Chapter 75 End of the Chase

When Ash enters the cave and is about to get to the top of the mountain, he hears a voice that stops them.

Aster: Ash! (Rushes in)

Ash: (Surprised) Aster? What are you...

Aster: I finally caught... up to you! Look! I have something you want! (Takes out the TMX)

Ash: TMX for Waterfall?

Aster: You need this, right? Then fight me! Take it from me! Come on! What are you waiting for?!

Ash doesn't know if Aster is here to stop him, but with Eclipse's death, Ash notices something inside him changed. His first Pokemon is Solrock, and Ash goes for Bisharp for the first Pokemon. Bisharp goes for Iron Head to deal a lot of damage, but Solrock sets up Light Screen and Reflect, as well as Stealth Rocks. Ash knows that Aster is playing a different style, but he still has Bisharp use Night Slash to defeat the first Pokemon.

The second Pokemon is Krookodile, and it uses Earthquake to defeat Bisharp. Ash goes for Meganium as his second Pokemon, and Meganium lands a Petal Dance, but Krookodile also lands an Outrage, causing both Pokemon to slam into each other fiercely. Meganium manages to snap out of Confusion first and goes for Leech Seed, sucking up the last energy of Krookodile.

Aster's third Pokemon is Passimian, and it goes for Gunk Shot to knock Meganium out. Ash goes for Swellow to battle the third Pokemon, and Passimian goes for Close Combat, which lowers the Defense after dealing damage. Swellow goes for Aerial Ace, and Passimian tries to stop it by using Rock Slide, but Swellow manages to use Quick Attack to dodge the attack, and eventually deals the damage with the Tailwind and Aerial Ace.

The fourth Pokemon is Midday Lycanroc, much to Ash's confusion as it is his ace Pokemon, it lands a Rock Slide on Swellow to knock it out, so Ash goes for Conkeldurr to battle. Conkeldurr goes for Hammer Arm, and it clashes with Lycanroc's Drill Run. But in the end, Conkeldurr overpowers Lycanroc by using Counter after being hit by another Drill Run.

The fifth Pokemon is Golurk, and it goes for Dynamic Punch to make Conkeldurr confused, and finishes it with a Shadow Punch. Ash goes for Emboar, having it use Heat Wave to melt the ice, and Ash realizes that they are actually on the Water Surface, and Golurk can't use Earthquake to stop it. In the end, Emboar goes for Flamethrower, without hitting the water, and it defeats Golurk the end.

The final Pokemon is Midnight Lycanroc, and Ash realizes that this Pokemon belonged to Eclipse. Aster is trying to defeat him with Eclipse's memory, and Lycanroc goes for Swords Dance and Throat Chop to deal much more damage, but Emboar manages to take the hit and lands Arm Thrust, eventually knocking out the Lycanroc.

Aster: UGH. It's never enough... (Recalls Pokemon) There. As promised.

Ash receives the TMX for Waterfall, and Ash can only ask him why.

Aster: Pretend you took it from me by force. Or consider it a gift from Eclipse. I don't know if that's what she would have wanted. I don't know if it's right. But I feel better now. She always talked about changing the world. I was just taking orders. But since she's gone, I've been thinking about it. The world really does need to change. Just not in the way Team Meteor's doing it. I thought if I could beat you- Maybe, once, if I used all of my strength, and Eclipse's too- Maybe I could be the one to fix everything. But it looks like that's your job. (Turns away) I'm signing out. Good luck, Ash. I'll see you around.

After Aster leaves, Ash is surprised to know that Aster is going to leave Team Meteor, and he sighs as he quickly put the machine away and rushes up to the top of the mountain where Blake and Shelly are staring each other.

Blake: (Notices Ash) Aaand here we go again.

Shelly: (Turns to Ash with a frown) I'm s-sorry, Ash... I thought I could d-do it, but I already lost.

Ash: It's fine, even though I got some problems while coming here, but I'm sure I can defeat him.

Blake: Pfft, don't kid yourself. But you're pretty annoying, you know? Why don't you just chill out?

Blake tries to battle Ash by sending out Mamoswine and Gyarados, Ash goes for Emboar and Greninja to battle the first Pokemon. Gyarados goes for Dragon Dance to raise its speed and attack, and it goes for Waterfall on Emboar, but Emboar uses Protect to protect itself. Greninja goes for Water Shuriken on Mamoswine, but it is reflected by Ice Shards. Emboar goes for Head Smash, causing itself and Gyarados to get knocked out at the same time.

Blake's third Pokemon is Starmie, and it goes for Hail to make it snow, and Greninja also lands a Hydro Pump on Mamoswine, knocking it out. The fourth Pokemon is Alolan Sandslash. Starmie tries to go for Thunder on Greninja, but Greninja dodges the attack with ease. Sandslash goes for Earthquake, Greninja manages to survive, but Emboar is knocked out. Ash goes for Conkeldurr as his third Pokemon in this battle, and Conkeldurr gets hit by Starmie's Blizzard, but Starmie is defeated by Greninja's Night Slash.

Blake's fifth Pokemon is Weavile, and it lands a Power-Up-Punch on Greninja, but Greninja is still standing as it goes for Water Shuriken to deal damage on Weavile, and Sandslash is also defeated by Conkeldurr's Counter after being hit by Iron Head. And it does the same time to Weavile, so the final Pokemon is Walrein.

Ash: Let's go, Greninja! Let's show him our full power!

Much to Shelly and Blake's surprise, Greninja starts to change form and Ash-Greninja is now in front of them.

Blake: What did you do to that Greninja? No matter, you're not going to win my Walrein with that! Use Avalanche!

Greninja is moving with Ash as it dodges the move, much to Blake's surprise, and Shelly is also looking in awe as Greninja goes for Aerial Ace, striking Walrein time after time. In the end, Greninja goes for the giant Water Shuriken, knocking down the Walrein. But Ash is getting tired as he also sits on the ground.

Blake: Cool story, bro. Not like it matters now. I can hear them coming.

Then they see a helicopter landing while Blake is trying to get on the ladder.

Shelly: But Ash won the battle, right? D-doesn't that mean you have to give us the Ring?

Blake: Forget it! You've already lost! My ride's here, kids.

Shelly: P-please! Heather absolutely needs that back! You can't take it away from her!

Blake: Oh, well since you asked so nicely, I'll just give it right back.

Shelly: R-really?

Blake: LOL, no. Get wrecked, brah.

Ash: (Stands back up after resting a while) Then we have no choice but to stop you!

Blake: (Taunts) Oh, yeah? You and what army?

Heather: This one! Salamence, it's take-down time!

Heather and her Salamence arrive and strike Blake, causing it to fall to the ground with the Ruby Ring falling off, before he can grab it, Cal and his Charizard also arrive and grabs the ring instead.

Cal: Got the ring!

Blake: Ugh, what the- (Stares at Cal) Hey, oaf-head, what the fuck do you think you're doing?!

Cal: I'm setting things right.

Cal tries to strike Blake with Charizard, but Blake quickly dodges the attack and groans.

Blake: Okay, okay, I get it already!

Cal flies towards Heather and gives her the Ruby Ring, and he asks her to keep it safe.

Blake: (Manages to get on the helicopter) All right, you all can do that. I, for one, am putting this show on ice.

Shelly: Hey, wait a minute! What about Agate? Wasn't the sleep spell on Agate supposed to be controlled from up here?

Blake: LOL, I don't have a clue about that. Whoever told you that probably just baited you hard, fam. Anyway, I'm blowin' this popsicle stand. See ya!

They watch as Blake leaves with the helicopter, and Ash grits his teeth as he hasn't found the PULSE that causes the people to fall asleep.

Shelly: Should we go after them?

Cal: No point. He's just an annoyance. And Solaris didn't even show his face. But it looks like the day is ours.

Heather: (Cherishes the ring) Hey, thanks for your help... All of you.

Cal: Of course. But I'm not finished yet.

Heather: Definitely. Hey! I'm gonna get the rest of the food out to the people of Ametrine, but I'll catch up with you guys later!

Shelly: Oh! I wanna help!

Heather: Aye-aye! You can ride with me, Shell Bell. See ya, brother Ash.

Ash smiles as he sees both Shelly and Heather take off with the Salamence. After they're gone, Cal has Ash's attention.

Cal: Hey, Ash. What Blake said about Agate City- I don't think he was lying.

Ash: Are you sure? I mean, he lied to us every time since we came to Ametrine City.

Cal: Well, not this time. I cut my ties with Meteor just as they were getting that going, so I don't know the details. But there's no base up here that could maintain a signal of that strength. So, whoever told you that the signal was coming from Ametrine was probably trying to throw you off the trail. Do you remember who that was?

Ash: We found the news from the Agate Triumvirate, Terra was the one that explains the news to us.

Cal: (Sighs) Ah... Terra. I know of her. That is, I know of her through Team Meteor.

Ash: Wait, what? She's with Team Meteor?

Cal: Not long before I left, she joined under the codename Titawin. It's a name based on the stars, like all of ours.

Ash: (Realizes) So Titawin is not Titania...but Terra? Amaria didn't need to kill herself because of it! But Terra...would Team Meteor have someone like her inside?

Cal: She really doesn't seem the type, but she's a skilled programmer and system hacker. It's hard to say if she's better than the old one, but I certainly have a preference, obnoxious girl that she is. Lin was pushing for her to take the position for a while.

Ash: So she might be close to Lin...

Cal: I've got some stuff to finish up, but I won't be a stranger. I suggest you go confront Terra about this ordeal. See you around, Ash. (Realizes) Actually, I can give you a lift down to Ametrine if you'd like. Wouldn't feel right leaving you on a mountain peak after all your help. Do you want a ride?

Ash: Sure, I'd like to.

After getting down the mountain, Ash decides to head to Calcenon City to see if Aster's there, and Aster was just explaining to her father about Eclipse's death. Eclipse's father apologizes to Ash for not trusting him, and he gives him a Shiny Charm as an apology. As for Aster, he decides to leave Team Meteor behind and do something that won't be in his way.


Here is a new chapter, as you can see, Ash manages to defeat Blake and Heather gets the Ruby Ring back, and I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be confronting Terra about Team Meteor, and maybe having a Gym battle with her.