This is the second of three chapters today.


Ash sent out Suicune and Entei. "Great to have you guys here," he said, smiling.

"Indeed – though I could wish it had been at the time we'd thought it would be," Entei noted. "What's the full situation..."

He stopped, staring.

"Jirachi called it Primal Reversion," Ash explained. "They're doing something funny with the weather – more than normal, I mean – and they're way stronger."

"Ho-Oh told us about that," Entei said, frowning. "But I didn't think we'd ever see it."

"Where's Raikou?" Suicune asked, looking around. "He was with you, right?"

Ash tapped his belt. "Here – he's out cold at the moment. He took one of those powerful attacks Groudon has… Precipice Blades, I think."

Suicune winced. "Entei – stay clear of Kyogre's Origin Pulse, that'll knock you out too by the sound of it."

She took a deep breath. "Right. I'll focus on Groudon. Keep me covered, brother."

"Of course," Entei agreed, and the two of them set off at a lope.

"Why aren't you having me go back out?" Pikachu asked.

Ash reached up, feeling Pikachu's panting had already slowed down. "I want to make sure you're ready for the fight," he explained.

"You did take quite a battering when Pidgeot was knocked out of the sky," Brock told the Electric-type. "And-"

He broke off as Mega Steelix powered forwards, ignoring Primal Groudon and driving into the surf where he hit Primal Kyogre with a powerful Stone Edge.

Primal Kyogre retaliated with a wave-slapping Surf which drove the Steel-type bodily backwards, and he shook his head before advancing out again.

"Sorry," Brock added. "It's just… you know, seeing your Pokémon taking risks like that..."

"I know," Ash agreed. "I..."

He paused. "I wish-"

"Ash!" Max said, before he could finish.

"Oh – sorry, Jirachi," Ash agreed.

After a moment, he frowned. "Wait… Jirachi, how much teleporting can you do at once?"

Uh… not sure, Jirachi replied. I… no, I don't know. I think I can do several Pokémon at once, but not sure if I can do this many…

"I don't mean everyone on the island," Ash explained, speeding up in his excitement. "I mean – I could wish that all my Pokémon that can help come here, right now!"

I think I can do that! Jirachi agreed. Great idea!

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Brock asked.

Ash was silent for a moment, looking out at the fighting.

There was a blaze of red light as Lugia used Aeroblast, struggling to keep it on target on Primal Kyogre despite the roiling wind and rain, and then had to abandon his attack to shield as the Water-type used Hydro Pump.

Suicune and Entei ran in, the Fire-type taking an en echelon position ahead of and to the right of his sister, and then they switched places as Suicune sprinted out onto the water.

She turned, using a wave for a high climbing skid, and then cannoned several tonnes of water at Primal Groudon.

There was an explosion of steam as the water struck his side, and Suicune was blasted backwards by the attack. Primal Groudon tried to follow up with a Solarbeam, but Entei darted out onto the water to shield his sister and let her get back to her feet.

A moment later, Lance's Dragonite took an Origin Pulse. It shielded, using Barrier to block most of the attacks before they arrived, but some slipped through and danced along his flank.

"Yeah," he said. "I think it's the best idea we've got, anyway."

"I think you're right," Brock admitted.

They glanced down at Absol, who nodded confirmation. "It's not a bad idea," she clarified. "It's a little hard to tell beyond that at the moment, though..."

Ash turned to Jirachi. "Okay – I wish that all the Pokémon I have who can help out here came here!"

Jirachi's tags began to glow.

Uh… he said, uncertainly. I think this might be a big one…

There was a bright flash, and the Psychic-type fell out of the air. Max caught him before he hit the ground, and listened for a moment.

"I think he's okay," he said. "Just out cold."

What just happened?

Ash looked up, and blinked. "Huh. I guess it worked."

Whatever it was, Mewtwo nodded.

"Hey, I was nearly ready to come over!" Charizard said, shaking his wings out.

"What's going on?" asked Keldeo, shaking his head and yawning. "Wait – Ash? How come I'm – and why-"

He scrambled to his hooves. "Did I just get teleported while I was asleep?"

"Okay, here's the short version," Ash said. "Groudon and Kyogre are fighting and we need you guys to help out!"

That's the very short version, Mewtwo admitted. And I can see why...

He spread his arms, and floated into the air. What do we do?

"I'd kind of like to get them to stop fighting," Ash said. "There's no way this is healthy for Hoenn."

"It certainly sounds like it," Sceptile agreed, rolling his neck.

He glanced at Meganium, who looked somewhat surprised to be there, then nodded. "Right. Who goes after which Pokémon?"


That sounds the most sensible division, Mewtwo agreed after a moment of thought. I appreciate your assigning some of us to handle targets of opportunity.

"Right," Ash nodded. "Now, uh… I'm not sure if this is going to work."

He took his staff down off his back, looking at it in case it gave him the answer he was after. "I mean, I don't know if anyone's tried doing this many before..."

"It'll be fine!" Latias said, working out what he meant and holding up her Mega Stone. "Let's do this!"

A roar sounded from the direction of the battle, and she winced. "As soon as possible."

"Right!" Ash agreed, and closed his eyes to concentrate.

Latias. Latios. Heracross. And Absol.

Not the only four Pokémon he'd Mega Evolved before, but the four for whom he had Mega Stones – and the four who he'd done it for the most.

The twin siblings, kind and loyal. Heracross, sturdy and tough. And Absol, whose first Mega Evolution had been so touched with unexpected difficulty.

They were all different, even the twins, and that was fine. Ash's Pokémon were all unique, which was what made them such good friends.

When Ash opened his eyes again, his staff was emitting a faint thrumm-mm-mm and glowing bright gold with the power rushing through it.

"So that's what you did with the Rainbow Wing I gave you," Ho-Oh mused, as Mega Absol stretched her wings and Mega Heracross spun his forearms back and forth a little.

A bright orange flash came from off to one side, and Mega Arc let out a bark. "I'll help out too!"

"Good idea," Ash agreed. "Hey, Arc – do you think you can keep Pikachu out of trouble?"

"I don't need to be kept out of trouble," Pikachu muttered. "But fine, I'll take it."

"Just – stay safe, okay?" Max asked. "Don't get right in front of Groudon or something."

"Right!" Arc agreed.

Mewtwo shot off at speed, deciding to begin the battle, and volleyed a Psystrike directly towards Primal Groudon. It formed a visible ripple in the air, blasting through the falling rain and making it glitter in the harsh sunlight, and then hit Primal Groudon hard enough to make it skid a few inches backwards.

"I guess that means we attack?" Mega Latias asked.

"Yeah!" Keldeo agreed, stamping his hoof and transforming to Resolute Form with a flash of gold. "Come on, guys!"


Putting action to words, Keldeo charged out over the forest. His hooves hissed as he used Hydro Pump to rocket through the air, and before long he was on the beach and galloping forwards.

Ignoring Groudon as per the plan, he crouched slightly and sprang out over the choppy, rain-lashed sea. Another long burst of Hydro Pump sent him skimming over the water, and he slashed his horn at a large incoming wave to blast a hole in it and pass through the middle.

His horn lit up with a bright green energy as he charged up a huge Leaf Blade, and then brought his head down with a shout. "Yah!"

A green slash cut its way through the air, hammering into the side of Primal Kyogre's body, and she responded by thrashing the water with her flippers – knocking Keldeo backwards, making him work his hooves crazily before restabilizing. Once he was out of immediate danger, though, the Water-type just went right back in.

He saw the Origin Pulse grow and then explode towards him in a shower of thousands of blue streams, and he gritted his teeth before launching a huge Secret Sword directly at the oncoming streams.

Keldeo quickly relit his horn with Sacred Sword, and then the next few moments were a frantic blur of parry and dodge. He blasted into the air at speed, gaining more time to block, and then plunged back into the water to drive the last few strands of blue energy off.

As the Fighting-type burst back out into the air, he saw a Luster Purge flash down from overhead and hit Primal Kyogre on the midpoint of her upper back. A Mist Ball followed, drifting lazily down right up until the moment it exploded, and Keldeo added to Primal Kyogre's problems with a second Leaf Blade.

All that combination of powerful attacks seemed to do was make her angry, and rain drummed down all around her.

Keldeo made ready for another attack, face set, and then his ears popped as a massive concussion rolled out across the water.

"I guess that was Mewtwo?" he said, glancing up to locate the Psychic type. "I guess so..."


"Over there!" Pikachu said, clinging to Arc's mane. "Next to Entei!"

Arc complied, and the two Electric-types came to a sudden halt between the Fire-type and his sister.

"Arc – Pikachu!" Entei said, pleased to see them. "I see we have reinforcements!"

"Yeah!" Arc agreed, tail wagging. "How can we help?"

"Pikachu?" Suicune asked. "Were you managing to harm Primal Groudon earlier?"

"Yeah," Pikachu said, after thinking about it for a moment. "I don't know how much, but I did see him flinch."

"Good," Suicune pronounced. "Then you can help us by taking the point position in one of our attack formations. Right, Entei?"

Entei nodded a confirmation.

"Your job," he aid, addressing them both, "is to charge right at Primal Groudon and deliver a flashy, loud attack which means he focuses on you. Suicune will use a Hydro Pump from your left, and I will be attempting a Solarbeam from the right."

"Got it!" Arc agreed, wheeling. "When?"

"Now!" Suicune said, starting forwards, and the others followed her.

Ten paces in, Suicune split off to the left – aiming for a pile of rocky detritus which would give her cover as she charged in.

Twenty paces in, Entei turned right and headed for one of the patches of particularly intense blazing sunshine.

"Right!" Pikachu said, rings forming and rotating next to him – one set to the left, then another set to the right as he drew on Arc's own considerable electrical power. "Just keep me charged, Arc, I'll do the attack!"

"Right!" Arc agreed.

Pikachu's cheeks sparked brighter as they powered across the intervening distance.

"Now!" Suicune called.

"Volt Crash!" Pikachu said, and both sets of three rings locked together. They blazed forth two massive, thick bolts of lightning, which hammered into Primal Groudon's knees and made him roar with fury and shock.

"I think it worked!" Arc said, skidding around in a turn as Primal Groudon's head swung around to focus on them.

A moment later, both Hydro Pump and Solarbeam fired out from the two Beasts. The attacks hit either side of Groudon's head, but didn't seem to actually faze him much at all – and then Groudon launched out a massive roaring column of flame.

"Left!" Pikachu told Arc urgently.

"My left or your-" Arc began, then felt the heat of the oncoming Fire Blast and dodged to his left with a whimper.

The flame seared a broad path in the forest behind them, then tracked around – missing them, but hitting Mega Steelix as he gathered for another attack and making him bellow in pain.

Pikachu clung on to Arc's mane, watching in astonishment as Mega Steelix crumpled.

"What happened?" Arc asked. "I missed it!"

"Just don't stop moving!" Pikachu summarized, as Mega Steelix vanished in a flare of red light. "And really, really try not to get hit!"

Flygon came buzzing through the trees, locating the Steelixite and taking it back to his trainer, and then Pikachu was focusing on Primal Groudon again.


Ho-Oh's wings boomed as he broke through a rain band. A flash of rose flame boiled off his feathers for a moment, blasting away the worst of the deluge, and he looked down at the battle below.

Flashes of attacks sparked, bright enough to be seen despite the scattered glare as bright sunlight hit wind-lashed spray, and the rainbow-winged Pokémon nodded to himself.

He sped up, tail beginning to trail a stream of light, and Ho-Oh traced a broad circle around the battle – flying inland far enough to encompass Primal Groudon's position, then out to sea further than Primal Kyogre before looping back around.

As he completed the circuit, he joined up with his own rainbow trail. The light grew a little brighter, and he accelerated further – banking constantly, following the rainbow light.

The weather was a complete mess, with sunlight brighter than anything anyone – Pokémon or human – normally ever saw, combined with rain that was already washing away the fringes of the beach and carrying detritus out to sea.

What that meant, though, was that Ho-Oh had plenty of material to work with.

After completing his third circuit, he turned in and spread his wings. Holding them for a moment, he beat them strongly – once, twice, thrice.

Each beat made the area encompassed by his rainbow trail smaller, and as the trail contracted the weather came with it – the sunbeams frozen inside a sphere of boiling air which contracted until it was smaller than the Legendary Pokémon himself.

Giving it one more massive, air-swirling wingbeat, Ho-Oh slowed and looked it over for a second.

Then he looked down at the battle, picked his spot, and launched down a curtain of rose-coloured flame.

Ash's various other Pokémon looked up, saw what Ho-Oh was doing, and got out of the way.

Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre roared, advancing towards one another – and Ho-Oh fired.

The enormous, swirling, multi-element Weather Ball shot downwards like a cannonball. It hit the shallow sea about midway between Water-type and Ground-type, and exploded – sending out a blast of water, which attenuated and thinned until it split.

Then the caged sunlight rushed out, hitting both Primal Legendaries with brilliant white light as if a dozen Solarbeams were stacked on top of one another.


Sceptile lowered his arm, blinking away the flash-blindness.

By the looks of things, the attack hadn't actually knocked out either Legendary, but they looked like they knew they'd been hit.

As Keldeo, Mega Latias and the rest charged back in, Sceptile glanced back at his watching trainer.

Seeing the green shape by his side, he smiled – then concentrated, and his arm-blades took on a brilliant green-blue sheen as he activated Sacred Sword.

Leaf Blade formed on top of them, and he crouched to get better grip. The Grass-type focused, taking a deep breath, and charged straight for Primal Groudon.

The ground creaked and groaned beneath him as Primal Groudon slammed his tail into the ground. Sceptile jumped left-right-left to get from stable block to block, then coiled like a spring and jumped directly for Primal Groudon's tail.

He slammed both blades down as he landed, ready to run up Primal Groudon's tail the same way he had to the Steelix he'd fought back in the Valley of Steel.

It was at about this point that Sceptile discovered a salient point. Primal Groudon was not just a Ground-type – he was a Fire-type as well.

Sceptile made it three steps before the heat burned through his Leaf Blade attack, and an explosion of fire and fury blasted him clean off the Primal Legendary.


"Sceptile!" Meganium called, vines half-up as if she could catch him. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Ash replied, frustrated. "I – I've no idea. Maybe it's the whole… sunlight thing?"

Mawile tugged on his trouser. "Ash?"

Ash looked down. "What is it, Mawile?"

Mawile swallowed. "I'm… scared. Really scared."

"I think we all are," Ash said, picking her up. "We've got to trust our friends, though."

"Yeah," Mawile agreed, head-jaw nodding along. She took a slow breath, then smiled a little as Meganium squeezed her hand with a vine.


Sceptile thrashed his tail, adjusting his angle as he fell back into the trees.

He drove both clawed feet into the ground, pushing himself up with his tail to stop himself rolling, and leaned forwards to dig his forelegs into the ground again.

Plumes of dirt and soil skidded up as he slowed, until he eventually came to a halt some way from the beach.

"Ow," he summarized, shaking his head and getting back to his feet.

"What happened?" Lucario asked, appearing out of the trees.

Sceptile blinked. "Shouldn't you be-"

"I was trying," Lucario replied. "It's hard to get an opening, and by the looks of things it would have been painful even if I'd tried."

"Yeah, he's… I don't know, Fire type or something," Sceptile confirmed. "Well, I can't help here – if he's Fire type most of my moves won't work very well."

A storm of wind blew at the trees next to them, and both seasoned Pokémon looked up.

Lugia's wings beat at the air, slower than it should take to hold him up. We have a plan, he announced. Sceptile – jump on, Dragonite and I will help you attack Kyogre.

Sceptile nodded, leaping high enough to land between Lugia's fins. "Let's go, then."

Do you need a lift, Lucario? Lugia added, still hovering there.

"No, I'll make my own way," Lucario replied. His paws began to glow blue as he spoke, and he broke into a jog which quickly accelerated to a run.


Charizard rolled, snatching his tail flame away from a near-solid sheet of rain, and wondered what his next move should be.

Ash had told him he could Blast Burn any time he wanted for the whole battle, but the tricky thing was finding a place to use it. He'd already tried for Primal Kyogre once – sticking to the lance form since the bigger versions would be near impossible to use in this howling storm – and the attack had seemed to do almost nothing whatsoever to her.

Probably all the water.

After a moment's further consideration, Charizard decided that he should try using it on Primal Groudon instead. The Ground-type might be an easier target, and the localized weather around him certainly looked better – so, with that in mind, the big dragon cupped his wings together and dove.

At full speed, he covered the distance to the ground in a scant handful of seconds, and opened his blue-lit mouth as he levelled out about a hundred feet above the water.

"Blast Burn!" he roared, spitting a solid lance of flame almost too hot to have a colour. It seared a line across the space between him and Primal Groudon, blowing spray and water drops to steam and then plasma as it passed, and hit the Legendary hard enough to produce a glowing splash on his chest.

Charizard pulled up, away from the blue aftershock of his most powerful attack, and grimaced as he saw red light shrinking the splash even as he watched.

That could get annoying…


Lucario's paws dug an inch into the hot wet sand, using tiny pulses of carefully-measured Aura to firm up the soft material as it took his weight and prevent it from sinking further.

He was poised for an instant between long, leaping strides, and as he left the recoil from his take-off sent a shower of sand blasting up into the air.

Halfway through his dash from the smouldering treeline to the beach, Primal Groudon noticed. A blast of flame almost immediately stabbed out at the speedy Steel-type, and Lucario jumped to get over the first one before raising his hands and lashing out with a Vacuum Wave which cut the second one in half.

As he landed, still sprinting, Primal Groudon stamped his foot on the ground. There was a tremor which nearly wrong-footed Lucario, and a succession of pillars blasted out of the ground.

Lucario jumped again, landing with a burst of Aura on the side of one of the Precipice Blades. He took a moment to steady himself as it rushed towards one of the others, then jumped free just before they slammed together where he'd been crouching.

The Fighting-type jumped to another pillar, then a third – higher up each time – and poised on the tip of the final pillar before kicking off and diving straight for the water.

Flame blasted around him, and Lucario whipped an ice-glowing fist around to activate a truncated Flying Dragon tornado with the energy. The winds tugged at his body, pushing him a little faster, and he hit the crest of a wave with an almighty splash before tobogganing down it as though it were solid ground. Reaching the trough, he straightened up and began to spring across the water.

A wham sounded from behind him as Mega Latias distracted Primal Groudon. Then there was a whack, and a glance back told Lucario that Mega Latios had finally zagged when he should have zigged.

The Dragon-type was still in Mega form, but he looked dazed, and his sister quickly got him out of the firing line before he took another attack.

Turning his attention back to his target, Lucario ran up the crest of another wave. Surfing down the back on blue-glowing paws, he began judging the timing of his attack on Primal Kyogre.

He wasn't the first. As he watched Sceptile appeared, blades blazing green, and kicked off her left fin towards Lugia.

The moment his feet left her fin, Primal Kyogre lashed out – Origin Pulse surging out in all directions and battering Lugia, having the luck to pick a time his shields were down so he could catch Sceptile.

The Psychic-type gave a mental shout of pain, flinching backwards, and hit a wave with a splash.

Lance's Dragonite came in to take his place, blowing a plume of spray off the waves with sheer speed and catching Sceptile with both forepaws, and Lucario spotted Lugia switching to Twister and drilling into the water to recuperate before the view was obscured by a curtain of spray.

Crackling lightning began to build on Lucario's paws.

Pikachu may not have been able to get out here at the moment, but he could certainly sub in.


Mega Absol paced steadily along the shoreline, feeling at the probabilities all around her.

There were a lot of pitfalls in this particular battle, and it was making her mildly nervous. She would have to be careful how she acted, to try and keep things on the path with the least chance of things going horribly wrong.

The Dark-type took a long breath, and let it out.

Time.

She crouched down and sprang. As she kicked off the ground, her wings snapped out – and, in the swirling, roiling air, they could hold her up so long as she aimed for the invisible upcurrents formed by Primal Groudon's intense heat.

Mega Absol did not have to rely on sight.

Her horn flashed, then grew to an intense blackness which seemed to be more than just an absence of reflected light.

The rushing river of will-be submerged her, like a branching tree with all too many twigs and branches cut off abruptly by disaster, and Mega Absol embraced it. The information that had once overloaded her ability to cope instead became the only thing which let her cope, guiding her every action with a full understanding of where it could and would lead.

Mega Absol banked around, diving towards Primal Groudon, and swung her horn with a shout. The blade detached, forming a curving scythe of darkness, and when it connected it made the Fire-type roar and wheel to face her.

Rolling away from a Flamethrower and using her wings to catch the roiling hot air it produced, avoiding a cloudburst which might have slicked up her fur and made it impossible to stay up, Mega Absol kept Primal Groudon focused on her with another attack – this one a Leaf Blade fired backwards from her tail.

Almost at the same moment as the Leaf Blade hit, so did another of Pikachu's outrageous Electric attacks. The two actually hit so close together that Primal Groudon didn't notice the separation, and concluded that Mega Absol must be responsible for the whole thing.

The practical upshot of that was that Mega Absol ended up flying through a barrage of ballistic rocks. She ducked one, sliced another in half with a Leaf Blade from her main horn, and kicked off a third to knock it so it just grazed one of the second wave.

The resultant crack and spinning fragments passed all around Mega Absol without even one of them connecting, and she gave a fierce grin.

That's what being a chance-dancer was all about!

She did an aileron roll, horn blazing blacker, and inside the depths of the blackness something else appeared. Like the sheen on a soap bubble, there was the faintest hint of something white inside the blackness.

"Sacred Sword!" she shouted, sending the bolt of energy directly at Primal Groudon.

It hit him, blowing a red line into his craggy hide, and Mega Absol contrived to be on the opposite side of a large chunk of rock at the moment Charizard fired a Blast Burn.

When she emerged from the far side of the rock, her Sacred Sword was blazing again – and everything else about her was just a little… indistinct.

One of Primal Groudon's attacks passed so close that by rights it should have knocked her out of the air, and the shadowy haze collapsed – then Mega Absol turned in and charged directly at the incandescent Continent Pokémon.

Primal Groudon's arm came back, and then punched out at her.

Mega Absol maintained her course, following the path she knew was the right one. That didn't mean she didn't give a mental grimace-

The attack connected, knocking her downwards into the ground and rendering her heavily winded.

"Absol!" Suicune called, sprinting over. "Are you okay?"

Mega Absol's response was to stumble to one side, avoiding a Precipice Blade which blasted out of the ground next to her, and smirk.

Then several tonnes of water cannoned directly into Primal Groudon, making it through his heat-shield and connecting with a mighty hiss, and a high-speed Mega Gyarados followed it in a great big Waterfall attack.


Meganium looked up from healing Raikou at the gasp of shock. "What is it?"

"What just happened?" Brock asked, knowing no more than she did about why Primal Groudon was currently struggling with a very persistent Water-type Mega.

Good question, Dexter admitted. I'd just about concluded that Primal Groudon is immune to Water attacks, with how many have not connected.

"Wait, I recognize that Gyarados!" Ash said. "That must mean-"

"Hi!" came a very familiar voice.

A young woman in an Aqua uniform, impressive rank badges and short, bright orange hair landed next to them with a faint oof of effort.

"Misty?" Ash said, astonished. "How come you're in Hoenn?"

"I've been here for ages, Ash!" Misty replied. "I was even at Mount Chimney!"

"Were you the one with the Milotic?" Brock asked, as Togekiss flew down to land beside them. "I wondered how come you were on holiday for months."

"Yeah, Lance asked me to help out," Misty confirmed. She sent out Milotic with a flash, and stroked her neck. "I'd try to help with one of my other Pokémon, but I don't think even Kabutops would do well out there."

Brock was about to reply when the ground shook harder than anything that had hit them yet.

"What was that?!" Max asked.

Mawile was the first to spot it. "Look! Up at the mountain!"


The effect of Primal Groudon's presence on the ground around him was considerable, heating up the ground below as well as intensifying the sun above.

There was only one place nearby which was weak enough that this power could really be expressed, and the rain that had run down into it from Primal Kyogre's constant storm just added a different dimension rather than suppressing it completely.

With a deafening BANG, the volcanic cone at the centre of the island began to erupt. It started with an awe-inspiring blast of smoke and pressure which sent ash and rock flying over half a mile into the air.

The ground jumped, and a moment later the pressure wave carried through the air to the Pokémon and humans below.

"OW!" Mawile yelped, hands going to her ears. "My head hurts!"

Meganium exhaled sharply, sending out a cloud of golden pollen, then whipped it up with a weakened Petal Dance and whirled it around everyone.

"Thanks," Ash said absently, staring up at the eruption as it got underway.

Smoke, ash and dust blasted skywards in a continuous stream, red-lit from below when Primal Kyogre's clouds shaded it from the sun, and there was a continuous roar like a freight train that just went on and on and on-

Set up! Ethan announced from behind them, and a bright red blaze of light flashed out to intercept an incoming chunk of rock.

As it rained gravel, the Porygon2's beams flashed out again, and the recovering Latios added his psychic powers to keeping them safe from the barrage of rocks.

"What's going on, Brock?" Misty asked, sending out Starmie to help as well. "You know this kind of stuff."

"Volcanic eruptions like this are dangerous," Brock said, looking back at the large crowd of sort-of-arrested Aqua and Magma personnel being looked over by May and Lance. "I don't know how bad this is going to be, but… it's definitely going to be pretty bad."

There was a wet slap as something landed next to them.

Max bent down, looking at it, and found some silty gunk. "Ew."

"That's rain clogged with ash," Brock explained. "I guess it's from where the eruption's running into the clouds."

"Is that bad?" Max asked, rubbing it off his hand. It stuck and smeared like greyish mud, and he wiped it on the wet grass to finish cleaning his fingers.

"Well, it's better than it falling dry," Brock shrugged. "Because if it falls dry it's kind of bad for your lungs. But it's going to kind of set into a hard… almost a rock, really."

"I don't like it here," Mawile said, looking up at the eruption as thunder began to crackle from within the eruption cloud.

The train-roar of the vent stuttered for a moment.

Brock went pale. "Uh-oh..."

He shaded his eyes, looking up the mountain, then exhaled with relief. "Phew – we're safe for now."

"I don't like the sound of that, Brock..." Misty said.

Brock pointed.

They watched as what looked like a cloud came storming down the mountainside, some way off the nearest part of the cone to them.

It moved incredibly fast, and… oddly. As though it was boiling up from something on the ground, surging along below the line of the trees and then rising to blast them away.

Several Flying-types flew away from it, most heading directly up.

"Are there any Pokémon in the way?" Max asked.

Ash closed his eyes and looked. "Uh… I don't think so," he said. "The trees are empty. I guess they all got scared off by Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre."

"What is that?" Meganium asked, swallowing.

"It's a pyroclastic flow," Brock explained. "Look!"

With a start, the friends saw what he meant – the flow was plunging over a small headland and entering the sea.

"But… that was only about thirty seconds," Max said slowly. "How fast was that moving?"

"A pyroclastic flow is kind of like an avalanche of rock and gas that moves at half the speed of sound," Brock told them, as the smoke began to clear and reveal the scorched and blackened ruin that had been left of that part of the island. "We need to get off the island before one comes down towards us."

"How?" Misty asked. "I mean, I'm pretty sure Corsola and Kingdra can tow a couple of us, and so can Milotic – but there's loads of Aqua and Magma people, and..."

She shrugged. "Most of them aren't that bad. They're kind of… nuts… but only a few of them have really hurt people. And no-one deserves that."

Ash frowned. "Uh… huh, that's a tricky one. Jirachi? Can you teleport anyone?"

Still not time to get up yet… Jirachi yawned.

"Uh… guys?" May called. "You might want to see this."

They looked.

A great big cargo plane, all four rotors at full power, came thundering along just above wave-top height.

It pulled up slightly as it crossed the coastline, triggered eight powerful jets with a roar, and slewed around to hover about a hundred feet overhead before slowly lowering itself towards the ground.

"Prepare for rescue!" called a familiar voice.

James just looked completely stumped.

"...oh, forget it!" Jessie said with a sigh. "Alright, twerps, all aboard!"

"I've never been so glad to see them," Brock remarked.

"There's no way we'll fit everyone, though," Max warned.

"Actually, I had an idea about that," Ash said, and expanded out a Premier Ball.


Aha! Mewtwo said to himself, watching as Misty's Mega Gyarados slammed in another powerful attack. He's timing it so he can ride in the waves of Primal Kyogre's weather. That's what I was missing.

He raised his arm, ready to fire down a Psystrike, and then vanished with a swirl of red light.

A moment later he appeared again, looking very cross with his hands on his hips.

"Uh… sorry," Ash said, wincing. "But it was really urgent!"

I suppose it would have to-

Mewtwo stopped.

How did I miss the ongoing volcanic eruption?

Brock shrugged, still keeping an eye on the mountain.

"We need your help to deal with all the Aqua and Magma guys over there," Ash explained, as Max carefully carried Jirachi up the ramp into Team Rocket's aircraft. "We're going to need to be nearby so we can return anyone who gets knocked out, but they won't fit..."

I see. Yes, I'll handle it, Mewtwo assured him, raising his arms.

There was a flicker, and Team Magma and Team Aqua vanished.

"Uh..." May said, clearing her throat. "You got Lance too."

Oops.

Lance appeared again, looking a bit confused.

"Where did you go, sir?" Misty asked.

"A very large locked jail cell with all the Team Magma operatives," Lance explained, shaking his head. "It was quite cramped."

"Guys!" Brock called, running back over. "Trouble!"

Ash took one look upslope at the oncoming pyroclastic flow and turned, grabbing Mawile and returning both Latios and Meganium. "Come on!"

He waited at the base of the ramp for Brock, May, Misty and Lance to get onboard, then jumped as Meowth rammed all ten throttles past the redline.

The huge aircraft keened, vibrating as it hit full emergency power, and bulled its way into the air. They were a hundred feet up by the time the flow of hot rock and ash passed by below, and everyone winced as a pulse of hot air slapped them in the face.

"Okay, we're up!" Meowth called from the cockpit. "I'm turnin' dese things down and goin' to the pistons, 'cause otherwise we're gonna eat too much ash!"

Below them, the ashcloud reached the sea.


"Yar, your elbow be in me face," Matt muttered.

"Well, your face is in me elbow," Shelly replied.

"Shut up!" called Archie. "No more complainin', no more gripin' and no more shovin'! Understand me, boyos?"

There was a pause.

"When do we get to go to the bathroom?" someone asked plaintively.


Outside the sardine-can cramped jail cell, the head of the Mossdeep Police Department glanced at one of her assistants.

The other Jenny shrugged. "I don't know either, boss."


"We need to stay pretty close," Ash said, holding on to the door rail with one hand. "Misty, Max and I need to be able to recall Pokémon if they're in trouble."

"Right," James agreed from the cockpit.

"Yeah!" Meowth agreed. "Dat we can do!"

The ailerons shifted slightly as they began to orbit, keeping a wide berth from the battling Primals and their opponents.

"Okay, our turn!" Jessie added, taking one of her Pokéballs and one of the ones that belonged to James. "Go!"

Wobbuffet materialized on the door lip. "This is just plane great!" he said cheerfully.

Brock groaned.

Jessie pushed Wobbuffet unceremoniously out of the plane, then sent Moltres out as well. The Fire-type dropped lower, wings snapping out and blazing with flame, and snagged Wobbuffet out of the air with her claws.

Misty joined Ash at the door. "Gyarados!"

Ash followed her gaze, and saw the Water-type had been caught in a two-handed grip by Primal Groudon. The powerful Fire-type slammed him into the ground, then shook him until he went limp and began to revert.

Misty pointed her Pokéball, and returned him with a flash of red light.

With his most annoying foe defeated, Primal Groudon roared in victory. Charizard stormed him with Draco Meteor, and he endured the attacks before replying with a bright wall of flames.

Moltres dropped Wobbuffet right into the stream, and the spectators watched in surprise as a blue stream of Mirror Coat smacked into Primal Groudon – driving him a few inches back.

The doll-like shape of Moltres dove, snagging Wobbuffet out of the air just before he hit the water, and turned to apply the Psychic-type to one of Primal Kyogre's attacks.

Then their view swung away from the fight.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ash asked.

"We gotta do dis or we're gonna fly into dat ash cloud!" Meowth replied, as they banked around in a complete half-circle. "Go open da other door!"


AN:

Yep, that's a full scale volcanic eruption. Kind of phreatomagmatic, because of Kyogre and stuff.

On the plus side, Team Aqua and Team Magma got put in prison.

...oh, yeah, and the Misty thing. That's been planned for a long time.