energy he had and all the Helping Hand energy into his mouth.

A makeshift solarbeam…

The energy charged. Swirls of blue and green collected in his mouth as the Altaria opened its mouth for Hyper Beam.

Come on…

The Altaria's mouth glowed a bright orange as Zeck's was a bright green.

Almost done…

The Altaria fired the Hyper Beam, straight at the trio. Zeck jolted the remaining energy from Helping Hand into his attack. The Solarbeam exploded out of his mouth. Zeck was flung back by the force of the attack. Plusle and Minun fainted from exhaustion from using Helping Hand too much.

The two beams collided in the center. The orange beam was apparently pushing the green one back.

The Hyper Beam is too strong… I won't be able to push it back. I have to think of another way to win…

The Cloud Dragon's attack forced the Solarbeam back and back.

The Black Shadow is still here! If I can destroy it, the momentary loss of power might distract it!

Zeck turned his head to point it at the floating black orb in the sky that was generating all the darkness. His Solarbeam quickly followed. But the Hyper Beam, now with nothing opposing it, flew straight at Zeck.

The green beam reached the orb and blew it to pieces. Almost instantaneously, the sky brightened. The Cloud Dragon stopped firing the Hyper Beam. Zeck immediately refocused the Solarbeam at the Altaria. With no time to charge for another Hyper Beam, Altaria was struck full force. It fell toward the ground.

In mid-air, the Cloud Dragon lost its shadowy features. The dark flaming wings returned to their cloudy fluffiness. The streams of black fire going back from its head became blue strands of hair. The blackish red in the eyes disappeared completely. The Altaria looked at Zeck, and muttered one word before crashing into the ground.

"Thanks…"

Zeck rushed to the Altaria. But the body slowly disintegrated into balls of white light. They formed together into a Pokeshard. The once black-filled crystal was now white with a hint of blue. Zeck gently took it in his hands. Then the toll of charging a Solarbeam at a low level was finally realized by Zeck's body. He toppled over in exhaustion.


Everyone was either dancing, singing, or screaming their lungs out in the streets of Rivet. The Shades' power had been broken. Jon, Camil, Plusle, Minun, and Celia were being held on people's shoulders as the "saviors of the town." Andy had politely refused and watched with amusement as someone's arm accidentally hit Celia's Pokedex and released Flash, who, on impulse, zapped Celia. Eric, although released from the grasps of darkness, was still untrusted by the people. So they locked him up in a rebuilt prison.

Brian was too busy fingering the Pokeshard that he found Zeck clutching when he fainted. It appeared to be the only remnant of the Cloud Dragon. He decided to hold on to it as a keepsake. But then someone came, snatched him, and threw him onto the arms of parading people. Celia, who was being carried by, waved.

Brian thought Well, today sure is going to be fun…especially finding a way off of this parade…


Well, the fight's ending was really dramatic. Sigh, I take so long to update.

Zeck: You sure do! You haven't worked on our fic in a whole week!

Kroc: Yeah!

Blaze: Whoa, cool it! I'm sure he has his reasons.

Zeck: You're telling US to cool it? Who's the fire-type around here?

Blaze: I'll set your tail on fire so YOU'LL be a fire-type too, K?

Zeck: Only after I introduce you to my Iron Tail!

Zeck and Blaze start beating the stuffing out of each other

Kroc: Sigh…