"Man, that was a long hallway," Mew muttered, only for the Alpha to shush her as they entered the familiar room again.
"Last week, on Dragon Ball Z..." Arceus muttered as the trio settled back into their usual places.
"Dragon Ball A," The New Species Pokémon corrected, getting a snort out of the other Legendary.
"The first quarter-final battle of the Sinnoh League Tournament at Lily of the Valley Island is about to be waged on a dirt battlefield; and now in a six-on-six full battle format!" the announcer said over the loudspeaker. "Representing Kanto is Ash from Pallet Town, facing off against Paul from Veilstone City. The tension is formidable indeed.
"Unless if you've already seen the episode, and then it's just a recap of what we already know," Arceus continued in the announcers voice before clearing his throat. "So I'm just going to skip over the next few chapters for the sake of time."
Mew and Jack both opened their mouths to protest, but Arceus depressed the key and sped through their objections before returning his gaze to the computer, leaving two very confused companions in his wake.
"This is going to be a battle for the ages," Jack muttered.
"But which one of them will win..." Jason, who was sitting right beside him, said.
"I don't know," Jack mused, "But I'll likely have to fight whoever wins here; either in the finals or the semi-finals."
"Who would you rather fight," Jason asked. "Ash or Paul?"
Jack shrugged. "Whoever loses, obviously."
"I don't feel like actually working my way to the top," the Normal Type groaned out, and was met with an easily ignored glare from Jack.
Jason snorted. "True; but unfortunately that's not how tournaments work."
"I know," Jack said. "But either way, I doubt that either of them could beat us; it's that Tobias guy I'm worried about."
"Did you end up finding out anything useful about him?" Jason asked.
"Yeah;" Arceus continued in his impersonation, eyes going wide. "His plot armor is thicker than mine!"
Jack shook his head. "No; no background, no history, nothing. Not even what other Pokémon he has besides that Darkrai. It's almost like he doesn't exist; if Maylene didn't remember him beating her gym, I'd almost think he popped into existence just to compete in this tournament. Any way you slice it, there's something strange about him; so many things that just don't line up…"
"Shush," Jason interrupted him. "The battle's starting."
"And that's my cue," the Alpha muttered, turning around to leave before being quickly intercepted by Mew. The Psychic Type crossed her stubby arms and peered at him from underneath the brow of her wig. The end result was Arceus grumbling, sitting back down, and hitting the key to fast-forward.
"Anyways," Arceus sighed out. "The battle is, as usual, a well written retelling of Ash and Paul's battle - and if you're going to just transcribe a scene directly from the anime, might as well as make it arguably the best battle in its history - but going over it would just bog down the review, so we're going to skim over it and jump straight into Chapter 15, where the plot-"
"Convenience," Mew coughed, earning her a uniformly irate glare from Jack and Arceus.
"Thickens," the Alpha finished.
"Awakens," the New Species Pokémon muttered.
"Honestly, this is starting to get a bit stale," Arceus' lawyer muttered from his seat, with the defendant silently conceding his point.
Jack recalled his team back into the Pack and ran down to the arena; both to congratulate Ash on his astonishing victory, and to get ready for his own match which was up next. He met Ash in the hallway leading out of the arena, and the two shared an enthusiastic handshake.
"That was an amazing battle," Jack said. "It really got my blood pumping; I you could say, it got me all fired up."
"It's like it was all staged!"
Ash chuckled. "Isn't that my line?
Arceus and Mew took a collective blink and craned his neck back to Jack.
"Ash, being sarcastic?" the Alpha remarked dryly, peering at Jack from behind prismatic eyes. The trainer threw his hands up innocently.
"Hey, he was more intelligent in Sinnoh."
Mew shrugged. "Can't argue with that."
This is also the first time I've ever beaten him, so I'm really hyped. Have you ever met Paul before?"
Jack nodded, his expression neutral. "Yeah, we've met. You know Lucy, my Absol? I won her from him."
Ash nodded. "Actually, Infernape used to be Paul's Pokémon back when it was still a Chimchar; Paul released it after it lost a battle, and I took it in. He might seem… harsh? Aloof? Apathetic? All of the above? I don't know. But deep down, he's not really; he cares about his Pokémon just like I do, even if he doesn't usually show it."
Jack nodded thoughtfully. "I'll keep that in mind.
"For when I decide how long to drag out his death," the Alpha continued in his impersonation.
Anyway, my battle's up next; wish me luck."
"As if you needed any," Ash shot back with a grin.
"You're even more-" the Critic was cut off by a barrage of rubber Torchics.
Jack's quarter-final match went almost as quickly as he expected; with Jason, Ivy, and Solomon wiping out their opponent's entire team in less than ten minutes flat.
Arceus didn't even get the chance to make a comment.
Afterwards, Jack headed back to the stands to watch the remaining two matches; although the only one that actually interested him was Tobias's. The mysterious trainer once again took out his opponent's team with only Darkrai; but Jack had already figured out the strategy Tobias was using.
"It's even gamier than mine..."
After the daily matches were finished, Jack decided to take the scenic route back to the hotel; the sun was just setting past the horizon, painting the sky with a stunning collage of brilliant reds and oranges. Looking at the beautiful sunset filled him with determination; he was going to win the Sinnoh League.
"A combination of coincidence, cheating and plot armor will launch me to the top!" Arceus exclaimed in Jack's voice, earning two more icy glares from his companions.
"And find out who's stalking me," Jack muttered to himself, although it was far from an afterthought.
"It doesn't matter whose dreams I step on here with my showboating, there's absolutely no other way to demonstrate how OP I am to the world," Arceus cleared his throat. "Anyways, Jack runs into Paul after Ash has his heart-to-heart with him, and after talking for a little while Paul gets another chance to redeem himself."
Paul lifted his gaze back up and looked Jack in the eyes again. "We'll probably never be friends, you and I, but I… I want to ask a favor of you."
"Name it," Jack replied without thinking.
Paul's expression changed slightly; deep regret painting itself across his face, and his voice. When he spoke, Jack didn't doubt his words at all; he obviously meant every one.
"The next time you talk to Lucy, tell her I'm sorry for what I did to her; tell her that I'll never treat anyone else like that again, I promise."
Jack was suddenly very conscious of the fact that Lucy, as well as the rest of his team, were still in the device on his back; and with the snake-cam/microphone still poking over his shoulder, they might very well have seen and heard everything. Thomas controlled what they could see and hear from inside the Pack, so there was a chance that they had no idea what was going on; but he wasn't sure whether or not he'd actually prefer that they stayed ignorant.
Jack was about to say… something, although he had no idea what, when there was a bright flash of light from inside his backpack. The light flowed out and solidified in front of him; and even before the light faded and he could see again, Jack knew exactly who it was.
"Paul," the Absol said gently, tears in her eyes.
"Why not tell her yourself?" Jack asked, pretending that he'd orchestrated Lucy's appearance.
The guilt on Paul's face intensified as he looked at the Pokémon he'd once trained half to death, and then lost to Jack in a battle. Paul tried to say something, but the words seemed to stick in his throat. Jack was once again struck with how much Paul had changed since they last met; the old Paul would never have shown his emotions this freely.
"Lucy," Paul managed to say, "I…"
Lucy turned to Jack. "Tell him."
"What… what did she say?" Paul asked fearfully.
Jack looked at Paul; the person he'd hated with a burning passion for so long. Now though, that person was gone; and in his place was a trainer who would never do what the old Paul had done. A trainer who honestly wanted to be better. As Jack said the words, he realized that he was speaking for himself just as much as Lucy.
"I forgive you."
Paul stared at Jack for a second, then he realized what those words meant. The trainer's expression changed to one of astonishment, and his eyes started to tear up. He looked back down at Lucy, and sank down to his knees. Lucy walked over to her former trainer and, approaching from the right to avoid impaling him with her scythe, nuzzled his face with the side of her head.
Paul could barely comprehend what was happening, but Jack knew that Lucy was giving the Absol equivalent of a hug. As Paul realized what the gesture meant, that Lucy really had forgiven him, he tentatively wrapped his arms around her and gently returned the embrace. Lucy continued to nuzzle him as tears flowed down the trainer's face; and pure joy spread across his face.
"Thank you," Paul said quietly, his voice muffled by Lucy's thick fur. "Thank you, Lucy."
Arceus turned back towards Jack. "And thank you for all the effort you clearly poured into this scene."
Jack and Mew both blinked in surprise while Arceus turned back towards the screen.
As they walked, Jack put his right hand on Lucy's head; feeling her brace up against his hand as he started scratching her in the special spot right behind her scythe. Jack knew how much she loved to be scratched there, and he felt she'd earned it; what she'd just done was the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. This was a moment Jack wanted to treasure forever; until his dying day.
"And with that final heartfelt moment, we move onto chapter sixteen, where Ash is having his rear handed to him by Tobias."
Mew looked toward the wall, raised an eyebrow and shielded her mouth from Arceus with a stubby paw. "What, you really thought the writers would let Ash win a league?"
"Anyways," Arceus continued, trying to ignore Mew's quip. "Jack heads back to his room after watching the match, wondering about multiple legendary Pokémon and the person who manipulated the Bird Trio. Deciding that will get him no where, he gets a pep talk from Ash and then begins preparing for a fight with the only trainer in existence who can even remotely stand a chance against him."
Jack spent the rest of that day in a giant strategy session with Solomon, Jason, and Thomas; everyone else spent most of the day with Nicholas, who was also sticking around for the end of the tournament.
The four of them agreed that Tobias was probably going to send out Darkrai first; to test Jack's strength. They also all agreed that sending in Jason first was probably their best bet; but after that things started to get fuzzy. Solomon wanted to have at least a rudimentary plan for every possible outcome, while Thomas argued that it was a waste of valuable time to plan for anything other than what he calculated was by far the most likely outcome.
"I'm sorry, Jack," Arceus said in Thomas' mechanical voice, eyes staring straight ahead. "I'm afraid I can't do that."
They eventually decided to reach a compromise; Thomas would calculate the three or four most likely scenarios, and they would plan for each of those. However, as soon as they got past Darkrai they ran into trouble; aside from Latios, Tobias's other Pokémon were a complete mystery. Thomas agreed that the probability of Tobias sending out Latios second again were decidedly slim; so there simply wasn't much more planning they could do.
At the end of the day, they had half a dozen ways to defeat Darkrai with only one Pokémon; and not much else. Still, if they could accomplish even that it would give them a bit of an edge; allowing them to alternate between Pokémon at will, giving the ones who had already fought a chance to recover. They also agreed that, if it turned out that most of Tobias's other Pokémon were Dragon-types after all, Wendy would make a perfect striker with her new Moonblast technique;
"Because apparently the space-time continuum itself is flexible here too," the Alpha deadpanned. Mew shrugged from her corner.
"It's a bit late to be complaining about that, Arcy."
Jack slept uneasily that night. He had no doubt that he'd defeat Tobias somehow, he was the protagonist after all,
The ad hoc lawyer suddenly developed a sheepish grin when both Legendaries silently turned back to him.
but there was still something nagging at the back of his mind; a strange feeling that he was missing something…
"That's right, I still need to make my lightsaber..." Arceus muttered. "Regardless of his apprehensions, the day of the finals dawns at last, and Jack finds himself talking to Jason during an early morning run."
"Jack," Jason asked as they jogged around the colosseum. "Why do you care so much about winning the Sinnoh league?"
Jack pondered the question for a second. "Well it's not for the prize money, that's for sure; or the 'prestigious' title of Pokémon Master…"
If Jason had eyebrows, he would've raised them. "Then why?"
Jack gave the question a little more thought before replying, "For the sake of winning, I guess. I mean, the whole reason we even started beating the Sinnoh gyms was for the adventure. This tournament is the end of that adventure, and I really want to see it through; and," he continued with a grin, "I want to end it with a bang."
Jason didn't doubt that; he knew Jack had quite a competitive streak. But he also knew that Jack wasn't telling him the whole story. They might not have been brothers by birth, but they knew each other inside and out.
"Or at least," Jason thought ruefully to himself, "We used to."
"Before I got cut out of the first book..."
Jason was right of course; Jack had more reason to win the Sinnoh League than he cared to admit, even to Jason. Especially to Jason in fact, because Jack knew all too well that the Lucario disapproved of his fixation with their mysterious stalker.
"It was Callahan! The big one! He did this to me!" Jack suddenly exclaimed, a small grin on his face. Arceus nodded in approval after a blink in surprise.
"Does Jason just want me to forgive and forget," Jack wondered, "While all of us are in danger? I don't see why he isn't more worried about this, considering someone mind-controlled the Legendary birds themselves into attacking us!"
Neither of them were willing to start what they both thought would be an awkward conversation, so they jogged on in silence. Once the sun was officially above the horizon, they headed back to the suite; making it there just in time to see Ivy unceremoniously wake Lucy up by tickling the poor Absol with her leafy tail. Suffice it to say Lucy wasn't the only one laughing hysterically.
After everyone was properly awake and groomed, Jack teleported them to Lily of the Valley Town for a hearty breakfast, and another brief visit to the beach. The match between Jack and Tobias was scheduled for early afternoon, so they made the most of the morning. They even ran into Maylene again, who was thinking along the same lines and joined them for lunch.
"They then went off for another volley ball scene, and after that broke for a light luncheon," the Normal Type commented dryly. "They had to book the flight. Then they had to drive to the airport. Then they had to get on the plane," Mew started pulling at the top of her wig in frustration while, from his place in the courtroom, Kyurem sneezed.
"What are you going to do after the Sinnoh League is over?" Maylene asked Jack as they ate lunch at the same diner they'd visited last time.
Jack had to think about it for a second. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I suppose I might visit other regions, but I'm not sure if my funds would hold out; I'm getting a little short on cash. Although if I do win the League, that shouldn't be an issue…"
"What about your family?" Maylene asked. "Don't you want to go home and see them, and tell them all about your journey? Especially if you win the tournament?"
Jack kept his expression neutral, but on the inside he was scowling.
"I guess so…" Jack said, staring off into space. "What about you? What're you going to do after this is over?"
Maylene sighed and studied the table dejectedly.
"I don't really know either," she finally replied. "I was going to go back to Veilstone and keep on being the Gym Leader, but now I've got these new abilities… I'm not even sure if they'll let me be the Gym Leader any more when people find out."
"Thanks a lot for all these stupid superhuman powers," Arceus pouted in an insufferably high-pitched voice. "I hate you."
Mew coughed into her paw, shooting the Alpha an icy glare from underneath her wig. The Legendary sighed, voice dropping back to his normal tone.
"Well, I do suppose it's only natural for Maylene be worried about how everyone will view her once they find out that she's- essentially - a freak, but if the media reaction is anything to go by, I'm not so certain Maylene has too much to be worried over."
"I'm sure it'll work out," Jack comforted her almost reflexively. "From what I hear, you're the best Gym Leader they've had at Veilstone in a long time; they wouldn't dare get rid of you over something like this."
"You're probably right," Maylene said gratefully. "Although if I am going to be continuing as Gym leader, I'm going to have to train a new team for gym battles," she chuckled at Jack's confusion. "The ones I used while you were training at the dojo with us are too strong now; especially Lucario. If I keep on using them, no one's going to be able to defeat us and get the Cobble Badge."
"That makes a certain amount of sense," Jack admitted. "It must be hard being a gym leader; it's practically your job to lose to trainers."
Maylene huffed in mock-indignation. "I'll have you know there's a lot more to a Gym Leader's job than just loosing.
"We have to give away our paychecks, too!"
We're supposed to gauge challengers' strengths and weaknesses, and their relationship with their Pokémon; we're supposed to help them get stronger by giving them a goal to work towards, in preparation for competing in the Sinnoh League. And that's why I really don't want to have to give it up."
Jack scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, when you put it that way… Then again, if being a Gym Leader doesn't work out, I'm sure you'd be a cinch for the Elite Four; or maybe even the Sinnoh Champion."
Maylene chuckled. "Well that's awfully sweet of you to say, but I don't think so."
"What?" Jack protested. "I think you'd make a great Champion."
"You know what the Champion has to put up with on a daily basis?" Maylene asked. "You think a gym leader's job is demanding, the Champion has it even worse. I know Cynthia, the current Champion, personally; and she says that when she inherited the title, the previous Champion couldn't have been happier to let her have it. Everywhere she goes she always has at least a dozen cameras trained on her at once, and trainers lining up for miles just to have their Pokémon knocked out in one hit by her Garchomp."
"She's really that strong?" Jack asked.
Maylene nodded. "Yeah, every bit; she's been challenged dozens of times, but no one's even come close to defeating her. Anyone else would've let someone win by now, but Cynthia's too stubborn; she says that 'one day a worthy opponent will beat her in honourable combat, and only then will she happily relinquish up the title of champion.'
"Like you, Jack!" Mew said with an innocent, dopey smile. "You know all about honorable combat!"
She's such a romantic..."
(Eric Idle: Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)
Jack chuckled. "Sounds like you know her pretty well."
"Well enough to know that she doesn't enjoy being Champion," Maylene agreed. "She'd much rather go on a journey of her own; she always talks about travelling across Sinnoh again like she did in her trainer days. But like I said, she's too stubborn to give it up until she's found her 'trainer in shining armour'."
"How'd you meet her anyway?" Jack asked, wanting to hear more about Cynthia; she seemed like an interesting person.
"She's visited my Gym a few times," Maylene replied, "Mostly on business, making sure I had things well in hand; but she made a few social calls too, and we got to know each other pretty well. I still run into her every once in a while and we chat."
"She certainly seems like a nice person," Jack commented.
Maylene nodded. "She really is. She's way too nice to be saddled with a job like Champion, but I'm still not planning on taking it off her hands any time soon. If it came to that, I'd rather leave the region and travel with you."
"I'm not sure whether to be insulted or not…" Jack said with a chuckle.
"Sorry," Maylene apologised hastily. "That came out wrong…"
"I meant to say I'd rather elope," Arceus commented in Maylene's voice, much to his lawyer's consternation. "Regardless, after a little more talk on Cynthia, Jack and Maylene part ways so the former can prepare for his battle against Tobias, bringing us into chapter seventeen.
Jack stepped into the arena with a determined expression; this was it, the last battle of the Sinnoh League. There was no way he was going to lose to Tobias,
"Unless the plot demands I lose to the biggest sue in Pokémon history so it can't be said I'm more powerful than him," Arceus remarked cynically. Mew just sighed.
"I've heard a lot about you, Jack Storm," Tobias called from across the battlefield,
"You're the fabled 'Ash 2.0', correct?"
"It's fitting, in a way, that it came down to the two of us in the finals; seeing as this battle was inevitable from the moment the tournament began.
"Since there was no one else that could possibly match our levels of OP," Arceus cleared his throat with a sigh after Mew slapped him with the all-too familiar Torchic. "Yes, well, cue more banter that's all too easy to beat the old dead horse with and then the battle we've all been waiting for."
Without another word, Tobias tossed a Pokéball onto the field; true to form, it was Darkrai. Now that he was seeing it up close, Jack could tell that it was definitely not the Darkrai he knew; this Darkrai just didn't radiate the same immense power as the real one.
"Must've been on SlimFast," Mew commented.
"Jason, you're up," Jack said with a grin.
[Jason (Lucario) Age: 19. Ability: Steadfast. Moves: Metal Claw, Counter, Force Palm, Aura Sphere, Bone Rush, Focus Punch, Close Combat, and Psychic.]
"But wait!" Arceus exclaimed, leaning in towards the screen. "There's more! Order now and you'll also get these moves;"
A series of words quickly floated in front of the Alpha's fact to his onlooker's confusion, containing every signature move and 'Bournemouth'. Mew facepawed.
Jason appeared in the customary flash of white light and settled into a combat stance.
"Going with your most powerful Pokémon right off the bat as well," Tobias commented with a knowing smirk. "Probably hoping the type-advantage will help you, am I right?"
Jack shrugged. "You seem to have thought out my strategy almost as well as I did. Now then, let's get this started; Jason, Aura Sphere!"
"And so begins the epic showdown between Jason and Freddy Krueger," Arceus deadpanned. Mew snickered and Jack just facepalmed.
Jason knew exactly what Jack wanted him to do; they'd used this strategy many times before. Instead of charging up one large Aura Sphere, Jason quickly formed a few dozen smaller ones and tossed them haphazardly into the middle of the arena, where they exploded and threw up a thick cloud of dust which rose well above their heads. Both Jack and Jason could rely on their aura vision, but Tobias and Darkrai would be effectively blinded.
"Because the Legendary Pokémon who can manipule people's minds and turn into a shadow is going to be stopped by a dust cloud."
Using the dust as cover, Jason closed in silently on his blinded opponent; planting his hind paws carefully, so as to avoid making any noise. As soon as he was within striking range of Darkrai, Jason abandoned stealth for lightning speed; scoring a clean hit with Metal Claw, and then disappearing back into the dust.
Darkrai quickly turned and fired an Ice Beam at Jason's retreating form, but the Lucario didn't stay in one place even for a second, and started running rings around Darkrai; the dust making him next impossible to hit. Jason dove in again, scoring another direct hit with Metal Claw and then retreating before he could be hit; at that point to dust was starting to settle, so Jason landed one more Metal Claw before backing away to a safe distance.
When the dust had cleared, Darkrai didn't show any signs of the damage it had taken; that either meant it was a very good actor, or that this battle would be a tough one.
(Seto Kaiba: Why don't you just admit defeat, Yugi?)
Darkrai charged and launched a Dark Void attack at Jason, in the form of a pitch-black sphere of energy, but Jason avoided it with ease and charged at Darkrai with Bone Rush. Darkrai fired off another Ice Beam, forcing Jason to strafe to the right to avoid it. As Jason closed in, Darkrai started to back up.
"It's no use," Mew muttered sadly. "Darkrai has the high ground."
The reply she got was Arceus commandeering the rubber torchic.
Sensing an opening, Jason shot forward and covered the remaining distance between them in a heartbeat; lashing out with Bone Rush. However, Darkrai was ready for him and, a split second before Jason's attack hit, the Pitch Black Pokémon summoned a Dark Void sphere in front of it; Jason ran right into the attack, and a cocoon of dark purple energy encased him. From the trainer's box, Jack could feel Jason's consciousness slipping away as he fell into a deep sleep; his arms falling limply to his sides as he stood with a blank look on his face.
"See?" the Psychic Type said with an air of triumph, crossing her arms and ignoring the bruise on the top of her head.
Jack gritted his teeth; this was what he'd tried to avoid. Darkrai closed in on Jason and put its two black, claw-like hands on either side of his head. Jack could practically feel Darkrai draining Jason's stamina with Dream Eater, and restoring its own in the process. He tried waking Jason up telepathically, but the Lucario wasn't responding; it was no normal sleep Jason was in, Dark Void's effects ran deep into his subconscious.
Darkrai continued its mental assault for several agonisingly long seconds, but then Jack felt Jason's mind stir slightly; Dark Void was wearing off, and a spark of consciousness was all Jack needed.
"WAKE UP!"
"Oh no, Jason's about to oversleep and miss his place in the story!" Arceus cried out in mock-terror before clearing his throat. "Anyways, Jason manages to knock out Darkrai in a rather anti-climatic way by spamming rapid-fire Aura Spheres, and then Jack recalls Jason to let him heal up from the Dream Eater."
"I have to say," Tobias called from across the arena, "That was a very impressive manoeuvre you pulled off there with the Aura Spheres. I've been preparing for this fight for some time now, but you've still managed to catch me off-guard several times already; but I won't underestimate you again."
Jack shrugged. "Famous last words."
"Famous last words," the two Legendary Pokémon echoed.
Without another word, Tobias sent out his second Pokémon; a Salamence, and a large one at that. It landed on the ground with a thud, and let out an ear-splitting roar. Jack didn't so much as flinch.
"Wendy, you're up!"
"Give him the number one combo!" Arceus blinked when he saw Mew was peering up at him, arms crossed. "Too soon?"
Mew nodded wordlessly.
"You could say," Jack piped up from his corner. "It's a bit stale."
The lawyer quickly threw up his arms to protect himself from the barrage of rubber torchics.
Wendy appeared in a flash of white light, and immediately began to stare down her larger opponent. If she was at all intimidated by Salamence, she didn't show it.
"Using a Fairy-type against a Dragon-type," Tobias commented. "You really do like to use type-advantages, don't you."
Jack and Mew gazed up at the Alpha when he said nothing. The Normal Type shrugged indifferently.
Even before Tobias gave the order Salamence had drawn in a deep breath, and then it breathed out a white-hot stream of flames at Wendy who teleported out of the way not a second too late.
Wendy reappeared and hovered a few meters above Salamence, and began gathering ribbons of silver energy into her hand; not seeing the point of beating around the bush when she had an attack that could probably take Salamence down in one hit. But before she could fire the Moonblast, Salamence suddenly leapt off the ground straight at her with Double-Edge.
Wendy barely even had time to drop the half-formed Moonblast on Salamence's head, but the Dragon Pokémon ploughed through the unfocused blast of silver energy as if it wasn't there. Double-Edge hit Wendy like a ton of bricks and flung her across the arena like a ragdoll; although Salamence took significant recoil damage as well. Wendy hit the ground hard, but when the dust cleared she was still standing; and she seemed thoroughly ticked off.
"You'll pay for that," she said menacingly, holding her midriff where Double-Edge had hit.
"The total is three ninety-nine-" the Pyschic began; if Arceus had eyebrows he would have furrowed them.
Before the Dragon/Flying-type could even register what was happening, Wendy flicked it into the ground with a powerful Psychic attack.
"Please come again."
Salamence got up without so much as a groan of exertion, but it found itself looking into a pair of beautiful ruby-red eyes. A second later, Wendy's Hypnosis had the Dragon Pokémon sleeping like a rock.
While her opponent was asleep, Wendy took a brief moment to catch her breath; Salamence's Double-Edge had done serious damage. Fortunately, that also meant that Salamence had taken a lot of damage from the recoil.
Once Wendy had caught her second wind, she started powering up another Moonblast; gathering as much energy as she could, and focusing it as much as possible. The orb of silver energy was glowing brighter than the moon itself before Wendy was happy with it. With a confident smirk, she held out her hand and fired. The Moonblast crossed the arena in a heartbeat, and scored a direct hit on Salamence's sleeping form; on impact it exploded into a nimbus of silver energy which completely engulfed Tobias's side of the arena, forcing the blast shield to rise up around him.
Wendy turned confidently to Jack. "Well, how was that?" she asked with a grin.
"That… was pretty impressive, I'll be honest," Jack said, slightly shell-shocked; Wendy was turning out to be even more of a powerhouse than he thought.
"Jason had better watch out," Jack mused. "Or Wendy might just take his spot as our heavy-hitter."
"Come to think of it, I might need to watch my back too, or this story might end up about her..." Arceus mused in Jack's voice.
Jack scanned the battlefield to see if Salamence was still conscious or not, although he didn't see how it could be after that. But although he could still sense Salamence's aura, he couldn't find its mind no matter how hard he looked.
Jack furrowed his brow; Darkrai he understood, but Salamence wasn't a Dark-type. There was something strange going on…
"Something silly this way comes," the Original One whispered.
Jack's eyes widened as he felt Salamence's aura move.
"Wendy, MOVE!" he shouted, a split second too late.
Salamence shot out of the silver cloud like a vengeful torpedo; Wendy turned around just in time to see Salamence crash into her with Shadow Claw,
Arceus blinked and looked up in horror when he heard the opening notes of Roundabout, and spun around to find Hideyoshi holding the agonizingly familiar record player next to Mew, who was busy watching the discus spin with a vengeance. The Psychic Type then looked up and blinked innocently, and slowly took the needle off the record.
"You told me to stop playing it at the end of the chapter," the prosecutor told the prisoner vapidly. If Arceus' anatomy allowed it, he would have facehoofed.
Jack stared blankly at Wendy, then at Salamence who, although it was covered with burns and bruises, didn't look like it even felt them.
"It's not possible," Jack muttered incredulously to himself. "It's… just not possible."
Jack got the impression Arceus had just done his equivalent of opening a mouth before the New Species Pokémon rushed over and pointed to the next piece of dialogue.
"Says the boy who defeated the Legendary Bird Trio with his bare hands," Tobias said.
Arceus turned back to the trainer/lawyer in blue. "Are you really certain you need me? You've been doing a bang-up job of this yourself, you know."
Jack coughed and blushed slightly.
"I thought you would've known this, but nothing's impossible; some things are just less likely than others."
Jack shut his mouth with a snap, and fixed his eyes on the trainer standing opposite him.
"Anyhow, scared witless with-"
Mew coughed loudly.
"Safe with," Arceus grumbled. "The knowledge that there is in fact a trainer out there with thicker plot armor than him, Jack sends out Solomon to OH-KO the opposing Salamence with a well-placed Ice beam. Tobias obviously takes exception to this."
"Well, Mr. Storm," Tobias said, drawing Jack's attention back to him, "You've officially surpassed the record; you've beaten two of my Pokémon with three of your own. I find that impressive in and of itself."
"Save being impressed for later," Jack replied. "I'm not nearly finished yet."
"Fair enough," Tobias said, pulling out another Pokéball. "I'm interested to see how much farther you can get."
Tobias tossed his third Pokéball onto the battlefield, and white light started flowing out of it in a stream about twice as wide as Jack's waist. But as Jack looked on, wondering what kind of Pokémon it was, the light just kept on coiling upwards; ten, twenty, thirty feet it rose into the sky. Then, to Jack's amazement, the light dissipated to reveal a gigantic green serpent; a Pokémon spoken of only in legends. Rayquaza.
"And we can all guess how this goes; onto chapter eighteen."
Jack scowled as he recalled Solomon to his Pokéball. The battle was spiraling out of his control, and he didn't like it.
(Jerry Seinfeld: The whole system is breaking down!)
"Alright then," Jack said, "Have it your way. Cap, you're up!"
[Cap (Breloom) Age: 23. Ability: Effect Spore. Moves: Energy Ball, Drain Punch, Mach Punch, Zen Headbutt, Protect, Low Sweep, and Bide.]
Tobias seemed confused for a second, but then he nodded. "I see, you're trying to buy your Lucario enough time to recover."
Jack grinned. "Actually, no. Cap here is my secret weapon. He's going to take down your Rayquaza in one hit."
Cap froze in place and turned to look at Jack.
"I… I am?" The Breloom asked nervously.
"Yes," Jack replied, doing his best to convey a confidence he didn't feel. "You are."
"Is that so," Tobias replied with a chuckle. "In that case I'll just have to defeat him quickly. Rayquaza, use Draco Meteor!"
Jack's eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed again as his grin disappeared. Draco Meteor… At this point his plan would either work beautifully, or fail miserably. It was all up to Cap.
"Jack Storm: Ace Attorney," Arceus said in the best voice-over he could muster. Jack didn't know whether to be insulted or flattered.
"Cap, stand strong," Jack said calmly.
Cap's eyes widened, but he nodded and looked up at Rayquaza with no small amount of trepidation. 'Stand strong' was a code word they'd developed to use in their gym battle against Volkner, to avoid him knowing what they were about to do. Even though they'd only used it once, Cap remembered what it meant. Use Bide.
Arceus slowly lowered his face to the desk, raised it back up, and then broke it in half with his forehead.
"Why don't we see how that works out?" he muttered, quickly piecing the table back together.
The beam of light slammed into the side of Rayquaza's head with so much force, Jack could feel the shockwave. The blast knocked Rayquaza clean out of the sky, and sent it plummeting to the ground in a heap; out cold. The crowd went absolutely berserk.
Jack was, quite frankly, at a loss for words. He'd said Cap would take Rayquaza down in one hit, but now that it had actually happened, he could barely comprehend it. But he soon snapped out of it as, unable to muster the strength to stand, Cap's legs gave out underneath him and the valiant Mushroom Pokémon crumpled to the floor.
The Alpha just sighed and shook his head. "Well, in a battle where both sides are so ridiculously overpowered that all suspense gets tossed out the window, I suppose this is the best outcome one could have asked for."
But the battle only went downhill from there.
"Well done Jack," Tobias said, surprise evident in his tone, "You've managed to catch me by surprise yet again."
"And here I thought I was the ultimate Gary Stu."
Jack nodded. "You might as well get used to it, because I don't plan on stopping."
Tobias chuckled. "I see you've gotten your confidence back. I wonder how long it will last though..." The older trainer pulled out another Pokéball. "What if I told you my next Pokémon was even more powerful than Rayquaza?
"Whatever you've got, bring it on," Jack goaded. "You're just bluffing; I'll bet Rayquaza was your most powerful Pokémon, and you're just trying to make me nervous."
Or so he tried to convince himself.
Tobias grinned; a small grin, but somehow it was far more sinister than all the maniacal laughter in the world could have been.
"Let's go," he said, tossing the Pokéball onto the field, "Giratina!"
A moment of uncomfortable silence settled over the room, both lawyer and prosecutor occupying themselves by anxiously staring holes into the back of the Normal Type's head.
"I quit," Arceus finally spat as evenly as he could, floating away from the computer, only to have Mew quickly spring up and block his path.
"Why don't you read what happens next," the New Species Pokémon ordered. Arceus narrowed his eyes, and after a few seconds of staring down at the Psychic Type, turned back around to the luminescent screen in silent defeat.
Alright," Jack said, "Katana, you're up!"
[Katana (Scyther) Age: 22. Ability: Technician. Moves: Fury Cutter, Agility, Quick Attack, Fly, Fake Out, Shadow Claw, and Air Slash.]
Katana appeared in a flash of red light, and immediately sized up her opponent.
"You know," she commented wryly, "I really hate ghosts."
As soon as the round started, Katana was off like a shot with Shadow Claw. But before she could land a hit, Giratina disappeared. It didn't just move, it almost seemed to melt into shadows. Katana came to a quick stop and looked around, but there was no sign of the giant dragon.
Suddenly, Katana's instincts kicked in and launched her into the air; but not quite fast enough to avoid the inky black force that sprang up behind her. Giratina's Shadow Force technique swatted Katana out of the air, and knocked her into the ground so hard it formed a small crater.
Katana tried to stand, but the Renegade Pokémon emerged from the shadows right in front of her and used Dragon Pulse. The sphere of purple energy hit hard, and the explosion raised a cloud of dust. When the smoke cleared, Katana was out for the count.
Jack could barely comprehend what had just happened, it had all happened so quickly. As he stared at Katana's unconscious form, it gradually dawned on him that it had taken Giratina all of ten seconds to end the fight; and even Katana's hair-trigger instincts hadn't been fast enough to save her. Maybe he could have beat it himself, maybe, but his team stood no chance. No chance at all.
"You're not making a very good case," Arceus deadpanned in Mew's direction. The pink Pokémon just waved off the cynical comment, and the Alpha returned to his screen with a sigh.
"I forfeit the match," he heard himself say, although it was like he was hearing his own voice from a distance. He couldn't concentrate on anything other than the fact that he and his team had been beaten; soundly, and completely. Giratina was easily powerful enough to take out his whole team single-handedly. Tobias had just been toying with him.
Arceus blinked. And then blinked again. Mew saw a myriad of emotions flicker across the Alpha's multi-colored lenses - Jack could only make out the conflict of them.
Jack was snapped out of his shock when Tobias held out his hand to him, as if to shake.
"You fought well," the older trainer said, almost apologetically. "You might just be the strongest opponent I've ever faced."
Jack took Tobias's hand and shook it solemnly. "Thank you for the kind words, but you had us completely outclassed the whole time. You were just toying with us, weren't you."
Tobias shrugged. "Well, I wanted to see exactly how powerful your team was. If I had sent out my most powerful Pokémon first, I wouldn't have been able to get an accurate picture of your strength. I was somewhat surprised by you forfeiting the match though. Most trainers would have chosen to fight until the bitter end, so why didn't you?"
Jack sighed. "None of my team could have defeated your Giratina. I couldn't let them get hurt for the sake of my own pride."
Tobias nodded thoughtfully. "You never cease to amaze me," he muttered to himself.
"Well," the Alpha began slowly, and not without a small amount of shock. "I suppose I can agree with that."
Arceus nodded and quickly recomposed himself.
"Yes;" he continued with more of his usual decorum. "For as ludicrous as Rising Storm's battles become, Jack still tries to remain a down to earth character. He doesn't place unrealistic expectations on his Pokémon even when the whole story is unrealistic, and still tries not to let his pride endanger his family."
Both the onlookers tried to hold in their surprise as Arceus gave another nod in approval.
Tobias then bent down slightly and whispered something in Jack's ear.
"Meet me tonight at ten o'clock, behind the stadium on the South side," the older trainer whispered, but his voice sounded slightly different. "We can talk more freely then."
"You can never be too sure," Mew whispered. "There are some real nuts out there."
Without another word, Tobias turned around and walked out of the arena; leaving Jack dazed and confused. Tobias wanted to meet him behind the stadium tonight? Why? And why had his voice sounded so strange when he whispered… Then he got it. He'd gotten so used to switching between them that he hadn't realized at first.
When Tobias whispered to him, he was talking in Pokéspeak.
"He also makes a mean soufflé," Arceus deadpanned. "Chapter nineteen."
Jack sat on the sofa and stared numbly at the clock. It was just past nine thirty, almost time for him to go meet Tobias. After the battle, he'd initially been almost boiling over with anger which he'd only barely managed to restrain.
The rest of the evening had passed by in a blur for Jack. He was still struggling to come to grips with the fact that Tobias had given him, to put it bluntly, a sound thrashing.
"You know, I'm not enjoying this as much as I thought I would..." Arceus mumbled low enough that Mew and Jack were unable to hear him.
He couldn't accept the fact that he'd let Jason, Cap, Solomon, Wendy, and Katana get beat up for nothing. Solomon had taken so much damage from Rayquaza's Iron Tail that Nurse Joy had transferred him into the emergency ward just to be safe; it was going to take days for him to fully recover. It made him furious.
He knew none of them blamed him, in fact they probably all blamed themselves. Even so, Jack knew that it was his actions which had ultimately led to this. At the end of the day the only reason any of this happened was because he insisted on entering the tournament; and for what, to draw out his stalker? Was that his excuse? To be honest, that plan was looking a lot more shaky in retrospect.
The critic just stared blankly at the screen.
What had really riled up his emotions however, was all of that wasn't the first thing that crossed his mind. In that moment when he surrendered, even as he said the words, he had been trying to find a way to win. He didn't know why he said them, but if he hadn't he was sure he would've kept fighting no matter the cost. He thanked his lucky stars that, for whatever reason, those words had come out of his mouth when they did; because his next Pokémon would probably have been Lucy.
"Jason was right," he muttered to himself. "Why did I care so much about winning the Sinnoh League? And why why do I care so much that I lost..."
Maybe, he thought, what he said to Tobias earlier that day was more true than he'd realized.
"My own pride…"
Arceus nodded solemnly. "Anyhow, after some more introspection and character building, Jack sets out to meet Tobias."
"So," Tobias said, "You came."
"Call it the curiosity that killed the cat," Jack replied, slightly on edge and not sure what to expect. "You got my attention with that Pokéspeach trick, so what did you want to tell me?"
Tobias folded his arms. "This isn't about what I want to tell you, I merely feel I owe you an explanation for everything that's happened. First of all, I should probably mention that this isn't the first time we've met."
Jack frowned. "I'm sure I'd remember someone like you, unless…"
"You haven't forgotten," Tobias assured him. "I used a different name back then, not to mention a different face."
"Oh, he so moonlights as a Ditto too," the Alpha deadpanned, brow rigid.
"You probably know me better as Omar the Mage."
As Jack stared at Tobias, or Omar, he wasn't really sure anymore, the pieces started snapping into place in his mind.
"I'm not the biggest cheater here!"
"You… I…" he stuttered, unable to form a coherent thought.
"Yes, I know," Omar sighed, "It's a lot to take in. I probably shouldn't have sprung it on you so suddenly, but I couldn't think of what else to do."
"But… how are you here? Why are you here?"
Omar sighed again. "That… is a long story. To make it short, I've been tracking you for quite some time now.
"And I'm here to recruit you for the Justice League."
Which is exactly what happened. Do you have any questions?"
"More than I can ask…" Jack muttered. "I guess to start off, how did you capture Darkrai and so many other powerful Pokémon?"
Omar scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well… to be honest, I didn't. My Pokémon were actually just shadow dummies I conjured up. I had absolute control over them, and I used my own powers to make everything feel as real as it looked. Basically, they were as strong as I wanted them to be."
Jack's jaw dropped.
The bottom half of Arceus' face snapped off and fell on the desk below. Mew fainted.
"Yeah, I know," Tobias chuckled ruefully, "Kinda underhanded…"
"Kinda…" Jack muttered incredulously, "I'm pretty sure that breaks just about every rule the Sinnoh League has…"
"Even I didn't go that far..." the Alpha continued in a mimic of Jack's tenor voice, levitating what would pass as his jaw back in place.
"Well what else was I supposed to do?" Omar said, holding up his hands defensively.
"Don't enter the Sinnoh League!" Arceus and Mew shouted out in unison.
"I had no Pokémon, no experience at being a trainer, and at most a few months to beat all eight gym leader and become strong enough to compete in the Sinnoh League. It really was my only option."
"So what," Jack countered, "You just breeze in and cheat your way to the top? What was the point of that?"
Arceus craned his neck back to Jack.
"Yes, what is the point of that?" he asked with enough sarcasm to make the sandy-haired trainer nauseous.
"Which one of us is on trial, again?" Jack asked, unconsciously wiping at his brow.
Omar sighed again. "That wasn't my original intent. I was only going to keep up my charade of invincibility until I was matched up with you, at which point I planned on throwing the match at the last minute."
"If that was your plan, it sure didn't seem that way to me," Jack said pointedly.
"I had to make it look good, or people would get suspicious," Omar countered.
"Or else they'd call you a-" this time Mew used her paddle-shaped tail to silence the Legendary.
Jack stared at the mage for a second, then burst out in uncontrollable laughter at his own idiocy. He'd been beating himself up for surrendering, thereby making everything they'd gone through up to that point meaningless. If Omar's shadow puppets really were unbeatable however, then the battle was meaningless from the beginning; just another performance by Omar, in which Jack and his team were the clueless assistants. It was both comforting and hilarious, in a way, to know that he had been within a hair's breadth of winning the Sinnoh League. Even so, he knew he'd made the right choice by surrendering; and so he laughed.
"What's so funny?" Omar demanded.
"Oh, nothing really," Jack said once the laughter had subsided a little.
"I'm just thinking of the many ways I can kill you," Mew said darkly, cutting off her own sudden bout of laughter - Arceus blinked in concern.
"Anyways," the Alpha began slowly, "After a short Q&A in which Jack figures out that the illusions were an extension of Omar's aura, we get back to the more pressing question."
In the meantime, aren't you going to ask how I know Pokéspeak? After all, that's what brought you here wasn't it?"
"Yeah, but that makes sense now that I know it was you," Jack replied. "We're the same, so I guess it makes sense that you'd.."
"Didn't you listen to a word I said last time we met?" Omar interrupted him. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but the only thing we have in common is the nature of our powers. Aside from that, we might as well be day and night."
"You mean, you weren't raised by Pokémon?" Jack asked, somewhat confused.
"Actually, that much about us is the same I suppose," Omar said, folding his arms. "The main difference is that I'm not human."
Jack blinked, his mind temporarily unable to process what he'd just heard. Then the pieces started to snap together.
"You mean…"
"Yes, this body is as much an illusion as Tobias's was," Omar said with a smirk. "My real one is a lot more handsome."
Omar's form shifted once again, but this time it was different. There was no blurry in-between stage, it was more like a curtain dropping to reveal what was behind. It was something the likes of which Jack had never seen before; a bipedal, fox-like creature with grey fur covering most of its body, thicker black fur on its chest, and three blood-red claws on its front and hind paws. It also had a red mane which flowed like a waterfall down its back, and was fastened near the bottom by a ring made of what looked like some blue gemstone. What Jack immediately noticed however was that its eyes had stayed the same piercing blue colour.
Jack mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally managed to force a few words out.
"What… are you?"
"I," Omar said, puffing out his now fur-covered chest, "Am a Zoroark; Master of Illusions!
"An alias by any other name is just as silly," the Alpha deadpanned, brow rigid and eyes narrowed.
"When everything's more complicated my work is complete!" Mew chimed in, much more enthusiastically.
"Tobias!" Arceus said with a little more cheer.
"Omar!" Mew exclaimed, looking up at the Alpha for a second with a dopey grin.
"Zoroark, that's what I really am!"
"Team Shyamalan is quite a fright!"
"Surrender now, or else I'll write!"
"That's right!" Jack chimed in, shooting up at of his chair and saluting. A moment of awkward silence followed, the two Pokémon staring back at the trainer before Mew and Jack both burst into laughter simultaneously. Even Arceus joined in with a quite chuckle as he turned back to the computer.
You may have heard of us, a proud race revered for our ability to create illusions at will."
"Never heard of them."
Omar snorted. "Fine then, be like that. At any rate, I am not an ordinary Zoroark. Among other things, my illusions can interact with other physical objects; which is not normally possible. What you uncovered about aura may have something to do with it, but I'll have to do some more testing on that..."
"Hold on, slow down," Jack exclaimed. "I'm still working on how you've been a Pokémon all this time… Why…?"
"Why was I working as a professional magician in a travelling carnival?" Omar interrupted. "Curiosity mostly. I wanted to find out more about humans and their culture. I also thought that maybe I'd stumble upon something that might explain my extraordinary abilities."
"Did you?" Jack asked. "Find anything, I mean."
"Not as such," Omar replied, "But I did find you. Your abilities are remarkably similar to mine although, like I said last time we met, yours are significantly more powerful. I thought by studying you I might find out more about myself, but as of yet that hasn't been the case. Do you have any information on the nature of your power, or how you came by it?"
Jack sighed. "I was hoping to ask you that question. I didn't learn my first move until I was about a year old,
"Though you only began using them more than a decade later, because clearly an infant would see the need for discretion or even have the needed self control," the Alpha deadpanned.
but I've had Pokémon-like abilities ever since I can remember. At this point I try not to think about where my power might have come from, it always seems to put me a bad mood. The sad fact is I have no answers, and no way of getting any; so what's the point of dwelling on it?"
Jack looked up and stared absentmindedly at a shaft of moonlight.
"You know," he continued, a faraway look in his eyes, "When I was little, my friends didn't treat me any differently. Pokémon come in all shapes and sizes anyway and I doubt they'd ever seen a human before, so they had no reason to assume I was different from them. Or at least, any more different than they were from each other. My foster parents told me I was human of course, but that didn't really mean anything to me at the time. I grew up not knowing that my powers were anything out of the ordinary. But when I started my trainer's journey, being around and acting like other humans for the first time, I started to realize exactly how different I was from everybody. It took me a long time to finally accept that and move on."
Omar nodded. "I believe I can empathize with that. My family comes from a very… shall we say 'religious' background… I don't suppose you've ever heard of the Cult of Darkrai? No? I thought not. Suffice it to say they weren't a pleasant lot. They used to worship Darkrai as the lord of darkness, or some such nonsense. They died out long before I was born, but many of my clan still remembered those days. As I grew up, and my abilities developed at an increasingly rapid rate, some thought I was possessed by Darkrai. I was exiled from our village when I was two years old. I was still a Zorua at the time, the first form of my evolutionary line."
"That's horrible..." Jack muttered incredulously. "How could they do that to one of their own?"
Omar shrugged, and looked up at the stars absent-mindedly. "Fear is a powerful thing, it can turn even the most level-headed person into a crazed madman. That was what the cult of Darkrai was all about, the power of fear."
"Fear for the fear god," Mew muttered quietly enough that not even Arceus could pick up on it.
Jack shivered. "Remind me to avoid them."
"Surviving on my own was a challenge at first, especially since I couldn't help but think of my power as something evil, but eventually I got used to it. I stopped thinking of my abilities as a curse and instead set about learning to master them. I spent several years in the wilderness during which time I evolved into the fine specimen you see before you.
Mew blinked up at the silent Legendary above her. "Nothing to say?"
Arceus gave a mild nod, and Jack got the impression he was pleased.
"So," Jack said finally, "You won the Sinnoh League, or Tobias did anyway. What are you going to do now?"
Omar shrugged. "I'll probably go back to the carnival and keep being Omar the Mage. Although," he grinned, his sharp vulpine teeth glinting in the moonlight, "I can't guarantee that Tobias won't show up every now and again. I plan on having him go down in myth and legend; the mysterious cloaked man who defeated the great Jack Storm in the Sinnoh League."
"You wouldn't consider coming with me then?" Jack asked jokingly.
Omar chuckled at that. "You'd like that, wouldn't you…
"This conversation is starting to make me uncomfortable," Arceus finally choked out.
but no, I'm afraid that's not going to happen any time soon. I have no desire to go to other regions quite yet."
Jack furrowed his brow. "Who said anything about other regions?"
"Oh, pardon me," Omar said apologetically. "From what I heard, it's common for trainers to visit other regions and challenge the Pokémon league there after losing the league of their home region. I just assumed… So you're not going elsewhere?"
"And so, Jack spends a while contemplating that before he decides to fall asleep."
"You know what?" he muttered to himself. "I'll figure that out tomorrow. Maybe Nicholas and I can go somewhere together, that'd be a lot of fun. It would also give me the perfect chance to keep an eye on his new abilities..."
Resolving to find and talk to Nicholas about it the next morning, Jack drifted off into a deep sleep. That night, he had another dream.
Everything started out blurry, as if he was looking at it through murky water. From what he could see, he guessed he was in a grassy place next to some sort of giant grey… thing. A stone wall maybe?
There was… what he assumed was a person crouching next to him. He couldn't make out any details, or even whether it was a man or woman, but when it stood up he knew it had to be human by the general shape of it.
As he looked, he noticed that the image was slightly clearer than it had been a second ago; but not by much. Still, it was enough to confirm that what he was looking at was indeed human, and a tall one at that at least compared to him. As the image grew cleared yet, he noticed something else that didn't surprise him. He could see his own hands, which meant that he was looking out of someone's eyes just like in his old nightmares. Still, there was something different about this...
At that point the dream took a turn for the surreal, as he grabbed a small object from somewhere he couldn't see and threw it on the ground at the other person's feet. Suddenly, the other person was enveloped in what looked like a cloud of purple smoke. When it cleared, the other figure was gone.
Before Jack could even try to understand the meaning behind that, he turned his head to see more figures coming; carrying things that looked like swords and axes.
"Oh, he's been transported into Fire Emblem," Mew said blithely.
"Probably has Galeforce..." the Normal Type muttered.
The new figures looked human, at least from the shape of them, but their skin looked an odd grey colour… Then the image cleared up a little more, and Jack was gripped by an icy claw of sheer primal terror as he realized why the new figures' faces were that unnatural grey. Where their faces should have been, there were only empty skulls.
"It's the risen!" the New Species Pokémon cried out in terror. "Save me Frederick!"
Jack launched himself into the air with so much force his head connected with, and slightly cracked, the ceiling. He landed back on the bed, the mattress softening his landing slightly.
"Oh my goodness, are you alright?!" Lucy, who was in his room for some reason, exclaimed as Jack sat up and rubbed his now tender head.
"Lucina?" The Psychic Type asked innocently, earning her a bop on the head from Arceus.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he stammered, still a little shaken up by his latest nightmare. "What… what are you doing up, or in my room for that matter? Why aren't you in the Pack?"
Lucy stared sheepishly at the floor. "I asked Thomas to let me out so I could keep an eye on you. You seemed pretty down about the battle today, and I didn't want to leave you alone all night… That, and Jason asked me to. I'm pretty sure he's just too stubborn to stay out himself."
Jack sighed. "Thanks Lucy," he said, putting his hand on her head and scratching her behind the ears. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You're certainly better than this Jason guy, whoever he is," the Alpha commented, and the trainer got the impression he had a small smile.
Lucy practically purred with pleasure as Jack petted her in her favourite spot, but the boy barely noticed.
"He was too busy thinking about Omar," Mew said with an air of triumph, earning her a barrage of rubber torchics from the other two occupants of the room. Jack threw in an acme anvil for good measure.
Jack was still thinking about his latest nightmare, and what it could possibly mean. The problem was it didn't feel like a normal dream, but it also wasn't quite like his old nightmares either.
Both this new dream and his old ones had him observing it in the first person, he was certain of that. He didn't know for sure, but he had a sneaking suspicion that in his old dreams he had been looking out through someone else's eyes, someone else's body. This new dream though… he couldn't explain how, but somehow he knew it was him in the dream. It seemed impossible, and he didn't know what it meant, but he was certain. This new dream wasn't just a dream, and it wasn't some sort of supernatural premonition.
It was a memory.
"Hey, I figured out which memory it is!" Mew said as a sudden bout of laughter overtook her, completely oblivious to the pile of plastic she was buried in. "It's-"
Arceus' eyes widened and his head whipped back to the prosecutor. "Mew, DON'T!"
"Samurai Jack!"
Arceus slammed his head into the desk as Mew's guffawing intensified.
"Onto chapter twenty," the muffled voice rang out.
This shouldn't have happened...
It's impossible.
This all has to be some sort of nightmare, right?
Please, let this all be just a bad dream…
How did it come to this?
"So we finally really did it... YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP!" Arceus was stopped from going any further by a well timed cough from Mew.
Earlier that morning...
Jack woke up to find a tuft of soft, white fur in his face. It took him a second to realize that the warm fuzzy thing sleeping next to him was Lucy.
"Ugh," Mew yawned out in a crude pantomime of Jack's voice. "How much did I have to drink last night?"
"That's enough," Arceus said, piercing gaze locked on her. The New Species Pokémon chuckled uncomfortably and slumped away.
"That's right," he thought to himself as he remembered the events of last night. "She was worried about me, so she stayed up to watch over me. I guess she must have gotten too tired to stay awake."
Jack contemplated various ways of getting out of bed without waking the exhausted Absol. Not that it was an unpleasant situation, in fact the feel of Lucy's fur was quite nice. He just knew Jason would never let him live it down if he saw them like this again.
Arceus hung his head as Mew crossed her arms in triumph.
"Teleportation is out of the question, she'd feel the rush of air. Maybe I could gently levitate her off of me…"
However, before Jack could try anything he felt a distressingly familiar tingling sensation take hold of him. He knew exactly what was about to happen and desperately tried to hold it back, for Lucy's sake, but unfortunately that just made it all the more explosive.
Despite his best efforts Jack sneezed violently, and the noise startled Lucy so much that she jumped out of bed and landed on her back on the floor. If Jack hadn't been so mortified, and worried that Lucy might have hurt herself, he might have found the scene quite funny. Lucy desperately scrambled back to her feet, blushing in embarrassment underneath her fur.
"I'm so sorry," Jack exclaimed. "Your fur was tickling my nose, and I…"
"It's alright," Lucy said, "It's my fault for… you know. It's just, you look so cute when you're asleep…"
Jack let out a small chuckle, and a wry grin spread across his face. "Actually, I was going to say the same thing about you."
At that, Lucy blushed so deeply that it started to show through her fur.
The Alpha's forehead found itself back on the desk. By now, Mew and even Jack were beginning to snicker.
"Regardless," the Legendary forced himself back upright. "With the Sinnoh League over, Jack heads into town to find Nicholas to talk about future plans."
After that Jack teleported back to Lily of the Valley Town and sent out another probe. To his relief he quickly locked onto Nicholas's mind. However, before he could teleport to the trainer's location, he sensed something that sent an ice-cold sliver of fear like a into his heart like a needle. He'd never before felt such concentrated malice, such unbridled bloodlust. A chill ran down his spine as he realized that the presence he sensed was approaching rapidly. In fact, it was practically right on top of him.
Jack looked around at his surrounding. He was roughly in the center of the town, and there were people everywhere. He couldn't afford to get into a large-scale fight here, there would almost certainly be innocent casualties. He was about to teleport away to somewhere less populated, when he picked up a high-pitched sound from directly above him.
Instinctively, he threw up a hasty auric barrier above him. He had no doubt whatsoever that whatever had caused the sound was dangerous, and aimed at him. His intuition proved correct as a bolt of red energy hit his shield and exploded. Jack took an involuntary step backwards at the force of the blast, but his shield held.
Jack looked up to the sky just in time to watch another bolt drop from seemingly out of nowhere, and then another one, and another. The blasts kept coming every half second or so and Jack was forced to put even more energy into his aura shield just to block them.
Around him the townsfolk were in a state of panic, running desperately to get away from the area. In all the confusion plenty of people were bumping into him, which didn't help his concentration. Still, it wouldn't take long for them to evacuate and he only had to hold out until they had. After that he could safely teleport away and buy himself some time to assess the situation.
Then he felt something that was more than a simple bump, and more like someone had slashed his shoulder with a knife. He instinctively let loose a blast of psychic energy which sent everything around him flying, and as he did so he realized that his backpack, containing the portable PC which currently held his team, was no longer on his back. Someone had cut the carrying straps, and his right shoulder with them.
Jack spun on his heel, readying a focussed bolt of aura in his left hand. His assailant was a man wearing a black uniform with a strange purple symbol on the shoulder, a combat vest, and a black helmet. More importantly he had a knife in one hand, and Jack's backpack in the other. Jack's mouth curled into a vicious snarl which would've terrified him if he could've seen it, but before he could even think of doing anything he was hit in the back by… something. It didn't hurt, in fact he barely felt it. Come to that, he could barely feel anything...
Jack realized with a start that almost his entire body had gone completely numb, and the feeling was quickly spreading up his chest. He tried to move, to do anything, but he was unable. The last thing he saw was something that shook him to his core, a grey-haired woman wearing a visor which obscured her face; The Predator, Pokémon Hunter J. Then the numbness spread to his head, and everything went black.
"She's harder to kill than M. Bison," Mew deadpanned.
"Honestly, Mew, the only thing keeping this from turning into the 2003 Clone Wars is the lack of some futuristic tanks and a war."
Jack blinked self-consciously.
No sooner, it seemed, had he blacked out than light entered his eyes again. To him it felt like no time had passed at all, but he knew that was highly unlikely. As he took a deep breath and looked around himself, the first face he saw was Nicholas's.
"Are you okay," the red-headed trainer asked worriedly. "You were… brown!"
"He stopped by Waluigi's Taco Stand," Kyurem said, poking his long neck into the room before leaving just as suddenly as he came. The three occupants could only blink in confusion.
"It was a form of suspended animation," said another familiar voice from behind Jack.
"Maylene," Jack said, turning around. "You're here too? What happened? There were explosions and a soldier and… The Predator was there, Hunter J."
After his encounter with the Predator months ago, he'd learned her real name as well as her reputation as a ruthless Pokémon hunter. He'd assumed she died when her skyship blew up at the hands of Matthew, a wise Alakazam who sacrificed his life by using the Mind Plate to protect Solomon, his son. Evidently though, the universe had no justice and J had survived.
Maylene furrowed her brow. "Yeah, J was there; and soldiers."
"What happened?" Jack repeated.
"We were both nearby and we came running when we heard the explosions," Nicholas told him. "We got here just in time to see Hunter J talking with a bunch of soldiers wearing black uniforms."
"We would've tried to rescue right away," Maylene said,
"And we would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling soldiers and their rifles," Arceus grumbled.
"The soldiers didn't stick around long though," Nicholas continued, "They got into a black helicopter and took off that way," he said, pointing.
"What about J?" Jack asked.
"We attacked her as soon as the soldiers were gone," Maylene said, "But she disappeared.
"I guess my powers rubbed off on her too," Jack commented with a sheepish smile from his seat in the back.
"How long has it been?"
Maylene shrugged. "Maybe five minutes? The police haven't shown up yet, and everyone else is long gone."
Jack got shakily to his feet, and in the process he jarred his shoulder which still hurt. He glanced at it, but his robes weren't even cut. It looked like they really could survive anything… Then he remembered why his shoulder hurt, and his eyes widened in terror.
"Where's my backpack?" he asked, a tinge of desperation in his voice.
Maylene and Nicholas looked at each other.
"I'm pretty sure I saw one of the soldiers carrying it," Maylene said. "But why would they want your backpack?"
A knot formed in Jack's stomach as he remembered something else. He'd found the Pack in a lab which had originally been run by the Saldaran terrorist organization known as Alpha, and there had been a weird looking A on the door of the lab. The soldier who stole the Pack had that same symbol on the shoulder of his uniform.
"Alpha…" Jack muttered, his blood turning to ice. "They came back for their invention…"
"Invention, what…?" Nicholas said, confused.
"Jack," Maylene asked,
"Did you put all your eggs in one basket?"
Mew sighed. "You're trying to hard, Arcy."
Arceus huffed but didn't offer a retort.
"Regardless, with all his Pokémon now being held at ransom by Alpha, Jack knows what he has to do."
"Jack," Maylene said, "Don't even think about it. They're terrorists from another region, you can't get involved with stuff like that!"
"Watch me," Jack said, his calm tone conveying more fury than any amount of shouting could have.
"Jack, for the love of God you're not bulletproof!" Maylene shouted desperately. "If you go after them, you could die!"
"DO YOU THINK THAT MATTERS TO ME?!" Jack shouted, rounding on the young gym leader. "I can't just abandon them! What good is my power if I can't protect the people I love?! Don't try to stop me, because you can't."
"Then at least let us help," Nicholas said. "Take us with you!"
Jack shook his head, forcing himself to calm down. "Not on your life. This is my fight, I won't involve the two of you. Just… one thing," he said, his expression softening as he remembered what Jason had said to him during breakfast. "Pray for me, okay?"
Tears started welling up in Nicholas's eyes.
"Y-yeah, I will. I promise," the trainer said, fighting to hold back the tears.
"We both will," Maylene agreed, her own eyes starting to tear up as well.
"Thank you," Jack said, a rueful smile appearing on his face for just a moment. "That takes a huge weight off my shoulders. Don't worry, you'll see me again. I promise."
With that, Jack disappeared.
Jack stared out into the pitch-black night as the ship pitched and rocked underneath him. He was on the rearmost of three cargo ships bound for Haven, a port-city in the North-East of Saldara. The ships were packed full of food and medical supplies that were desperately need by the Saldaran Defense Force. They were being escorted by four small warships and a squadron of fighter jets.
After finding out that all public transport to and from Saldara had been shut down because of the war, Jack had been directed to the captain of this ship who had, for almost all the money Jack had, agreed to smuggle Jack in.
"Alright kid, this is as close as I can get you," the captain said, looking down at Jack. "You've got guts trying to sneak into Saldara right now, I will give you that."
"Believe me," Jack replied, "It's not by choice. They just wouldn't let me through customs."
"Well, let me tell you; the less I know, the better for both of us," The captain started, crossing his arms across his chest. "I have helped a few people get into other regions before, but never Saldara. Their punishment for doing this… it's enough to wreck a man for life, which is why this is costing you an arm and a leg."
"It's a price I'm happy to pay," Jack said, "And I appreciate you helping me at all."
"It's my pleasure, so long as it all goes smoothly… Well here is what you need to do. Usually I would just send you on your way from here, but I haven't had military ships give us escort before," the captain said before sighing.
"So what's the plan?"
"Once I got your boat lowered, you are to do nothing but drift for half an hour. Let the convoy get away from you before starting the engine. The current should take you west towards the coast. Once thirty minutes have passed, continue west and you'll reach landfall. Got it?"
"Sounds simple enough."
"Well, don't jinx it; saying it'll be easy almost guarantees that it won't be. Oh, and one more thing; I don't think I need to tell you this but if you get caught, you were a stowaway that stole a boat and I will deny ever meeting you."
"I figured as much," Jack said as he got into the small motor boat. "Don't worry, if I get caught, I won't mention you."
"I appreciate it," the captain said, tipping his hat to the boy. "Good luck, kid. You'll need it."
With that, the captain pressed a button and the wires that held the small, black boat up started lowering it towards the water. A few seconds later, the motors stopped. When the wires started swaying, signifying that the boat was free, the captain pressed another button and the wires were reeled back up. Stowing the remote back in its position on the railing, the captain turned around before going back inside the superstructure of his ship.
"Well, this seems as good a place as any to-" Hideyoshi poking his head in through the door effectively ended Arceus' sentence.
"Yup," the bailiff confirmed, holding the heavy door open as the trio slowly filed out.
Jack blinked in confusion as he and Arceus settled themselves back behind the defendant's table.
"Where did the Prosecutor go?" he asked loudly enough for the rest of the room to hear, silently hoping this would be the break he needed.
"Her wig was chaffing her, so we had to get a replacement while she changes," Keldeo deadpanned from his seat. Jack felt his mouth open in objection, only to will it closed a moment later at deciding anything he could say would be pointless, and suddenly became aware of another presence on the opposite side of the courtroom - one that screamed a level of ego that could only be justified by actual experience. The lawyer's eyes drifted over to the replacement prosecutor, and he felt his breath catch in his throat when he caught sight of the back of a black coat and a bushy ponytail covering part of the crest branded on it.
"No, no way... They didn't-"
"Is the Prosecution ready?" and as it turned out, they didn't; Masamune turned around, brown hair whipping behind him as he slammed his elbow onto the table.
"That's a better question for the defense," he spoke through the Braviary feather clenched between his teeth, peering at the nervous attorney from underneath his hairline. The Warlord of Avia the blew the plumage into the air, watching it drift aimlessly in front of Jack and his defendant for a moment, before whipping out one of his pistols and shooting it in half. All in the span of five seconds.
Jack couldn't help the gulp that forced its way down his throat when the lead landed only an inch away from his temple.
Keldeo just cleared his throat. "Right. Now that both parties are present, we can resume."
"Your criticness," Masamune spoke up, arms crossed and resting a finger on his temple. The smirk that had spread across his face - when did he have time to get the second feather? - only made Jack uneasy. "I believe we have yet to have a formal opening statement."
"I believe you're right, prosecutor," the Colt Pokémon said with a surprised blink. "Very well, then you may make-"
"Actually, your criticness," the Warlord/Prosecutor continued, tapping his finger against his temple in sync with his words. "It's been so long since we've all had the privilege of hearing one of your analysis' - would you do us the honors?"
"Well..." Keldeo began, putting a hoof to what little of a chin he had and sounding a lot more decided than his word would have indicated.
"I suppose one time wouldn't hurt," the judge replied to the lawyer's chagrin.
"Wormtongue," Jack muttered, earning himself another round of lead landing dangerously close to his head. Jack got the feeling his client was finding all this highly amusing. Masamune then looked down at a sheet of paper he had produced - disinterestedly, at that, the trainer in blue noted bitterly - and then whistled sharply. What followed next was a Rufflet landing on the prosecutor's shoulder.
"Baka," he said, scratching the Pokémon's beak affectionately before letting it fly the paper up to the Legendary Pokémon seated above. Keldeo tried to ignore the sensation of having another Pokémon perched in his mane as he read the statement aloud.
"The Defendant is alleged to have, willfully and with fully intent to-"
"OBJECTION!" every pair of eyes turned to the courtroom doors as they swung open at the squeaky voice. Keldeo blinked in confusion.
"You object to the opening statement, Prosecutor?" Mew; now clad in a maroon-
"It's looks more like a burgundy to me," the Psychic Type said absently, inspecting the cuff of her new garments. A quick glare from Arceus resulted in a cheeky grin and her dropping her arms.
-suit and a cravat that seemed to flutter at random intervals, floated into the courtroom.
"Eh, no, m'lud," she said sheepishly. "I mean that I'm ready to resume my duties."
Keldeo blinked. "Ah. Well then, thank you, Prosecutor Date, you can return to your case."
"It's pronounced Dah-tey," Masamune muttered as he stepped out from behind the prosecutor's bench, letting Mew resume her former position.
"If you're going to bring me in for a cameo, you might as well let me finish it, imbecile..." the Warlord kept muttering to himself as he left the courtroom - but all eyes returned to Mew as she cleared her throat.
"In the meantime, we can watch the footage while we wait for the next chapter to come out."
The sound of a mumbled consensus filled the courtroom, and Keldeo spun around to turn on the now-repaired television. A few seconds of static passed after pushing in the video tape, and every head in the courtroom inclined themselves towards the judge's bench as the screen finally flickered to life.
To Be Continued...