~Pokeball Factory~
~Main Floor~
"You got anything yet, Iris?" Cilan asked as the two of them sprinted down a dark hallway with May right behind them and Abel and Max following farther back. They were currently on their way to find Ash and attempt to get him out of the dark factory. Lucky for them they hadn't seen many workers and the ones they did see weren't interested in them. They ran right past saying something about missing final call.
Iris, not stopping for a moment stuck her nose up into the air and sucked up air in a couple short sniffs. "Oh yeah, that's him! I've got the kid now! To the right." She ordered. The group of five took a sharp right into a large open room, continuing on.
"Something's off." May said. "We should've run into somebody by now." She said. "But I haven't seen a single human or pokemon."
"Brock said they'd have no reason to follow orders anymore. Their boss has no control over them now." Misty shot back.
"But we still should've seen someone by now." Max called. "Judging by the windows we saw back in the other hallway that were blocked by heavy metal, I'd guess we're in some kind of lockdown. They should be locked in too but they all seemed to have disappeared."
"I guess it is a little weird," Iris joined. "but I'm not complaining." She huffed in another bunch of the air around them. "The scent is getting stronger!"
Behind the frontrunners Abel leaned over to Max. "So... Max, your sister-" He started hopefully.
"Forget it, Abel. May's not looking for a date. She's married... to contests." Max said cutting him off.
"How'd you know what I was gonna say? You some kind of mind reader, now?" Abel asked.
"You think you're the first person to have the hots for my sister?" Max asked raising an eyebrow. "She's got an entire fanbase willing to do anything just to stand in the same room as her, I can't tell you how many guys have tried to get her affection, and failed miserably. Many of them far better looking than you." Max informed him with amusement.
"Hey! I thought we were friends!" Abel whined.
Max smiled happily. "We are. And friends are honest with each other. In my professional opinion, as her brother, you need work if you want even a shot." He said pushing his glasses up.
"Well you know, you're no stud either!" Abel shot back in defense.
"Yeah, but I have brains." Max countered. "I could produce a serum to make myself handsome in seconds if I really wanted to." The two shared a laugh together.
"What are you two so happy about?!" May asked. "Need I remind you of the situation we're in?!"
"Nothing!" Max shot back. He quickly turned back to Abel. "I forgot to mention she's a major buzzkill."
~The Heart~
"Gallade versus Infernape." Kidd observed. "I've never seen this particular match-up before. I hope Ash knows what he's doing."
"I think it'd almost be better if he didn't know what he was doing in this case." Paul added. "Do you want to tell him or should I?" Paul asked turning to Brock.
"Pika?" Pikachu asked turning to Paul. Pikachu jumped straight out of Serena's arms and scaled Ash's body before resting on his shoulder once again. Ahead of him, Infernape stood, battle ready, with both fists placed in front of him, Gallade immediately had met his stance with one bladed arm pointed towards the flaming monkey.
"Your move, Ash." Aaron smirked. "I've been so interested in seeing this Infernape of yours in action. Please..." He said sweetly. "don't hold back." He turned to his psychic student. "I'll leave this part to you."
"Ash there's something you should know." Anabel said. "Gallade can-"
"You asked for it." Ash replied apparently not hearing his friend. "Infernape use Close Combat!" Ash ordered. Infernape nodded with a grunt and leaned forward towards Gallade before kicking off using his left foot, heading straight for his opponent at lightnings pace, fists rearing. Behind Ash Paul facepalmed hard. He contemplated saying something but it was already too late. Once in range, Infernape plunged his fist forward only to be met with a single bladed arm, stopping his attack dead on impact. As Infernape's eyes widened Gallade used his free arm to knock Infernape back towards Ash, feet skidding on the floor.
"Impossible." Ash said.
"Pika! Pi?" Pikachu asked pointing at Infernape. "Pika!"
"Not at that speed, he couldn't..." Ash steeled himself and glared at the psychic type. "Try again Infernape, even faster!" Infernape repeated his actions once again, this time pushing the limits of his body's physical capabilities. He once again tried for Gallade's face, but Gallade leaned slightly to the left, causing the fist to miss him. Infernape quickly tried a lightning fast uppercut but Gallade jump back a little. As the uppercut missed, Infernape jumped into the air, doing a complete 360-degree spin and lunching his tail at Gallade, who simple leaned back as far as he could banding backwards, his knees at a 90-degree angle, narrowly missing the monkey's tail. Gallade quickly backflipped back to his feet before dropping to the ground and using Low Seep to knock Infernape off his feet.
"Psycho Cut." Aaron said calmly. Gallade nodded and raised one arm to the air. The blade on his arm flashed a purple glow, instantly sprouting in length. Gallade slammed the newly sized blade into the fire-types stomach and holding it there, causing major damage.
"Get him off of you, Infernape!" Infernape's eyes narrowed. He rested one foot up against Gallade but before he could thrust him off, his opponent jumped back on her own landing gracefully back into a fighting stance. Infernape quickly staggered to his feet, meeting Gallade's gaze with a growl.
"Infernape, you okay?" Ash asked. Infernape looked back at Ash with a smirk nodding once, but it didn't take years of time together to notice he was getting agitated.
"Ash!" Anabel yelled. "Listen to me!"
Ash flinched a little before answering. "Okay, okay, you don't have to yell at me."
"Ash he can read your mind!" Anabel told him urgently. "That's why you can't hit him!"
"So now you can read minds too, old man?" Ash said shooting a look at Aaron. "That's cheating, don't you think?"
"Not Aaron, you dolt!" Paul scolded. "Gallade!" He said pointing to the psychic-type. "Are you really that clueless?! Do you ever read up on strategy?!"
"Ash has always been one to take a more... direct approach." Dawn told him. She leaned over to him. "I'm not even sure he can read." She whispered.
Aaron scowled at Ash's companions. "Leave it to you to ruin the fun." He said. "Though it doesn't make that much of a difference. Gallade, they may know our little secret, but you can still take as long as you need." Gallade nodded to his trainer before turning back to Infernape.
"Infernape, keep a distance! Use flamethrower!" Infernape opened his mouth unleashing a spire of orange and yellow flames headed straight for Gallade. Aaron gave Gallade another nod, and he proceeded to launch himself straight up in the air, avoiding the searing hot flames. After a single flip the psychic descended towards the fire type. Infernape quickly fired off another flamethrower into the air at the graceful free faller. Gallade started twirling his body around dodging the blast once again. Once the flames had passed his arm glowed purple once more, bringing out another Psycho Cut.
Infernape did a few handsprings backwards, avoiding the potentially damaging impact. "Close Combat." Aaron ordered.
"Likewise, Infernape!" The two pokemon bridged the gap between themselves and began exchanging blows once again. Infernape went straight for a gut punch but Gallade quickly knocked the hand away. Gallade swung his left arm at Infernape in retaliation, before Infernape quickly caught the bladed arm in his hand, the two sides struggling for dominance. Gallade kept pushing but couldn't overpower the ape. Infernape reared his remaining fist back and thrusted it forward only to be caught by Gallade once again. With both of their respective pairs of arms occupied Infernape brought up his leg to kick the psychic away, but with a quick peek into the ape's mind Gallade quickly caught on and shoved up with both arms, throwing Infernape slightly off balance, before catching the leg just before impact.
Infernape's eyes widened as Gallade did a backwards flip connecting his foot with Infernape's chin knocking the ape back to his trainer, sliding on his back. "Infernape! You okay buddy?!" Infernape's eyes struggled to open as he heard his friend's call. "Infernape, move!" Ash and a few of his friends shouted. shouted. Infernape's eyes shot open to find Gallade, once again, descending down towards him with a charged-up Psycho Cut. Infernape rolled over to left to get out of the way just before Gallade could hit him. "Just play defense while I think something up, buddy!"
"Nape!" He agreed. As Gallade came rushing towards him again he jumped back a few meters and fired of Flamethrowers in an attempt to slow down Gallade, who just dodged them as they came at him. Ash was racking his brain for every strategy he could think of. He saw Infernape jump back to avoid a bright laser, but Gallade must have read his mind and adjusted for the attempted dodge, knocking Infernape back once again.
"As long as Gallade keeps reading Infernape's mind, I don't see this battle turning out too well." Brock observed.
"There's a crux in every battle strategy, it's just a matter of if you're clever enough to find it." Kidd said back. "He's gotta find it fast."
"What's he supposed to do?!" Serena said. "Not think about the battle in front of him?!" She said.
Suddenly, a light bulb the size of Groudon went off inside his head. 'Not think about it... can it be that simple? That's it!' He turned back to his friends with a smile. "Serena! You're a genius!" He complemented happily. "Infernape back to my side!" Ash called. Infernape hopped back just in front of Ash. He was panting so heavily, Ash thought he was about to pass out. "You okay?" Ash asked. "I can bring out someone else if you need a rest."
Infernape met Gallade's gaze. He too, was panting heavily. "Fern." He growled. "Infernape!"
"Listen. As long as your thoughts are clear, there's no way we can win. But if you cloud your thoughts...it'll take longer for them to decipher your every move. As your fighting focus on your attacks, but think about other things too, clutter your mind as much meaningless crap as you can without losing focus. I won't be able to call out attacks anymore, so it's all up to you!"
"Ape."
"No more standing around! Dazzling Gleam!" Gallade's eyes glowed pink releasing rays of light from them spreading all around and making their way to Infernape.
"There's no dodging this!" Ash called. "Just brace yourself!" Infernape crossed his arms in front of him and the bright light enveloped his entire body, singeing his fur lightly. The light around him faded and he slowly lowered his arms, revealing his eyes back to his opponent.
Aaron threw up an eyebrow. "Ooh. What's this? As infernape stared daggers into his Gallade, the eyes of the ape grew brighter and brighter, reaching a peak of a dark red. "Blaze? Haven't seen that in a while."
Before he could say another word, the fire atop Infernape's head roared, doubling in size. Both the ape's fists bursted into combustion and he was covered with a red aura. Everyone in the room immediately felt a wave of heat wash over them as the blaze raged. "That's a strong Blaze." Aaron said clearly impressed.
"Buddy?" Ash asked. Infernape slowly turned his head to his friend and grunted an affirmative noise at the boy. Ash smiled. "Alright, just making sure you hadn't lost yourself, there, buddy." Infernape turned back to the battle and shut his eyes. He bared his fangs and quickly compiled as many memories into his mind at once. He thought of his first day of training with Ash, the day he evolved from his Monferno stage, the treats Serena made that he loved so much, Sparring with Sceptile. As soon as he was sure he had thoroughly covered his thoughts he let out a small battle cry and charged at Gallade.
"Psycho Cut!" Aaron yelled. "And break through that shield of his!" Gallade rushed towards infernape, extending and arm. It centered itself and peeked into Infernape's mind to anticipate his move. He was met with a vision of Infernape swinging through the trees deep in a Sinnoh forest. Gallade shook the memory off and prepared for combat. Infernape leaped into the air, soaring forward, and landing in front of Gallade with a pound. Gallade immediately slashed his blade at Infernape, who easily ducked under the attack.
"Our turn." Ash said. Infernape clenched his flaming fist and slammed it up against Gallade's stomach, knocking him off his balance. He snapped his head up to see Gallade slamming an arm down at him. He let off an extraordinarily strong flamethrower, stopping the arm in its tracks and covering Gallade's entire body in flames. Gallade was knocked into the air before descending back down onto his back violently.
"Get up, Gallade. Win this, and the battle's done!" Aaron called. Gallade staggered to his feet slowly. "Close Combat, Gallade. I want this finished!" Gallade penetrated Infernape's mind once more and found a memory of Infernape hanging around at Sycamore's corral with Buizel and Staraptor. Pushing farther into his mind he saw no signs of any strategy, just arbitrary memories. "Forget the mind-reading and just fight!" Aaron called.
Gallade raised both arms up as they began to glow white, he leaned forward and pushed off with his back foot and rocketed towards Infernape. Infernape met his challenge with a smirk. He roared one last time as his entire body was covered in deep, deep, red fire and he charged forward, putting everything he had left into the attack.
"That's Flare Blitz." Serena said. "Why would he...?"
"He better hope this works." Clemont agreed. "That move can be just as deadly for Infernape as it is for Gallade."
"Full power!" Ash called. "I know you can do it!"
"Pika!" The little mouse joined in.
The two met head-on with a massive explosion covering the entire field in blinding smoke. The dust and smoke dispersed slowly as both Ash and Aaron leaned forward, eager to find out who was the victor. The first figure, Gallade, was revealed to be on one knee, bracing himself on the ground with an arm, moments after Infernape was revealed on all fours, panting heavily. His Blaze ability had deactivated and he once again was seen as a normal Infernape. Infernape and Gallade met gazes one last time...
Gallade reared his head back and fell face-first onto the floor, unconscious. Infernape took one more deep breath before resting his entire body weight on his knee. Slowly he pushed himself up onto to feet and raised a single fist into the air. "In... fern... ape." He said out of breath.
"You did it!" Ash said, rushing forward and wrapping the fire ape in a hug. "I knew you could do it, buddy!" He praised ignoring the head flames nearly reaching his face.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said resting a hand on his shoulder.
Ash backed away from the hug smiling at his friend. Infernape's eyes drooped and he fell sideways into Ash's arms. "Easy, pal. You may have just saved Kalos. I'd say that deserves some rest and a feast of kings when you wake up." Ash smiled. Infernape returned the gesture and allowed himself to be returned to his pokeball for some much-needed rest.
"Well done." Aaron said in a sweet tone, giving Ash a round of soft applause. "That was some feat. You definitely trained your Infernape right. But I hope you're ready to bring your best once again because I still have two left."
"And all I have to do is win against both." Ash said with determination.
"That easy, is it?" Aaron smirked grabbing his next pokemon.
"Not easy, but Infernape and, I hate to admit it, but Donphan, have proved you're not unbeatable."
From the entrance a familiar jungle-girl and connoisseur entered the room behind the others.
"Ash! Told you I could find him!" Iris yelled coming to a halt. She looked around to find everybody looking at her mostly glares. But at least a few of them weren't trying to assault her with glares. CIlan nodded reassuring her he never doubted her. Iris looked around to everyone staring at her. "Hi! Remember me? I feel like Ash and I left off on a bad note a while back. If you could just kindly forge a path, I'm sure we can figure everything-"
"Whatever you have to say to him can wait." Anabel said coolly. "He's busy." Iris and Cilan peered around the group to see Ash and Aaron in a staring match.
"Who's that?" Iris asked.
May, Max, and Abel rushed in afterwards stopping in front of the large conglomerate of friends, as well. "Iris..." May said out of breath. "I need to speak to your personal trainer, like, yesterday. How do run so fast so consistently?"
"What'd we miss?" Max asked, turning to Brock, knowing full well he'd probably be one of the only ones willing to speak to him. He noticed Serena standing with the group, so that meant... "Ash okay?"
"For now." Brock answered. "One more win for Aaron, and he loses. Who knows what happens, then?"
"Charizard! I need you!" Ash yelled letting a pokeball fly through the air. The pokeball opened mid-air, and in a flash of red and white the orange dragon was unleashed. Charizard looked to Aaron with disdain, flames spilling from his mouth. He roared once in an attempt to intimidate him. It didn't work.
"Oh, I'm well aware you never liked me." Aaron said looking back at him. "You're just as easy to read as your trainer." He held his arm out in front of him and opened the ball in his hand. "To my side." The ball flashed white, leaving behind nothing but a blob. A purple blob with eyes and a mouth.
"Ditto." Ash said.
"Your Charizard's brute strength will be useless in this battle." Aaron said. "Transform, Ditto!" Ditto let out a little cheer as it stretched its body upwards as tall as Charizard. From its back, two giant wings sprouted flapping once behind it. Its middle section bloated significantly as it grew its four appendages. Finally, its face stretched and conformed to the shape of its opponent standing in front of it, all the while, the pigments in its skin transforming to a bright orange. The newly formed Ditto snapped its head upwards and fired a flamethrower into the ceiling, knocking down some debris.
"So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" Ash asked. "Didn't take you for the copycat type."
"We both know that if I took your Charizard head-on, I'd lose. This way, we're even in size and strength." Aaron said. "Is a fair fight too much to ask?"
"Says the guy who had centuries to train his pokemon." Ash muttered under his breath.
~Sycamore's Lab~
Professor Sycamore, Tory, Alain, Bianca and Molly stood outside the corral where the majority of people they had rescued were gathered, awaiting rides home. Sycamore was sitting at a computer typing away as fast as he could. The doors to the corral slid open and Tucker and Lucy stepped through, joining the group of five. "Professor, how goes it?" Lucy asked. "Everyone's eager to go home. A bunch have already left. I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen."
Professor Sycamore sighed. "I'm nowhere near finished." He told her. Ahead of him a petit lady sat hooked up to his computer via many wires attached to her head with tiny probes. "I'm only one person. I haven't found any lasting negative effects from the scans on Francine, here, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any. The only way to be sure there was nothing damaging in the liquids you were submerged in is to scan each person who was inside them."
"How long will that take?" Alain asked. "We can't just hold them hostage in the corral for weeks on end. Eventually they're going to get restless and leave."
"Francine is clear." Sycamore said. "Bianca, help her out of those chords." Sycamore rested his head in one of his hands. "Hopefully the pokemon in the corral can keep the children occupied long enough for me to at least check them. If I can just get through all the young ones, I'll be able to sleep a little better." Sycamore told them. "Alain, Lucy, inform them of the situation, then bring me a couple of the young ones. Doesn't matter who. If I work fast enough, they should be out of here relatively soon."
"What about the adults?" Tory asked. "Don't we need to check them, too?"
"They're old enough, that if they want to make irresponsible decisions, then it's on them. The kids have no idea what they've gotten pulled into." Sycamore said. Lucy and Alain nodded and walked back into the corral. "Tory, I'll need Plusle and Minun to act as a sort of therapy pokemon. It's likely some of these kids won't fancy being hooked up to a computer."
"Sure." Tory kneeled down and let his two prankster partners slide off his shoulders and onto the floor. "Whatever helps."
"Molly, Tucker, you guys can go back inside. Try to keep everyone calm and patient. Sophie's working on contacting their families as well, just let them know we'll have them analyzed and out of here as soon as possible."
~Pokeball Factory~
~The Heart~
"I don't get it. Why copy Charizard? Why not just pick someone who has an advantage?" Bonnie asked turning to her big brother.
"In terms of brute strength," Brock interrupted. "I haven't seen a non-legendary or mythical pokemon with as much potential as Ash's Charizard." He told her. "But Ditto can copy Charizard's stats and his moves. It's basically the great equalizer of pokemon."
"Exactly right, young one." Aaron said. "It's the only way to give myself a chance. But now that we're here, Ditto, or should I say Charizard, take to the sky for me, will you?" The fake Charizard nodded. Kicking off the ground with its feet, it launched into the air. With a flap of its wings it came to a stop high above its opponent. Looking down it smirked at the original.
Charizard glared back and let out a deep growl. "All right Charizard, if we want to win, we'll need-" Ignoring Ash, Charizard let out a roar and took to the sky after his doppelganger firing a flamethrower at it on his way up. "Charizard!" Ash scolded.
"Ooh." Aaron said raising an eyebrow. "Looks like someone's angrier than usual. Must not be fond of shapeshifters. Try to change his mind with a Flamethrower." Aaron ordered. Ditto flew to the right avoiding the incoming flames and firing back with a Flamethrower of its own. Charizard ducked down, dodging the attack and continued on his course. Charizard fired a powerful Fire Blast from his mouth in a rage.
"Match it Ditto." Aaron said calmly. Ditto gracefully mimicked the movements of its attacker firing of its own form of a Fire Blast taking the form of a giant Japanese drawing. The two attacks collided in a giant firey battle for dominance until the two attacks ultimately canceled each other out. The resulting explosion knocked both pokemon back down to the ground as the crashed to their feet in front of their respective trainers.
"A loose cannon of your own, eh?" Aaron mocked. "Happens to even the best of us. I can help train him for you if you'd like." In response Charizard's mouth erupted into flames again, this time ready to attack Ditto's trainer.
"Charizard..." Ash said slightly annoyed. "I know this guy pisses you off, but this isn't some rookie battle. We're fighting for all of Kalos here." He scolded. "We need to work together, got it?" Charizard turned and met Ash's eyes. The flames slowly died and he let out a groan and nodded. "Good now-" Ash's head snapped away from Charizard and back to the field. "Look out!"
Charizard turned his attention back to the battle to find Ditto charging at him, arms extended. Charizard moves to the side, narrowly avoiding Ditto's pseudo-claws. "Charizard, a little help?" Ash called seeing the giant fake Dragon on a collision course with himself.
"Ash!" Serena called taking a step forward. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Clemont holding her back.
"You're no help to him dead." Clemont told her.
Charizard twirled around as his tail went up and indigo flames. Charizard forcefully knocked his powered-up tail into Ditto, knocking it of course before it could collide with Ash. Ditto flew to the side crashing up against the left wall of the room violently.
"Oooh. Dragon Tail." Aaron smirked. "Let's try that out Ditto!" Aaron called. Ditto's head snapped up to meet Charizard's glare. It kicked off of the wall and charged through the air towards Charizard, tail glowing with power.
"Don't let it hit you, Charizard!" Ash called. Charizard planted his feet to the ground and braced himself. As the large tail came flying towards him Charizard held his hands out in front of him, catching the tail mid attack. The purple flames began leaving very visible burns on Charizard's hands but it seemed to not bother the dragon too much. "Now, knock him back Charizard!" Ash called. Charizard reared back his arm before colliding it with Ditto's mid-section sending the pretender back into the wall once again, landing in the exact same spot as before. Charizard looked to his charred fingers and wiggled them around a bit.
"That looks like a really bad burn." Dawn said. "Is he gonna be able to use his hands anymore?"
"High pain tolerance." Ash said simply. "Comes in really handy. I doubt he can even really feel the burns." Ash looked at Ditto getting back to his feet slowly. "Charizard into the air. Let's finish this." Ash told him. Charizard nodded and extended his wings outward before shooting up into the sky.
"Follow him Ditto." Aaron ordered. Ditto chased after Charizard as the two circled around each other in a spiral formation, always parallel to their opponent. "Fire Blast!" Ditto's mouth exploded with flames, shooting them right at Charizard who descended under the flames with plenty of time to spare.
"Flamethrower!" Ash called. Charizard shot a horde of flames of his own towards the copycat who flew to the left narrowly dodging it and rocketing back towards Charizard. Ditto smashed into Charizard and flew him into the wall behind him with a crash. "Charizard!" Ash yelled. "You okay?!" The two charizards fell along with the debris from the crash, hitting the ground with a thud. Following their crash, a bunch of debris fell off the wall and onto the two pokemon, covering them both completely. "Charizard!" Ash called.
"Pain tolerance or not, that had to hurt." Dawn observed.
Before anyone could say another word, two figures burst out from under the debris scattering it everywhere beneath them. Both pokemon soared back into the air forcefully before charging each other again, crashing into each other with as much force as either could channel. "Charizard, use Fire Blast!"
"Ditto, Ditto!" Aaron yelled. Ditto shot from its mouth a fury of flames as powerful as it could handle, aiming straight for Charizard. Charizard glared and copied the movement of the copycat, firing off a flurry of his own. The two attacks met in-between the two dragons and exploded in a fiery battle for dominance. Both Fire Blasts raged as no progress was being made on either side.
"Charizard, overpower him!" Ash called. "I need you to give it everything!"
Charizard narrowed his eyes as the blast coming from his mouth slowly grew wider. Ditto caught on and met this by enlarging its own blast. "It's no use Ash. Ditto's ability to transform makes it just as strong as your Charizard." Aaron smirked. "They're equally matched-"
"Wrong." Ash retorted. "You can copy his strength all you want, but willpower can't be duplicated on the spot." Ash told him. Above him Charizard's blast exploded, doubling in size before easily pushing back Ditto's pseudo-Fire Blast. Charizard's blast easily overtook the rest of Ditto's attack assimilating it completely and continued on its track all in a few seconds. Ditto glided backwards in an attempt to get away, but its speed failing it, he got caught resulting in the attack engulfing it from head to toe. From inside the flames Ditto let out a cry and before the flames could completely die down, Ditto fell from its spot in the air back down to the ground, lying on its side. Ditto's wings slowly retreated back into its body, and Ditto began shrinking in overall size as well. In just a few seconds Ditto was back to looking like just that...a Ditto.
"Well that's saddening." Aaron pouted. "But not at all surprising. I never expected to win that round in the first place, anyway." Charizard landed roughly next to Ash and felt Ash's familiar glove stroking his neck. "Sadly, it all ends here. Our final battle, Greninja versus my partner, starts now and then, when I win, you'll have no choice but to give up this silly resistance game."
"Charizard, rest buddy." Ash said pointing a pokeball at him. "You were beyond amazing." Charizard let out a last quick grunt before being recalled back into his living space. "I don't know what pokemon you've got left, but it'd better be good because I still have Greninja." Ash claimed pulling out his final pokeball. "Let's get this over with. I want to get myself and my friends out of here pronto."
"Ash, my misguided friend, in your fifteen years of life you've faced more hardships and seen more phenomena than most people will in the arbitrary ninety plus years they get on this planet. You've faced Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua, Team Galactic, Team Plasma, Team Flare, bounty hunters, thieves, and would be oppressors all across the globe. You've time traveled, saved ecosystems, absorbed evil spirits, and defeated man-made monsters."
"Your point being?" Ash asked.
"All of those battles, and you've still never faced an opponent like my partner." Aaron gloated. "I'll admit you've given me a better run for my money than I thought you would, but in reality up till now, all of my pokemon that you've faced, they've just been childsplay compared to my partner. She's been with me since before I was an even an Aura Guardian."
"Aura Guardian?" Max exclaimed. "This guy? But I thought-"
"They were all dead." May finished stepping forward. "He's lying."
"Am I now?" Aaron quipped. He reached over and grabbed the staff that his lackey scientist had brought him. He twirled it around once in his hand, then pointed it towards the entrance. A bright blue bolt shot from the rock attached to the staff to the entrance where it stopped and lit up. It spread across the hole that Anabel had created covering it in a blue light before the effect faded away.
"What the-" Brock said. He stepped back to the hole in the wall and outstretched his hand. His hand came to a stop midair as he rubbed his hand to the left. "It's a wall. We're blocked in!"
"How?" Iris asked. She touched her own hand to it and felt the barrier for herself. She narrowed her eyes and shot her leg forward up against the barrier. The result backlash sent her staggering back a little as she rested her sore leg back onto the ground.
"Pure aura. Put enough of it together and it can make one hell of a barrier. Believe me now?" Aaron smirked. "I gave you all a chance to get out, but you all insisted. Now my partner and I will deliver your fates."
"If your partner's so great, why don't you let it out? Talk is cheap, you know. Let's see this magnificent pokemon." Ash said sarcastically.
"What are you talking about? I let her out long before this battle began. She's been observing you and your friends this entire time. She's right beside you, Ash. All you need to do is open your eyes."
"What are you on about?" Ash looked to his left then to his right. As he looked right he found a pair of disembodied eyes slowly open up inches away from his face. Ash let out a yelp as he fell backwards onto his back, slamming his head against the floor. Pikachu had jumped off his shoulder mid fall and landed safely on his stomach. He rested a hand on Pikachu's prosthetic back and slowly sat back up to find the pair of eyes looking down at him. "What is that."
All around the eyes of the creature, ripples were sent through the air slowly revealing a bipedal anthropomorphic figure. She was covered in various shades of black fur and had long red claws at the end of all four appendages. Her most striking feature, however, was her large red mane with black highlights running all the way down the length of her body, tied into a ponytail at the very end.
"A Zoroark?" Ash said bewildered. "Where'd you find a Zoroark?!"
"I didn't find her, she found me. She's been my partner since I was just a naive teenager." Aaron told him. Zoroark leaped into the air, soaring across the room and landed gracefully next to Aaron. Aaron turned to Zoroark and started petting her mane gently.
"You mean she's as old as you?" Anabel asked.
"She could be older. Who knows? I'm assuming you're familiar with the species?" Ash nodded to the old man's question. "Good. Then I'm sure you know how difficult this is going to be for you, Ash. Not too late to back out. We can forget the last five battles have ever happened. Last chance."
Ash got back to his feet with Pikachu hanging off his shoulder. "No. No backing out. We're winning this and leaving with all our friends."
"On the contrary, Ash. You may find you've already lost." Aaron told him.
I'd just like to say that I haven't been getting as many reviews lately. (which is fine, you're not obligated to review, obviously) I'd also like to reiterate that the only way for me to get better is for you to tell me exactly what I'm doing wrong. Even if you want to tell me you hate me and wish for me to die a fiery death tomorrow, if somewhere in that death wish you give me any criticism of any kind, I'll be grateful.