This is the second of two chapters today.


Sceptile leaped into the air, powerful legs pushing him up and over Mega Gengar's Shadow Ball attack, and swiped out with a blazing green Leaf Blade as he went.

The attack impacted, hard enough to make Mega Gengar flinch, and he lashed out with a pulse of crawling Dark energy.

Sceptile's tail whipped around, slamming into the Dark Pulse wavefront and breaking it, and he spat out his green-glowing twig for a Leech Seed as the darkness hid him for a moment.

The result was that Mega Gengar was caught by the quickly-growing roots and vines, but snarled in rage and began tearing them apart again with Shadow-Claw hands.

"What was that last bit again?" Sceptile asked, stepping back almost to the barrier.

"You have to keep the blade's energy calm and cool," Absol said. "It doesn't matter how you feel, but there can't be much contradiction in what you send it – otherwise the typing breaks down."

"You get the hang of it pretty quickly," Keldeo added. "You're already using Dark energy, you just need to make it last long enough to use."

"Right," Sceptile said, and concentrated.

Green light formed on his arm-blade, then darkened – colour and brightness leaching out of it to leave a purplish darkness.

"Right!" Keldeo said. "You've-"

"Look out!" Absol interrupted him.

Sceptile darted aside as a Shadow Ball formed, dodged it as it slashed past him, and lunged forwards with the Night Slash glowing in not-light on his right arm-blade.

Mega Gengar fired a second blast of shadow as he got within attack range, and Sceptile sliced through it with his Night Slash – making it ripple perilously, but not collapse – before jumping clear over Mega Gengar and firing it downwards into his back.

That made the Mega Evolved Pokémon very unhappy. He fired out an omnidirectional Dark Pulse, batting Sceptile higher as he flew, and then his tail vanished into the ground.

"Sceptile, he's using an attack with his tail!" Ash called. "Look out!"

Landing hard, Sceptile rolled and came to his feet – tail lashing to steady him.

There was a frozen moment, and then the tail emerged again – glowing purple, bright with the poison it carried.

Directly underneath Sceptile.

Cat-quick, the Grass-type jumped away at the very instant the tail phased through the ground surface. But it wasn't enough to avoid all the barbs, and two struck him – one on the upper right of his chest, the other on his right arm.

"Sceptile!" Ash called. "Are you okay?"

"He's poisoned!" Brock said, recognizing it as it began to take effect. "That's going to be a problem!"

"Come on, Sceptile!" Ash said. "You can do it!"


"Entrainment," Hansen said.

The Ghost/Bug type used the move it had mimicked earlier in the battle, and a pulse of light passed from it to Spiritomb.

Colonel Hansen smiled.

At last, things were going according to plan.

That Sceptile wouldn't be able to last much longer, and once he was handled then any Fairy who they might have could be sorted out by Mega Gengar... and Spiritomb would sort out absolutely everything else.

That was his job, after all.

It was a pity that the few other times Shedinja had managed to spread Wonder Guard had all been to Pokémon that had promptly been beaten by super-effective moves, though...


Sceptile touched his chest, stained purple where the poison had arrived, then looked up at Mega Gengar and crossed his arms.

"Hey," he said.

"What?" Mega Gengar asked, not having expected that response.

In reply, Sceptile's arm blades both began to glow night-black.

"Night Slash!"

Sceptile lunged forwards, jinking left and then right to throw Mega Gengar off, and slashed at his arm with a Night Slash – then another, then a third as he spun against the counterbalance of his tail.

Startled by the force, Mega Gengar drew his arm out of the ground and slammed it back in – aiming to knock Sceptile away.

The Grass-type simply knotted himself to the ground with Grass Knots, enduring the blast with a wince, and continued his attack.

Mega Gengar dove underground to escape, and his Poison Jab stabbed upwards again.

Sceptile's blades stabbed at the appendage – snagging one of the barbs, and keeping it from retracting back underground.

"Here's something a friend taught me," Sceptile said, and rammed his green-glowing tail into the ground – shattering the already-gouged stone of the plaza, and driving into the soil beneath.

Then the whole area around Sceptile heaved upwards.

"Frenzy Plant!" Sceptile announced.

The whole fury of the Grass-type attack went underground – and, unfortunately for Mega Gengar, he was stuck underground right at the epicentre.

Shaking and trembling lasted for several seconds as vines and roots wormed their way out of the ground all around the inside of the barrier, and when it finally faded Mega Gengar woozily dragged himself back out of the ground.

He met a Night Slash with both arms at once, wobbled, and fainted – flashing orange and reverting to merely Gengar.

The barrier collapsed, and Ash ran over. "Sceptile! Are you okay?"

"I think I'm about to pass out," Sceptile informed him, and did so.


Zwwom Zwwom Zwwom

"Get off my back!" the Aggron roared.

"No," Corphish replied, clinging on with all six legs and slamming his Shellsabers home in a methodical left-right-left-right pattern.


"Damn you!" Colonel Hansen hissed, returning Gengar. "Right, that's it. Spiritomb! Get them all!"

"Tomb..." the Spiritomb hissed, rising higher into the air. Then a blast of lightning crackled out, slamming into Mega Gyarados and knocking him backwards.

Mega Gyarados roared, loud and long, and charged forwards. His first Crunch hit Spiritomb, producing a crackle and a bang as the Water-type scored a telling blow.

"Entrain him!" Hansen snapped, and Shedinja fired out another converting rush of energy at Mega Gyarados.

The Water-type snorted and Crunched Spiritomb again... and got nothing.

"What?!" Misty asked. "How does giving Mega Gyarados Wonder Guard make his attacks not work?"

Mega Gyarados has Mold Breaker, Dexter said. So that Spiritomb must be under Wonder Guard too – and now Mega Gyarados can't hurt him any more.

Misty paled.

Then there was a wham as Spiritomb used another Shockwave, and followed it up with a nasty Infestation attack which drained Mega Gyarados' strength with disquieting speed.

"What do we do?" Max asked. "Wait – Cinder! Can you get him – he's still weak to Fairy attacks!"

"Right!" Cinder agreed with a bark, and charged forwards – ready to hit Spiritomb with a Play Rough attack.

She bunched, leapt, and -

-and Shedinja interposed himself, taking the Fairy-type attack as though it were nothing at all, and then slapped her down with a Bug Buzz which forced her back to the cracked stonework.

Then an Ominous Wind pulsed out from Spiritomb, hitting most of the Pokémon in the courtyard and knocking some off their feet.

"Brock, what do we do?" Stantler asked, sounding panicked. "I wasn't hit, but... I... but I feel... sleepy..."

He collapsed with a sigh.

"Hypnosis!" May said. "Was this guy saving the best for last or something?"

"Looks like it," her brother agreed.


"Right," Jessiebelle sighed.

Why was it so hard to hire good troops these days?

As if to punctuate her thought, Moltres came swooping back down from overhead with flames trailing from her feathers. The last missile detonated, and there was an ominous click from the launching pods.

"Out of missiles, ma'am!" the pilot told her.

"I can see," Jessiebelle agreed. "Fine, we'll do this the boring way."

"Hey!" Princess Sara shouted up at her. "Get out of our kingdom!"

Jessiebelle pouted. "Oh, and I was just settling in..."

Hovering down to just over James' head, the Moltres let out a cry of challenge. Her feathers blazed up, and she fixed Jessiebelle with a stare.

"Sorry, must dash," Jessiebelle apologized. "Klefki!"


"Wat's one o' dem when it's at home?" Meowth asked.

Jessie shrugged. "I've not heard of it... wait, is that it?"

"I ain't sure how dat's gonna be a threat," Meowth admitted, looking at the Klefki.

It was essentially an animate keyring, about twenty centimetres across, with about six keys strung on the ring portion of its body.

"Wait!" James held out his hand. "Remember what happened last time we decided a Pokémon looked too cute to be a threat?"

The entire Rocket cell exchanged glances.

"Run!" Meowth said, summarizing their views.

A moment later, Klefki's whole body flashed, and a series of bright pink barriers formed around them – trapping them in the courtyard.

"Fairy Lock!" Jessiebelle explained. "Like it?"

Meowth wound up and threw a coin at Klefki. The lump of metal passed through the barrier and got close to hitting, but then a Protect screen materialized around Klefki and the coin spanged away.

The next to try something was Carnivine, who lashed out with a Vine Whip towards Klefki.

The moment part of the vine impinged upon the sparkling pink barrier, a shock travelled back up it to him. He withdrew it quickly, stung, and shook it out.

"Abra?" James asked. "Can you try to teleport-"

I tried seven times already, Abra informed them, one eye cracking open for a moment. That barrier's pretty much impervious to travel – it's tracking life force, I think.

"So a Ghost-type could get through it?" Jessie guessed.

"You see any around here?" Meowth groused. "Okay, let's try dis – Dustox, can ya Whirlwind 'im?"

"Right!" Dustox agreed, beating her wings, and a swirling storm of wind began to build up. She slammed it forwards, and it coiled and twisted through the air – passing the barrier...

...and Klefki blocked it with another pulse of energy.

"Well, how about that..." Jessie sighed. "It was worth a try, I guess."

"Now, where did that silly girl go?" Jessiebelle asked.

Klefki jangled, and swooped down to pick something off the floor.

"What's that?" Jessiebelle asked, then smiled. "Ah, excellent – it's the key to the Mirage temple!"

"Dat place has a key?" Meowth asked, blinking. "Ain't it kinda... needed for worship an' stuff?"

"This is different," Jessiebelle began, then stopped herself. "Well, anyway. Enjoy yourselves! Don't let them out, Klefki."

She picked up one of the weapons left lying around, a pistol, and headed off to the temple. There was a flicker as she sent out what seemed to be her last Pokémon – a Spritzee – and then she was out of sight.

"What now?" Jessie asked, not unreasonably.

"I know!" James said suddenly. He put his fingers in his mouth, and whistled – loudly enough to make Meowth put his paws over his ears.

"What was dat for?" the feline Pokémon asked.

A few seconds later, there was a bark. Growlie came bounding clear over one of the walls, and skidded to a halt just short of the barrier.

"Okay, Growlie!" James said. "See if you can find a young girl around here – and help her stop Jessiebelle!"

"There's no need to look," Sara's voice said.

She crawled out from under one of the surviving bushes, and brushed her dress off. "I used to play there when I was younger," she explained. "Can he help me?"

"I'm sure he can," James told her.

Growlie whined.

"You need to help her, Growlie," James said firmly. "That's the best way to help us – if you can, then Sara can get that Klefki's Pokéball and return it."

Growlie huffed out a sigh, and nodded.

"Right!" Sara said. "This way!"


Lucario surged out from behind the cover of the stricken Mega Gyarados, blue Aura flaring on his paws and his eyes red with Foresight.

An Ominous Wind attack – stronger than the last – battered at him, and he crossed his forearms and raised a Protect before charging forwards again as soon as the wind died down.

"Lucario, look out – the Shedinja's hiding inside the Spiritomb!" Ash called out.

"I see!" Lucario agreed, and one of his paws went from blue to orange as a Fire Punch flashed into life on it.

Spiritomb moaned, and a concentrated blast of Psychic energy rushed down to engulf Lucario.

May gasped as the doughty Fighting-type came out the far side, and launched himself forwards – one paw flashing with Aura, the other with his Fire Punch.

Shedinja stayed hidden, so Lucario's Force Palm was the one he delivered. It hit with a crackling bang, ramming through two layers of ghostly energy to reach Spiritomb's body, and the impact knocked Spiritomb skidding backwards in the sky.

Lucario's body twisted, recovering from delivering the blow and swinging his other paw to hit with the Fire Punch, but Shedinja was too fast – slipping back and out of range before the attack could connect.

Then the Bug/Ghost was back inside Spiritomb, who rose higher into the air as Lucario fell – getting out of melee range.

Undeterred, Lucario landed with bent knees and began to build up an enormous amount of Aura – pushing it into his paws, building a great globe of it... and then fired it skywards.

"Aura Storm!"

The ground at his feet shifted, moving along the cracks and making him adjust his stance, and a blue beam of fire connected him with his opponent.

After perhaps five seconds, it faded to a trickle before vanishing entirely – and Ash groaned.

Shedinja was just in front of Spiritomb, and neither looked at all harmed by the blast.

Lucario reacted quickly, reigniting his Fire Punch and forcing a blast of flame off it towards the sky – but Spiritomb moved in the way, and the attack slid off.

Both spiral pupils of the Dark/Ghost type glowed, and Lucario staggered as he fought the Hypnosis – with his eyes open for Foresight, he couldn't use his normal way of avoiding the attack. Then his knees went, and he crumpled.

"Stay up there!" Ash called, noticing Latias and Pikachu. "Stay clear – neither of you can hurt that Spiritomb!"

Misty frowned. "Wait... I-"

Togekiss exploded out of her Pokéball. "Misty! I can fight them both!"

"Togekiss?" Misty asked. "But – I'm sure there's another-"

"I want to do this, Mom," Togekiss said firmly. She took a breath, and added something else – quieter. "Last time... this place was good to me."

"I see," Misty said. "Okay, then – and good luck."

"At last!" Colonel Hansen said. "Put that Togekiss to sleep!"

Togekiss' feathers shimmered a faint green for a moment, and then she took off in a wash of wind.

"Why haven't you put it to sleep yet?" Hansen demanded.

Spiritomb would have shrugged if it had shoulders.

"Fine, then – if it's going to be a fight! Dream Eater!"

The over-a-dozen Pokémon who had been rendered asleep by Hypnosis began to twitch, moving in their slumber as energy drained skywards to heal the damage Spiritomb had already taken.

Then Togekiss reached fighting altitude. She did a flip, and a glow lit her wings before blasting forwards as she opened the battle with a Fairy Wind.


"The gate's shut," Sara said, pushing on it and turning the latch. "She must have bolted it."

Growlie rumbled, and inhaled.

"No, don't!" she said in a hasty whisper. "That'll make it obvious we're following her."

The Arcanine nodded, and let his lungful of air out again. He cocked his head questioningly, and yipped at the young princess.

"Uh... I'm not sure," Sara admitted.

Growlie considered, then padded over to a wall. He reared up and gripped near the top with his forepaws, then gave her a come-here gesture with his head.

"...oh, I see!" Sara said. "Thanks!"

Using his furry body as a stepladder, she clambered up to reach the top of the wall.

Jessiebelle was there, just disappearing through the door of the temple. Her Fairy-type began to turn to look, and Sara ducked back down quickly.

After several seconds, she peered over again.

"I can't see her," she said softly.

Growlie nodded, and lifted one forepaw off the wall for a moment to gesture her forwards.

Sara hoisted herself up, and lowered herself down the far side of the wall before dropping the last foot or so to the ground.

"Okay, I'm over," she called softly. Dusting herself off, she headed for the gate-

There was the sound of a heavy Pokémon moving around, and then Growlie jumped clear over the wall and landed on the stone with a patter of feet.

"That was impressive," Sara complimented him.

Growlie lolled his tongue out for a moment in a canine laugh, and then they followed Jessiebelle into the temple.


Jessiebelle crouched behind the altar. "Now, where were we... there!"

She took Sara's key from her pocket, and used it to open a panel and reveal a hidden device.

"Of course, there has to be a way to get to the sanctuary without a Togepi to get a Togepi," she congratulated herself. "And that fool had just what I need..."

Taking out the icon, she admired it for a moment.

It was really quite a nice piece of work. Made of some shimmering crystal, it had a Togepi engraved on it, and was marked by eight dots in an octagon.

Smirking, Jessiebelle placed it in the slot.

There was a weighty click as some hidden mechanism actuated, and then the temple floor lit up.

"Good," she said, standing up and walking to the centre of the design.

There was a flicker, and she vanished – along with her Spritzee.

For perhaps ten seconds, the temple was silent. Then the door opened, and Princess Sara and Growlie came through looking cautiously around.

"Oh, no..." Sara groaned. "She must have stolen Father's icon from his room..."

Growlie let out a rising growl, then butted the back of her hand – pushing her forwards.

"What are you-" Sara began, looking back, then did a double take and looked at the pulsing floor.

"Oh, I see – it's still active!" she realized. "Good idea!"

Growlie nodded, barking agreement, and she steeled herself before stepping onto the design with the Fire-type.

It took a long time to build up the energy, but eventually they were gone as well with a flash.


"How long?" Phoebe called, shouting to be heard over the wind.

"About ten minutes!" Drake shouted back, his longcoat whipping in the wind.

His Dragonite dipped slightly, avoiding a cloudbank, and they swept towards the slopes of Mt. Pyre – aiming to miss it to the left, and then continue on their course towards Route 111.

"Any updates?" Drake added, looking back at his fellow Elite Four member.

Phoebe had her phone out. "Nothing since last time – I guess whatever's going on, they don't have the time or attention to keep us up to date."

Drake considered, mustache bristling. "I hope you brought the big guns, Phoebe!"

"I've got Chandelure and Mismagius, for a start!" Phoebe replied. "And I know you've got Salamence and Altaria as well as Dragonite!"


"This place always amazes me," Sara said softly, looking around.

She shook her head. "I don't see that horrid woman... can you tell where she is?"

Growlie bent his nose to the grass, and sniffed. He frowned, sniffed again, then nodded and set off.

Sara hurried to follow him, and he described a meandering path through the underbrush.

There was such a lot of greenery that neither of them could see more than ten or twelve feet, and the young princess had the sense that they weren't far behind – but then something else caught her attention.

"Wait," she said, and Growlie stopped – looking confused, then sniffing and tilting his head.

Crouching down, Sara looked under a bush. "Hello?"

"Piiii!" the Togepi underneath said, voice full of fear.

"It's okay," Sara said, soothingly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Toge... to?" Togepi asked, glancing over at Growlie.

The powerful Fire-type gave a solemn nod, and Togepi considered that for several seconds – then jumped up into the arms of a somewhat surprised Sara.

"Whoa!" the princess said, and cradled the little Togepi. "It's okay, sssh... I'll look after you. That nasty Colonel Hansen or his girlfriend won't get you."

Togepi hugged her, and Sara smiled.

Then Growlie's ears perked up, and he whirled back the way they'd come.

"What is it?" Sara asked, shifting Togepi slightly. "Is she coming?"

Growlie shook his head, and gestured for her to come along.

"Right!" Sara agreed, and lowered Togepi to the ground. "Stay here, where it's safe."

Togepi shook his head and clung on.

"You want me to stay here?"

Another shake.

"You mean – you want to come with me?" Sara asked, surprised. "Uh – okay, I guess..."

Growlie barked, and Sara hurried to follow – carrying Togepi in her arms.

It took less time to get back to the portal site than it had to get to where they'd found Togepi, but they were too late – whatever Growlie had heard was gone.

"Is she still in the sanctuary?" Sara asked, and got a head-shake. "Then we'd better hurry to stop her!"


Togekiss rolled in mid-air, snatching herself away from the barrage of Shadow Ball attacks that both Ghosts were firing at her.

"I miss being immune to that," she said ruefully, then pitched up in a half-loop and performed a wingover.

The leading edges of her wings glowed, and she fired a blast of Fairy-typed energy forwards – augmenting it with a swirling wind that whipped it into a wide cone.

Shedinja darted forwards, absorbing the brunt of the attack, but a little of it bled through to hit the Spiritomb despite his best efforts.

Togekiss wasn't done. She fired a second blast of Fairy Wind, then dipped and pulled up again.

Air Slashes curled off her wings, aiming for Shedinja, and the Pokémon fighting her switched places – the Air Slashes hitting Spiritomb and dissipating, before a Night Shade lashed out at her.

Togekiss dodged, which led to her only taking a glancing hit as the Night Shade crackled down her side. She bit back a cry of pain, pulled up in a high Immelmann turn, and her wings glowed with steely light.

"That's not going to help!" Hansen crowed, and neither of his Pokémon bothered to dodge.

Rolling, Togekiss avoided a Shadow Ball and aborted her attack run to switch approaches.

Once more, a Fairy Wind built on the leading edge of her wings. This time, she held it and held it, dodging and weaving through the attacks Spiritomb was sending her way, then turned abruptly in and fired the wide Fairy-type attack.

Shedinja darted out to block, and Togekiss smirked.

He'd notice an oncoming Air Slash. But this wasn't Air Slash.

Inhaling briefly, Togekiss let out a blast of rose-coloured flame that licked across the space separating her from Shedinja.

"Sacred Fire!"

The attack roared, and Shedinja turned around to try and dart back inside Spiritomb for protection.

As he reached it, just ahead of the wall of flame, Togekiss used her other trick. A blast of Fairy Wind.

The attack smacked into Spiritomb, knocking him backwards... but didn't touch Shedinja at all.

The Bug-type was exposed only for a moment. But it was enough, and the stricken Husk Pokémon fell from the sky in a trail of rosy fire.


"All right, Togekiss!" Misty called up. "Great work!"

"Bet that was a surprise!" Brock smiled.

"Okay, love!" Misty added, cupping her hands around her mouth. "You can damage him now!"

"I know!" Togekiss called back down, evading a Dark Pulse from the vengeful Spiritomb. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll do just that!"


"Where's she going?" Sara asked, panting. "This is right back along the same route from before!"

Growlie shrugged, the motion flowing into his movement, before turning back to look at her again and wait for her. She could almost see his frustration with their slow pace, and blushed before redoubling her efforts.

"Toge-piiii..." the little Fairy-type said, and she adjusted her grip to not jostle him so much.

They reached the archway that led back into the square, and paused long enough to hear Jessiebelle talking.

"So, James," she said, smirking. "How have you enjoyed yourself in there?"

"Skank," the other woman – Jessie – muttered, loudly enough to hear.

Sara tried to stop Growlie growling, gesturing to him, but he didn't pay much attention.

"Sadly, I'll have to take my leave," Jessiebelle went on. "It's a pity, but it seems my beau is having a little trouble... ah well, I only wanted him for his country anyway."

There was the sound of an engine starting.

"At least I have time to take care of you," she added, and there was a metallic klik sound.

Growlie bolted around the corner, snarling, and Sara followed in time to see the Arcanine's jaws reaching for the gun in Jessiebelle's hand.

There was a bang, a yelp, and the weapon clattered to the floor.

"Lock him!" Jessiebelle ordered quickly, and a shimmering shield of Fairy-type energy slammed down around Growlie.

"Damn mutt..." the woman added, rubbing her right hand with her left.

"Are you okay?" James asked, worried. "Where did the bullet go?"

"Look at his side!" Jessie said, and pointed.

Sara looked as well, and saw a thin crease of ruffled fur on his haunch. By the looks of things, the bullet hadn't drawn blood... but it had certainly made a mark, albeit one that would fade.

Found it, a mental voice announced. Something pinged off the stone floor, and then a squashed metal shape floated up. It hit a stone.

"That dog has too much good luck," Jessiebelle grumbled, as her helicopter got louder. "Well, I'll just leave you all to it. Klefki, keep them in there until I've escaped, there's a good schnookums."

Growlie shook his head, refocused, and launched a surge of flame at Klefki. The Fire Blast hit a Protect and blazed off, harmlessly, and Klefki giggled with a key-jangling sound.

"To-ge, to-ge..."

Sara looked down at Togepi.

He was standing on her arm, waving his fingers back and forth and chanting rhythmically. "To-ge, to-ge, to-ge, to-ge..."

"Ain't dat a Metronome?" the talking Meowth asked.

"I suppose it must be," Sara agreed, remembering Togepi knew that move. "What are you trying to do?"

"To-ge, to-ge-to-ge... piiii!"


Faerie-fire crackled around Togekiss' wings, and she pulsed out a Fairy Wind as Spiritomb lashed at her with a Night Shade.

The attacks crossed, and it was the Night Shade which gave way. Spiritomb wailed as Fairy-type energy washed over him, hampering him, and Togekiss was past and away before he could attack again.

Distant again, Togekiss turned to get a good look at her opponent.

She was getting close... but then, she was getting tired as well. Sure, she could damage her opponent, but he'd been boosting himself with Ominous Wind before the battle had even started.

Togekiss decided to push a bit harder. She let the fairy energy gather on her wings again, then brought it in to saturate the whole leading edge – forming a crackling, sparking layer that was thick and unstable, and which spread further until it coated every feather she had with restrained energy.

She dove, the wind whipping at her feathers, and Spiritomb howled triumph as she got closer.

A quick pulse refreshed her weakening Safeguard, keeping his continual Hypnosis from affecting her, and then she was in range of his Shadow Balls.

Left-right-dodge and pull up – down-and-

One of the attacks burst too close to her, ghostly energy snatching at her feathers, but she pushed past and plunged on – into the body of Spiritomb.

At that moment, she released the Dazzling Gleam.

A bright pulse of light pierced the darkness that was Spiritomb's form, and a cacophony of cries crested before slowly dying down as the shadows dissipated.

Curls of darkness flowed sullenly back into a Pokéball at Hansen's side as he stared.


"Well done!" Ash called up, as Togekiss drifted wearily down. "That was really cool!"

"Yeah!" Brock agreed. "Great work!"

"Thanks," Togekiss smiled wanly. "But I had to do it."

Misty coughed.

"...I did have to do it, right?" Togekiss asked, with a sinking feeling.

"You wanted to," Misty said. "But there's a much easier way we could have handled it.

Togekiss touched down, and her wings slumped. "There was?"

By way of reply, Misty held up Seaking. "She knows Soak. I remembered just before you went up there."

Everyone else stared at her, especially Pikachu.

"You mean you could have just done that and none of this would have been a problem!?" Pikachu demanded.

"It was a backup plan," Misty defended herself. "Besides, I trusted Togekiss."

"I can't argue with that..." Togekiss giggled.

She looked around. "Uh... what now? Should we stop that guy getting away?"

The trainers whirled, to see Hansen sending out a tough-looking Pidgeot.

"Latias, Pikachu, quick!" Ash said. "Stop him!"

Hansen's Pidgeot took off with a clap of wings, and ascended like a homesick meteor. Latias frowned, and set off after him with Pikachu clinging to her neck.

"Can they catch him?" May asked.

"I don't know..." Ash admitted. "I'm not sure which is faster..."


Arceus turned his attention from the ongoing battle for a moment.

It had been a truly epic conflict, so far. Lasting days for each battle, as the hero and his three Legendary companions battled the most powerful Dragon-types that existed.

They were, at the moment, handling Reshiram. And Zekrom. And Kyurem.

All at once.

But despite that, Arceus focused on something else. A flicker of awareness from outside their little world, the first he'd had in a while.

Well, it's not like Giratina has a copyright on it...

"Ultimate Space-Time Barrage!" Dialga and Palkia chorused, and fired a blast of rent spacetime at Reshiram.

Arceus floated a few inches into the air, so the resultant massive earthquake didn't wrong-foot him.

Now, how should I start when it's my turn? wondered The Creator. Perhaps a Judgement barrage? I'm not exactly going to need to keep this continent in one piece when I'm done...


Sara watched as the light of the Metronome flashed on Togepi's fingers, wondering what it was going to be.

Togepi's head glowed blue, and he vanished in a flicker.

"What-" Jessiebelle blinked. She looked at Klefki, who was safe inside a Protect augmented by his own kind of special shielding.

Then Togepi materialized inside the shielding.

Behind Klefki.

At about fifty miles an hour.

The impact of what had in fact been Shadow Force hit the Fairy-type hard enough to stun him, and all his barriers – Fairy Lock, Crafty Shield and Protect – collapsed at once.

This did not bode well for either Klefki or Spritzee, both of whom promptly got completely flattened by the teams of the Rockets, and then Meowth threw a brace of coins through the helicopter engine and it coughed and aborted takeoff.

In the sudden silence, a faint voice could be heard.

"...to-ge-to-ge-piiiii!"

Then Jessiebelle vanished, looking faintly surprised as she did so.

"What happened?" Jessie asked, blinking. "I thought normally you're at least supposed to go blasting off..."

Sara's new friend rubbed his head. "Owww... that Klefki was hard..."

He shook himself, and frowned. "Wait, was that – it was! That was my cousin!"

"What was?" Meowth asked.

"That voice – it was my cousin! She's really kind of horrible!"

"Figures," Meowth sighed. "Da whole Mirage Kingdom and she finds da one nasty Togepi in the bunch..."

Sara collected up Togepi, and turned to the Rockets. "Thank you so much for helping to save our kingdom – we're in your debt!"

"It wasn't much, really..." James began.

"Shut up!" Jessie hissed.

"I'm going to ask my Dad to give you two a knighthood," Sara decided. "I-"

A boom interrupted them, and they looked skywards to see what was happening.


"It's no good!" Latias said, as they climbed higher into the sky. "He's getting further away from me – he's been resting all this time, and we were fighting that Golurk..."

"Right!" Pikachu replied, running along Latias' neck to stand on her forehead. "Thunder!"

The Electric attack snapped out, but missed – by now the Flying-type was too far away for him to aim well.

"Awww..."

Pikachu sighed, and sat down – still on her head. "Worth a try."

There was a whoosh, and both Pokémon looked sideways with some surprise.

"What's going on?" asked a burly man on a Dragonite – that Pikachu suddenly recognized. Drake!

"Stop the guy on the Pidgeot!" he shouted.

Drake looked lost.

His Dragonite, however, did not, and shot off at the kind of speed that very few Pokémon could match – heading straight for the Pidgeot, and gaining.

"...well, I guess we should head back down," Latias said eventually. "Was it me or ws there a girl on the back of that Dragonite too?"


"Very good work, everyone," Phoebe said, some minutes later, as Colonel Hansen was loaded into the first of a number of police vans. "I wish we could have gotten here sooner – it sounded like you had a lot of trouble."

She nodded to Misty. "It's good to see that Lance has chosen some competent team members for the Kanto-Johto Elite Four, as well!"

"Thanks," Misty smiled. "But everyone was important, really."

"I see." Phoebe returned the smile. "I shouldn't be surprised, not when one of the others is Ash Ketchum – we've heard about him already down here in Hoenn!"

"Why am I not surprised..." Max muttered.

"That was really fast work!" Ash said. "I mean – it can't have been more than half an hour?"

"It was probably a bit longer than that counting travel time," Phoebe shrugged, then sighed. "Like I say, we should have been quicker. As it is we only arrived in time for cleanup."

"I actually think he planned for you to turn up," May said.

They looked at her.

"Hansen, I mean," she clarified. "Or, rather, he had a plan for dealing with you. That's what the Mega Gengar, Spiritomb and Shedinja were for, he'd put anything you did have that could take care of the Spiritomb in with the Mega Gengar... and anything else would be helpless, with that Wonder Guard."

Phoebe was silent for a moment. "Yes, I can see that," she said, after some consideration. "I'd certainly have trouble with it, though I think I could sort it out."

She shrugged. "Ah well. I suspect I'm going to get to know some of these Ghost-types very well, I've already been asked to help rehabilitate them..."


"Fine specimen!" Drake delivered his verdict, nodding at Flygon. "Not too battle-ready, but there's more to even Dragons than battle!"

"Yeah," Brock agreed. "I know what you mean."

Flygon smiled at him. "I like him," he said. "What do you think he thinks of Goomy?"

"Good question," Brock agreed, and relayed it.

"Oh, you've got a Goomy?" Drake asked, eyebrow raised.

"No, Ash does," Brock clarified.

"Well, they're a worthwhile Pokémon to raise," Drake judged. "They're the most powerful groundbound Dragons that aren't Legendary, at least when fully evolved."

Flygon frowned. "Really?"

Brock relayed that.

"Garchomp's as powerful – more powerful if they go Mega – but they can fly, if they're trained right," Drake informed him. "Mostly ground-effect, but it counts."

"I see."

The Ground/Dragon type shrugged, with a flip of his wings.


Pikachu jumped down into Ash's arms. "Ash!"

"Hey, Pikachu!" Ash replied, smiling. "Looks like you and Latias were a good team!"

"Yeah," Latias agreed. "It's good to have a passenger who can attack behind me..."

"Glad to help," Pikachu replied, then turned back to Ash. "You know who I spotted during the battle?"

"No," Ash admitted. "I'm guessing it wasn't someone who was here?"

"Nope – I saw Moltres," Pikachu told him. "I'm pretty sure it was James' one."

"...huh."

"I know," Pikachu chuckled. "I didn't expect them to be here either."

"Well, I guess..." Ash looked around through closed eyes. "Wait, I think that's them. Come on!"

"What's that?" Max asked, turning away from a discussion with Guy.

"Jessie, James and Meowth are here," Ash replied. "I guess they were in the neighbourhood?"


"So, what brought you guys here?" Ash asked.

"Well..." James shrugged. "The Boss was worried about something, so we came over here to see what it was..."

"Is that how it works?" Ash asked, curious. "That seems a bit of a coincidence."

"Imagine our surprise when it turned out that it was Jessiebelle," Jessie said, with a scowl.

"Jessie who?" Ash frowned.

"...now, dis could mean one of two tings," Meowth observed. "Either Ash never heard of her, or he just plain don't remember..."

Pikachu shrugged. "Don't ask me."

"So, what happened to her?" Misty asked. "Did she end up blasted into the sky?"

"No, actually," James said, sounding troubled. "We've got no idea. She vanished in a teleport – which seems to have been due to a Togepi."

"She stole a Togepi?" May asked, shocked.

"No," Meowth replied. "An' dat's the worryin' bit."

"Excuse me?"

They turned, to see the princess standing a little hesitantly at the edge of their group.

"I was wondering," Sara began. "It was mentioned by Elite Four member Phoebe that you," she indicated Ash, Misty, Brock, May and Max, "helped to defeat Colonel Hansen at the same time as Jessie and James handled-"

"An' me!" Meowth interjected.

Sara covered her mouth for a moment. "Yes, and Meowth – handled Jessiebelle. Since you've all done our kingdom a service, then I am going to ask my father to honour you – our saviours."

"What sort of honour?" Max asked.

"Well..." Sara frowned. "I was thinking a knighthood each might do. Do you think that would do?"

A small hand tugged at her sock, and she bent down to pick up Togepi – missing the surprised reaction of the friends.

"...well, I didn't expect that," Brock admitted. "That's a great honour."

"That's settled, then," Sara said. "I'm sure father won't mind."


Sir Aaron panted, hands on his knees, and tried to get his breath back.

After so long training here, and all the battles, on top of his experience in his old life and the removal of several physical considerations in this altered world... it was quite unusual to be so exhausted.

"Sorry," Dialga said, sounding genuinely contrite. "I didn't see you there."

"It's okay," Sir Aaron assured him. "No harm done."

"What happened?" Giratina asked, drifting down. "I missed it."

"I managed to finally knock out Kyurem," Dialga explained. "Unfortunately he landed on Aaron."

Giratina nodded. "That does explain the crashed Kyurem."

"Handled Reshiram!" Palkia called. "Did you know that if you turn someone into a localized gravity centre while they're over a lake, they get absolutely soaked?"

"I think we could have worked that one out ourselves," Sir Aaron said. He stood with a grunt. "Okay, what now?"

"Well, we already fought Zygarde... I guess that means the only one left is..."

Dialga fell silent.

All four of them looked skywards, and saw Arceus in glory resplendent with his Plates rotating around him.

Then, sixteen of them shimmered for a moment and vanished. The final one, the purple-russet Draco Plate, drifted towards him and merged with his body.

His golden ring became purple, as did his hooves.

Put it this way, Arceus observed. Consider this a final exam.

Judgement.

"Aaron, get on!" Dialga said, and Sir Aaron jumped to do so – getting himself up on the back of the Dragon-typed Legendary as the meteors screamed in.

Then there was a blur, and they were over a smouldering wasteland.

"I jumped us through them!" Dialga explained.

Aaron nodded, understanding. They'd skipped the actual moment of impact itself...

Space tore with a bass rumble as Palkia fired at the draconic Arceus overhead.


AN:

Let's just say that Hansen really came loaded for a big fight.

He did not quite go big enough.

Meanwhile – a Togepi who's shown up before in the show, though not in this fic.