Chapter XXX: A Rocket Rumble
Awhile had passed ever since the group's encounter with Chaos and Majora's Mask. Exhausted, the trio took a rest for awhile. Sora was dreaming about when he was younger. The night was beautiful and calm. Sora looked out at the stars and they were beautiful. As a child, he was a big dreamer and he fantasized about what was beyond the stars in space. He wanted to travel to far off places with his childhood friend Riku, who was always there for him.
One night he snuck out of his house. A beautiful meteor shower descended from the sky. It's magnificence lightened up the dark sky and made the boy curious by it. Sora went off to the island by himself, without stopping to think. As he arrived on the island, he felt a chill coming down his spine from the cool breeze.
"That's the last time I come here without a jacket." Young Sora grumbled.
He sat on the beach and watched the shower from a close view. He never seen something that amazing before in his life. He then noticed something moving on the beach. Slowly getting up, he bravely walked towards the water. He wasn't afraid and was ready for anything. He then noticed something very strange. It was a lifeless body of a young girl. Her red hair blew in the wind as the boy approached her. He gasped in surprise as he saw the girl lying there.
He tried to budge her, but he couldn't. To his surprise, the girl was still breathing. Sora bent down to her and looked into her eyes. She slowly opened them to noticed the spiky haired boy looking at her. She tried to move towards the boy, struggling all the way. She felt num and was holding onto consciousness.
"Help." she whispered weakly.
Sora tried to grab her hand, but then a the blue water turned into a dark wave. It surround the boy from all corners. He tried to run, but was caught off by every corner. He then heard the manically laughing of a familiar person.
"You foolish boy!" Ansem laughed. "Do you really think you can save her? Do you think you can save everyone?"
"What do you want from me?" a frightened Sora asked.
He ran to the secret place to hide from the dark wave. He was completely petrified with fear as he ran and crawled through the hole. Inside, he ran to the brown door at the end and pressed his back against it. He was hyperventilating, tears were rushing down his face, he became too frightened to move. The wave of darkness slithered it's way into the area like a snake. The darkness then flew into the air and began to stock it's pray.
"What do I want?" Ansem said. "I want your heart!"
The darkness charged right at Sora with full speed. The boy screamed in fear as the darkness hit him right in the face. Finally, Sora awoke from his nightmare, gasping with fear. He slowly panted as he began to calm down from his nightmare. His heart was beating rapidly and he was sweating. He touched his face to see that he was okay. Sighing with relief, he sat back in his seat. He looked to see the others were still asleep.
Sora knew he lost his mind. He was thinking too much about Ansem and what awaited him. He then relaxed, knowing it wasn't time yet to face him. He still had a tournament to win and wasn't going to let some demented madman get the best of him. Tails's voice was then heard on the intercom.
"Ding dong!" shouted Tails. "Get up fellas!"
The others finally began to wake up. Luigi yawned and smacked his lips. He then looked over to see Sora.
"Hey, kid." Luigi said. "Glad to see you're awake. Sleep well?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." nodded Sora. He tried to remain calm after his incident. "How about you?"
"Eh, a little drowsy." Luigi responded. "It's not easy getting an hours worth of sleep after fighting water and a mask. I never even knew I could fight those type of things."
"Hey, we're approaching the Coliseum!" called Tails on the intercom. "You guys better get ready."
Sora and Luigi both nodded to each other, excited about the tournament. The group woke Toadsworth and Yoshi up and started to prepare. The trio stretched out for a bit, warming up before their first battle in the finally round. Luigi tried to bent over and touch his toes. As he did, he felt a pain in his back.
"Ooh, I think I pulled something." Luigi groaned.
Sora and Yoshi both helped Luigi back up and continued getting ready. The Toad Express landed right outside the way to the Coliseum. Sora stretched his arms out as he joined his two friends at the door. Toadsworth also walked over and joined the group.
"Masters, I shall be joining you as well." Toadsworth announced. "I want to get in on the sights of the Coliseum, the smell of the hotdogs, the roaring of the crowd..."
"Uh, sure." Sora said, stopping Toadsworth from going into detail. "We'll go together. It will be fun!"
Tails also decided to come along and watch the action as well. The five left the Toad Express and headed towards the tournament gates. As the group reached the gates they got stopped by officer Jenny.
"Hold it, folks!" she said, stopping the group. "You're team Sora, correct?" The group nodded. "Well, I can't let you in."
"How come?" Sora asked.
"Just look in the gate." Jenny said, gesturing Sora towards the gate.
Sora looked inside the gate and gasped at what he saw. A bunch of screaming fans were awaiting their arrival, holding signs over their heads. Luigi cleared his throat and tried to act proper.
"Well, this is a surprise." Luigi chuckled. "They must have all came here for me. They can't resist this stud muffin."
Sora rolled his eyes, "They're here for all three of us."
"Actually, they're all here for your dinosaur buddy." Jenny told the group. Sora and Luigi's mouths dropped wide open in shock. "What did you expect? He's young, cute, sort of like a team mascot and the kids love him."
Sora noticed the signs actually said "We love Yoshi and Go Yoshi." Yoshi blushed at the fans.
"So, they're all here for Yoshi?" Sora asked, a little disappointed.
"No, there are some fan girls here for you and Luigi's got a few fans too." Jenny said.
Luigi noticed his fans were only a few Pokemon holding a "Go Luigi" sign. Sora and Tails fell on the floor, laughing hysterically. Luigi got red in the face and put his hands his pocket.
"Man, just when I thought I could get away with being the popular one, I'm still in the shadows." Luigi grumbled. "It's like a curse that must happen to the younger siblings of Mario brothers."
"Aw, it not so bad." Yoshi said, comforting his friend. "Yoshi is Luigi's number one fan."
"Gee, thanks kid." Luigi blushed, smiling at Yoshi.
"But Yoshi way popular then Luigi." Yoshi sang mockingly.
Luigi grumbled again. Sora chuckled and turned to the officer.
"Hey, uh, do you think you can help us get into the stadium?" Sora asked. "Our match is beginning soon and we're going to be late for our very important date."
"Hey, you're a poet and you didn't even know it." Luigi said, realizing what Sora said.
"Sure, just follow me around back." Jenny said with a nod.
The officer led the five to the back of the stadium. In the back was a red door with a diamond glass window on top of it. Jenny opened the door and let them all the way through a garbage area. The group noticed trash bins all around the area. The smell was simply hideous as the group walked passed it. It smelled like old gym socks, rotten eggs, and other old and smelly items. Sora also noticed recycling bins in the room. He figured this must be the storage for the garbage that's picked up from the game.
"Smelly sausages!" cried Luigi. "This smells worse then my Nona's twenty day old meat sauce."
"Twenty days?" Sora asked, disgusted. "Who keeps food around for twenty days?"
"My Nona used to forget about cleaning out her refrigerator." Luigi responded.
Sora shuttered at the thought and continued walking. The group finally exited the room and arrived in the lobby. As the door closed, one of the trash cans began moving around the area. It hopped around the room, trying to find it's way somewhere. It continued hopping around and hit a wall. The trash can fell over and Team Rocket fell out of it. The three were covered in garbage and laid dazed and smelly. Meowth stood up and brushed himself off.
"Okay, who is da bozo for coming up with dis idea?" Meowth yelled angrily. "Now I have to clean myself off because of you."
"And my hair is a mess too." Jesses whined. She then turned to James. "This is all your fault! I told you we should have attacked them from above. Now we have to defeat those brats the non cheating way."
"It wasn't my fault." an innocent James claimed. "Have I ever steered you in the wrong path before?"
"Let me see," thought Jessie. "The number of manholes we fell through was mostly from you, the time you had to buy so many Fourth of July firecrackers, which then blew up because you lit the match too earlier."
Meowth went on, "Or when you took a nap in da submarine and caused it to crash into an under water mountain. The time you had to have a party on the hot air balloon and you caused it to sink into the ocean."
"Oh, please, don't go on!" James cried in his high pitched voice. "I can't stand to hear about past failures anymore!"
"Well, stop acting stupid!" Jessie snapped. "We have work to do. You heard what the boss said."
"What did he say?" asked a confused James.
Meowth scratched James across his face, causing him to scream like girl.
"You really are clueless, aren't you?" Meowth snapped at James. "We got to make sure those three are out of da picture. It's going to be curtains for them. Da boss wants to make it to the Gold Match to take care of a personal matter. If we pull this off I'll be top cat again and you two will be loaded with money." He then began to fantasized himself on Giovanni's lap. He could already feel the gentle strokes of his boss, petting his head. Meowth would look at him with widen eyes and smile. He would then snicker at his evolved form and laugh. Jessie then grabbed Meowth's cheek and squeezed it. The cat felt the pain and hissed at the young woman. "Hey, what's da big idea?"
"Stop your daydreaming!" Jessie snapped at the cat.
"Hurry up!" shouted James. "We got to get rich quick and standing here won't help!"
"Luckily the boss was able to hack into the tournament system and add us in." Jessie said. "So now we have a shot at winning. Let's go!"
Jessie left and James followed. The purpled haired man went through his pocket and pulled out his golden pokeball. He was still having memory lapses as he couldn't figure out something very familiar with the Magikarp. He didn't know what to think at the moment. Shrugging it aside, he left with Jessie. Meowth began to leave, but he felt funny. It felt like someone was behind him and breathing down his neck. Meowth felt a bit nervous and quickly turned around. There was nobody, nothing, zilch, nada.
Meowth sighed with relaxation in his voice, knowing there was nothing there. The Pokemon left the room to catch up with his associates. Unknown to him that in fact he was being followed. It wasn't a heartless. It was a very cute, kitten like Pokemon. It had white skin, big blue oval eyes, small ears, a long tail, and rabbit like feat. It titled it's head with curiousness and floated out of the room.
Officer Jenny finally got the group to the gates of the Coliseum. Professor Oak, Ash, and Pikachu were waiting for their arrival. Pikachu excitedly ran up to Sora and jumped into his arms, licking his face.
"Hey, Pikachu!" Sora laughed. "Cut it out! It's nice to see you again!"
"Pika!" Pikachu cried happily. "Pikachu!"
"Hey, Sora, Luigi, Yoshi." Ash said, greeting the trio. "Glad you're here. We thought you'd never show."
"Who us?" Sora chuckled. "We'd never back down from a challenge...except for Luigi."
"No way!" smirked Luigi. "I'm cool! I'm ready for anything! Bring them on!"
"Okay, the first guy you're facing is five hundred feet tall." Ash joked to Luigi. "His sword is about a hundred feet long and he'll pound you in seconds flat."
Luigi's eyes widened in fear and he began sweating nervously, "Um, I think I hear someone calling me."
"Luigi!" called Yoshi.
Sora chuckled and smiled, "Well, you don't need to go very far, do you Mr. Cool?"
"Hey, I could have sworn someone was calling me." Luigi said, trying to get out of fighting.
"I was kidding." Ash laughed. "Man, I can't believe you fell for that."
Luigi then laughed without enthusiasm, "Uh, I knew that. I was just playing with you."
"Sure you were." Tails said, rolling his eyes.
Pikachu fell on the floor laughing. Everyone started laughing as well. They didn't know why there were laughing now. Sora felt good with all the laughter in him. He felt like life wasn't complex and dark for the moment. He knew he deserved a good friendly competition now. Professor Oak walked over to Sora's group and smiled.
"You three have come a long way indeed." Oak smiled. "I'm very proud of you." He then chuckled. "Goodness, I feel like a football coach. You three are going to go out there and do your best."
"Do our best?" Sora gasped in surprise. "We're not going to do our best! We're going to win this thing!"
"That's the spirit, kid!" Luigi cheered.
"We're going to head out into the arena and sit in our reserved seats." Ash told the group. "The Professor had it set up for us." He then turned to Toadsworth and Tails. "And you're friends of his, right?" The two nod. "Then follow me and Pikachu. You can sit with us."
"Thank you, young man." Toadsworth said with a smile.
Tails and Toadsworth said good-bye wishing the trio luck and left with the boy and his Pokemon. Oak turned to the group again with a nervousness in his eyes.
"Be really careful." Oak said with caution. "A bunch of Team Rocket members have hacked into the system."
"Team Rocket?" Luigi asked in surprise. "You mean we have to deal with those three dumbbells?"
"Man, they act like they've watched an episode of Power Rangers with the poses and battle cries." Sora groaned. He then made a confident look "But we can deal with them."
"Good." Oak nodded. "And Giovanni is here as well."
"Yeah, we have a score to settle with him." an angry Sora said. "I can never forgive him for tricking us like that."
"Then this could be our chance." Luigi told Sora.
The group then heard the loudspeakers go off, "Would team Sora please report to the arena for their match?"
Sora nodded to his group and they nodded back. Oak smiled as he knew that the trio would be the ones to win it all. The trio were about to leave when Officer Jenny stop them.
"Also, the Coliseum hasn't been safe lately." Jenny pointed out.
"You think?" Luigi groaned sarcastically. "With all those fans out there..."
"No," Jenny interrupted. "The nurse from the Pokemon Center has disappeared mysteriously. I don't know why though. If you come across her please contact your local authorities."
"Yes, ma'am." Sora nodded.
Jenny saluted the trio and left to head outside. Sora walked over to a poster that said missing and saw a picture of a young nurse with long pink hair and blue eyes. Sora kept the picture in mind and hoped that wherever the nurse was she was safe. The trio headed into the arena, ready for their first match. They entered the arena to see screaming fans from all corners of the room. The trio arrived in the middle of the area and got ready.
The heartless appeared from the other end of the field and walked on. The flag man waved his flags and the match began. Sora slashed his way through heartless that he encountered from all worlds. The first few seeds they faced featured heartless they faced from mostly Isle Delfino to Planet Zebes. Sora used Sonic Blade to plow through the swarms of heartless while Luigi used gravity to knock them down. Yoshi ate some and spat them out at others.
A few soldiers spun their bodies at Sora, but he put his keyblade up and blocked the attacks. Gripping the handle tightly, he spun his body around and slashed them aside. Luigi used Aero to protect himself from the magic attacks of the Blue, Red, and Yellow space pirates. He then used his final gravity spell to bring down the heartless. Yoshi ate some and turned them into eggs. Sora grabbed the eggs and threw them at others.
The group continued to gain victories from their opponents as they battled through. Finally, they gasped excitedly upon seeing who their next opponent was.
"Hey, Yuffie!" Luigi called.
"Hey, fellas." Yuffie said, greeting the trio. "Glad to see you again. I guess you're my next challengers."
"Isn't Leon with you?" Sora asked.
Yuffie crossed her arms and frowned, "No!" She then complained. "I can't believe he did this to me! Of all the nerve! What dose Cloud got that I ain't got?"
"'Ain't' isn't a word." Luigi corrected.
"You know what I mean!" snarled Yuffie. "He had to change partners! The nerve of that Squall Lionheart!"
"YUFFIE, IT'S LEON!" called an angry voice.
The trio turned to see Leon and Cloud in the audience. Leon was upset and had his arms crossed. Sora gasped at seeing him.
"How did he hear that?" a shocked Sora asked.
"I have no clue." Yuffie said, shaking her head. Smiling, she turned back to the trio. "It doesn't matter because I can still beat you three."
Luigi stepped forward with bravery, "Yuffie, this time I want to take you on by myself."
"What?" Sora said in surprise.
"Hey, you did it with Pikachu!" Luigi pointed out. "It's only fair. It's just that I want to prove I'm a strong fighter. Not just use magic. Last time, Yuffie was tough. I only beat her because Yoshi helped me. But, I want to prove to myself I truly am strong."
Sora thought he could see fire in Luigi's eyes. He never thought he would see Luigi act serious for once and really wanted to fight. He has been a coward, a chicken, and anything else that could have been thought as scared, but growth was beginning to develop for the plumber. Sora nodded to Yoshi who nodded back.
"Okay, Luigi," Sora complied. "Go get her."
"Thanks." Luigi said softly back.
Sora and Yoshi headed for the bench seats and sat down. Toadsworth, who was right above him looked down at the boy in confusion.
"What's Master Luigi doing?" Toadsworth asked.
"He's out to prove himself." Sora said, smiling at Toadsworth.
"Go Luigi!" cheered Yoshi.
Yuffie giggled and got into a fighter stance, "So, you think you can defeat the great ninja Yuffie?"
"Think? Oh, I know I can beat you kid." Luigi smirked.
Luigi felt very confident as he took the P3000 off and got into a fighters stance. The audience roared into cheers, especially the Pokemon fans who were holding signs up saying "Go Luigi Go!" The two fighters felt nervous as they stared each other down. The room began quite and calm. Luigi could hear the wind blow through the room and he tensed up. Yuffie took out a ninja star and got ready. She was very excited and nervous like Luigi.
The flag man waved his flag and Yuffie threw her stars at Luigi. Luigi did a back flip over the star and stood on his hands. The stars were still coming at him, but he grabbed them by clapping his heels together. He moved his legs back like a rubber band and then pushed them back forward, releasing the stars.
"What the-?" Yuffie gasped in shock.
Yuffie dodged the attack and ran at Luigi. She threw a punch, but he blocked it. She tried to kick his face, but he quickly moved it back. He then punched back, but she blocked it. They then got into a melee combat, punching and blocking their attacks. Luigi jumped into the air and tried a round house kick. Yuffie back flipped, dodging the attack. As she got back up Luigi quickly jumped up and did a second kick, knocking her back.
Yuffie quickly got to her feet, double kicking Luigi in the stomach. Luigi did a one handstand and jumped back at the ninja. He kicked at her, but she ducked under the attack. Yuffie jumped up and threw flying kicks at Luigi who blocked the attacks with his arms. Luigi rolled behind her and rammed her into a wall. She quickly got back up and threw more stars.
Luigi bent his back and swung his arms around to keep his balance. He continued to bend his back until he fell over. Yuffie snapped her finger in disappointment. Sora just rolled his eyes.
"Man, I wonder how many times he had to watch the Matrix to get that move down?" Sora said to himself.
Luigi quickly got back up and shot fireballs at Yuffie. The ninja threw stars at each fireball and knocked them off course. The two charged at each other again. Luigi threw a punch and Yuffie grabbed his fist. She then threw him over her and threw him onto the ground. Luigi got back up and kicked again, causing the ninja to dodge it. She smacked Luigi aside into a wall. The plumber quickly kicked against the wall and flew back, trying to kick her.
"Got to be faster then that gramps!" chuckled Yuffie.
She side stepped his attack and hit him in the back. Luigi fell over and slid across the floor on his stomach. Yuffie then gave him an uppercut to the jaw, sending him flying into the air.
"Toasty!" Sora sang in a high pitched voice. He then noticed Yoshi looking at him funny. "Sorry, always wanted to do that."
Luigi fell backwards and groaned. He felt weak from the ninja's assault and couldn't go on. As he stood up, Yuffie threw four stars which stabbed into pieces of Luigi's shirt. It sent him flying into a wall and the blade of the stars stuck to the wall. Luigi was stuck with stars all around him. Yuffie fired more at him and the plumber quickly ducked his head. A sense of defeat came over Luigi's faces as Yuffie approached him. Yoshi noticed this and stood up.
"Luigi no give up!" Yoshi cried. "Luigi can do it! Luigi just need to believe in self! If Luigi can find the true strength within, he can do it! Do it for Sora! Do it for Professor, Toadsworth, Ash, and Pikachu!" He then smiled. "Do it for Yoshi, Mama Luigi."
Hearing that gave Luigi the drive to fight again. He knew in his heart he truly was a strong person and deep down he wasn't afraid. Luigi struggled and broke off the stars. He took out a feather from his pocket. Sora recognized the feather from the storybook. The same one Baby Mario used. Yuffie started laughing upon seeing this.
"Okay, now you're-a-going down, ninja girl!" Luigi shouted.
"You're kidding me?" laughed Yuffie. "A feather? On, no! I'm so scared! Are you going to tickle me to win?"
Luigi smirked, "I wouldn't laugh if I were you."
Luigi held the feather into the air. A beautiful golden aurora surrounded him and the audience looked on in aw. The feather began to display various colors and it's energy warped around him. He flashed and a yellow cape appeared around his back. Yuffie was in shock. She never seen an everyday feather do that. Luigi ran at Yuffie again. She tried to throw her stars, but Luigi spun his body around which caused his cape to knock the stars back.
"That can't be!" Yuffie exclaimed with widen eyes.
Luigi jumped into the air and flew right at Yuffie. He rammed his head into her stomach and sent her flying. He quickly flew past her and spun his body around. His cape smacked Yuffie into the air, causing a juggle strike. As she came back down, Luigi's hands began to glow a fire green. He could feel the energy move from his body into his hands. He then jumped up and gave a hard fire punch at Yuffie. She went flying into the air, screaming all the way. Everyone looked up with their mouths widened.
Luigi flew into the air and went past Yuffie and was so far up in the sky he thought he was in space. He then took his off cape and held it with both hands.
"Finish her!" Sora called out.
Luigi flew straight down at Yuffie like a rocket ship crashing towards earth. Yuffie looked up and gasped in horror to see Luigi coming at her. Right there she knew she had lost the fight. Luigi rammed his head into her stomach and the two crashed into the ground, causing ruble to fly everywhere. Everyone covered their eyes from the dust and particles. Luigi jumped out from the dust and put his cape away.
The dust finally cleared revealing a worn out Yuffie, who had dirt stains on her and bruise marks. She weakly fell over and couldn't go on. The flag man held up his flag.
"Yuffie is unable to battle!" the man announced. "Team Sora wins!"
The audience cheered and roared. Sora ran over to Luigi and picked his arm up. Yoshi also grabbed on to Luigi's arm.
"The winner and champion of the world!" Sora cheered.
"Aw, thanks." Luigi blushed.
Yoshi then licked Luigi's face which caused him to chuckle. He really did it. For once he didn't mess up. He wished that his brother could have saw it. But Luigi knew he was there in spirit. Sora used his cure magic to heal Yuffie's wounds. She then shook Luigi's hand.
"Wow, that was impressive." Yuffie said, congratulating Luigi. "You beat me fair and square. Man, I misjudged you. You're a good fighter. Just do me one favor."
"What's that?"
"Now that you beat me, don't lose this competition." Yuffie said. "Because the guy who beat me never loses." She then walked off and gave the group a thumbs up. "One day I will get a rematch."
She then walked out of the arena. Sora smiled and turned to Luigi.
"Luigi, you were amazing." Sora told Luigi, proud of his friend. "Underneath that oafish, cowardly man is a real warrior."
"Yeah!" Luigi said, flexing his muscles. "I am macho!"
"Nacho?" Yoshi asked, licking his lips. "Yoshi love to eat a nacho!"
Sora started laughing while Luigi groaned.
"Macho, not nacho!" Luigi corrected.
"Oh," Yoshi said in realization. "Can Yoshi still have a nacho anyway?"
Luigi sighed and left the arena. The two followed him and took a ten minute break. The group did what they could to got ready. They got a drink and stretched out again. During the time they were heading towards the arena, Sora could have sworn there was something following him. The boy quickly turned around and saw nothing. Shrugging his shoulders, he left to meet up with his friends. The strange cat creature appeared again and giggled to itself.
Sora and his friends arrived back and entered another round of heartless bashing. The group began to remember all of the worlds they've visited as the heartless types reminded them. They battled their way through seed after seed of heartless. Sora put his heart into every attack, slashing the heartless as he went. He needed to push himself past his limits in order to become stronger for everyone's sake. Luigi and Yoshi also battled their hardest, using magic and fierce attacks at their disposal. They battled their way through a few more seeds, slashing heartless after heartless.
The trio felt much stronger, but began to get tired from all the fighting. Sora's group also encountered another old friend, Behemoth. The group ran at the giant monster and used the same strategy like last time. Luigi used his gravity to hit the horn and Sora jumped up and attacked it. Behemoth tried to use his thunder spell, but the group dodged the attack. Sora and Luigi used combined gravity magic and caused tons of damage. The monster screamed from the intense pain it was receiving. Yoshi fired eggs at the monster, but it used it's horn to break it. The beast jumped over the trio's heads and tried to slam down on them, but they quickly dodged it. The trio could feel the impact from the heartless' landing, causing a tough vibration.
The trio quickly ran on Behemoth's back while he was still bent over. Sora slashed at the monster and Luigi used more gravity. They continued their strategy until the monster couldn't continue fighting. It fell down and roared in pain from the damage. A heart flew out of it and it disappeared from the group's site.
"Victory goes to Team Sora!" the man announced.
Luigi began to do a football victory dance. Sora and Yoshi watched as their friend danced like a dancing fool. He even did the moonwalk which cause the audience to cheer even more. Sora rolled his eyes and the trio walked over to their friends. Pikachu was holding two small fans with red circles printed on them and wearing a white headband. He began cheering for them like a cheerleader.
"Pika, Pika, Pi!" Pikachu cheered. "Pikachu!"
Ash chuckled at his pokemon, "Oh, Pikachu." He then turned to Sora. "Wow! No wonder I lost! You guys are great!"
"You're doing well masters." a pleased Toadsworth said. "I remember when I was your age. I used to be a champion boxer."
"You...you were?" Sora blinked in confusion.
"Oh, yes," Toadsworth nodded. "Toadsworth the terrible they called me." He then stood up. "I may have a little energy left in me." He then threw a few punches, but he then bent over. "Ow! My spine!"
"Toadsworth, you're a senor citizen." Sora pointed out. "You're too old for that kind of stuff."
"Indeed, Master Sora." groaned Toadsworth. "I think I'll sit back down now."
Sora's group prepared for their next match. They walked back to the middle of the area and got their weapons ready. For a few moments, it seems the other team didn't enter the ring. Sora's group thought they would win by default when all of a sudden the area in front of them exploded. Everyone screamed and Sora's group shielded their eyes from the dust. The trio began coughing from the particles coming at them.
The trio then heard three very familiar laughs coming from the dust. Ash knew right away who it was.
"Not again!" Ash groaned.
"Pika." sighed Pikachu.
"Prepare for trouble..." Jessie said.
"Make it double..." James said.
The smoke cleared to reveal Team Rocket. James was holding a red rose in his hand.
"To protect the world from devastation..."
"To untie all peoples with in our nation..."
Before they could continue, Team Rocket could hear snoring sounds. They gasped in surprise to see that the entire stadium had fell asleep. Everyone including Sora, Luigi, and Yoshi. Team Rocket got red in the face with anger.
"How dare they do that to us?" Jessie shouted, offended. "No one sleeps through the Team Rocket motto and gets away with it."
"Those twerps can laugh at us, throw us around, send us flying into space, but when you ignore the motto, you've gone too far!" growled James. "They are going to pay!"
"Wake up!" Meowth shouted, scratching at Sora.
Meowth's nail marks appeared on Sora and the boy felt the sharp pain from the nails. Sora screamed in pain which caused everyone to wake up. He covered his face from the pain.
"Ah!" screamed Sora. "You stupid feline! What the heck?"
"Dat is what you get for sleeping through the motto." hissed Meowth.
"Well, I think you guys are unoriginal." Luigi said, complementing the motto. "Why not make it short and sweat? How about 'Star light star bright, we are Team Rocket so prepare to fight!'"
James clapped his hands with glee and talked in his high-pitched voice, "Ooh, it sounds cool."
Jessie then bonked James on the head.
"You idiot!" Jessie snapped. "We stick to our motto and never change..."
"Listen, just finish your motto so we can fight." an impatience Sora groaned.
"Very well," Jessie said, clearing her throat. "To denounce the evils of truth and love..."
"To extend our reach to the stars above..."
"Jesse..."
"James..."
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light..."
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" James finished
"Meowth, that's right!" Meowth added.
"So, what brings you three losers back here?" Luigi asked. "Here for another defeat?"
"Not this time you tall mustached man." James said.
"Such a good insult." Luigi said sarcastically.
"Listen, that's non of your concern." Jessie snapped. "We're following our boss' orders!"
"Well, when we're done with you three your boss will be next!" Sora declared.
James then pulled a Pokeball out of his belt. Unfortunately, he grabbed the golden one by mistake.
"You think so?" James laughed. "You'll never defeat our Pokemon! Go Weezing!"
James threw the Pokeball into the air and it popped out the Pokemon. Sora saw the Magikarp appear before him and began flopping on the floor. Jessie and Meowth smacked their foreheads, realizing James screwed up. Sora gently tapped the fish with his keyblade and it continued flopping on the floor. The trio started laughing and even the audience started laughing. Team Rocket blushed in embarrassment. Jessie grabbed James and shook him.
"I told you to get rid of that Pokemon!" Jessie screamed at James. "What kind of moron would hold onto a Magikarp?"
Sora stood up from laughing so hard and was ready to easily defeat the fish. All of a sudden, the fish began glowing a white color. Sora was confused as to what was happening. He turned to the professor who also made a nervous look.
"What's happening?" Sora asked the Professor.
"I was afraid of this." Oak said nervously. "That Magikarp is evolving! You see, when Pokemon reach a certain level they change into a more powerful form!"
"I fear what the result is." Luigi gulped.
The Magikarp got engulfed in a bright light and it's body began to change forms. It's body became longer like a snake like creature. It rose over everyone which caused a shadow. Sora's mouth dropped as the creature revealed itself to be a dragon like snake. Like a fish, he had a fin tail at the end. His body was a sparkly red color and had a fish like face. Team Rocket couldn't believe it. Magikarp wasn't worthless after all. Jessie and Meowth noticed James giving a "I showed you all look."
"See?" James laughed with glee. "I am smart! Bow before me!"
Jessie and Meowth bowed for James and kissed his feet. He laughed again with pride in his eyes. For once, he got respect from his group. Sora took his keyblade out and got ready to face the creature.
"What that?" Yoshi whimpered.
"That's a Gyarados!" Ash called out. "But that's not a normal one. There are rare ones that are sparkly red and much more powerful. Be very careful!"
"Don't worry!" Sora reassured Ash. "We'll beat him! Right, guys?"
He then turned to notice Luigi was sneaking out of the arena. Sora rolled his eyes, having second a thought about Luigi having any growth. Sora turned to Yoshi and told him to get him. Yoshi ran off and used his tongue to grab Luigi. He ran back to the middle of the arena, with Luigi grumbling all the way. The trio finally got ready to fight the giant beast.
"Get those twerps!" James commanded his Pokemon.
The Gyarados turned around and roared at Team Rocket and knocked them down. The Pokemon had no control. Sora feared it might go on a rampage so they had to stop it. The trio ran at the Gyarados with full power. It noticed the trio and quickly slapped them with his tail. The attack knocked them into a wall. Sora got to his feet and ran at the Gyarados. Luigi and Yoshi followed close behind, ready to expect the worse.
The Pokemon shot a fireball at the group, but Sora and Luigi used their ice spells to collide with the attack. The two struggled with the giant fire ball and were able to push it back. It fired more fireballs at the group and they quickly ran away from the attack. The trio jumped over the attack of another fireball and ducked under another. Luigi used his amazing jumping ability to reach its head, but it bit Luigi's hand, causing him to scream in pain.
"Ow!" shouted Luigi.
Gyarados spun its tail and created water tornados and sent them at the group. It hit them and sent them spinning into the air. The trio fell down fast from being sent so high in the sky. Yoshi tried some eggs, but Gyarados ate them. Sora quickly threw his keyblade at the monster, but it grabbed it with his mouth and spat it onto the ground. Sora quickly ran for his keyblade, but the Pokemon put its tail out, blocking his way.
It shot another fireball out which landed past Sora. He was confused as to why the attack missed that easily. He gasped in surprise as flames ignited from the ground and surrounded him. The giant firewall was so high that he couldn't even reach for a way out.
"Wasn't expecting that." Sora said. He then called to his friends. "Guys, help!"
Yoshi ran at the fire wall and tried to go through it, but Luigi grabbed his tail and stopped him.
"Hold up! You're not immune to fire!" Luigi said, scolding Yoshi. "Haven't I always taught you the importance of fire safety?" A flame from the fire landed on Luigi's hat and his hat bursted into flames. Luigi was still scolding Yoshi.
The dinosaurs eyes widened in fear, "Um, Luigi..."
"Don't interrupt!" snapped Luigi. "You got to leave fire fighting to professionals."
"But Luigi..."
"No, buts." Luigi said. "You always need to take safety precautions when dealing with fire!"
"Luigi!" Yoshi cried.
"What?"
"Your hat is on fire." Sora called out.
Luigi looked up to notice and then looked back down, "Now when ever your hat is on fire you should..." He then gave a double look back at the fire and panicked. "Freaky fettuccine! My hat's on fire! My hat's on fire!"
Yoshi quickly took the hat off and stepped on, putting out the flames. Luigi quickly used F.L.U.D.D to put out the fire around Sora out. The boy ran over to his group as fast as he could. He turned around to see the Pokemon looking down at him. Sora remembered that he could call the keyblade from anywhere. Sora focused his energy and called the keyblade into his hand. Luigi got angry at Gyarados and ran at him without a hat on.
Sora and Yoshi followed again. It fired more fireballs at our heros, but Sora deflected the attacks with his keyblade. One attack hit Gyarados in the face, causing it to scream in pain and fall over. The group took this chance to strike it with everything they've got. James began panicking from seeing his Pokemon get beaten.
"No you don't!" James cried, taking out a Pokeball. "Go Victreebel!"
Victreebel appeared out of the Pokeball and turned around, putting it's mouth on James' head. James screamed in his high pitched voice and Jessie and Meowth rolled their eyes. Gyarados roared at the trio which was ear shattering. It was like a nail scratching a chalkboard. The trio jumped back from the Pokemon and it stood up. It began to take an giant breath in. Sora could tell it was up to something.
Energy began to charge up in its mouth as it took a real deep breath. Sora gasped as the monster released a giant beam, which flew right at them. The trio quickly dodged the attack just in time. The beam caused a massive explosion with a giant light that brightened the area. The lights dimmed from the explosion and the group stood up and looked up to see Gyarados was flying in the air.
"I think we're in trouble!" gulped Luigi. "How can it even fly?"
"Why that's easy," James said proudly. "It's because...um...um..."
"This type of Gyarados as an ability called fly." Professor Oak interrupted. "He can now fly in the air, so watch out."
"It's not hopeless!" Ash called. "Gyarados can be weaken by thunder since it's a water and flying type!"
"Now where we going to find someone with thunder attack?" Yoshi wondered. He then noticed Sora and Luigi narrowing their eyes at him. "Oh, yeah!"
Gyarados flew at the trio, ready to attack them. Sora and Luigi used their thunder spells and zapped Gyarados. It felt so much shock in its body from double the damage of the two. Gyarados fell down and the group attacked it again. Sora slashed it, Luigi shot more magic at it, and Yoshi kicked it. The group were unimpressed with their opponent. He was too easy even after evolving. The Pokemon was not properly trained and it just threw its attacks at random times.
"He's losing!" James whined. "We're going to lose!"
Meowth then took out a remote control, "Not yet we're not! One push of the button and those three will be sent flying out of the ring!"
"Then press the button, quick!" Jessie shouted.
Sora used Ragnarok on Gyarados and rapidly slashed the beast. He then knocked it back with a powerful strike. Gyarados flew right into Team Rocket and knocked them down with its great weight. The impact cause the remote to fly right out of Meowth's hand and land on the ground. The Gyarados got up again and charged at the group. It was unaware that it was dragging Team Rocket along for the ride.
"Dis wasn't my idea of a slip and slide!" Meowth cried.
"Why are we always on the end of things?" Jessie whined.
"That's our careers!" James said in his high pitched voice. "At the end of things!"
Sora and Luigi got ready for the Pokemon's assault again. Yoshi curiously walked up to the remote Meowth dropped and looked at it. He then noticed a shiny red button on it. He tried to resist the urge to press it, but something was telling him it was the right thing. Finally, he got excited and pressed the button. As the Gyarados approached the middle of the arena an explosion occurred from the bomb that was underneath the arena.
Everyone looked up to see Team Rocket along with the Gyarados flying away into space. Ash laughed at seeing this.
"Ah, I can never get enough of Team Rocket blasting off." Ash laughed. "Right, Pikachu?"
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded in agreement.
Team Rocket were high in the sky and Jessie grabbed James.
"This is all your fault!" Jessie screamed at her partner. "If you haven't been stupid, then this whole thing wouldn't have happened!"
James just started crying, "I want my mommy!"
"Relax, you two." Meowth said, trying to cheer his human friends up. "Look at the bright side; at least we get a bigger part in the sequel!"
"Shut up, Meowth!" the two humans shouted at their Pokemon.
They then noticed Gyarados roaring at them and they screamed off into the distance.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Team Rocket shouted together as the flew off into the distance.
The flag man held up his flag and announced, "Team Rocket are outside of the arena meaning they have officially forfeited. Team Sora wins the round!"
Sora picked up Yoshi and put him into the air. Yoshi waved as the fans went wild. Ash and the others also hooted it out with cheers and yells. Meanwhile, outside of the arena Cloud and Leon were standing around, listing to the victory. Leon leaned against the wall and smiled.
"That kid impresses me every time." said Leon to Cloud. "He's truly developed his powers quite fast. I'm looking forward to another bout with him." He then looked at Cloud. He noticed a disturbance in his eyes. He could tell that the reason Cloud entered the tournament was still bugging him. "Listen, I can't guarantee will win. I know how much you want to..."
"We must win." Cloud whispered. "It's a nightmare that can't escape my mind. I must complete this task, for if I don't it will haunt me." He then turned to Leon. "Don't get me wrong. Sora's a nice kid and all, but I can't let him get involved."
"You're doing this for his sake too?" Leon asked quietly. Cloud nodded. "I see. I should warn you that Sora is not one to back down from a challenge so easily."
Cloud chuckled lightly, "I know. But I have trained for this moment. I have practice for days and nights. I am ready to face him again."
"Would Team Squall please report for their next match?" The PTA announced.
"What?" Leon said, baffled. "Team Squall?" He then smacked his forehead. "One of these days you will pay Yuffie."
Cloud chuckled lightly at the comment and left for the arena. Leon followed as well. Sora and his friends battled their way through more rounds of heartless, meeting more old friends from Hyrule to Hallow Bastion. They plowed their way through seed after seed. Sora's determination and leadership skills kept pushing them on. They battled through army after army of heartless, pushing themselves beyond their normal levels.
Another old friend made a return appearance, the Opposite Armor. However, it was the same as last time. The armor spun its body around at the group who dodged the attack. It continued to spin its hands like a giant circular saw. Sora bent his back to dodge the attack. Yoshi tried to eat one of the hands, but it knocked him aside. Luigi used the P3000 to suck it in. The feet then came along and smacked him aside.
The hands circled around Sora and tried to smack them together. Sora jumped over the attack and put each one of his big feet on each hand. The hands flew back towards the armor who was unaware about Sora. Upon arrival, Sora slashed at the chest, knocking the entire armor over. The group attacked the chest, but it quickly knocked them back with its hands. The trio got back to their feet and ran at the armor again.
It fired energy beams at them, but Sora deflected the attacks. It spun its hands around again and Sora struck it with his keyblade, causing the hands to fall down. Yoshi ate the hands and turned them into eggs. Sora jumped on top of the eggs and squashed them.
"Brings back memories, huh?" chuckled Sora.
"Sure does." Yoshi nodded in agreement.
Luigi used his stop spell to freeze the armor in its place. This gave Sora the chance to strike its feet with hard blows. When the time on the stop spell expired, the feet exploded indicating they were destroyed. The armor got mad and flew right at our heros. They quickly jumped for it and got onto the armor's back. The armor began to shake the trio around as if they were riding a bull. Luigi's face turned dark green from the shaking. He could feel his stomach churning.
"I don't feel so good." Luigi moaned sickly.
Sora quickly stabbed the armor in the back which caused it to roar in pain. It finally threw the group off and fired another beam at them. The blast hit them and sent them flying onto the ground. The group were weak from all the fighting, but Sora quickly used his cure magic to revive the group. The armor fired more attacks and the group ducked and jumped over the blasts. Sora picked up Yoshi and threw him at the armor. The armor was caught off guard by this.
Yoshi used his pound ground attack and crashed into the armor. Sora then threw his keyblade at it to double the pain. The group then attacked the armor head on and finally finished it off. The armor got dents and scratches all over it from their assault. It got engulfed my a magnificent light and vanished completely. The trio cheered for another victory. They were getting good at this.
Sora's group competed in a few more rounds, battling against more heartless. They got stronger from every battle they've faced. It even began to get easy for them. But who there next opponents were made them jump in surprise. Leon entered the arena and he was not alone. Cloud was with him.
"W-we have to face both of them?" Luigi stuttered in fear. He was about to faint when Yoshi caught him. "Oh, I can't go on."
"Relax, Luigi." Yoshi said. "Luigi just big worry wart."
"I am not a worry wart!" Luigi said angrily to Yoshi.
Sora walked over to Leon and shook his hand, "Well, I guess you weren't kidding when you said you would team up with Cloud."
"He's an old friend." Leon explained. "Plus, I wanted to fight you one more time." A tone of sorrow and sadness came before him. "This may be the last chance we get to fight, Sora. You've been a true warrior. You've become stronger then ever before. We shall return to Hallow Bastion in piece knowing that."
"So, I guess you came from Hallow Bastion too." Sora figured, looking at Cloud
"Correct." Cloud smirked. "But as I said...I've been preparing for this rematch. You three won't prevail this time, especially with an old friend on my team."
Cloud and Leon took their swords out, preparing for their final bout against their three new friends. Cloud felt sad knowing that he would have to face Sora one last time. Sora has taught him respect, friendship, and honor. Cloud no longer cared if he won or lost. He now just wanted to have fun. It's as if all the pain and sorrow Cloud felt was put into a balloon and lifted away. Cloud smiled at Sora. The boy could see the sorrow lifting from the warrior and got his keyblade out.
"Shall we guys?" Sora asked his friends excitedly.
Luigi finally agreed to help and joined his friend. Leon and Cloud both got ready as did the trio. Sora instructed Luigi and Yoshi to deal with Cloud while he dealt with Leon. The two nodded and turned back. The five felt nervous and excited at the same time, knowing only one team would win. The flag man raised his flag and announced the battle to begin. Sora ran at Leon while the duo ran at Cloud.
Sora attacked Leon who did a back flip handstand and dodged the attack. He slashed Sora in the gut, knocking him back. Sora ran at Leon who shot a fireball at him. Sora quickly jumped over the attack, catching Leon by surprise. Sora quickly kicked him from behind, knocking the man over. Leon quickly retaliated and slashed at Sora who side stepped the attack. Sora horizontally slashed at Leon who jumped over the attack and kicked Sora in the face.
Sora slid back a little back and clashed with Leon. The two struggled with each other, pushing back and forth. Leon quickly slipped the gunblade under the keyblade and knocked it out of his hand. Leon swiped at Sora again and the boy ducked under and slid across the floor and grabbed his keybalde and turned to block Leon's next attack. The two went into a blade lock with each other and pushed against each other.
Luigi and Yoshi ran at Cloud who dashed past them with his Sonic Blade. The two spun around from the impact of the speed and fell over. Cloud jumped into the air and brought his sword down on the duo. They quickly moved out of the way just in time. Given the chance, they quickly doubled kicked him across the floor. Cloud got back up and knocked them both down with his sword. Yoshi threw an egg at Cloud and the warrior slashed it in half.
Yoshi snapped his finger in disappointment, "He always get Yoshi with that!"
Cloud jumped over Yoshi and slashed him in the back. Luigi cured Yoshi from the damage and they both ran at Cloud again. Cloud crossed his arms and smirked with confidence. He knew he could easily defeat the two. As the two got close, Cloud prepared to jump in the air. When they were both ready to strike he jumped to avoid their attacks. Luigi quickly jumped up and gave Cloud an uppercut. He fell back down and gasped.
"They had that planned all along!" Cloud gasped in surprised. "Sora's friends still are a mystery to me."
Luigi tried gravity, but Cloud dodged it quickly. Luigi shot fire and ice at Cloud like crazy, but he jumped over ice, ducked under fire, and side stepped thunder. Cloud was too fast for Luigi to keep up with. Leon rapidly slashed at Sora who blocked every attack while walking back. Leon's attacks got fast and soon Sora couldn't block them all. Leon slashed at Sora non stop and grabbed him and threw him onto the ground.
"Give up yet?" Leon smirked.
"No way!" Sora cried with confidence.
"Heh, your still overconfident." Leon chuckled softly. "Some things never change."
Sora got to his feet and clashed with Leon again. The two jumped back and ran at each other again. Leon powered up his sword to his super mode like the last time they fought. Sora widened his eyes in shock and Leon thrust at Sora. The boy spun aside from the attack and quickly ran past Leon and gave him a roundhouse kick in the back. Leon fell down, but lifted himself back up.
Leon slashed at Sora from a distance who had to jump and duck over the intense thrusts. Leon shot another fire ball out of his hand and Sora blocked the attack with his keyblade. The ball pushed him back into the stadium. Sora still struggled with the attack and finally pushed it back. Leon blocked the attack again.
Luigi and Yoshi weakly fell down again from Cloud's intense attacks. Luigi was out of magic and potions to use to recover him and Yoshi. Cloud zoomed past them again and knocked them down. Luigi threw a punch at Cloud, but he easily dodged it and grabbed his hand, throwing him over his shoulder. He then picked up Yoshi and threw him into Luigi.
Leon brought his gunblade into the air and was ready to bring it down. Sora saw the flaw right there. He quickly threw the keyblade at the gunblade and knocked it out of his hand. Leon gasped in shock. He screwed up. A trained swordsmen who has practiced since he was a young age of twelve actually screwed up. He felt as if though he lost his touch. He realized that Sora has become the superior fighter.
Leon put his head down and smiled. Sora ran at Leon and was ready to slash, but he stopped seeing the look on Leon's face. Sora could sense defeat from the gunblade wielder. Leon looked up at Sora and smiled.
"Sora, I'm proud of you." smiled Leon. He felt like a father that has watched his child grow up so much. He saw massive growth in Sora and knew he would continue to grow up. "You truly are the keyblade master. And I surrender to you because I can't go on."
"Are you sure?" Sora asked to be sure. Leon nodded. "Thanks. You were a very good friend and opponent."
"Now, help your friends." smiled Leon.
Sora nodded and ran towards where Luigi and Yoshi were. Cloud was about to bring his sword down on them when Sora heroically dashed in and blocked the attack. Sora pushed Cloud back up and spun around, slashing him in the stomach. Luigi and Yoshi sighed with relief as they saw Sora knock back Cloud. The warrior slid backwards and put his hand on his side.
"Man, what happened to Leon?" Cloud demanded to know.
"He surrendered." Sora explained. "Now it's you and me!"
"Very well!" Cloud cried.
The warrior flew at Sora. The boy ran at Cloud and the two clashed their weapons together. The two clashed with each other rapidly. The two ran sideways still clashing with each other. Their swords gave a cling and clang as they clashed. They both did a sideways jump and still clashed with each other upside down. Cloud swiped at ground level and Sora jumped over the attack. He kicked at Cloud from the air who jumped backwards.
He kicked Sora in the stomach and sent him flying. Sora fell onto the ground and slid across the floor. He quickly got to his feet and ran at Cloud again. The two clashed together and rapidly slashed at each other, clashing and dodging their attacks. The clings and clangs could be heard from a distance from the intense blows. Cloud brought his sword down on Sora who jumped up to avoid the attack. The crowd cheered with excitement and energy that echoed throughout the area. They never witnessed such a spectacle of a fight.
Cloud quickly gave a thrust at Sora in the air. Sora quickly moved his side to the left. He was fast, but not fast enough as the edge of the blade slid across his shirt. Sora shouted from the sharpness of the sword and fell down. Cloud walked over to Sora who was on the ground. The boy held his side tightly and tried to ease his pain.
"You lose this time, kid!" Cloud smirked with confidence. "Time to end this match! And I won't hurt you badly. That I promise with all my heart. You fought well."
Cloud raised his sword and was about to bring it down on Sora. The boy knew that this was it, he was finished. He closed his eyes as he didn't want to see the attack. Cloud brought his sword down on Sora. All of a sudden, Yoshi and Luigi rammed their heads into Cloud and knocked him over. Sora looked to see his two friends helping up.
"I don't what I'd do without you two." Sora said happily.
"Probably be lost somewhere." Luigi joked.
Ignoring Luigi, Sora turned back to Cloud who weakly stood up. The warrior growled in pain. He had with the trio always making a comeback. Cloud powered up to his dark form and flew right at the group. He slashed at them and knocked them into the air. He then flew past them and hammered them to the ground. The trio crashed into the ground and slid across the floor. Cloud came down and was ready to kick them. The trio rolled out of the way, missing the attack.
Cloud's sword began glowing as he was ready for a final attack. Sora stood firm with his keyblade tightly gripped with both hands. His breathing felt heavy and his muscles tightened. He relaxed a little bit more as Luigi and Yoshi stood by his side. Cloud screamed and flew right at the trio. The trio charged right at Cloud and they both collided with each other. A massive explosion occurred with high winds and earthquakes.
The lights dimmed from the explosion and everyone gasped as they saw Cloud knocked against a wall. He was beaten badly. The trio's friendship and teamwork together defeated Cloud's powerful dark form. Cloud weakly got up, but fell right back down. He got beaten badly by the three friends. He knew he was out of the tournament. Cloud smiled knowing if he lost to anyone he was glad it was to Sora.
The man with the flag raised his flag, "Team Sora are the winners!"
The audience including Ash, Pikachu, Tails, and the professor cheered loudly as Sora gave a high five to Luigi and Yoshi in victory. Later, the group stood in the hallway of the entrance to the coliseum. Cloud and Leon stood before them with smiles on their faces.
"Congratulation," Leon said, honoring the trio. "You won fair and square. Now I know without a doubt you'll be the ones to bring about an end to Ansem."
"Aw, thanks." blushed Yoshi.
Leon then handed a keychain to Sora, "This is my Lionheart keychain. Use it when you need it."
Sora nodded and pocketed his keychain.
Cloud shook Sora's hand, "Your light is strong. Remember what I told you, Sora. Never lose sight of it. That's the path to a true warrior."
"I'm sorry I had to beat you." Sora apologized to Cloud. "I know how much you wanted to get to the Platinum match."
Cloud smiled to the boy, "It's okay. Perhaps, it wasn't my time yet. One day the time will come when I will face him." Cloud turned away and walked off. "I'll be watching your remaining battles. You better not lose."
"I promise." Sora smiled. He then eyed Luigi with a grin. "As long as Luigi doesn't mess us up."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Luigi asked angrily.
Cloud walked out of the area and Leon shook Sora's hand.
"Sora, I'll never forget you." Leon said, saying his final good-bye. "Be strong and may the good spirits guide you."
Luigi and Yoshi began to feel curious. What did Leon mean by "I'll never forget you?" They knew something wasn't right.
"Thanks for everything." Sora said emotionally.
Leon nodded and walked out of the arena. Sora wiped a small tear away from his eye as Leon left. He then turned to see his friends looking at him with concern and suspicion. Sora began to feel guilty for not telling them. He wasn't ready to reveal his painful secret just yet.
"What's the matter with you?" a concerned Luigi asked. "You're not hiding anything from us, are you?"
"W-wh-who me?" Sora lied nervously. "No way!"
Yoshi crossed his arms and lowered his eyes with disappointment. He could tell that Sora was lying to them. Yoshi saw the guilt in his eyes, knowing he was hiding something. Before Yoshi could act, the intercom went off and announced the trio for their next match. Sora sighed with relief, knowing Luigi and Yoshi were going to try and get him to spill the beans.
"Oh, man, saved by the bell." sighed a relieved Sora.
The trio left for the arena for their next matches with both Luigi and Yoshi keeping their eyes on their leader. Things began to get rougher as the heros battled more heartless. They came at them in numbers in every part of the area. Sora's group fought through vicious battles of every heartless they've faced. They proved to be much stronger then before. The trio screamed as they charged at the heartless, giving every hard attack, sweating and panting from fighting so much.
The group also encountered new heartless like Angel Stars. These creatures fired powerful energy waves while using their mighty wings to float in the air. Other situations for the trio included what seemed to be an endless fight against shadows. They also ran into more mushroom heartless while making their way down. Ash and the others cheered them on, giving them confidence as they went.
At long last the trio made it to the tenth seed. They were exhausted from all the fighting and couldn't go on. Sora fell down and landed on his back. It felt good to take a rest for a moment. Sora could feel his muscles ache from the intense fighting. He then looked at Luigi and Yoshi who were also exhausted and on the floor
"Mama-mia!" Luigi complained. "I can't go on! My body aches everywhere!"
"No pain, no gain, right?" Sora said weakly. "Come on! Just a few more matches! We can do it!"
The trio stood up again and took a few moments to stretch out. They have never gone through so many battles before. They felt that after all this they would be ready to face Ansem. The trio got ready for their next opponent and waited for a few moments. All of a sudden, the trio saw Giovanni and his pokemon Persian walk out onto the arena.
Ash and the other gasped to see the leader of Team Rocket appear before Sora's group. The audience began booing the man, showing their hatred for him. Giovanni gave a sinister smirk and ignored them.
"Well, long time no see, boy." Giovanni snickered. "I'm surprised to see you made it this far."
"Giovanni!" snarled Sora. He felt angry at the man for all he's done. "I've been waiting for this moment!"
"You're going to pay for tricking us!" Luigi shouted at the Team Rocket leader. "And no one tricks the brains of the group." He said, referring to himself.
"You mean Yoshi?" Sora joked. Luigi put his hands in his pockets and grumbled. He then turned back to Giovanni. "You've hurt too many innocent people and pokemon! Why do you do this?"
"Because I want power." Giovanni explained with an evil look in his eyes. "Team Rocket's mission is to collect the rarest pokemon and used their power to rule the world. I won't let three meddlers like you get in the way. I didn't need that foolish reptile's help to obtain power. In fact, I'm lucky to be one of the remaining villains who haven't met their end to your hands. For years my scientific resources have created powerful weapons to make even the strongest of pokemon fall." He then petted his Persian. "I have entered this tournament to gain access to the Gold Match."
"What's so important about that?" Sora demanded to know.
"I'm not one to share secrets." Giovanni said, denying to tell the group. "But when I do get there, I shall use its power to rule this world. It seems that those three buffoons have failed to defeat you. Then I shall be defeating you myself. Jessie, James, and Meowth have already been taken care of."
"What did Giovanni do?" Yoshi asked, dumbfounded.
Giovanni grinned, "Let's just say they're seeing stripes right about now."
Meanwhile, Team Rocket was inside a small jail cell in not too far from the coliseum. The cell was dirty and damp. It only had three beds with no mattress and a sink. Jessie and Meowth had their hands on the bars and were crying to get out.
"Let us out!" Jessie cried. "I'm too beautiful to be in jail!"
"I have twenty little Meowths to feed." Meowth said dramatically. "They always will wonder where there daddy is."
Silence was upon the room. There was no response to Meowth and Jessie's cries. The two then sighed sadly.
"I guess we're stuck in here." Jessie sighed sadly.
"Trapped like rats." Meowth added.
James put on a cheerful attitude and smiled, "We'll get out of here. Why don't we sing a song to past the time?" He then started singing. "Ninety-nine bottles of potions on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of potions. You take one down and pass it around, ninety-eight bottles of potions on the wall." James then noticed Jessie and Meowth approaching him with evil glares. James began to back away nervously. "Wait a minute! What are you doing? Stop!"
Jessie and Meowth both ran at James who screamed in fear. Crowds of people heard James' cries from outside the jail cells. Back at the coliseum, Giovanni smirked again. He knew that he would win the match. He has invented powerful devices and they have not once failed him.
"The heartless are no longer needed." Giovanni continued. "I can defeat you myself. I will be the one to defeat the unbeatable keyblade master and win Oak's little tournament."
"Really?" Sora asked, raising his eyebrow in quirk. Sora gave judgement upon the Team Rocket leader. He looked weak to him. Even Luigi and Yoshi thought he was weak. "We can beat you!"
"For the sake of everyone, take him down!" Ash called out. "Bring Team Rocket to an end!"
"Wishful thinking, Ketchum." laughed Giovanni. "And your Pikachu is next."
Pikachu coward behind his trainer who gently stroked his head. The Pokemon felt reassured and knew that the trio could win.
"Don't count on it!" Luigi cried bravely. "We'll beat you faster then pizza dough rising in an oven." He then noticed Sora and Yoshi looking at him funny. "Give me a break! It was the only thing I could think of!"
Giovanni laughed out loud, "Fools! Do not underestimate me!" He then went through his pocket and pulled out a black rose. The rose's stem extended down to the ground and he placed his hand on the rose. He held it up like a sword. "And that's only the beginning. I've been aware of your increase in strength. It's no surprise to me. Fortunately, my technicians have predicated it, and they've created new technology to deal with it."
Sora was confused. What did he mean by new technology? The answer soon came at him as he saw two floating machines coming out into the arena. One was red while the other was blue. Both were exactly the same. They had small wings on the side of them, a round area, a small round bottom with spikes, and an eye in the middle that acted as a camera. The two flew right at Sora and knocked him back, sending him crashing into the wall. Everyone gasped to see a giant hole appear in the wall as the result. Giovanni just laughed manically.
"SORA!" Luigi and Yoshi cried in unison.
The duo ran over to see if their friend was alright. Everyone was shocked at those machines. They were so fast. They caught Sora by complete surprise.
Giovanni petted his Pokemon and made an evil grin, "Well, it seems my new equipment is worth the considerable investment."
Sora weakly got out from the hole and groaned.
"Invest this!" shouted Sora.
Sora fired a magic spell at Giovanni who quickly called the machine in to block the attack. The machine fired electric waves at the trio. They narrowly dodged the attack. The trio knew what they had to do. They ran at Giovanni, giving it all they've got. Giovanni fired a blue beam out from his rose. Sora deflected the attack easily and leaped at the Team Rocket leader. Sora clashed his keyblade with the man's rose. Giovanni pushed Sora's keyblade down on him, but since Sora was stronger, he pushed it back up
Giovanni quickly dodged a horizontal slash from Sora. Giovanni proved he was very fast even for the keyblade master to keep up with. One of the machines sent a shock wave at the trio and knocked them back. Their body felt completely numb from the electric shocks. The trio quickly got to their feet and ran at Giovanni again.
"You fools!"
The two machines flew around Giovanni and fired electric waves out. The waves began to rotate clockwise around the arena. The group ran around the arena, keeping their distance from the two waves. The two beams then stopped and fired giant electric balls at them. Luigi used the P3000 to suck it in and fired it back out. The ball came back out as a wave and zapped the red machine, causing it to fall down. Giovanni gasped in surprise. Sora quickly stabbed his keyblade into the other machine, causing it to start sparking.
Sora then ran at Giovanni and slashed him aside. The leader of Team Rocket fell down, feeling the pain of the keyblade. Sora was about to attack the defenseless man when Persian pounced on Sora and knocked him over. The cat was about to scratch at Sora, but Sora bent his knees and kicked it away. As he got up, the blue machine knocked him aside. Yoshi fired eggs at the red one which was still fighting.
The blue one had a mind of its own as it dodged everyone of the attacks. It then rammed into Yoshi and knocked him back. Luigi used thunder to bring down Giovanni, but he dodged the attack. Giovanni threw the rose at Luigi who dodged the attack. The rose then landed right behind and stabbed itself into the ground.
Luigi stuck his tongue out at Giovanni, "You missed me! You missed me!"
"Are you sure?" Giovanni said with a confidence look.
Luigi looked at Giovanni in confusion. He knew that Giovanni had something planned. All of a sudden, as if lightning struck him, his back got zapped. Luigi felt paralyzing pain in his back from the attack, as his spine quivered from the shock. Luigi weakly looked back to see the rose sparking. Giovanni had that planned all along. Luigi fell over, landing on his stomach. He felt the pain in his back slowly go away.
The two electric waves from the machines followed Sora around the area. He jumped over one and ducked under another one. The two shot more beams at Sora who jumped over the attack. Giovanni quickly slashed Sora from behind, causing him to fall down. Sora felt the piercing pain from his back as he fell down. Giovanni took the rose and was about to fire another beam at him. Sora weakly tried to get up, but the intense damage took a toll on him.
Sora then heard a familiar voice inside of his head.
"You better not lose this fight, kid." Cloud said in Sora's mind.
Giovanni fired the beam and Sora rolled out of the way of the attack. Giovanni tried to bring down his rose on the boy, but Sora kicked at it, forcing the man to raise it up. Sora spun up and clashed with the man again. Giovanni couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw. How could Sora still be fighting?
"Why don't you ever give up?" struggled Giovanni.
"Yeah, the thing with that is giving up cramps my style." Sora responded.
"Cramp your style?" Giovanni scoffed. "Fool, I'm going to give you cramps all over. Team Rocket will live on forever!"
Sora was not going to let that happened. Pokemon didn't deserved to be tormented by this madman. Not for one second was he's going to hold back. Sora pushed back at Giovanni and quickly spun around and broke the rose in half. Giovanni got angry upon seeing that.
"Persian! Fury swipes!" Giovanni commanded his pokemon. He then noticed his Pokemon wasn't anywhere. "Huh? What gives? Where is that flea bag?"
Giovanni then heard a meow for help. The man looked to see a giant Yoshi egg in front of him. He noticed the egg was struggling. He also heard Persian cry for help. Giovanni was speechless, his pokemon was turned into an egg. Yoshi walked over and rubbed his stomach.
"Yoshi's tummy tickle from eating kitty cat." Yoshi said.
"You ate him and turned him into an egg?" Giovanni exclaimed. "How dare you!"
Sora kicked Giovanni and knocked him down. The trio still had to deal with the machines. The two fired more electricity at the group and Sora blocked it with the keyblade. Sora struggled with the energy and redirected the attack right back at the two machines. The two quickly dodged the attacks and flew to opposite ends of the room. Sora noticed they were slowly rotating around them. He then figured out away to beat them.
Sora quickly got his friends into a huddle and discussed his plan. The trio all nodded and got into circle. The blue machine charged up its attack as did the red one. Yoshi ran around the area and mocked the machines. The blue began to chase Yoshi around the room. Luigi got behind Sora and waited for his cue. The red machine fired the beam at him and Sora jumped over the attack. Luigi sucked up the energy and fired it at the other machine. The other machine fired its beam at Yoshi who jumped over the attack.
Both beams hit each machine at the same time and they exploded. Giovanni watched in horror as his inventions were destroyed. The key elements he needed to enter the Gold Cup. He was rich, he was powerful, how could three nobodies defeat him. Sora walked over to Giovanni and pointed his keyblade at him.
"I guess it's rockets away for you." snickered Luigi.
Sora rolled his eyes and ignored Luigi. The battle was officially over. The flag man waved his flag, announcing the victory of Team Sora. The audience cheered and roared. Ash hugged his Pikachu in excitement Giovanni put his head down in defeat. His dream of getting to the golden match was over now. His ultimate plan have come crumbling down like ruble falling from a mountain.
"It can't be," Giovanni whispered. "I calculated everything precisely as I planned. Giving the game plan, every detail and yet I still lost. I funned everything into those machines. How could a boy defeat me? After all that money process!"
"Dude, money can't buy the power to fight." Sora pointed out. "A true fighter takes discipline, determination, your own skill, not just some corny technology."
Giovanni was so angry. Here he was lying on the ground and he was getting advice from a kid. He had never been so humiliated in all of his life. He angrily tried to throw a punch at Sora, but his hand was grabbed by Officer Jenny.
"Oh, hello," gulped the Team Rocket leader. "What seems to be the problem officer?"
Jenny spun the man around and placed handcuffs on his wrists.
"I'm placing you under arrest on multiple accounts for stealing rare pokemon, hacking into a computer system, and attempt to cause physical harm to someone outside of the battle." Jenny said professionally. "You have the right to remain silent!"
Jenny grabbed Giovanni's under arm and pulled him up. She then turned him around and forced him out.
"This isn't over kid!" Giovanni shouted. "Mark my words boy, this little game has only begun. You may have won the battle, but you're not even close to winning this war. I shall have my revenge."
"Hey, I said remain silent!" snapped Jenny.
The two left the arena with everyone applauding the officer for taking another criminal into her hands. Sora's group smiled knowing they have done a good deed. The trio walked over to the professor who shook their hands.
"Well done." Oak said, congratulating the trio. "At long last Team Rocket won't be in commission for a long while."
"Yeah, and Pikachu sure is relieved." Ash chuckled.
Pikachu wiped his forehead and smiled at the group. The trio then fell onto their backs. They were exhausted. They felt like they were going to explode from just one more battle. Their muscles felt massive pain from over usage. Luigi was complaining the most.
"I'm tired!" whined Luigi. "I can't stand this! One more seed and I think I'm going to scream!"
"He's right." Sora agreed. "Sometimes you need to rest for a bit. Too much fighting can be a bad thing."
Oak just smiled, "As a matter of fact, at this point the final matches won't begin until later tonight. I suggest checking into a hotel and resting up."
Yoshi yawned, "That good idea. Yoshi too tired."
Yoshi fell asleep. Since he was so young he couldn't go on forever. Sora weakly stood up and picked up Yoshi. He smiled at the dinosaur and gently stroked his head. He knew they all deserved a little rest.
"Bubble bath for me!" Luigi cheered, running out of the arena.
Toadsworth and Tails also joined the trio and left for the hotel. The crowd made their way to the exit and were also tired from the excitement. Soon the entire area was completely empty. The breeze of the wind blew through the room and litter not recycled blew through the area. The professor was pleased with the results. His tournament was very successful and he knew it would defiantly be again next year. He was proud of Sora's group. He knew that they were going to do ut.
The professor left the arena in silence and closed the door. The room was silent now. There was very little movement in it. The wind whispered throughout the entire arena. All of a sudden, a mysterious woman walked to the center of the arena. She wore a giant brown dress and a brown hat. Her eyes were in a trans like state as she looked up at the sky.
"Master, the one who holds the key is a worthy advisory." the woman said in monotone. "He defeated Giovanni and every other opponent. Even I begin to get a little worried about the boy. His energy is like nothing I ever felt. Do you feel like you can defeat him?" Silence was heard before the room. She somehow heard a voice. "I see. Fear never stopped you my league. Global conquest will soon be yours sir."
In the darkness of the arena, two blue glowing eyes appeared. The light was dim, but showed that it was sinister. What was it? And why was it here?