Showdown Arc: Glorious Victory

"Oh, there you are!" Mari yelled across the room, and Jacky slapped her hand to her forehead as Hypno turned around. "Mari... we should have sneaked up on it..."
Mari studiously ignored her and then walked up to Hypno. "Okay, stop playing around, you disgusting creature!",
'Heheheh...' Hypno's eyes gleamed maliciously. 'I'm surprised... You're not afraid to attack your friends or betray your family. I heard their screams all the way here... Who is the creature here?',
"You won't get us with your stupid illusions." Mari stopped in front of it. "I'm pretty pissed.",
'Mari, get away from it!', Guardevoir warned her.
"Mari, stay away!" Jacky was about to run forward to her along with Absol, when suddenly, shadow shackles wrapped around Absol, holding it in place. "Absol!"

Seeing this, Jacky angrily fixed Hypno. "Release it!" The shadows tightened around Absol and it squirmed desperately within them, but could not break free. "Hypno, release it now!",
"WE will destroy you, not the other way around," Mari announced unapologetically. Hypno just laughed and ignored Mari. It turned to Jacky. 'You want to see it free? Oh... actually, I was going to have it torn to pieces in front of you... one leg... after another...' Jacky gritted her teeth tightly. 'Ah, I can feel your anger. So much negative energy... So blazing; it could devour everything. I'll be merciful... and let you decide. Your Pokémon... or her?' It pointed at Mari, and Jacky winced as she suddenly held a dagger in her hand. She remained silent, so shocked she wasn't able to speak. "That's enough!" Mari held out her arm. "Gardevoir, Shadow Ball it into oblivion!" Gardevoir sent a ball of dark matter at Hypno, but it disappeared and simply reappeared somewhere else. It laughed. 'Kill one of them and the other is free.',
"I AM free, you idiot!" Mari growled. Gardevoir attacked Hypno again, but it was of absolutely no use. "Mari..." Jacky sighed. "You are free, but ABSOL isn't. And when I kill you, it comes free."
Mari turned to her. "You haven't forgotten that this is just a dream, have you?",
"What if it isn't? If it's real after all?",
"You're not doubting, are you?" Mari sighed- and then smiled. "All right. Do the stabby stab then. If you want Absol off the hook, then just do it.",
"Fine... Then do what you have to do. Just like me."
Mari had sent a subliminal message towards Jacky, which she responded to. They both were preparing for their own game.
"You bet." Mari nodded before turning to Hypno. "Gardevoir..."
Gardevoir read her trainer's mind and nodded. It joined her and they both disappeared. Hypno laughed. "Well, that settles it...! Your Absol will di-",
"Not so fast." Mari suddenly appeared behind Hypno with Gardevoir, and she grabbed it, holding it firmly in place with an arm around its neck. "Gotcha! Come on, Jacky! Hurry up!"

Jacky nodded, jumped forward and rammed the dagger into Hypno's chest. Hypno cursed. 'Damn... you!',
"You didn't see THAT coming, did you?" Mari smirked as she released the Pokémon from her grasp. The mist dissipated, just as the entire dream did. They were back in Celestial Tower among the tombstones, in broad daylight. Their Pokémon had disappeared. "Aha. I get it." Mari pointed to Hypno. "You can do whatever you want in your dream world and manipulate everything in it. Our Pokémon were never really with us, that's why their attacks couldn't hurt you. You sent them from their dreams into ours. We were real though, that's why I was able to hold you!"
Hypno backed away.
"Well, let's do it our way now! Gardevoir, let's go!" Gardevoir appeared next to her.
"Absol!" Jacky's Absol appeared next to her. "Razor Wind!",
"Focus Blast!" Both attacks hit Hypno without mercy and it staggered back. "Shadow Ball!",
"Psycho Cut!" Gardevoir fired off an attack before Absol dove after the ball, crashing its blade into Hypno. It groaned, but still stood on both feet. 'You...!',
"Go on, Gardevoir!"
Gardevoir nodded and hurled another Shadow Ball at Hypno. "Double Edge, Absol!" Absol growled, leaping forward and throwing itself at Hypno, who toppled to the side in defeat. "Hah! That's it!" Mari exclaimed. "Gardevoir, keep an eye on it. Jacky, get the police over here." Jacky was already tapping away on her Xtranceiver.

It wasn't long before the police arrived. Mari and Jacky explained the situation to them before the professionals took Hypno into their custody. "What are you going to do with it now?" Mari asked.
"We're going to erase its memory using amnesia and keep it under observation," a female police officer replied. "After that, we will train it off of its bad habits. You guys have done a great job. We'll take care of the rest...",
"Mari...?"

Hearing the voice, Mari turned around. Maki was standing on the stairs. She looked scared. "Hey, Maki.",
"Mari!" The girl ran downstairs and fell around her cousin's neck. "Mari, I was terrified! Hypno had me in its nightmare the whole time and I couldn't wake up...",
"It's okay, Maki." Mari returned the hug. "It's over. Finally." Many children appeared at the stairs. They looked disoriented, scared, or distraught, but none of them were hurt. The nod from the policewoman just now was enough to prompt the others to take care of them. "We're going back, Maki." Mari let go of her cousin. "Lyra's waiting for you.",
"Y-yes..." Maki nodded. "H-how is Mareep...?",
"Fine. Don't worry about it." Mari smiled. "Come." She withdrew Gardevoir, then went to the exit of the tower. Jacky and Absol followed her.

When they arrived at the house, Mari knocked. Lyra opened the door and when she saw Maki, her posture became rigid, as if she had swallowed an iron bar. "Ma...ki...?",
"Mom!" Maki hugged her mother tightly. Lyra stumbled back a few steps before laughing out, tears filling her eyes. "Maki! You're back and you're fine!" She hugged her daughter tightly. Mari looked meaningfully at Jacky, who nodded at her with a smile. Lyra raised her eyes to Mari. "You kept your word, Mari... I thank you...",
"I didn't do this alone." Mari threw an arm around Jacky's neck. "We both did!",
"Even though you ended up doing most of it," Jacky rebuffed.
"Nah, I didn't, at all!",
"I thought I'd never see you again!" Maki said tearfully. "We can spend every day together now and catch up!",
"Uh..." Mari hunched her shoulders. "S-sorry, but I guess that won't work. I'm traveling with Jacky... But I guess... I can stop by once in a while, how does that sound?",
"That sounds great! And you better come! If you don't come, then... then I'll get your embarrassing doll collection from the attic and show it to everyone!" Maki broke away from her mother and crossed her arms.
"Please don't! I'll stop by, promise!" Mari promised frantically.
"Doll collection?" Jacky tilted her head. "Really, Mari?",
"Great, now my image has been ruined!" the girl whined. "Yes, I did collect dolls for a while when I was, like... four. But I swear it was just a phase!" Everyone laughed and Lyra wiped tears from her face.

Mari's aunt invited them for tea and cookies and asked the two heroines about all the details, which was almost extremely exhausting. At the end of the day, they said goodbye with many more hugs, even Jacky got some, before the two girls retreated back to the Pokémon Center of Mistralton. All that action this day had given them had robbed them of all their strength. Knocked out, they dropped into their beds. They had done it... They had saved the children and Hypno was under police control. It would do no more harm. That was good...

News of the case was not long in coming. Laslow leaned against the wall in Driftveil's Pokémon Center and followed the report, nibbling at his thumb nail as he reviewed the case in his mind. 'So they finally got their hands on it. That's some great work the girls did... I'm sure it wasn't easy. I have a feeling we'll be hearing more from these two in the future...',
"Hey, Laslow!" A girl waved her hand around in front of his face. "Helloooo!",
"...Huh? What is it?",
"You've been staring at the TV for some time now! Were you lost inside your mind again, as usual?",
"'As usual'?",
"You're totally the thoughtful type. That's so sexy.",
"Ugh. Aria, cut it out, would you?" He shook his head and turned to her. She smiled at him. "Just caught my eye! So that Hypno's finally gone now, huh? Hallelujah! But heeeey, weren't those two the girls who also participated in the tournament?",
"Yes.",
"Really admirable that they took on such an evil Pokémon, haha! I bet I can be a heroine too if I can keep learning from you!",
"..." He gave her an annoyed look. "...For sure. I don't want to disappoint you, Aria... but you've been neglecting your training a lot lately. Is there anything distracting you?",
"Someone would probably be more accurate. How can you concentrate with such a hot guy around?",
"I can leave you alone if you prefer," he said with some edge in his voice. She noticed and raised her hands; tried to hide it with a nervous laugh. "Hahaha... I-I'm just kidding, calm down!",
"..." He just sighed and then turned away. "We'll go tomorrow. Good night." And with that, he disappeared. She sighed. "So cool... and yet so hot. Haha... I'll get him to fall for me eventually."