This is the fourth of four chapters today.
Keldeo cantered to a halt at the top of the rise, where there was a good view of the battling titans.
"Ready?" he asked his passenger.
Pikachu hopped off. "Just give me a minute," he said, cheeks sparking, and began to build the first ring of his attack.
Keldeo glanced around, checking to make sure Pikachu wasn't going too early.
Mega Latios hovered overhead, Ash's staff shining in the gathering gloom, and the Legendary waved down – they were ready too.
Back in the other direction, Mega Latias was just about ready to go – and so was Flygon, with May in front and Max holding Jirachi behind her, and all three Porygon hovering alongside.
Pikachu finished his third ring, and set them spinning. A light began to grow as he twisted the electromagnetic fields contained within – tighter and tighter, storing up as much energy as possible.
"I hope this works," Suicune said softly.
"Yeah," Keldeo agreed.
He lit his Secret Sword, ready to give the signal.
"Ready!" Pikachu said.
Keldeo swung his head, sending a blaze of golden light into the heavens.
Pikachu fired first. The three rings of his Volt Crash locked together, firing an incredible bolt of electrical energy directly at the Fake Kyogre.
The impact made a shattering BANG which made the water tremble violently, and the submerged trees shivered as Fake Kyogre was driven almost underwater before coming surging back to the surface – stunned.
A moment later, Mega Latios used Luster Purge.
Light focused in his mouth, then erupted out and down towards the Fake Groudon. It slammed into the monster as it renewed an attack on Kyogre, and the energy crashed off for a moment before exploding – staggering Groudon as the rest of the Luster Purge attack poured down.
When it had run its course, the fake Groudon was just as stunned as its counterpart.
"Now!" May said, and Flygon dove with his wings humming.
He came down to about two feet above the surface of the water, then carefully dropped lower and lower – until his tail was bare inches above the water and was leaving a visible wake.
Body twisting as he flew, he weaved in and out of the leafless trees standing starkly out of the water.
"Careful!" Max called. "We nearly hit that one!"
Flygon smirked – enjoying this part of the crisis at least – then glanced at the Porygon flying alongside.
"Ready?" he asked.
Engaging.
Dexter took the lead, forming his whole body into an octahedral prism as he accelerated. A Reflect screen shimmered around it, and he plunged into the water with a crash.
The impact formed a shaped crater in the water, one which would normally have collapsed back in less than a second – but Ethan and Kris moved in, and exerted shaped forcefields of Reflect to keep it open.
For a second or so, there was a curved cylinder of air sweeping under the fake Kyogre – and Flygon took the opportunity with all four clawed feet.
"Jirachi, NOW!" Max called, as they shot towards the tunnel and Flygon folded his wings back. "Doom Desire!"
Jirachi had been readying the attack for several seconds, and launched it halfway through their underwater arc.
Hi-YAH!
Flygon burst back out into the air, the tunnel collapsing behind it as all three Porygon followed him, and turned so he and his passengers could watch.
Jirachi carried Kyogre skywards in a torrent of glittering light and energy, shining brightly enough to banish the shadows of the evening and light the whole valley as though it were day.
The light rose higher and higher, and then exploded in a sparkling fountain which rained down across central Forina.
Of the Kyogre, there was no sign.
Suicune glanced to her side as her brother materialized, along with two surprised looking Metapod and a Linoone. "You okay?"
"I nearly finished the beast off myself!" Raikou announced, then flumphed down and began to snore.
The Aurora Pokémon couldn't help but chuckle.
"Okay, one down and one to go!" Max said, patting Flygon's side. "Let's catch Jirachi and get him over to Latias!"
Flygon nodded, tail lashing, and flew up to meet the descending Jirachi.
"Okay, a bit to the right... and..."
Max grabbed his friend out of the air. "Gotcha!"
Did it work? Jirachi asked, anxious. I tried as hard as I could...
"It did great, Jirachi!" Max assured her, as Flygon descended again. "Just one more time, okay?"
Right, Jirachi agreed.
"Look out!" May shouted suddenly, and Groudon's tendrils lashed up at them.
"I thought it was supposed to be stunned!" Max called. Flygon flipped over onto his side, angling his wings to descend faster, and jinked to avoid a cluster of the energy-sucking green liquid.
"Maybe it's just not stunned for as long as we were expecting!" May replied. "I – whoa!"
Flygon threw himself into a wide banking turn to avoid some of the tendrils, and then a bolt of psionic energy from Mega Latios smashed some of them aside.
The Psychic-type fell in alongside for a moment, and Ash began to shout something – then the Groudon launched all its tendrils at them, and they were forced to split up again.
"Look out!" May shouted, and Flygon dove hard to avoid the latest barrage. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mega Latios fighting his way free with a green-fire Counter Shield-
A flailing tendril caught the side of Flygon's head, and scraped down his neck – drawing out energy as it went, until it caught May's leg and snatched her from Flygon's back.
She struggled, but the green quickly closed over her.
"May!" Ash called, as Mega Latios broke free of the danger zone.
"Look – Flygon's in trouble too!" Mega Latios said, and Ash followed his gaze.
Flygon seemed to be favouring his left side, and one of his wings wasn't quite working right.
Crackling blasts of electricity from Pikachu's direction knocked away the last few tendrils reaching for Flygon, and the Dragon/Ground type flew towards what looked to be a wobbly crash landing.
Then Absol burst out of the undergrowth, shouting something. Meganium followed, vines at the ready, and she managed to catch Flygon and lower him comparatively gently to the floor.
"What should we do?" Mega Latios asked, as his sister hurried over as well.
Ash thought, then nodded to himself.
"Keep that Groudon busy," he said. "Meganium can heal Flygon, Latias can heal Jirachi – we just need to give them the chance to get the Groudon, and that'll save May and Entei!"
"I understand."
Mega Latios turned in, banking hard, and fired a Psywave to get Groudon's attention.
Brock hurried into the clearing. "Max! Are you okay?"
"I think so," Max said. "Brock – it got May!"
"She'll be okay," Brock said.
"I know, but-" Max shook his head. "It's hard to remember that..."
Brock nodded. "Okay – Flygon? How badly hurt are you?"
"Mostly just tired," Flygon said, rubbing his side. "It was like suddenly that part of me had been exercising hard for days..."
"Right," Brock said. "Meganium – can you...?"
"I'll see what my Heal Pulse can do," Meganium informed him. She inhaled deeply through her nose, then exhaled a cloud of glowing golden pollen.
Flygon sniffed it, and blinked. "That's... really soothing..."
"It should be, medicine doesn't have to smell bad," Meganium said. "How does your side feel?"
"A bit better..."
"It'd be worse if Absol hadn't warned me where you were going to come down," the Grass-type noted. "That prevented a nasty crash."
Bianca and Mega Latias arrived, and Bianca jumped down from astride her friend. "How are things going? I lost track..."
"That monster got May," Max summarized. "And Flygon's not very well."
"Does that mean Latias might need to carry you in?" Bianca asked, looking out at the lake – where Ash and Mega Latios were leading Groudon a merry dance, dodging and weaving through the cloud of glowing tendrils and knocking away whatever got too close with a Counter Shield of green flame.
"No, I have something else to do," Mega Latias replied. She took a deep breath, eyes closed, then frowned. "Okay!"
Her feathers sparkled for a moment with rainbow light, and she focused on Jirachi. "Healing Wish!"
A wave of energy began at the tips of her wings before rippling up through her body. It grew brighter and brighter as it went, and left her feathers looking dull and tired where it had already passed.
Once it had completed its path, it balled for a moment at the tip of her muzzle before dissolving into a cloud of sparkles which flowed over Jirachi.
The whole process took about ten seconds. Then, as soon as it was over, Latias transitioned back down from Mega and drifted slowly to the floor.
"Are you okay?" Bianca asked, collecting the Latiasite for her friend.
"Just tired," Latias yawned.
"Jirachi?" Max asked.
Jirachi flexed his fingers, and beamed. "I feel great!"
"What about you, Flygon?" Brock said, looking the Dragon-type over. "Better?"
"I think so," Flygon said. He flexed his wings, and nodded. "I should be okay."
"Right," Brock nodded. "Max, do you think I should come along?"
Max considered, then nodded. "I'd feel better."
At a nod from Flygon, Brock climbed aboard behind Max.
"Crobat?" he asked, and the Flying-type came up to hover alongside. "If everything goes wrong – get Max to safety."
"I can't carry him," Crobat said.
"No, but you can make sure he doesn't hurt himself when he falls."
Crobat nodded, looking worried, and Brock took a deep breath.
"Okay, let's go!"
Flygon's wings buzzed, and he took off again.
Absol paced them for a moment, then jumped off to one side and fired the biggest Razor Wind she could at the fake Groudon.
It did very little, but – as she'd probably intended – got the attention of both the Groudon and of Ash and Mega Latios.
Ash waved, then bent low over Mega Latios' back, and the Psychic/Dragon tilted upwards and shot higher into the air.
Pivoting end-over-end, he charged and fired a second blazing Luster Purge directly at the fake Groudon.
Shockingly, the blast which had stunned it last time only staggered it this time, and dozens upon dozens of tendrils whipped up as it diverted everything towards catching the Mega-Evolved Pokémon overhead.
"Go now!" Brock shouted, and Flygon squeezed out a bit more speed.
They dropped down to the surface of the lake and bored in on the fake Groudon, which loomed closer and higher until it was the whole skyline ahead-
"Doom Desire!" Jirachi called, and launched himself forwards in a sparkling trail of light.
The Groudon roared with a kind of triumph as it finally snagged Mega Latios' wing – then abruptly had other things to worry about.
A torrent of light dragged Groudon with it as it rose, and the harsh energies of Doom Desire ripped the tendrils apart – freeing Ash and Mega Latios – before eating into the body of the fake Groudon like acid.
Finally, high overhead, it exploded in a shower of sparks.
Suicune looked up as a pair of Nuzleaf were teleported in. They looked confused, then ran off.
Entei materialized on top of his slumbering brother, and then May appeared on top of him.
"Ow," he said, deadpan.
"Sorry!" May said, stumbling to her feet and getting off the pile of Legendary Beast. She nearly tripped, but Suicune was there as a support in a moment.
"Are you okay?" Suicune asked. "That must have been quite a nasty experience, both of you."
"It was mostly just... icky and really tiring," May said, making sure she was steadier. "Thanks, Suicune."
"Not a problem," Suicune assured her. "It is done, and we are fine."
May nodded.
"Speaking of which... Entei, are you going to get off Raikou at some point?"
Entei looked down, and then got off the sleeping Electric-type. "I did wonder what I'd landed on..."
Raikou muttered something in his sleep.
"May!" Max called, as Flygon and Latios – no longer Mega – swooped in for a landing. "You're okay!"
"So are you!" May replied, and hurried to embrace him. "I was so worried..."
Butler, Diane and Bianca came clambering up the slope to join them.
"What now?" Diane asked, worried. "What do we do after something like that happens?"
"In my experience... just keep going and look out for the next one," Ash said.
"In your experience?" Diane repeated. "I know you've done some amazing things, but... you have a routine?"
"That explains a lot," Absol muttered.
"What about Jirachi?" Max asked, cradling the sleeping Psychic-type. "It's still three days until he's got to go back to sleep... what should we do about that?"
"I have an idea," Brock said. "I've got a few, actually... first, where are Team Rocket?"
He looked around, then spotted Ninetales leading the other Pokémon back from the Aqua battle.
"I see the battle's over," Ninetales said, her tails drooping slightly with fatigue. "Our battle is done as well – Jessie and James stood guard until Moltres managed to blow up the jammer, then called the police and then left."
As if on cue, the big aircraft rose into view on eight jet engines, then started its main propellors and transitioned to horizontal flight.
"That's Team Rocket for you," Ash chuckled, as Butler checked Dusclops over. "They never stick around for the cleanup..."
"Except that time with the Lake of Life," Brock corrected.
"Right," Ash said. "Except for that one."
"And they did help out after the thing with Lugia-"
"Okay, I get the point..."
Bianca giggled.
"Are you sure they won't get away?" Brock asked.
"Their Abra basically used Hypnosis on the lot," Geodude explained. "Then I buried them in earth. They should be stuck there for a few hours at least, and last I heard there was a police helicopter on the way to take them into custody."
"That sounds pretty sorted out," Ash said.
"We tried," Geodude said.
Absol cleared her throat. "I think," she said, carefully, "that it would be a good idea for us to spend the next few days until the Wish-Maker slumbers again... somewhere out of the way and calm."
I'd like that, Jirachi said sleepily. Calm sounds nice...
"What about somewhere in Forina?" Ash said. "I mean, it's mostly quite calm and quiet... well, apart from this bit..."
"I can't stay away from the fair that long," Butler said. "Nor can Diane. Once Kirlia or Salamence is ready, we'll head back there."
"And I should really get back to Altomare," Bianca added. "Lorenzo's going to be worried about me."
"I'll take you home once I've had a rest," Latias volunteered. "Speaking of which... can I go in the Pokéball now? I'm too tired..."
Ash translated, and Bianca returned her friend into the red Cherish Ball.
"I know a place we could stay," Flygon suggested. "It's about a mile or so from here – follow me!"
"Hold on a moment," Ash asked, and started returning Pokémon. "Dexter, can I switch out a few Pokémon? I'd like to have Charizard available for a start, now it's an option..."
Bright and early the next morning, two dragons departed the valley Flygon had shown them.
One, Salamence, set off back to the fair they'd left the previous afternoon – carrying Butler, and Diane, and everything that could be salvaged of the machinery that had connected Jirachi to the Millennium Comet.
The other, Latias, set off with Bianca towards Altomare for a rather more sedate flight than the one she'd taken down.
Ash waved them off, and so did Max, but most of the others were too busy relaxing.
"This place is great!" Brock said, leaning back on the dewy grass slope that led down to an icy lake. "Thanks for showing us!"
"Yeah!" Stantler agreed. "This must be one of the most beautiful places in Hoenn!"
"I don't know about that," Flygon shrugged. "I like it, though."
"You've got good taste," Beautifly said, overhearing the conversation from her perch near May's tent.
"This is the first time in about four days I've not felt like there was a disaster imminent," Absol said, stretching. "It's almost boring, now I-"
"What is it?" Brock asked, noticing she'd stopped.
"Spoke too soon..."
"Uh oh," Brock said. "Charizard, we might have trouble..."
Charizard came to his feet. "Right, bring it on!"
"Charizard?" Ash asked, hurrying over. "What's the matter?"
"Not another disaster..." Max moaned.
Then there was a flicker of almost-movement, and Mewtwo was hovering there with a giant pile of notepaper and two thick books.
He looked around. ...I must admit, it's not what I was expecting, given the circumstances...
"Where were you yesterday evening?" Brock asked. "When there was the two abominations shaped like Groudon and Kyogre, and the Team Magma and Aqua strike teams?"
Mewtwo gaped, then put his fingers to his temples. Oh, dear... sorry about that, I was busy handling something else.
He indicated the stack of books and paper. I was just coming to let you know how it was going...
"Why us?" Ash said, frowning. "I mean, why us specifically?"
Well, it was you who assigned it... Mewtwo frowned. He retrieved one of the books and a note. These fell on my head about two days ago.
Ash took them, frowning.
There was something called an "Orbital Mechanics textbook, third edition", and a note asking for the Millennium Comet to be placed in a more stable orbit in some way.
"Why?" Ash asked. "I mean..."
Wait! Jirachi said suddenly. Remember? I wished to be able to stay with Max, and...
He giggled. So that's what it did!
"So this is a way that Jirachi can stay around?" Brock asked. "How?"
As far as I can tell, the idea is that the Millennium Comet is what gives Jirachi the power to stay awake. It's a long period comet with a semimajor axis of around one hundred times the orbital radius of our own planet, which means that it has an extremely high velocity at the crossing point – which is why it only remains in range for about seven days.
Mewtwo began shuffling through his notes. Now, I considered a number of solutions, the first one was to alter the orbit of the entire comet... however on further consideration this turned out to be unfeasible due to concerns about whether it was important for other reasons. I asked Rayquaza for some advice, and he felt that it would be best to keep a majority of the comet in the original orbit and simply alter the orbit of a small portion. Accordingly I went up there to have a look...
The friends kept staring.
...so once the component was contained I examined the amount of energy it would emit based on an inverse square law, and concluded that the maximum viable distance to allow Jirachi to remain awake – even with reduced power – was unfortunately too small to allow a Trojan-type L4 or L5 orbit with regard to the solar-terra system.
By this point Mewtwo had opened one of the books and was pointing to diagrams.
"Should we understand this?" Max asked his sister quietly, and she shrugged her complete lack of understanding.
...unfortunately she threw quite a snit when I suggested a simple lunar landing, or even a low lunar orbit, so I decided that rather than get in a fight with Cresselia over this I would use my fourth option until such time as I can convince her otherwise. As such, there's now a chunk of the Millennium Comet in a large-period halo orbit circling the lunar L2 point, Mewtwo concluded with a flourish.
He noticed the blank looks. What?
"We understood about one word in four," Ash said.
Mewtwo sighed. Fine, whatever. Here it is in really, really simple terms – there's a chunk of the Millennium Comet on the far side of the moon, it should keep Jirachi charged enough to stay awake.
"It will?" Max asked, blinking. "Wow – thanks!"
Yeah! Jirachi agreed. I've always wanted to be able to stay awake more than a week at a time!
Ah, there we go... Mewtwo smiled. It's nice to be appreciated.
"But..." May frowned. "Doesn't that mean that anyone can still make Jirachi grant wishes?"
It will reduce his power budget, the chunk's not as big as the whole comet and shouldn't give him as much power.
"And..." Max frowned. "I've been thinking about this, and I think I've got an idea."
He cleared his throat. "Jirachi, I wish you only had to grant wishes you wanted to."
Jirachi's tags flashed, accepting the wish.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"...that... would have made things simpler," Brock admitted. "A lot simpler."
I feel funny, Jirachi announced. Like I'm granting a wish, but it's continuous...
Ah, I think I see, Mewtwo said. I believe that you are, indeed, granting a wish – the wish that you should only have to grant wishes you wish to.
"...I'm starting to get confused again," Ash complained.
"No, I think I get it," Brock said slowly. "Jirachi is constantly granting that wish that Max just made, and because of that he doesn't have to grant any other wishes unless he wants to."
That's what I said, Mewtwo sighed.
"So..." May looked between her brother and Jirachi. "Does this mean that Jirachi's staying here? Or – well, coming with us?"
I like the second option! Jirachi said quickly. Can I come with you guys?
"It does sound like a good idea," Ash agreed. "Especially if you use the chance to get training in how to defend yourself in a fight."
Awww... Jirachi sighed. That sounds a lot less fun.
"It's very helpful," Latios said. "I wouldn't have been able to help out yesterday without training – not nearly as much, anyway."
Fine...
I'm glad that's sorted out, Mewtwo said. Anyway, now you know, and let me tell you orbital mechanics is a headache and a half...
"Thanks, Mewtwo," Ash grinned. "I don't understand half of what you did, but..."
I suppose I'll have to be content with that, Mewtwo said mournfully. He gathered up his notes, and vanished with a tzzt of teleportation.
"...is someone going to explain what just happened?" Absol asked.
"You'd need one of us to understand it for that..." May muttered.
By midday, everything was pretty much sorted out. Max and Jirachi had talked about things with his Pokémon for several minutes, and ultimately decided it would be safest if Max registered Jirachi to a Pokéball which was kept on his belt.
Jirachi himself, for now at least, would be in Max's backpack whenever possible, as he was still used to sleeping a lot.
Tyranitar was informed that he'd unfortunately missed the entire battle, and on balance decided that that was probably a good thing – balance was still an issue for him, and he'd have been more hindrance than help.
But after that, and after Charizard had headed home again-
"Pardon?" Ash said.
"I'd like to come with you," Absol repeated. "If only to get some sense of how you handle the chaos that surrounds you."
She shrugged. "Besides, if anyone needs a herald of disaster accompanying them..."
"I knew this would happen eventually!" Houndoom said.
"Are you sure you're okay with that?" Ash asked. "I mean, the last Absol I met tried to jump out a window..."
"Oh, I can certainly see why," Absol agreed. "But I think I'm getting the hang of noticing the nuances – the ways it's not you that's the disaster..."
"Right," Ash said. "Well, I guess I can't complain..."
"Thank you," Absol smiled. "It'll be interesting having chaos come to me rather than the other way around..."
"Actually, I guess I should tell you part of the reason why we're so used to this, if you're going to come with us," Ash added. "It's a long story, but the short version is... time travel."
Absol blinked. "I hope the long story goes into more detail!"
"It does," Pikachu assured her. "A lot more detail. It could take quite a while..."
"Where next?" Max asked, Jirachi riding on his shoulder as they climbed the slope to leave.
"Uh..." Ash glanced at his waist.
We are headed for Slateport, Dexter noted. Stopping there before heading on to Mauville. Any further questions?
"I guess not..."
Reaching the rise, they turned to look across the vale.
"It looks like what happened yesterday didn't even touch it," Brock said. "I wonder if there's Diglett already repairing the damage..."
"I'm glad we were here," Stantler noted. "Thank you for showing me Hoenn so far, Brock."
Brock smiled, and scratched his left antler. The Normal-type leaned into the scratch for a moment, then turned and frowned.
"Excuse me?" he asked. "Are you the Flygon who helped us?"
A tree rustled, and Flygon's head poked out. "Yes?"
"Are you following us?" Stantler asked, head tilted.
"Uh..." Flygon looked evasive.
"Cool!" Stantler said. "Want to join us officially?"
The idea seemed to be a novel one to Flygon. "I could do that?"
"It's what I did!"
The Dragon-type looked vaguely disappointed. "I'd always thought it involved some kind of battle..."
"It can," Brock explained. "But it depends on personal preference."
Flygon thought that over, then hopped out of the tree – shaking loose a cascade of leaves – and fluttered down to land in front of them.
"What kind of trainer are you?" he asked.
"Who are you asking?" Ash said.
"All of you, I guess."
"Right... I'm someone who trains Pokémon for gym battles and Pokémon leagues," Ash said.
"And world saving," Pikachu filled in.
"Yeah, that too..."
"I'm kind of doing the same thing," Max said. "I'm fairly new to it, though, and Ash is helping teach me."
Flygon nodded, understanding. "You?"
"Contests," May told him. "Performance routines that look good just as much as they involve actual fighting."
"And I'm a gym leader," Brock said. "My type is being misleading."
The other three humans – and their Pokémon – looked startled.
"I know, it's supposed to be Rock," Brock chuckled. "But by now I have more Pokémon that use illusions than I do Rock-types, it's pretty much inevitable. I've also had some experience in Pokémon Breeding – you know, grooming and stuff – and I'm a Pokémon doctor as well."
"Sounds good to me," Flygon said. "No offence, but I don't think I'm one for contests or battling gyms... helping people sounds better."
"Cool!" Stantler said. "A dragon teammate!"
"That was quick," May said, blinking.
"I know, but-"
Hey, Flygon? Jirachi asked. Can Max and I have a fly some time?
"Ooh, me too!" Mawile said. "And Goomy! It'll be good practice for when he's a flying Dragon!"
"I'm pretty sure Goomy don't evolve into flying dragons," Ash protested. "I looked it up."
"Hmph!" Mawile said, shaking her head. "He'll be a flying dragon if I say he'll be a flying dragon! I know just how, too!"
"Do I get a say in this?" Goomy asked.
"You do!" Mawile agreed readily. "You get to say 'wheeee, flying is awesome!'"
"I've always found it a lot of fun," Flygon volunteered.
"Okay, let's see..." one of the Jennys said. "Two bizarre facsimile Legendaries created by a real Legendary, and four... five?"
"Six," her partner said.
"Six more Legendaries showed up to-"
"No, wait, there was the Moltres. Seven."
"Seven more Legendaries showed up to help stop it." The Jenny finished writing the slip, affixed it to the front of the folder, and put it down with a sigh. "We really need to get those special Ketchum Incident reporting slips that they started printing up in Johto..."
AN:
And that was Wish Maker.
Several new team members as a result, and Mewtwo did an awful lot of work in the background to sort out the issue with Jirachi. (The orbit he's put it in would gradually decay, but it's a stopgap measure.)
This one took a bit longer to write than previous films, so this is why nothing's been posted for Ashes in a while.
