Disclaimer: As you've been made well aware in the last twelve Chapters, I do not own Pokemon... and the same applies for this chapter.

MESSAGE TO READERS: Haven't had much time off the last couple of days, so I haven't been able to update as quickly as I would like. More complications coming up in this chapter. So I hope you're paying attention. So grab a lemonade or something, kick back and enjoy!

THE LEAGUE OF CHAMPIONS

CHAPTER 13: TRESPASSER IN SACRED GROUND! FIGHT TO SAVE AZELF!

It had only seemed to be minutes since our paths had crossed, yet in the real world time had dramatically moved forward. We had been walking throughout this cave for almost an hour, which staggered me when I saw it on my Poketch. Cynthia had been telling us all about her past adventures, having conquered not only the Pokemon League in her homeland of Sinnoh, but also in Hoenn and my own land of Johto. She was also informing us of the legendary Pokemon that she had witnessed. Brock, who had now recovered from the Poison Jab his Croagunk hit him with, was also talking about various legendary Pokemon that he had encountered over the years that he had been travelling. But once again there was a name that kept on popping up time and time again… Ash… Misty had told me about him before we came out on this sub-quest. How she had such strong feelings for him and whatnot. Yet from what I was hearing, Brock had travelled with Ash all over the world. Casey had met him a couple of times as well and even the elite Cynthia had met him. Who was this guy? Was he an elite trainer like Cynthia was? He must be one heck of a trainer, but as a person I wasn't so sure. But if Misty's predictions were correct, then his personality would be almost identical to my own. A thought that I did not really approve of, since I always considered myself to have a unique personality. Not trying to seem boastful about myself, I kept my thoughts inside. It looked as though we had now reached the very innards of this dungeon. There was a very strange sound coming from nearby. I could not even begin to figure out what it was, but I noticed that everyone else in the group had stopped to listen to the sound as well.

"What do you suppose that is?" Casey asked, as the echo of a playful squeal bounced down the corridor of the cave. "Could it be the Azelf?"

"It could well be," Cynthia nodded. "I've never heard an Azelf's cry before, but if it is anything like its brethren then that could well be it."

"Brethren?" I pondered. "You mean Uxie and Mesprit?"

"That's right," Cynthia smiled. "All three of those Pokemon are believed to be mirages. Although I know that isn't the case."

"So do we," I added in response, remembering the moment when Azelf appeared in front of me, saving us all from Casey's Vespiquen's rampage. Using its incredible psychic powers, it somehow made it much more docile and thus resolved the problem. "The only reason we wanted to find Azelf again is so we could thank it for saving us," I explained. Cynthia looked up towards the ceiling of the cave and smiled.

"What an honourable thing to do," she approvingly nodded to our cause. "You are all true Pokemon Trainers. You do not see Pokemon as tools. You see them as allies, as partners and as friends. Humans and Pokemon share this world. And one good turn deserves another." She stopped suddenly as we could now hear a different sound. Not so much the playful squeak we heard before, but a more panicked one. There was only a couple at first, but then there were several. "I don't like the sounds of this," Cynthia frowned. "I know the way, follow me," she said as she began to run down the passageway. She had armed herself with a Poke Ball. I decided to do the same as all four of us followed the Champion along a sinuous route. We almost lost her due to the sharp bends in the cave, but fortunately there were no other routes she could have taken. When we finally caught up to her, we had arrived in yet another chamber, but this was much larger than the ones that we had already been in. This particular part of the cave seemed more like a void. A giant room of emptiness that went on as far as the eye could see. Strangely though, there were torches lit on the side of the wall. I looked up at Cynthia, who was examining the area. "Welcome to Azelf's Shrine," she murmured quietly. "This is where they say Azelf usually resides. Some believe that the torches are kept alight by Azelf's presence. If it were to vanish, the flames would die. But when it returned, they would light up again straight away. If the myth is true, then Azelf must be close by."

"Cool," I whispered, staring around the giant room. I could see something flickering a short distance away. At first, I thought it was another torch. However, I had second thoughts when the flicker turned into a blinding light that had spread throughout most of the chamber. Although we all looked away from the light, I could sense something was not right. I looked back up as the light faded. I could see something flying towards us at a rapid speed. In fact, I could see two things! The object in front was a lot smaller than the one following it. It weaves back and forth across the chamber, as if trying to shake off whatever it was behind it. Something was chasing it! "That's got to be Azelf!" I gasped, delighted that we had found the illusive little creature but still concerned at the fact that it appeared to be in some sort of trouble. "What's that following it?" I asked, trying to figure out what exactly was following it. It was a bizaare circular shaped creature with four wings, flapping in synch to keep it airborne. It was extremely agile, flying through the air as swiftly as could be. "What the heck is that?" I asked again, still unsure what it was.

"That's a Crobat," Brock replied. "I have a Crobat back at home. They're excellent aerial hunters, one of the fastest flying known Pokemon in the world. Not quite as fast as a Salamence at top speed, but not far off.

"But aren't Crobat Poison Types?" I suddenly remembered. "And if Azelf is a Psychic, then it should be able to take it down no problem. I mean it stopped Casey's Vespiquen.

"Azelf is not really a Pokemon that likes to fight," Cynthia responded. "Although its powers truly are amazing, it does not like to use them." She continued to watch, as the Crobat traced Azelf's movements with ease. It was catching up with it fast, until I saw another Pokemon come into the fray… this time it was a large bird of some description. It appeared to be completely black, with the exception of a few tufts of white on its chest. The crest on its head seemed to resemble a kind of hat. It flew through the air, tackling the Crobat from behind. "That's a Honchkrow," Cynthia realised. "I wonder who it belongs to."

"What makes you say that?" I asked. "It could be a wild one."

"Honchkrow don't usually nest in caves. And if for some reason one would nest in a cave, it certainly wouldn't nest this far down. Not without Murkrow underlings, which I don't see anywhere."

"Sheesh," I whined. "I was just asking."

"On the other hand, that Crobat could be wild. Although in my experience, Golbat only evolve into Crobat after gaining a lot of respect for it's trainer. So someone must have raised it in order for it to evolve," She added, seeming a little confused now herself.

"So why's the Honchkrow attacking the Crobat?" Misty asked.

"In order to find the answers, we must find those that are in question," Cynthia mystically replied. I looked at Casey with a bit of a stupid grin on my face, as Cynthia walked forward, towards the melee.

"She's weird," I muttered to Casey. She giggled with a snort, although luckily for us I don't think Cynthia heard us. Misty and Brock simply shook their heads at us, disapprovingly. We soon fell silent. The Azelf appeared right in front of us and hid behind Cynthia.

"Don't worry, little friend," she kindly whispered. "We'll get these troublemakers out of here for you. You can trust us."

"Ze--lf?" it squealed nervously, looking back to where the four of us were standing. We looked at it in amazement. Such a wonderful creature it was. It seemed to make all the pain that I had still lingering at the back of my mind from the events of the last couple of days completely fade away. It smiled back at us, seemingly staring into my soul for some reason. I felt a strange twinge in my mind. I then noticed once more the way Azelf was staring at me. I soon came to the conclusion that it was reading my thoughts. Surely it must be a little unsure of humans coming into its sacred grounds. There was a sudden crash that made all of us jump out of our skins, as the Honchkrow was knocked out of the air by Crobat, who had just used what looked like Air Slash.

"Azelf," came a voice that did not belong to the legendary Pokemon. It did not seem to be addressing anyone in particular. Not until the Crobat began to fly directly at Cynthia. It flew at such a speed that it began to glow with a spiralling orange energy. With incredible force, it slammed with all its might into Cynthia. She was knocked straight off her feet and hurled back well over a hundred yards, before crashing to a stop. She wailed in pain as the attack hit. Azelf immediately flew over to her, but before it could do anything the Crobat was right back on its tail. Misty and Casey were the first ones to get to her side, followed by Brock and myself. It took a moment to recover from the Giga Impact, before flying off once again.

"Cynthia, are you alright?" Brock gasped, genuinely concerned for the beautiful Champion.

"Ugh…" she moaned weakly. "That…really hurt," she winced. She had been cut pretty badly and a large bruise had appeared on the side of her face. Her long black jacket had been torn. The scene did not look dissimilar from when we found Casey after her Vespiquen attacked her. Although the attack we witnessed seemed to be bone-shattering. She picked herself up, holding onto her ribs. She continued to wince with every single movement.

"It looks as though you've broken a couple of ribs," Brock exclaimed. "That Crobat is going to pay!" he snarled, throwing two Poke Balls forward. Once again, his Sudowoodo and Croagunk appeared in front of him. His Sudowoodo gave him a traditional salute. "So and stop that Crobat," he growled, pointing to the Bat Pokemon still in hot pursuit of Azelf. Croagunk and Sudowoodo rushed into the thick of the battle.

"Shadow Ball, Honchkrow," came a second voice. This one was not as blunt as the first one we had heard, but it still seemed rather stern. Immediately, the Honchkrow fired a Shadow Ball. One at Sudowoodo, another at Croagunk. They both dodged the attacks.

"What on earth is going on here?" I asked, my head now spinning due to the headache this was causing me. "Who's Honchkrow's trainer and who's Crobat's trainer? And if the Honchkrow isn't trying to capture Azelf, why is it attacking Brock's Pokemon."

"Because I don't need some pathetic losers like you getting in my way," the second voice replied. "I can do it on my own." We all looked over to see if we could spot who the trainer was. And indeed we did. The boy from before, with flat, yet spiked purple hair. Paul. That arrogant, disrespectful brat. I shook my fist, angered to see him.

"What are YOU doing here?" I shouted in disbelief.

"If you must know, I was doing a bit of solo training," he replied. "Little did I know that I'd not only stumble upon a legendary Pokemon, but a loser's convention as well." He let out a mocking smirk, particularly at Misty. "Feeling better, are we?" he taunted. Misty said nothing, refusing to rise to the bait.

"Well, look who it is." Cynthia then appeared, clutching her ribs still. "Aren't you the one I met in Amity Square as well? Didn't I beat four of your Pokemon using just one of my own?" Paul suddenly stepped back, in a state of surprise and incredulity.

"You…" he sneered with a hint of tension. "Cynthia... it has certainly been a long time."

"It has," she grinned back. "I'm assuming that your Murkrow evolved into a Honchkrow since our last encounter?"

"How very observant of you," he attempted to mock with an uneasy tone. "But I've also become a lot stronger since then. But that was past and as you can see, we have more important business than talking about defeats."

"Or victories, in my case," she chuckled in attempt to get under Paul's skin. It seemed to be working as he let out a worried frown.

"Look at you," Paul observed. "You can barely stand. That Crobat is more powerful than you think. Possibly as strong as some of your Pokemon."

"Is that a fact?" Cynthia smiled, apparently rising up to the challenge. She still had the Poke Ball that she was holding before in her possession. She attempted to throw it, but the pain she was in was too great. She slumped back, as Misty and I managed to catch her.

"You're in no condition to battle," I sighed. I could tell that Cynthia was in some distress about not being able to provide assistance to our cause. "Casey, why not have your Vespiquen use Heal Order on Cynthia? Or even your Meganium's Aromatherapy might do the trick."

"Or perhaps even both!" Casey smiled, happy that she could help in some way. She quickly called upon her two Pokemon. Vespiquen still looked weary from its last battle with the Lunatone and Solrock not long ago. Meganium however looked as though it was a full health, despite the damage it took during our battle in the Indigo Plateau.

"I'll keep an eye on Cynthia. You help Brock and Paul rescue Azelf," Misty almost whispered in my ear. The thought ran through my mind. Me helping Paul!? How absurd! The very idea made my blood boil, although I knew that I did not really have a choice. I stepped forward, as Brock's Croagunk had taken some heavy damage from Crobat and Honchkrow alike. Sudowoodo seemed to be hanging on in there, but only just! "Brock, have your Pokemon come back. I'll take things from here," I armed myself with my chosen Pokemon as Brock looked over to me.

"Alright," he agreed. "I'll help take care of Cynthia. Sudowoodo, Croagunk, Return!" he called, as he withdrew his two battling comrades into their storage compartments. Honchkrow had now turned its attention back to the anonymous Crobat, who was still in pursuit of Azelf. How both of these Pokemon had not yet tired out was beyond my understanding. I decided against using Gabite or Lairon, since they had already taken some damage from their earlier battle. I decided to go with my trump card… the one Pokemon that I had not used since I arrived at the Pokemon League Tournament.

"Let's go," I called, throwing the Poke Ball forward. From it emerged a quadruped creature, with pink and purple blotches covering most of its skin. It looked like a small elephant, although with a long sharp horn similar to that of a rhinoceros. It's front teeth draped over its lips, as it scraped its claw along the ground. Paul looked down at my newest selection, showing abhorrence.

"Is that the best Pokemon you've got?" he sneered sarcastically. "That thing can't beat a Crobat! It could barely beat one of those Rattata on Route 101 you were talking about." I frowned at him, as did my Pokemon. It growled with the same sort of tone as I did.

"He might not look like much, but this Pokemon managed to defeat the Vermillion City Gym Leader's Pokemon on its own," I retaliated. My Pokemon posed, proudly. Paul simply let out another cynical smirk.

"If you want to become a strong trainer, you should evolve it," he insisted. "That's the only way you'll ever get any real power from that thing."

"Do--ri," my Pokemon snarled angrily.

"If I wanted to evolve it into a Nidoking, then I would," I replied to his comment. "But my Nidorino is just as strong as any Nidoking would be. It's at a high level, since it was the first Pokemon I ever caught. It has travelled me throughout all the regions."

"Quit making excuses and fight, if you're going to," Paul demanded, turning back up to his Honchkrow. "Use Sky Attack," he ordered. Honchkrow instantly ascended to the very top of the chamber with several mighty flaps of its wings, before divebombing onto the Crobat, knocking it to the floor.

"Nidorino, use Shadow Claw," I grinned. Nidorino charged forward. Its speed took Paul by surprise it seemed, as the attack hit its mark with dead on accuracy. Crobat seemed to be weary, but somehow managed to flap its wings once again, returning to the air. "How is that Crobat still going?" I asked myself. "No matter. Thunderbolt, Nidorino!" Nidorino began to smile, as a small ball of electricity began to charge at the very tip of his horn. It kept the flying Crobat in its sights at all times, before firing the attack.

"Evade," came a voice, the one that had called Azelf's name earlier. The Thunderbolt zoomed towards Crobat, but with a sudden change of direction it managed to dodge the attack. The electric attack was negated as soon as it touched the cave wall. "Zap Cannon," the voice came again.

"Zap Cannon!?" Paul repeated, bewildered by the instruction. "There's no way!" I too seemed a little unsure by this order. A Crobat using Zap Cannon? It's unheard of. I kept my eyes on the Crobat, which had now resumed chasing Azelf, which had sought refuge in a small crack in the cave. Sure enough, a ball of blue lightning energy appeared and struck Honchkrow. But I had noticed that the attack did not come from the direction of which Crobat had been. It came from further down the cave, which I had noticed seemed to be overcome with a thick, black gas of some sort. Paul has recalled Honchkrow back into its Poke Ball, due to the impairment that the electric attack had done to his Flying Type. He frowned a little, getting ready to throw another Poke Ball. "Hold on… where did that Zap Cannon come from?" I asked. "And what's with all that smoke over there?"

"Don't you ever stop asking questions?" Paul snapped. "How should I know? More than likely it's the one after Azelf."

"The Crobat's trainer?" I asked, but quickly nodded to myself since the answer was fairly obvious anyway. I looked over through the smoke. Something has emerged through the cloud and was heading towards us. It looked like some sort of deformed balloon with one large head and a smaller one bulging from one side like a wart. I could see the gas billowing from its body, as it let out a deep groan.

"Whee-hehe-zing!" it coughed as it floated towards us. Paul reached for another Poke Ball, getting ready to throw it.

"Again," called the voice from the smoke. I wondered what he meant at first, until I noticed the Weezing creating a second ball of electricity, firing it towards my Nidorino.

"Don't let that hit you!" I shouted, knowing that it would cause instant paralysis if it landed. Fortunately, the ball dispersed on the ground. Sparks scattered around, not damaging Nidorino.

"Wing Attack," called the voice again. The Crobat then suddenly shot towards Nidorino like a bullet and began slashing at Nidorino with its wings. Nidorino took the onslaught fairly well, before the Crobat flew off in search of Azelf once again, which had now hidden behind another Pokemon that had appeared. The Crobat was suddenly slammed by something, sending it flying backwards almost knocked out. I looked back behind me, as did Paul. His face was a picture, one of almost intense fear. Stood there, with an incredibly intimidating look on its face stood a Pokemon that looked similar to my Gabite, but it was taller and looked a lot more muscular. The fins on its elbows had grown to look more like blades. A star pattern could be seen at the tip of its snout. My eyes widened in awe.

"That must be… a Garchomp," I gawped. "The evolved form of Gabite. I've never seen one in real life before."

"Futile," the voice came once again from the smoke. "Dark Pulse." The Weezing approached the Garchomp, before glowing a dark shade of purple. A shockwave of negative energy blasted the whole area, knocking Paul and I off our feet. Nidorino was also flung a short distance backward, but got to its feet straight away. The Garchomp used its long blade like fins to block the attack, yet it broke through. Azelf, which was still behind it was also hit by the Dark Pulse, causing some damage to it. It yelped out in pain as the super effective move struck it.

"How dare you!" Cynthia boomed as she stepped forward, looking restored. Her ribs no longer seeming to cause her any grief. "You will pay dearly for harming the innocent. Garchomp, use Giga Impact!" I was taken aback at the fact that the Garchomp belonged to Cynthia. But such a strong Pokemon belonging to the Sinnoh Champion made some sense to me. Garchomp leapt upwards, glowing with an orange aura in the same way that the Crobat had done earlier. It rushed towards the Weezing with unbelievable speed.

"Smokescreen," the voice came. The opposing Weezing floated backwards a little releasing more smoke into the air. It disappeared into the cloud, leaving Garchomp a little confused. Regardless, it headed into the cloud and attempted to hit the Poison Gas Pokemon. None of us could see what was going on.

"Nidorino, use a Thunderbolt in the smoke!" I called.

"What!?" I heard Misty exclaim. "What if you hit Garchomp?"

"It's a Ground Type," I shouted back. "Electricity won't hurt it!" As I gave my response, Nidorino had launched its attack. I saw a bright flashing light appear through the smoke. Then there was a loud impacting noise. The Weezing came flying towards us at breakneck speed, but backwards. The two attacks had indeed connected. I had to duck as the Pokemon whisked over my head, narrowly avoiding contact. It slammed into the cave wall. Paul watched on, as if confused as to what he should do. He walked straight past me and approached Cynthia. He murmured something to her that I could not hear.

"Hey, what happened to that Crobat?" I suddenly realised that something was amiss. My answer came as it suddenly darted out through the smoke, now also with an orange glow. The Crobat delivered a powerful Giga Impact to Nidorino. It yelped a little in pain, but quickly got back up to its feet. The Crobat looked incredibly worn out now, but refused to stop flapping its wings. "Why won't Azelf teleport out of here like it did before?"

"Mean Look," the voice replied. My ears pricked up upon hearing this. This time the voice was much more sinister, but less instructive. I began to think. Mean Look is a move used to… stop a Pokemon from fleeing a battle.

"That's why it can't get out of here," I shouted only to myself. "That Crobat must have used Mean Look. As long as it is still in the battle, Azelf can't escape." I turned over to Cynthia, who was still talking to Paul. Misty, Brock and Casey were still watching what was happening. The Azelf flew back over to Garchomp, who had somehow cleared away the Smokescreen. "We need to get rid of that Crobat, then Azelf can escape," I called to Cynthia. She then looked at me and nodded. "Nidorino, take Crobat out once and for all with Horn Drill!" It began to grin as the sharp horn on its head began to grow larger and sharper. It charged towards the Crobat, which was still struggling to get its breath back from the Giga Impact that it had just used. Nidorino jumped up, spinning round with its horn directed straight for Crobat. The attack landed. "Yes!" I shouted with delight, but then stopped when I noticed Crobat was still flying. "What!?" my happiness immediately converting to frustration. "Why didn't that work? That attack landed, Crobat should be KOed."

"One hit knock out moves like Horn Drill won't do any damage if the opponent is of a higher level," Paul tutted. "You claim that your Nidorino is of a high level? That Crobat is an even higher level. So you really are in trouble now." I could sense his smugness in his words. I almost lost it there and then, but I maintained my focus on the matter at hand.

"We'll just have to try something else. Thunderbolt, Nidorino!" It began charging electricity, but was struck from behind by a different bolt of electricity. The Weezing had launched another Zap Cannon, striking Nidorino. Small sparks began to scatter across Nidorino's body. "This is bad. It's paralysed now!" I scowled. This battle was going downhill from here.

"Poke Ball, go!" I heard Paul shout, as he threw a Poke Ball forward. It hit the Azelf in the chest, as the ball opened and sucked it inside! I stood there in complete disbelief. Cynthia was watching Paul intently, whilst Misty, Brock and Casey looked absolutely flabbergasted.

"What the hell are you doing!?" I roared at Paul, running up to him. I quickly withdrew Nidorino at the same time to avoid any more harm coming to it. Paul simply stared at the Poke Ball that he had thrown. It was now twitching, its core flashing a red colour whilst twitching back and forth. There was a deafening silence throughout the whole cavern. The Crobat and the Weezing made a beeline for the Poke Ball, but were quickly knocked aside by Cynthia's Garchomp. Once I looked back at the Poke Ball, it had stopped moving. Paul picked it up in his hand and stared at it.

"I can't believe it," I gasped in distress. "He captured it… Paul just caught the Azelf…"

TO BE CONTINUED

Next Time: For what purpose will Azelf serve to Paul? Will Cynthia and Jonathyn do anything to stop him from his intentional plans? And who is this mysterious other trainer? The answers will be revealed in the next chapter!!