"I can't believe you made us listen to the entirety of both Fragile and Close to the Edge during the intermission," Arceus deadpanned to the prosecutor floating on the other side of the defendant's table.
"Oh, you love it, you know you do," Mew shot back before turning up to Keldeo. Jack just blinked and looked up at Arceus, who's only response was a sigh. Mew cleared her throat and looked up at the judge, still seated up on his pedestal overlooking the courtroom.
"Now, your honor, the prosecution would like to call its first witness-"
"Witness!?" Keldeo cried out. "How can you have a witness for being a rip-off?"
"Um, character witness, your honor?" the Psychic Type muttered quickly. Keldeo sighed and bit down on the gavel.
"Very well," he mumbled before bringing the hammer down. "Proceed."
"Thank you, m'lud."
"OBJECTION!" Jack shouted, throwing a pointed finger in Mew's direction. The Legendary crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow while Keldeo turned his attention to the lawyer.
"On what grounds?" the trainer's face dropped.
"Um..." he ran a hand through the back of his mess of blond hair. "Slander and libel, your honor?"
"We haven't even called the first witness, yet," Mew deadpanned.
"Objection overruled," Keldeo affirmed, this time settling for slamming his hoof onto the table. The judge then looked back at the prosecutor. "Proceed."
"Very well," a small, sly grin slowly crept up Mew's face at the approval. Jack gulped and silently envied Arceus' lack of a face. Mew then reached underneath her robes, and with the flick of a wrist had produced a size-appropriate duel disk.
"Now!" her voice had suddenly changed to a man's. "It's time to du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-du-"
Her head then whipped back to the prosecutor's table; the player still seated on it was playing, but the needle had clearly scratched part of the record. Mew scowled, and with a simple flick of the wrist had put it back on track.
"DUEL!" Mew then drew the top five cards from her deck as the disc flared life, taking a quick glance at them before letting the insane grin across her face grow even wider.
"I summon Giratina, the Pokémon that comes from Shadows, in attack position!"
"So you did come to interfere..." Jack heard Arceus mutter as a shadowy, bleakly liquefied Giratina slowly coalesced into the witness stand, red orbs peeking out at the courtroom.
"Enough with the Generations references already!" everyone's attention was unexpectedly drawn to the corner of the juror's box with Zinnia's sudden outburst.
"She's just salty about being left out," Kyurem muttered to Genesect as Steven beckoned his fellow juror to sit back down. Jack, doing his best to ignore the chaos around him, quickly looked down at the hand of cards that had suddenly materialized on his side.
"Except I play my trap card, Objection!"
"You better have a good reason this time," Keldeo muttered.
"I do, your honor..." Jack began slowly, throwing his palms down on the defendant's table and leaning forward. "On the grounds that the state's-"
"What states!?" this time the shout came from Palkia. "We're in Bournemouth for my sake! Why are we even using the Unovan judicial system here!?"
The Spatial Legendary was answered by sharp hushes from all sides. Palkia just grumbled something and slumped back in his seat after a harsh glare from Arceus. The courtroom's attention returned to Jack when he coughed into his hand.
"That the prosecution's witness is a juror!" Jack finished with an air of quiet vindication. Mew just crossed her arms.
"Your honor," she began, and the lawyer got the feeling he had just played right into her paws. "The defense is indeed correct; Giratina is already a juror. And as this is already a special case and we've established we're not operating under normal court procedure - nevermind the mob outside - I see no reason why we can't continue to allow an already established exception."
"Well," Keldeo grumbled. "Since we can't make up our mind on what judicial system we want to use, I'll permit it."
"Thank you, m'lud," the New Species Pokémon said while Jack buried his face in his hands. Mew then turned to the Renegade Pokémon.
"Now, you are Giratina, third son of Arceus and ruler of the Distortion World?" Giratina shot Arceus a smug smile before replying.
"I am."
"Now, how would you describe your relationship with the defendant?"
"We're estranged," the Dragon said without a moment's hesitation. Mew nodded.
"I see. And would you say you're not on the best of terms?" Giratina blinked in confusion.
"Yes," his eyes narrowed a hair. "Our interactions are usually restricted to Christmas Day, where he and that pink rat usually rip off one thing or another."
Mew's face dropped at the jab, and she tugged on the sleeves of her court dress to keep from gritting her teeth.
"And what," she began in the most level tone she could. "Did they rip off?"
The Psychic Type could see the edges of his beak-like mouth tilt up towards the gold mask. Giratina was clearly enjoying seeing her squirm.
"Well, for example, three holidays ago they decided to blatantly parody multiple Glory For Sleep fanfics. Two Christmases ago they not only ripped off MST3K but then proceeded to pantomime Seinfeld. Then there was last year's Christmas with Siskel and Ebert."
Red slits glanced down from the ceiling to land squarely on Mew. "In fact, I would say that both are culpa-"
"No further questions," Mew quickly cut in, now twirling the tail of her wig around a finger. Giratina smirked, crossed one of his ragged wings over his midsection in a mock-bow, and then slowly faded away to his seat in the juror's box.
"I feel the oddest sense of pride right now," Arceus muttered to no one in particular.
"With that out of the way," Keldeo clapped his hooves together. "The show must go on."
"Aren't we supposed to be able to cross-examine the witness?" Jack asked incredulously.
"We're out of time for the skit," Mew said right before Keldeo brought down his gavel.
"Bailiff, if you could."
"Yessir!" Hideyoshi snapped to attention and motioned for the trio on the court floor to follow.
"So, Arceus, Mew and Jack Storm walk into a courtroom-" Mew was cut off by a quick glare from Arceus before she could continue.
"This is already torture," the Alpha said as he started up the computer and the two took their seats. "I don't need you making it worse."
"Anyhow," Arceus cleared his throat. "This week on Naruto..."
"Are you ready, Jack?" Nicholas said. "Because I'm about to break that winning streak of yours."
Jack grinned; Nicholas was still Nicholas, and Jack was grateful for that. "You and what army? Katana, you're up!"
"Scatterbolt, go get 'em!" Nicholas said, lobbing the Ampharos's Pokéball onto one of the floating platforms.
"Let's show them how quickly we can get knocked out!"
"BATTLE BEGIN!" called the referee.
Almost before the referee had finished, the arena exploded
"Even the arena couldn't handle your awesomeness," Mew said solemnly in Jack's direction. The trainer just rolled his eyes.
into a blur of action; surprisingly, to Jack at least, Nicholas beat him to making the first move. Scatterbolt unleashed an intensely powerful Discharge attack which turned the entire battlefield into a minefield, as arcs of electricity crackled through the air and the water; Katana responded quickly with Agility, but she was still hard pressed to dodge the electrical bombardment.
Realizing that she couldn't stay on the defensive forever, Katana decided to take the initiative;
"Not like I need to worry about the terrain or anything," Arceus deadpanned.
with a speed that would've even made Aura proud, Katana lunged in with Quick Attack. Scatterbolt saw the attack coming, but couldn't move fast enough to do anything about it; Katana slammed into him, knocking him flying.
Scatterbolt fell into the pool with a resounding splash, and before the Ampharos could recover Katana fired an Air Slash after him; the second attack landed another resounding hit, and Scatterbolt was plunged underwater.
Katana knew that if she tried going after the Electric-Type, it wouldn't end well; so all she could do was wait for her opponent to resurface. She waited, and waited, and waited…
Katana would've scowled, if her face had been built for such an expression; as it was, she simply let out an exclamation of impatience. Scatterbolt wasn't surfacing, in fact she couldn't see him anywhere.
"He couldn't have been knocked out by just two attacks," Katana thought to herself.
"You're right," Jack suddenly replied telepathically, causing Katana to shudder slightly. "He's definitely planning something; if you sense anything out of the ordinary, fly up. Fast."
"Yeah, I know," Katana replied. "Just… Could you please not do that while I'm trying to concentrate?"
"Oh, yeah; sorry," Jack said apologetically.
Katana was about to respond, when her combat reflexes kicked in;
"Something was about to happen that threatened their winning streak," the Alpha shook his head. "As Scatterbolt was about to try the sound strategy of knocking the platform Katana was over, and of course we can't allow one of Jack's Pokémon to be knocked out of the gate."
Barely a heartbeat later, the platform she'd been standing on was knocked to the side like a hockey puck on ice;
"Eh," Mew said with a dopey grin, only for Arceus and Jack to shoot her a glare.
As it was, Katana kept the presense of mind to fire up and launch another Air Slash straight downwards; right where she figured Scatterbolt should be. Her attack collided with a brilliant ray of multi-coloured light, a Signal Beam technique, and the two canceled each other out.
"Nicholas has gotten strong indeed," Jack commented for the benefit of the readers. "He didn't give Scatterbolt any audible instructions about that little trick; he just said 'Iron Tail', and Scatterbolt knew to knock the platform out of the way. And by the time Nicholas called for Signal Beam, Scatterbolt had already prepared the attack. They must have practiced that manoeuvre, or something like it, until they knew it off by heart. Either that, or…"
Or Nicholas had some sort of psychic connection with his Pokémon just like Jack himself did; although, Jack guessed that Nicholas probably didn't realize it. From extensive research on the subject, Jack knew that weak, latent telepathic connections weren't uncommon between trainers and their Pokémon; not enough for them to consciously transmit thoughts back and forth, even if they tried, but enough to make them uncannily good at anticipating each other.
"Nicholas must have spent his time between appearances in Ransei," the Alpha grumbled. "Anyways, as Scatterbolt is actually holding its own against Katana, Jack switches out to someone who can more easily deal with the oddly amphibious Electric Type."
"Solomon, you're up!"
[Solomon (Kadabra) Age: 18. Ability: Magic Guard. Moves: Teleport, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Sleep Talk, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam.]
"Let's not forget Leaf Storm, Hydro Pump, Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, Venoshock, Flash Cannon, Confuse Ray, Toxic, Hyper Beam, Roar of Time, and it's secondary ability of Wonder Guard, because why stop at knowing more moves than conceivably allowed?" Arceus deadpanned. He blinked when he took a look over his shoulder - not feeling any pair of eyes boring into him - and resisted the urge to sigh when he saw Jack fervently jotting down notes.
Before Jack could so much as call out a command, Nicholas once again beat him to the punch; Scatterbolt resurfaced and fired a Signal Beam at Solomon, but the Kadabra simply teleported out of the way.
Scatterbolt tried to dive back underwater again but Solomon re-appeared levitating above him, stretched out one hand, and fired an Ice Beam straight downwards; the attack hit Scatterbolt square on the head and froze the water around him solid.
Scatterbolt was caught by the ice in a rather undignified position; lying horizontally, half-submerged in the ice with his rear end sticking up.
Mew started snickering.
"I don't know about Solomon, but apparently Scatterbolt knows Moonbla-" she was cut off by Arceus slamming a rubber Torchic into her face.
Solomon's eyes glowed with purple energy as he used Psychic to lift Scatterbolt, iceberg included, up into the air; Scatterbolt desperately attempted to break the ice with Iron Tail, but it didn't work.
Solomon flicked the Ampharos-icle up in the air above him, turned his head upwards to look at his opponent, and then unleashed a powerful Flamethrower at him; the attack hit the chunk of ice, and Scatterbolt, full on. The collision raised a large cloud of steam which obscured the results; Solomon could feel that the iceberg had vaporized, leaving only a slightly crispy Ampharos behind, so he released his telekinetic hold and let Scatterbolt drop into the water to cool off.
As Scatterbolt fell however, his eyes opened and his tail started to glow; spinning in the air to gain momentum, Scatterbolt attempted to bring an Iron Tail attack right down on Solomon's head, but was met with a Psychic hand that swatted him out of the arena and into the wall of the colosseum.
"Sorry pal, you're not staying in my story if you won't go down in two moves," Arceus began in his impersonation.
Nicholas recalled the battered (and fried) Ampharos
Mew slammed a paw down on a bell she had materialized. "Order up!"
"Strike, go get 'em!" he shouted.
The recently evolved Ninjask appeared in a flash of light and hovered above the water for a second. Then, it was off; it was fast, but nowhere near fast enough.
"Yes, one of the fastest Pokémon in existence is not fast enough," the edge of Arceus' eye twitched.
Solomon readied a Flamethrower attack, intending to lay down a blanket of fire across the battlefield, but Strike beat him to the punch.
"Sorry about this," the Ninjask said as he blinked into existence behind Solomon, and landed a super effective Feint Attack which knocked him into the water.
"Make up your mind!" Arceus sighed. "Anyhow, as Strike actually does more than just deadlock with Solomon and almost knocks him out, Jack decides to not only rip off Ash, but more or less uses his legally questionable powers to win the match by cheating."
Then, he got it; it was something he'd seen some of Ash's Pokémon do on multiple occasions, and it seemed to be singularly effective. But best of all, neither Strike nor Nicholas would see it coming. Solomon quickly shared his idea with Jack.
"It's so crazy," Jack said with a grin, "It just might work."
With a new plan, Solomon conjured up a Flamethrower in each hand; Strike saw it and moved in to attack preemptively, just as Solomon knew he would. With Jack providing the split-second timing required for the plan to work, Solomon started building up as much telekinetic energy as he could; waiting for the perfect moment.
Strike blinked out of existence, almost definitely to make another sneak attack from behind; Solomon couldn't see him, and he wasn't trying to. That was Jack's job. Jack had extended his aura over the entire battlefield; he could sense every move the Ninjask made, the instant before he made it. Was it cheating? Probably. Did he really care? Not a bit.
Jack shrugged. "Hey, I admitted it."
Arceus' head whipped around with enough force to throw the lawyer back against his chair. Jack had the sudden sensation of his heart jumping into his throat when the Alpha's gaze landed on him.
"You know," the Legendary hissed. "If you ever get defrocked for this, I'm certain you could make a fortune in the casino industry."
It took Solomon roughly 0.09 seconds to register that Jack had given the order, and a further 0.13 seconds to carry it out
"And another 0.0845327139a7420 seconds to realize Jack had accidentally teleported them into a creepypasta."
When Jack gave the order, Solomon released the telekinetic energy he'd been building up all at once; but not at Strike, that would be too obvious an attack. He'd sense it coming and avoid it. No, Solomon directed the energy and the twin Flamethrowers he was holding; fanning them up into a roaring inferno and then spinning them around himself like a cocoon. Or a tornado. A technique Ash seemed fond of calling a 'Counter Shield'.
Jack's timing was dead on; the blast of fire came around behind Solomon at the exact same moment that Strike did, crashing into the unfortunate Ninjask's left side. Strike was instantly swept up by the fiery vortex, and tossed around like a leaf in the wind for several seconds before Solomon let the whirlwind die down.
No sooner did Solomon release his control over the fiery tornado than Strike was right back on the offensive, diving down at Solomon with another Feint Attack; but this time Solomon managed to teleport away in plenty of time. Strike had taken a lot of damage from Solomon's attack, and the Ninjask seemed to be slowing down.
Strike tried one more time, rushing in with Quick Attack; compared to his former speed, it looked like he was flying in slow motion. Solomon saw it coming from a mile away and intercepted it with a powerful Thunderbolt, and then a blast of Psychic. Strike was down for the count.
"You know, why don't you just save us all time and your Pokémon the trouble and just jump into the action yourself? The League clearly doesn't care whether or not the most important event in Sinnoh is home to cheaters," Arceus' eyes bored deeper into Jack. "Or maybe you can just forgo the formalities entirely and just use a Jedi Mind Trick on everyone?"
"To be fair, Arcy, he is trying to show off his powers to draw out his attacker," Mew quickly jumped in. Jack gulped when she was thrown into the wall next to him.
"And to show off his powers, he uses them in the most nondescript manner possible to get away with cheating," Arceus let his telepathic grip loosen and turned back to the computer. "And now on to the thrilling conclusion of watching the brawl between Meta Knight and Jigglypuff."
Solomon was breathing heavily as Nicholas recalled Strike to his Pokéball; the last battle had been a hard one, and the Kadabra had only won by a matter of milliseconds. Solomon wouldn't be able to go another round, and both he and Jack knew it.
"Oh, thank goodness he made it out without a single casualty," Arceus' eyes narrowed. "We wouldn't want to actually engage the reader to a battle between Jack and his rival, now would we?"
"Katana," he said, tossing her Pokéball onto a platform, "You're up."
"Take one for the team so I can't be accused of winning without any losses!"
"Sunspot," Nicholas said, "Go get 'em!"
The Infernape appeared in the customary flash of white light, and looked at his opponent with a grin.
"Huh," Sunspot said with a shrug. "And here I was hoping I'd get to fight Jason right off the bat; but I guess he'll come out after I've taken you down."
"Why do you want to fight Jason so badly?" Katana asked curiously.
"Isn't it obvious?" the Infernape said.
"He's the only one I have a chance of beating since he got left out of the last story."
"This is the moment Nicholas and I have been waiting for! Jason is the most powerful of you, and I've been going through non-stop special training specifically so I'd be able to beat him; after that, the rest of the tournament will be a walk in the park, no one will be able to stop us. Then one day, we'll challenge Cynthia and Nicholas will become the Sinnoh Champion!"
"Then we will rule the world!" Arceus then let out a burst of evil laughter in Sunspot's voice while Jack and Mew - now dressed up as Power Rangers - started dancing in the background.
"Those are some pretty big aspirations you have," Katana shot back. "You're starting to sound like some cheesy comic-book villain."
Sunspot huffed. "Oh yeah? Well
(Anakin Skywalker: From my point of view the Jedi are evil!)
you're starting to 'bug' me; get ready to get squashed."
"Just try it," Katana snarled, raising her scythes and settling into a fighting stance.
"My pleasure."
"Ladies first," Mew said.
"You said it, not me," Arceus countered.
"I know you are but what am I?"
"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"
"And that's the rest of our chapter," Mew suddenly said. "Goodnight folks!"
"Mew," Arceus muttered as a curtain fell in front of them. She let out a quiet chuckle as she lifted the fabric back up.
The surprise attack left Sunspot stunned for a second, which was long enough for Katana to turn around and send him flying with a super-effective Air Slash.
Sunspot landed in the water with a large splash and a billowing pillar of steam; the Infernape clambered onto a platform a few seconds later, dripping wet from head to foot. Even his head flame had been extinguished, although he'd barely been out of the water for three seconds before it blazed into life again. Still, it was clear that Sunspot's little dip in the pool had weakened and winded him; his chest was heaving as he attempted to balance on the unsteady platform.
Katana figured it was as good a time as any to press her advantage, and rushed in with Quick Attack. She closed in on Sunspot before he could steady himself, and slammed her shoulder in his chest. Or at least, that was the plan.
At the last second, Sunspot planted his feet and threw a perfectly timed punch into Katana's incoming midsection; using her own momentum against her. A perfect Counter.
The blow knocked the air out of Katana's lungs, and even fractured her exoskeleton slightly; despite it being doubly ineffective based on Type, it had still been a powerful hit.
"Nice try," Sunspot said, waiting for Katana to catch her breath. "But like I said, I've been training to beat Jason; you never stood a chance."
Katana looked at the INfernape, and noted that his fur was completely dry; and the heat coming off of him was so intense it stung her eyes. There was no sign that he'd been submerged in the pool mere moments before.
"One minute he's winded, the next he's gloating," Arceus just sighed and shook his head. "Anyhow, Katana insists on fighting - either because she's as suicidal as her name would imply, or because we simply couldn't have this match be three to one. Regardless, the Scyther and pulls off a few moves and an entire conversation with Jack while Nicholas and Sunspot just twiddle their thumbs - then proceeds to tank two Fire Blasts, one directly to her face - before pushing Sunspot into the pool they're dueling above and then promptly falling unconscious so it can't actually be said that Jack won. And then to add insult to injury..."
"Wendy, you're up," Jack said with a smug grin.
"Give him an old-fashioned burger and a shake!" Arceus continued in his impersonation.
"Are you kidding me!?" Sunspot exclaimed. "She's just a kid; you expect me to fight a kid?"
Wendy folded her arms. "Who are you calling a kid; Aunt Katana says I'm a young adult, and old enough to stand up for myself."
Sunspot looked at her standing there, arms crossed defiantly, and broke out laughing.
"I like you Wendy," the Alpha said in Sunspot's voice. "I'll kill you last."
Wendy huffed. "I'll teach you to laugh at me, Mr. Sunspot."
Without any further warning, Wendy's eyes glowed with Psychic energy and she telekinetically flipped the platform on which Sunspot was standing; dumping him unceremoniously into the water once again. Now it was Wendy's turn to giggle uncontrollably.
"Ho, ho, that's our Wendy," Arceus said with a forced laugh. "Deriving joy from humiliating other people."
Sunspot was in a much worse mood when he clambered out of the water for the third time that day.
"Okay," he growled, "That's it; no more mister nice guy. I'm gonna… H-hey, what're you doing?! Put me down!"
Before he could finish his threat, Wendy picked him up with Psychic and began waving him around in the air like a ragdoll; before letting him fall into the water again with a splash.
"Because in case if we haven't made it clear enough how powerful Jack is, here's five minutes of Wendy dunking Sunspot like a cop's donut," Mew deadpanned.
This time as Sunspot clambered onto a nearby platform, he didn't waste any time in charging up a quick Fire Blast and sending it in Wendy's direction; it looked like a direct hit, but when the smoke cleared there was no trace of Wendy.
Sunspot turned around quickly, and found himself staring into a pair of… beautiful, ruby-red eyes; like the sun just before it dipped below the horizon. Then, he heard a voice.
"Sleep," it said. "Close your eyes and take a good long nap."
"When you wake up you will be Dr. Zaius."
It was the most beautiful sound Sunspot had ever heard; like a choir of angels singing in harmony, like the tinkling of chimes, it drowned out any other. He longed to hear that wonderful voice, and stare into those beautiful eyes, for all eternity. Their effect was almost mesmerizing.
"Sunspot is Cynthia as Serena in the Ash Ketchum Story," Arceus said in his best voice-over.
No, that wasn't the right word; but for the life of him he couldn't find a right one, and the attempt was tiring him out. Maybe he should take the voice's suggestion and go to sleep, but what was that word? It was... His eyelids were getting heavy, but what was that word? It was… It was… It was…
Hypnotic.
Sunspot snapped out of the trance with a roar of extreme disapproval, startling Wendy nearly out of her wits. Before she could comprehend what had happened, Sunspot had charged up a Fire Blast and spat it, point blank, into her face.
Wendy was blasted into the air by the roaring column of flames, and fell into the water; which in all probability is what saved her, since when she resurfaced she was covered in burn marks.
"Man, those fajita plates are hot..." Arceus muttered in Wendy's voice.
She telekinetically levitated herself out of the water, but didn't shake the water off; she realized now it might come in handy to be soaked to the skin.
Before Sunspot could launch any more attacks, Wendy quickly used Light Screen; a good thing too, because Sunspot wasted no time in firing off another Fire Blast at her. She managed to use Psychic to deflect most of it, but the heat was still intense. And no sooner did the last of the flames blow past her, then she saw Sunspot closing in.
The Infernape had launched himself off a platform, and was heading straight for her; she Teleported away almost reflexively, but was then almost immediately hit by a Fire Blast from behind. He never seemed to run out of them!
"Well, you know," Arceus began slowly. "It might help if he had a trainer to tell him to use a different move. Well, it eventually pays off."
The powerful attack knocked Wendy to the ground, and right into a platform; no soft, watery landing this time. After a hit like that, Wendy was at her limit; she struggled to stand up, but the effort proved to be too much for her. She collapsed on the platform and didn't move.
The referee looked at Wendy, then at Jack; the blue-clad trainer didn't seem at all concerned that his Pokémon had been knocked out, in fact he was smiling slightly. The referee started to announce Sunspot the winner of the fight, but Jack held up a hand.
"If you'd wait just a moment, this fight isn't over," he said.
"Your Pokémon is clearly defeated," the referee said. "In her condition, there's no way she could…"
Then he noticed something; a light coming from the battlefield. More specifically, the light was coming from Wendy. Jack grinned; it had been sheer torture for him to watch Wendy get beaten up, even more than it had been for Wendy herself, but they'd both agreed that the end result was worth it. Wendy was evolving.
Both Jack and Mew paled as the room started shaking.
"You've done it now," Mew hissed to the lawyer as Arceus' head reared back.
"You shall..." Mew quickly darted behind Jack's back; the trainer tried to keep his legs from shaking.
"You've broken Arcy!" the Psychic Type pounded a stubby paw into his back while the Alpha's crimson eyes flashed.
"BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE!" Arceus brought up a hoof. A second later the ankle weight around it had crashed through the monitor and desk. The Alpha let out a huff.
Mew and Jack - both of who had thrown themselves on the floor in a vain attempt to get cover - looked up hesitantly after hearing the table fly into the ceiling. Mew blinked.
"Uh... Arcy..." the Alpha let out a sigh and hung his head.
"I know, Mew, I know."
Five minutes later, Jack was eyeing a completely new monitor and desk that Arceus had settled in front of.
"Of course he'll conjure up a new computer but not five Poké..." the trainer muttered as he handed Mew her Soda Pop.
"Now..." Arceus took a deep breath. "Where were we?"
"Deus ex machina number four hundred and ninety-three," Mew chimed in through her drink.
"Ah, thank you," Arceus said with a self-conscious blink.
The light grew stronger by the second, until it was almost blinding; it filled the entire coliseum until people were forced to look away or risk being blinded. When the light finally faded, and the spots cleared from people's eyes, Wendy was standing tall and proud; as a fully evolved Gardevoir.
"Sailor Moon, Sailor Mo-" Mew was cut off this time by Jack whacking her with the rubber Torchic.
She cracked her neck, and then her knuckles. "Alright then, Mr. Sunspot," she said, with a voice that sounded more like a much older teenager's, "Let's finish this."
"My pleasure," Sunspot agreed with a grin. "You might actually be a worthy opponent now."
Wendy folded her arms. "I'll take that as a compliment; now, en garde!"
Without another word, Wendy pointed her right arm at Sunspot and streams of silver energy began raining down from the sky and collecting in the palm of her three-fingered hand. The ribbons of energy gathered together and spun themselves into a sphere of crackling silver light.
It was a powerful technique that had only recently been discovered in the Kalos region, and Wendy had only heard about by watching the news; once she'd read up on it, she had tried many times to master it. This was the first time she'd actually succeeded, and she was ecstatic about it; she was using Moonblast.
"Nicely done, Wendy," Jack said, "Now maybe you could actually throw it at him?"
After basking in her own glow for a moment, Wendy figured that Jack was right; it was about time she tested her new move in combat, by beating the ever-living daylights out of Sunspot with it.
"Right," she agreed. "One Fairy-type special, coming right up!"
"Try the new Fairy Type Special at Wendy's," Arceus shook his head. "Anyhow, Jack wins. The end."
The referee confirmed it. "SUNSPOT IS UNABLE TO BATTLE; THE WINNER IS WENDY, AND THE VICTORY GOES TO JACK STORM OF GREENWOOD!"
"You know, you think someone would have figured out by now that it's a forest or at least not an actual settlement," Mew commented. Jack opened his mouth to say something, blinked, and then slunk back into his seat.
"Regardless," Arceus said. "Onto nine."
"Well," Jack said to Wendy as Nicholas recalled the unconscious Sunspot, and the crowd above them roared its approval. "That went rather well, I thought."
Wendy chuckled. "I'll say; evolving was a pleasant surprise, for me at least. Although I can't help but feel like you planned it somehow."
"I'm here to pull off Deus ex machinas and kick butt," Jack said in apt impersonation of Arceus' voice. Both Legendaries blinked in surprise.
Jack shrugged and walked towards the arena exit. "Not so much planned, as hoped.
Arceus blinked in disbelief.
"So..." he turned towards Jack. "Aside from your powers, you essentially operate on incredible luck and coincidence."
He shrugged. "It's in the summary."
The Alpha muttered something under his breath and turned back towards the machine.
Before Jack could finish that thought, he looked up to see Nicholas walking over to him. The red-haired trainer looked somewhat disappointed, but he still managed a light-hearted grin.
"Good game, Jack," he said, holding out his hand. "You beat us fair and square."
The Alpha growled and his eyes flashed.
(Was it cheating? Probably. Did he really care? Not a bit.)
Jack took the proffered hand and shook it. "Thanks Nicholas; it was a close thing, you were a tougher opponent than I've fought in a long time."
Arceus then turned to Jack. "You know, I think Mew made an excellent choice in hiring you as my defense."
"Thanks," Nicholas said, then he turned to Wendy. "And Wendy, congrats on evolving; and learning that awesome new move."
Wendy giggled a little and bowed in appreciation, and said, "You can't tell what I'm saying, so it probably sounds like I'm complimenting you back; doesn't it?"
Nicholas gave her an odd look, then turned back to Jack who was completely straight-faced.
"I have a strange feeling," Nicholas said with mock-seriousness, "That she's making fun of me."
"What? No, of course not," Jack deadpanned. "Whatever gave you that idea."
Nicholas chuckled good-naturedly. "Okay, just making sure."
"You would never lie to me, except when it comes to your identity, superpowers, battling and relationship with Maylene," Arceus cleared his throat. "Anyhow, Jack and Nicholas decide to go out for dinner, courtesy of Jack's wallet. Of which Jason rightfully takes some issue with."
Jason didn't look too happy about it, but he dropped the subject. "Fine then. About this little excursion though, how exactly are you planning to pay for it? Out of your own pocket?"
"It's not like I don't have the money," Jack said. "I've still got several thousand dollars left; more than enough."
"For now," Jason countered. "But if you keep racking up expenses like you have been recently, that's not going to last long unless you find a source of income."
"And since when are you a master of all things economical?" Jack said, although he realised that his brother had a good point.
"I'm just saying," Jason said dryly.
Jack sighed. "I know, and you're right; but so far I haven't found any reliable ways of making money. We've been moving around too much lately; and travelling doesn't pay. I was going to look for job offers tonight when we go out," he admitted.
"Feel the tension as Jack job hunts! Sit on the edge of your seat in suspense as he changes outfits!"
With a sigh, he got out another set of clothes; after an… 'incident' a couple months ago, Jack had bought a few extras for emergencies. Not really one to deliberate over such things, he dug around in his bag and pulled out the first things he saw; which happened to be a pair of black cargo pants, the kind with about a dozen pockets on each leg, a tee-shirt of the same deep blue colour as his robes, and the only jacket he owned. The black one with a yellow lightning bolt on the back.
"Have we mentioned his last name is Storm?" Mew suddenly exclaimed, jumping in front of Arceus. The Alpha then pushed the New Species Pokémon aside with a self-aware blink.
"Is... Is Maylene still there?"
Satisfied that he looked halfway decent, except for the hair, Jack bundled up his robes and tossed them into his bag; he'd wash them later.
"On the other hand," he muttered to himself, "Maybe I should wear normal clothes more often; I mean if it's a matter of being ready for a fight, I already make sure my clothes are unrestrictive. It'd also probably help my public image if I didn't go around looking like a Dungeons and Dragonites reject. Plus," he said, turning around in front of the mirror, "I look pretty good in mufti."
Arceus snorted quietly.
He froze mid-turn, and frowned; since when did he think about clothes or, more disconcertingly, how he looked in them? Maybe Maylene's talk of fangirls was starting to get to him...
Jack's train of thought was, fortunately, derailed by a knock on the door of the suite; opening it, Jack saw that Nicholas had arrived.
"Hey Jack," the trainer said. "Looking good; did you do something different with your hair?" he asked jokingly.
"Yeah," Jack replied. "It's called a shower; I heard they're all the rage these days."
Nicholas let out a sharp laugh, then leaned in close to Jack's face with a mock-serious expression. "Don't believe it for a second."
"What's wrong with showers?" Jack asked with a chuckle.
Nicholas spread his arms in a solemn gesture. "It's a sad truth but in this day and age, personal hygiene is a dying art."
"You don't say," Jack deadpanned. "Anyway, come on in; we're all ready to go."
Both Legendaries shared a quiet bout of chuckling.
"Anyhow, Maylene drops by after a little more banner, more shipping, and they all head off straight into chapter ten."
Jack, Nicholas, and Maylene popped back into existence just outside Lily of the Valley Town.
"So, you were the Captain of the Enterprise, too?" Mew asked. Jack chuckled while Arceus just rolled his eyes.
"Anyhow, after teleporting them around for a second time just to get them more used to the sensation, the trio finally go sightseeing."
Nicholas hesitated a second before replying, "That's beside the point."
Jack held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, okay; I won't do it again, promise."
"Good," Nicholas said, feigning a look of injured dignity. "Come; let us, as they say, 'see the sights.'"
"Yessir," Jack said, saluting. "Right away sir."
To tell the truth, Lily of the Valley Town really wasn't much to look at; there were next to no tourist attractions. Pretty much its sole purpose, and source of income, was the people who gathered there for the Lily of the Valley Conference every year; there were a lot hotels and shops, but not much in the way of entertainment.
On the other hand, they were on an island; Lily of the Valley Town was stationed about two feet from a long stretch of yellow, beautifully clean, and blissfully warm sand at the edge of the ocean.
"And so we now transition into the awkward puberty of Rising Storm; the Beach Party sequence," Arceus' eyes narrowed.
"Just you wait," Mew said, a small grin breaking out across her face as she eyed the attorney across from her. "A Miotic's going to suddenly jump out of the ocean and hit Jack in-"
"NO!" the trainer in question nearly shrieked, unconsciously shifting in his seat.
It was early fall, but it still felt more like late summer and the water was still nice and warm; with the sun only just having begun to set. As such, it didn't take a genius to figure out what would happen.
Nicholas and Maylene had both anticipated an afternoon at the beach, and had worn swimsuits under their clothes;
"And underneath their swimsuits are parachutes in case they go skydiving, and inside those are camo in case they go hunting, and underneath those are tuxedos in case they go to a ball."
Jack didn't have one, and so was forced to buy a pair of swim trunks from a nearby shop. They were blue; obviously.
With their attire settled, Jack, Nicholas, and Maylene hit the water enthusiastically; followed closely by most of their Pokémon.
"Cue Volleyball scene!" Mew shouted.
Eventually they borrowed a ball from the lifeguard's shed and played some volleyball, but as they played, Jack realised that he missed the high-pitched giggles of delight to which he'd grown so accustomed. Marsh, Strike, and Wendy used to be the life of any party they had; but now they'd all evolved, and had matured a lot in the process.
"Yes, it seemed just like yesterday that Wendy was only a Kirlia..." Arceus' eyes narrowed. "In fact, it was just a few hours ago."
They were still playful and fun-loving, but they weren't kids any more.
"I know what you mean," Nicholas replied when Jack broached the topic with him. "They grow up so fast. When Marsh and Strike evolved, even though they were still the same Pokémon, I suddenly started missing all the childish antics they used to get up to. It made me feel like an old man, watching his kids grow up before his eyes; it won't be long before they're fawning over pretty girl Pokémon,
"Like Wendy," the Alpha said in Nicholas' voice, only for him to get hit with the rubber Torchic - this time from Jack.
"On the other hand," Nicholas continued, "Strike doesn't strike me...
"Striker no striking!" Arceus and Mew chanted while Jack facepalmed.
no pun intended, as the kind of guy to go in for that kind of… Heads up!"
Nicholas launched himself almost clean out of the water, and smacked the incoming volleyball out of the air; sending it back over the net into enemy territory. Jack shook his head to clear it, and resolved to think about this later; namely, after they'd won the game.
Mew then reached down underneath the desk and handed Arceus a set of headphones. The Alpha cleared his throat while Mew fixed her headpiece into the wig.
"Hello, and good evening to those of you tuning into the Pokémon Sports Network, and tonight we have a grudge match between humans and Pokémon," the Alpha said in his best announcer voice.
"That's right," Mew said, pulling down a projector screen in front of a flabbergasted Jack. "We have the classic 5 vs. 5 match up, with Jack's team one up over Jason's."
The current lineup for Jack's team, from left to right, were Cap and Wendy in front, Jack in the center, and Nicholas and Maylene in the rear. Jason's team had Marsh and Sunspot in front, Maylene's Lucario in center, and Hunter and Jason in the rear. Thomas was serving as the referee; a position he seemed to enjoy greatly.
"20/19 to Jack's team," he said as the ball landed on Jason's side. "Game point, Jack's team serving."
Maylene picked up the ball and got into position; she'd displayed an impressive amount of talent at putting the ball right where she wanted it when she served. If they scored this point it was game, and it was her responsibility to set the ball rolling; so to speak.
"So what do you make of the situation, Arcy?"
"Well, Maylene's been giving it her best all night and it's really starting to show, Mew; she can actually stand a match against Jack's Pokémon. She just needs to get the ball to the other side of that net and it's game over for Jason."
With a confident grin, Maylene chucked the ball into the air and hit it on the way down; an overhand serve, and a good one at that. The ball missed the top of the net by a hair, and whizzed by Lucario's ear; it looked like a clean point, but then Lucario's left hindpaw came up and around in a roundhouse kick which sent the ball sailing into the sky.
"Oh, let's get a replay of that shot," both legendaries turned to the canvas behind them where a still of the shot was. Mew pressed down on the remote in her hand, causing a series of yellow lines and circles to slowly materialize on the picture.
"So, Maylene hit the ball here," Mew said, pointing towards the image. "Then the ball goes here, where her Lucario kicks it."
"Fascinating," Arceus replied. "So, what do you think went wrong with that play?"
"Well, I'd say it was Maylene trying to get the ball over to the other side, it's simply impractical to try to."
Mew then pressed another button, revealing a new series of yellow lines; this time a sign.
"They should have broken for dinner first," Mew said to Arceus' confusion, pointing towards the sign. Mew just towards the computer screen and flashed her pearly whites.
"Yes, with Bournemouth's many restaurants and delicious baileys, there's something for everyone to have. Bournemouth; with it's convenient beachfront access where the sands are white and the oceans clear, you don't have to eat in. Bournemouth-"
"All right, all right," Arceus sighed, dropping the aloof accent and shaking his head. "I get it."
Mew crossed her arms and nodded, taking off her headset and pushing the projector screen back up. Arceus cleared his throat and turned back to the screen.
"Anyways, back to Rising Storm: Xtreme 3; things go back and forth for a while until Maylene executes her secret plan."
Maylene tried to hit the ball as it flew over her head, but she couldn't move fast enough; the ball would have landed outside the court, but then Maylene's outline seemed to blur. To Jack, who was watching her every movement closely, it seemed as though time itself stopped around her while she kept going; reacting faster than any human ever could have, Maylene jumped after the ball and smacked as hard as she could.
Like a bullet fired from a gun, the ball shot over Hunter's head; Ivy had already moved forward to intercept it, knowing that Maylene would aim for the space between them, but to her surprise the ball sailed over her head as well. Maylene had aimed for the spot Ivy had just vacated, and it had worked perfectly; the ball hit the sand with a thud, and made a small crater.
Arceus and Mew both blinked in disbelief.
(Jerry Seinfeld: That is one magic loogie.)
"Jack's team wins, 21/20!" Thomas said.
Maylene, who had landed in her feet, shot an accusatory look at Nicholas.
"What was that?" she asked in mock-indignation, putting her hands on her hips. "You were supposed to pass it to me, not over me," she said with a grin.
Nicholas shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, it took me by surprise; still, looks like you had it well in hand."
Maylene was about to make a snappy retort, but before she could she was swamped by her teammates; all of whom were eager to congratulate her. Jack just looked at the gym leader with apprehension;
"He senses a disturbance in the force," Arceus deadpanned.
from what he just saw, Maylene's abilities might have been a little more advanced than he originally thought. He'd really have to discuss it with her some time. Still, he thought to himself, no reason to let brooding pessimism ruin the moment.
"Let this be a lesson to you," Jack said jokingly, walking over to Jason and holding out his hand. "You might be better than me at using the aura,
"Force," Mew had a sudden bout of coughing. Arceus just rolled his eyes and adopted Jack's voice.
"But you will never beat me at pulling deus ex machinas out of thin air."
"I think I can live with that," Jason replied. "After all, we wouldn't want to developing an inferiority complex from being around me too much."
Jack recoiled slightly, clutching his chest as if he'd been struck.
"Since when did you get so quick with the snappy comebacks?" Jack asked, more than a little surprised.
Jason shrugged. "It's a gift, and a curse."
"Oh, I see how it is," Jack said with a grin, backing away slightly. "I seem to have some competition in the humour department; I guess I'll have to watch out for you."
"Go ahead, if it makes you feel better," Jason shot back with a smirk. "But you still won't see me coming."
"Good grief," Jack exclaimed. "Did you stay up late last night thinking up one-liners or something? Anyway," he said, lowering his voice. "I assume you kept an eye on Nicholas like I asked; did you notice anything... strange about him?"
Jason lowered his voice as well. "Yes, were were right about him; there were several times when he moved a little faster than I thought he should've been able to. Do you really think..."
Jack nodded gratefully. "Yes, yes I do; judging by what you said, and what I've seen for myself, I think I might
"Be the Jedi Exile!" Arceus shouted.
"I think that might be pushing it, Arcy-"
"No, I mean it," the Alpha's tone took on a more serious disposition.
"Think about it; he has the robes, the martial arts-trained love interest," Jack coughed as Arceus continued. "The wise-cracking and worldly best friend, the faithful mechanical assistant with a dry sense of humor, can use the Force, is slowly discovering his powers, affects everyone around him, and will probably end up training them."
The other two occupants of the room took a long blink while Arceus returned to the computer.
"Anyhow, while I let that simmer, let's get on to chapter eleven."
If there was one thing at which Lily of the Valley Town excelled, it was serving the influx of visitors who came there for the Conference. Lily of the Valley Town had more restaurants, diners, pubs, and Pizza places than Jack had ever seen before in his life;
"Must... resist... urge... to... reference..." Arceus muttered through a scrunched up face.
Even so, they had to look around for quite some time before they found a restaurant that was willing, or even able, to seat all nineteen of them together; and even when they did find one, they were forced to eat outside on the patio. Strictly speaking, their Pokémon were forced to eat outside; but to the three trainers, it amounted to the same thing.
On the other hand, eating outside wasn't exactly a hardship; the evening air was crisp, clear, and refreshing. It was still plenty warm out as well, which actually made eating outside a more appealing prospect than sitting in a stuffy, crowded restaurant. It was so nice out in fact, that they hadn't even bothered changing out of their swimsuits.
Jack, Nicholas, and Maylene were all at the same table, and their respective Pokémon were lounging around the patio in their own little cliques; the girls were all sitting together and chatting amongst themselves, which came as no surprise to anyone else, but aside from that everyone pretty much split up into groups of two or three.
"Alright then, Jack," Maylene said, after the three of them had placed their orders, "Do you want to tell me what's going on with you?"
Jack's expression must have been pretty good, because Maylene cracked a smile and Nicholas busted out laughing.
"Oh come on," she insisted. "You've known me long enough to know I don't miss much; you've been looking at me weird all evening, ever since the beech."
"She's got you pinned, man," Nicholas commented with an impish grin. "I suggest a tactical retreat."
"Even Nicholas ships them," Mew said in awe.
Maylene gave him a sidelong glance. "You know, he's been looking at you the same way."
"What?!" Nicholas exclaimed in mock-astonishment. "You've got a crush on me too?"
Jack sighed and facepalmed. "Look, Nick, could you please stop joking around for five seconds…"
Nicholas nodded. "Sure. One… two... "
"I'm serious!" Jack exclaimed, forcing himself not to shout. "This is important, and I'd appreciate it if you'd just listen to what I have to say."
Maylene had known something was up, but now even Nicholas was a little worried; Jack sounded almost… angry for some reason.
"We're listening," Maylene said calmly. "What is it?"
Jack sighed and folded his hands in front of him. "It all started back when I challenged the Oreburgh Gym; Jason learned a new move, Counter."
"What's wrong with that?" Nicholas asked.
Jack gave him a look that said, 'shut up and I'll tell you'.
(Sergeant Hulka: Lighten up, Francis.)
Nicholas winced. "Sorry, shutting up."
Jack sighed. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, Jason learned Counter during the battle; trouble was, he already had a full moveset and Counter was his fifth. But he didn't forget any of his other moves."
Maylene nodded. "I noticed that he knew more than four moves when you were staying at the gym. It's rare, but not completely unheard of."
"Among Legendary Pokémon maybe," Nicholas countered. "But that's pretty much it."
Jack nodded. "Precisely; and all the research I did on the subject turned up the same thing, the only Pokémon ever known to be able to use more than four moves at a time were powerful Legendaries. But that was only the tip of the iceberg; soon, more of my team started learning extra moves, even ones that they shouldn't have been able to learn normally. You remember that old joke about Scyther not being able to learn Fly? Because Katana has been able to use Fly for a while now."
"Okay," Nicholas said. "That's weird and all, but what's that got to do with us?"
"I know what you're getting at," Maylene said.
Nicholas groaned. "Why am I always the last one to know these things…"
Maylene turned to the red headed trainer. "I saw your battles, and your Pokémon are almost unbelievably powerful; as we found out today, they're almost as powerful as Jack's, as are mine. And if Jack's Pokémon are abnormally powerful, to the point of knowing more than four moves, then what does that mean?"
Nicholas's eyes widened. "You can't be serious..."
"I am," Jack replied. "Both of your teams have been affected by the same thing that's made mine so strong; just not quite as strongly. And what is my team in close proximity to twenty-four/seven, but that yours only come into contact with occasionally? Something that is already abnormal in its own right."
Nicholas stared blankly at him for a second, then he got it.
"You," Maylene said. "You think that you're causing all this somehow."
Jack shook his head. "No, I know I'm causing all this somehow;
"I thought the Jedi Council took away my powers."
But what's even more troubling, is that I don't think it's just Pokémon who are affected."
Maylene's eyes narrowed, as a suspicion started forming in her mind. "What are you saying?"
Jack sighed; here was the hard part. "The volleyball game was, at least in part, a test; I wanted to see if I was right, as much as I hoped I wasn't. I first became… concerned, when we had our little sparring match the other day, Maylene; I'm not going to sugar-coat it, what you did was impossible."
Maylene started to object, but Jack held up his hand. "I know, I know; you 'trained your butt off'. But no amount of training could've let you move that fast, or hit that hard; your abilities have, quite simply, passed beyond normal human limitations. Just like mine have."
Maylene scowled in frustration. "So, you're trying to tell me that I'm a…" she stopped suddenly, realising what she'd almost said.
"A freak like me?" Jack finished for her, his expression unreadable.
"I… I wasn't going to say that," Maylene said, hating herself for even starting that sentence.
"No, it's fine," Jack said. "It's a lot to take in, I'm sure anyone would have a hard time accepting it."
"So…" Nicholas said, his expression grim. "Am I like that too?"
Jack nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so, although you're not quite as far along as Maylene."
Nicholas nodded with an air of resignation. "Alright, I understand. But I just have one question; and I'd like you to give me a straight answer."
"Ask away," Jack replied.
"What..." Arceus began slowly. "Is the airspeed velocity of an unladden swallow?"
The red-headed trainer looked him in the eye. "How long do I have to wait before I can catch lightning bolts too?"
Jack and Maylene stared at him blankly.
"I'm sorry," Mew began in Jack's voice. "You have to join the Dark Side for that."
"I'm not a Sith!" Jack objected.
"You lied and cheated at the most important tournament in Sinnoh without a second thought," Arceus deadpanned.
Jack and Maylene stared at him blankly.
"Oh come on, guys," Nicholas exclaimed, an excited grin spreading across his face. "You're making it sound like we've all been diagnosed with a terminal disease or something, but what's really happened? We're living every kid's childhood dream; we have bona fide, honest-to-goodness superpowers! Personally, I think this is pretty awesome."
Jack couldn't help but smile a little at Nicholas's almost boyish enthusiasm, and he let out a small chuckle.
"Leave it to you to look on the bright side, Nick," Jack said.
Maylene's look of shock switched from Nicholas to Jack, and back again. "Are you kidding me? Superpowers might be every kid's dream, but it's also just a lot of pseudoscience; in real life, things don't work like they do in comic books. There are no aliens, or sentient robots, and people exposed to dangerous levels of radiation don't survive; much less turn into giant green rage-monsters. It's all just made up for fun."
Nicholas shrugged. "It's worked out pretty well for Jack so far, and his Pokémon. Speaking of which..."
"You said something about sentient robots?" Thomas said, hovering beside Maylene's head.
Maylene nearly jumped out of her skin, which elicited hastily-smothered snorts of laughter from both Jack and Nicholas. Maylene glared at them, but realised that they had a point; Jack had grown up with these powers, and Jason had grown up being steeped in them. And aside from a few Legendary Birds, and fangirls, there didn't seem to be any unpleasant side-effects so far.
"Alright, fine," the Gym leader said, crossing her arms. "I guess there's no point in being all 'doom and gloom' about it, since there's nothing we can do about it anyway. And… well," she she shrugged, and one corner of her mouth curled upwards in a rueful grin, "I guess it is kind of cool."
"Ha," Nicholas exclaimed triumphantly, clapping his hands together. "Finally; for a second there I thought you'd never look on the bright side. I was thinking to myself, 'am I really the only one who sees how awesome this is?'"
"You were," Jack said. "And thanks, by the way; I for one really needed a good laugh right about then."
"But you never did answer my question," the trainer said. "When do I get to catch bolts of lightning and eat them?"
"And so began Young Justice's third season," Arceus said wryly.
"So," Maylene asked once they'd finished their food. "What now?"
Jack shrugged, still busy reading the bill. "I don't know; it's still light out so I guess we could hang out at the beach a while longer, or we could head back to the hotel… That's a lot of numbers."
Nicholas shrugged. "Well, I don't have any ideas; although I guess I wouldn't mind spending some more time at the beach."
"Me neither," Maylene agreed.
"Okay then," Jack said, getting up from his chair. "I'll go and pay the bill, and then we'll head back to the beach for a while. Be right back."
Jack headed into the restaurant, summoning a wad of bills from his bag back at the hotel. As he walked into the building, he noticed a large television screen hanging on the wall opposite him; the screen was currently displaying footage from the Lily of the Valley Conference. More specifically, it was showing the results of the third round matches; aside from his own, the only faces Jack recognised were Ash, Paul, and Tobias.
Jack went up to the front desk and payed his bill, making sure to get change back. As he turned to leave he took one last look at the screen; which was now showing the match-ups for the fourth round. He was a little disappointed to see that he hadn't been matched up against anyone he knew, but that feeling went away when he saw who Ash was fighting; for the fourth round, in which only the top eight trainers competed, Ash would be fighting Paul in a full six-on-six battle.
"Well, this seems like a good place to stop," the Alpha muttered, turning away from the computer just in time for the door to the room to swing open and Hideyoshi poke his head in.
"Sorry to bother ya, but recess's over."
"In conclusion your honor!" Mew shouted, pointing at Arceus. "The defendant is clearly guilty, and I demand you throw the book at him!"
"Mew, can we stop it with the-" the Alpha blinked when he heard the opening cord of a familiar song.
"Oh, not again."
That was all the Normal Type managed to get out before a thick-looking leather bound book was promptly thrown at his face, only to stop mid-air as everything faded to gold.
To Be Continued...
Is this curtains for Arceus? Tune in next time to find out! Same Arcy-time, same Arcy-channel.
"Really, Mew, we're ripping off that, now?"
"Hey, just be happy I turned the thing to standstill before the book collided."
...
"You and I are having a long conversation when this is over."