(Welcome back. I got some good guesses about Sniper's identity from you reviewers. I GOT GUESSES ABOUT IT BEING A KRICKETUNE, A KECLEON, A SNEASEL, A WEAVILE, A SCIZOR, AND A BELLOSSOM. Is it one of these? Is it none of them? Is it all of them? PROBABLY NOT THE LAST ONE. I DON'T DO AMALGAMATIONS. Now, let the narrator do his thing.)

In our last chapter, Ash began round two of his battle, facing down Michael's Dusknoir in an arena of pure darkness. Though he had a rocky start, Ash and Glalie managed to locate and defeat Dusknoir after a few unsuccessful strategies. Now in the third round, Ash and his Sceptile are facing down Sniper, a tricky opponent that they've yet to even see! Meanwhile, Claire, in retrieving nasal spray to deal with her allergies to the newest battlefield, the flower Elysium, has her hands full with two Pokemon Center patrons and their Meowth, who seem to exhibit an ulterior motive. What will become of these scenarios? Let's find out!

Great job. I'M JUST GONNA START THE CHAPTER NOW.)

The Ultimate Battle

Chapter Four: Hidden Enemies Exposed!

"That should do it." Claire said as she sprayed some Super Potion on the Meowth's black eye. "All done."

"Chansey." Chansey said, handing the cranially bandaged Pokemon back to Jessica.

"Excellent." Jim said. "Thank you so much."

"We're very appreciative." Jessica added.

"No problem," Claire said. "But just out of curiosity, how long have you had this Meowth?"

"Um, why do you ask?" Jessica inquired.

"I may not be a nurse," Claire told her. "But I am a coordinator, and as such I can still tell when a Pokemon is in good shape, and this Meowth certainly isn't."

"What makes you say that?" Jim demanded.

"Lots of things." Claire responded. "Its claws are dull, its charm is tarnished, its whiskers are limp, and its fur is off-color, not to mention—."

"Dat's it!" the Meowth suddenly yelled, jumping out of the woman's arms and landing on its hind legs. "I ain't gonna just stand hea' an' be insulted!"

Claire jumped back in shock. "I-it talked!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, smooth move, Meowth!" Jessica said, suddenly sounding much younger. "Now our cover's blown!"

"Well, I guess there's no more need for these disguises anymore, is there?" Jim suggested, sounding positively adolescent.

The two people nodded and pulled off their clothes and wigs, exposing themselves as two teenagers: a maroon-haired girl and a blue-haired boy. They were both wearing white uniforms adorned with a red letter "R".

"Who are you?" Claire demanded as Chansey cowered in the back corner. "What are you doing here?"

"Whaddaya say we do da new motto we been workin' on?" the Meowth asked, completely ignoring her.

"Sounds good!" the other two agreed.

"Listen, is that a sound I hear?" the girl recited.

"I'll say it loud, and crystal-clear!" the boy added.

"On the breeze…"

"Through the sky…"

"In your ea'!" the Meowth added.

"Bringing problems at a speedy pace!" the girl declared.

"Dashing chance, putting pride in its place!" the boy rhymed.

"A tulip by any other name's just as sweet."

"When everything's bad, our job is complete."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Meowth, dat's a name!"

"Putting goody-goody twerps in their place!" Jessie said.

"Team Rocket…" James started.

"We're in your face!" the three finished simultaneously.

Claire sweatdropped upon seeing this ridiculous spectacle. "Uh, needs a little work." She told them.

"We'll tweak it later." James said.

"But fo' now, we'll just steal every Pokemon in dis place!" Meowth announced.

"Oh, no you won't!" Claire argued.

"And who's going to stop us?" Jessie laughed. "You?"

"That's right!" Claire said, glaring at the three thieves.

"We'll see about that!" Jessie said, throwing a Pokeball. "Go, Seviper!"

"You too, Cacnea!" James shouted, tossing a Pokeball of his own.

The Pokeballs opened and two Pokemon appeared. One was a big, purple snake with a spaded tail and HUGE fangs. The other looked like a short cactus with a yellow flower on its head.

"Cacnea!" the latter shouted, jumping up and hugging its trainer's face.

"Must we go through this every time?" James asked, wincing in pain as he pushed Cacnea off.

"So, little girl," Jessie taunted. "What're you going to do now?"

"First off," Claire said, an anime vein popping in her forehead. "Don't call me 'little girl', 'cuz I'm older than you, and second: I'm gonna battle!"

Claire pulled two Pokeballs off of her belt and threw them, resulting in two more Pokemon appearing. One was somewhat human-looking, but only about four feet tall, tan, but with a blue body, with little round hands and big, circular blue feet. It also had a long tail with a round ball on the end and a sharp point on top of its otherwise wide, flat head. The other Pokemon looked like a tall, yellow, humanoid fox with long whiskers, a red star on its forehead, and a spoon in one of its three-fingered hands.

"Uh, James," Jessie asked. "What are those?"

"Hold on," he said, reaching into his pocket. "I think I have some cards in here."

Sure enough, he pulled out a stack of cards and leafed through them until he found the two he was looking for. "That's a Hitmontop," he said, looking at the card and pointing to the tan Pokemon. "The Handstand Pokemon. It spins upside-down on the top of its head at high speeds, drastically increasing the power of its kicks. And that," he said, scanning the other card as he pointed at the foxlike Pokemon. "Is a Kadabra, the Psi Pokemon. It often emits psychic waves that are known to cause headaches in humans."

"Headaches or no headaches," Meowth said. "We're takin' all your Pokemon!"

"Right!" Jessie and James said with a nod.

"Seviper, use Bite!" Jessie commanded.

"Cacnea, Needle Arm!" James ordered.

Seviper opened its mouth and lunged at Kadabra, while Cacnea's arm began glowing as it jumped toward Hitmontop.

"Kadabra, Teleport!" Claire directed. "Hitmontop, use Rapid Spin!"

The two Pokemon nodded and heeded the commands. Kadabra disappeared and reappeared behind Seviper, and Hitmontop jumped upside-down and began spinning on the point on its head, knocking Cacnea away.

"Great work!" Claire cheered. "Now let's go on the offensive. Kadabra, use Psybeam! Hitmontop, Triple Kick!"

"Kadabra." Kadabra said as it raised its spoon and shot a rainbow-colored beam at Seviper, sending it skidding back.

"Hitmon!" Hitmontop exclaimed as it spread out at its feet and sped up its rotation. "Toptoptoptoptop!" it shouted as it delivered one, two, three kicks to Cacnea's face.

"Seviper, use Poison Tail!" Jessie shouted.

"Se, viper!" her Pokemon hissed as its spaded tail glowed purple and it swung it at Kadabra.

"Cacnea, Pin Missile!" James yelled.

Cacnea nodded and raised its arms. "Cacacacacacacacacac!" it shouted as it fired out dozens of glowing, needle-like projectiles.

"Hitmontop, dodge, and then Mach Punch!" Claire instructed. "Kadabra, Teleport, and then Psychic!"

Hitmontop jumped back right-side-up and leapt aside to avoid the Pin Missile before rushing forward with amazing speed and punching Cacnea in the face.

Kadabra, meanwhile, disappeared again and reappeared in front of Seviper before pointing its spoon at it and enveloping the Fang Snake Pokemon in a blue glow and mentally throwing it toward the rest of its team, leaving the two humans and the three Pokemon piled up next to the door.

"Give up yet?" Claire jeered.

Jessie opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, another voice rang out.

"Wob-buffet!" cried a voice from the Center's lobby.

"Mime-mimemime!" said a smaller one with the same tone.

"Dat's da signal!" Meowth shouted. "Let's get outta hea'!"

All five Team Rocket members burst out the door into the lobby, with Chansey, Claire, and her Pokemon in hot pursuit.

Once there, Claire say two Pokemon—a Wobbuffet and a Mime, jr.—holding a burlap sack full of Pokeballs. Jessie, James, and Meowth had been a distraction! They had tricked her into taking them into the back room while their Pokemon (which they must've released while she was leading them in) looted the place! They had only battled her to buy some time!

"Nice work, Mime, jr.!" James congratulated as Jessie grabbed the sack and they recalled Wobbuffet and Mime, jr.

"You're not getting away with this!" Claire exclaimed.

"Oh, I think we are." Jessie countered. "Seviper, use Haze!"

"Viper!" Seviper hissed, opening its mouth and releasing a thick black smoke that filled the Pokemon Center's lobby, obscuring all view.

Claire sputtered and coughed. She knew that they had escaped from the Center. She could easily hear the bell on the door ring as they opened it. If only she could see.

"Hitmontop," she choked. "Blow this smoke away with Rapid Spin!"

"Hitmon!" it said, possibly nodding its head before jumping upside-down and rotating, blowing all the smoke away.

"Nice work." She said as she burst through the door and gasped at what she saw.

Not only was Team Rocket getting away, they were getting away in style, in a giant hot air balloon shaped like Meowth's head, which was slowly rising off the ground.

"Give up, girl!" Jessie taunted, holding the sack up high. "Your Pokemon are ours now!"

"Or at least until we hand 'em ova ta da boss!" Meowth laughed.

"Just one chance." Claire thought, pulling an object out of her pocket.

"Kadabra," she said, tossing the item to her Psychic-type. "Take this and use Trick!"

"Kadabra." It said with a nod. Kadabra twirled the object around and around in its fingers. In a second, it vanished and was replaced by the sack of Pokeballs.

At the exact same time, Jessie laughed again. "Using will be our ticket to Easy Street!" she declared, unaware that her and Kadabra's items had just been switched.

"Nasal spray?" Meowth asked, staring at the item. "I don't even have a nose!"

"What!?" Jessie exclaimed, staring at the object and then Claire. "No!"

"Now to end this," Claire announced. "Go, Froslass!"

Claire tossed another Pokeball and yet another Pokemon appeared. This one was white, with a red sash around its waist with a bow on its back, and was very elegant-looking. It had big eyes and long, three-fingered arms edged with what looked like purple fins. Strangely, the arms emerged from the bottom of its head and not its legless, floating torso. Somehow, it looked amazingly similar to a girl in a kimono.

"James," Jessie asked. "What exactly is that?"

James pulled out the cards and read off one. "Froslass," he quoted. "The Snow Land Pokemon. It says here that 'its freezing breath can reach -60 degrees Fahrenheit, and what appears to be its body is actually hollow'."

"Froslass," Claire commanded. "Use Hyper Beam!"

"Froslass." It said sweetly, aiming an orange beam from its mouth at the balloon. "Fros…lass!"

The beam hit the balloon and easily punctured it, sending Team Rocket flying.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!" they said as they soared out of sight.

"Nice work, everyone." Claire said, recalling her Pokemon and picking up the sack. "Guess I'm watchin' the match with a stuffy nose, though." She sighed as she walked to the Chansey statue.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the same time as the ending of that last scene, Ash's battle was still going, and so was the sound of Sniper's Screech.

"That Sniper's got amazing stamina!" Brock commented. "I've never seen any Pokemon maintain an attack for so long!"

"It'd be great in contests!" May shouted.

"Nah," Claire suddenly said from behind them. "Contests are more (AH-CHOO!) my thing. Mikey prefers battles."

"What's with the bag, Claire?" Michael asked.

"Trust me," she replied, setting the bag down and wrapping her sleeve around her face. "You wouldn't believe me. Now, continue the battle."

"You heard her, Sceptile." Ash said. "Try forcing the flowers down with your Slam attack!"

"Sceptile." Sceptile said as it leapt up and prepared to slam its tail down and crush the flowers.

"Sniper, Dig, then Shadow Ball!" Michael ordered.

The buzzing and clicking was muffled again as whatever was in the flowers burrowed underground, but went back to normal as it resurfaced and shot another dark orb, nailing Sceptile from the right and sending it flying back near the tree in the corner.

"Sceptile!" Ash exclaimed.

"Tile." It said through clenched teeth as it stood up.

"Now show it another Cut!" Michael said. "For real this time!"

The flowers shuffled as Sniper moved toward Sceptile. At the last second, something emerged from the vegetation, swept past Sceptile in a high arc, and dove back in, all in less than a second!

Sceptile fell to its knee, its leg clearly injured.

"Sceptile!" Ash shouted.

"Is it just me, or is that thing getting faster?" May asked with a very worried tone.

"Sniper always likes to warm up first." Michael explained. "But now it's time to end this, and turn the entire battle in my favor. Sniper," he commanded. "Surprise it with Dig, then finish it with your Fury Cutter combo!"

"There's gotta be a way to stop it!" Ash thought as the buzzing muffled again.

The Screech became louder as Sniper apparently emerged from the ground and moved toward Sceptile.

"Sceptile can't dodge on that leg." he mentally panicked. "I've gotta see it coming!"

"Of course!" Ash exclaimed. "Sceptile, use Detect, then Leaf Blade!"

"Scep." Sceptile said, smiling and closing its eyes. In its mind, it could see something approaching from the right. It smiled and transformed the leaves on its elbow into a glowing blade.

Just as Sniper burst toward Sceptile, Sceptile hit it with the Leaf Blade and knocked it into the tree.

"Finish it with Bullet Seed, Sceptile!" Ash shouted.

"Sceptile!" Sceptile shouted as it opened its mouth and shot a barrage of seeds at its target. When it was over, the Pokemon fell onto one of the tree's roots, not moving and clearly visible.

"Sniper is unable to battle!" Alex announced as the picture of the question mark went dark. "Victory for this round goes to Sceptile!"

"Sceptile." Sceptile said proudly, grabbing a twig from the tree and placing it in its mouth. Nobody noticed that, though. They were too busy looking at Sniper.

It was a small Pokemon, with a body only about two and a half feet long. It had clear wings, a black body, and a yellow face that looked somewhat like a mask. Its red eyes (which were what May saw) were currently filled with swirls.

"A Ninjask!" Max exclaimed.

Ash held up his Pokedex, which in retrospect he realized he probably could've used to find Sniper earlier. "Ninjask," it said. "The Ninja Pokemon. It is capable of flying at incredibly high speeds, and is known for making loud cries while doing so. Because of this, it was long believed to be invisible."

"That's how it got around so quickly!" Brock realized. "Ninjask is the fastest Pokemon there is!"

"And its Speed Boost ability makes it faster and faster as time goes on." Michael added. "That's why it hid at first: It wasn't quick enough to come out without being seen."

"So you attacked using Shadow Ball until it was fast enough!" Ash realized.

"Exactly," Michael said with a smile. "And that was a very impressive win, Ash. You kept calm and came up with a plan in a hectic situation. Not everyone can do that."

"Thanks!" Ash said with a grin.

"You're very welcome." Michael said. "Now, recall Sceptile so I can change battlefields."

The background of Sceptile's picture went dark as Ash returned it to its Pokeball.

"Whatever you're planning, Mikey, make it normal again first." Claire requested, speaking through her sleeve. "I need to clear away this stray pollen."

"Sure thing, Claire." Michael said as he returned the battlefield to how it was when they came in.

"Thanks," Claire said, pulling a Pokeball out of the sack and tossing it in the air. "Go, Yanmega!" she cried.

The Pokeball opened and yet another Pokemon appeared. This one was essentially a giant green dragonfly with four clear wings edged with red, a pincer on its tail, and HUGE red multifaceted eyes.

May held up her Pokedex and scanned it. "Yanmega," it said. "The Ogre Darner Pokemon. By churning its wings, it creates shock waves that inflict critical internal injuries to foes."

"Yanmega," Claire said. "Could you please blow away this pollen and clear my sinuses?"

"Yan, yanmega." It buzzed, nodding.

Yanmega flew up and positioned its belly toward the battlefield. It moved its wings ("flapped" isn't really the word for this action), hard and fast, creating a strong wind that blew over the battlefield, blowing away all traces of pollen.

"Thanks, Yanmega." Claire said, recalling Yanmega and taking a deep breath. "I can breathe again. Okay," she said, turning to Michael. "Go ahead."

"Okay," he said. "I choose this one."

Michael hit several more buttons on his podium and four walls and a ceiling once again rose and covered the arena between the trainers. These walls, however, each had a statue of an Alakazam (Kadabra's evolved form, which it looks a lot like, but a little skinnier, with another spoon, and no tail or star on its forehead) in the center of the outside.

"All right!" Claire cheered. "Now we're in for some entertainment!"

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"This arena is very special, Ash." Michael elaborated. "See those statues? They send out an unfocused Psychic attack with zero blind spots. In other words: They eliminate gravity."

"No gravity!?" Max exclaimed. "How can anyone battle without gravity?"

"That's the part that's fun to watch." Claire said with a smile.

"Now for my Pokemon." Michael said.

Michael pressed a button on the wall in front of him. A panel opened and a harness just the right size for a Pokeball slid out. Michael placed a Pokeball in the harness and it slid in and opened the Pokeball before sliding out, allowing him to retrieve the ball before sliding back in and closing the panel.

Meanwhile, a Pokemon appeared in the arena in a flash of light. This one was very unusual-looking, quite possibly the strangest Pokemon Ash had ever seen. If he had to relate it to an animal, he'd say some sort of bird—a pink and blue bird with no legs, just an oval under its belly. Its "wings" (which were just pink ovals) weren't even attached to its body, and neither was its oval-beaked head! They were just floating next to and above its oval-shaped torso, rotating slightly.

"Po-ry-gon-Z." it said. Its voice was strange. It sounded computerized, and the tone, pitch, and volume kept changing as it spoke.

"My Pokemon will be Porygon-Z!" Michael said proudly.

"A Porygon-Z!?" Max gasped. "Where'd you get one of those?"

"I get around, kid." Michael laughed.

Ash said nothing as he held out his Pokedex and scanned Porygon-Z. "Porygon-Z," it said. "The Virtual Pokemon. This Pokemon was created when Porygon2 was merged with a corrupted program, drastically altering its form and behavior."

"So, Ash," Michael asked. "What Pokemon will you be using?"

Ash smiled as he mimicked Michael's process of sending out a Pokemon in this arena. "I choose Glalie!" he announced as Glalie appeared.

"Good choice, Ash!" Brock called. "Since Glalie already hovers, the arena won't affect it!"

"This match will be Glalie vs. Porygon-Z in the zero-gravity arena!" Alex declared as Porygon-Z's picture appeared and Glalie's picture's background lit up. "Let the battle begin!"

"Glalie, start things off with a Headbutt!" Ash ordered.

"Glalie." It said, rushing toward its opponent.

"Porygon-Z, dodge it." Michael said calmly.

"Z." Porygon-Z said, easily lowering itself under the path of the attack, leaving Glalie panicked and skidding to a halt, barely avoiding hitting the wall.

"Battling in three dimensions is different, Ash." Michael lectured. "There's more than forward and back, left and right. There's up and down as well. Now, Porygon-Z," he shouted. "Use Zap Cannon!"

"Po-ry-gon." It said, turning its whole head around as it did! A yellow ball of electricity appeared over the bump on top of its head. "Z." it said, firing the ball.

"Glalie, Double Team!" Ash cried.

Glalie split into five of itself just in time to avoid the attack.

"Glalie's Headbutt is no good." Ash thought. "Better stick with special attacks."

"Glalie," he shouted. "Icy Wind!"

The four remaining Glalie merged together into one and sent another flurry of snowflakes from its mouth.

"Use Conversion 2!" Michael yelled.

"Po-ry-gon-Z." it said as it suddenly turned bright scarlet. The Icy Wind washed over it, but didn't appear to do much damage.

"What just happened?" May asked.

"Conversion 2 changes the user's type to a type strong against the type of an opponent's last attack." Claire explained. "Porygon-Z became a Fire-Type and minimized damage."

"Icy Wind'll still slow it down, though." Ash protested.

"That's true," Michael agreed. "But the speed at which Porygon-Z moves makes little difference, since it never physically attacks, and dodging attacks is child's play in zero-G. Now, Porygon-Z," he commanded. "Use Lock-On!"

Porygon-Z stared hard at Glalie. In its mind's eye, it placed a target on it. "Z." it proclaimed.

"Glalie, Headbutt it while its focus is broken!" Ash shouted.

Glalie nodded and rushed at Porygon-Z again.

"Dodge it." Michael said.

"Z." Porygon-Z replied. Its head swiveled around, never taking its eyes off of Glalie as it dodged upward.

"Finish it with Zap Cannon!" Michael yelled.

"Po-ry-gon-Z." his Pokemon said as it shot another orb of electricity at its target.

"Glalie, Double Team!" Ash shouted again.

"Won't work." Claire sighed.

She was right. The Zap Cannon veered off-course and struck the real Glalie right away, enveloping it in a yellow glow.

"Told you." Claire said. "Lock-On makes sure the next attack hits its mark, no matter what. Double Team's useless against it."

Ash didn't say anything. He and Pikachu were too busy staring at Glalie. It was still floating, of course, thanks to the arena, but its eyes were swirly and it wasn't moving.

"Glalie is unable to battle!" Alex declared as Ash recalled Glalie and its picture went dark. "Victory for this round goes to Porygon-Z!"

"Z." Porygon-Z said, its wing-ovals spinning and orbiting around its body happily.

"So, Ash," Michael smirked. "What're ya gonna do now?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash has lost his best chance on this arena. Does he have it in him to make a comeback? He'd better, or I'll definitely lose some credibility on such a disappointing ending. Find out in the next chapter of "The Ultimate Battle"!

(Much shorter than your opening statement. SHORT, SWEET, AND TO THE POINT. Just how I like it. 'TIL THE NEXT CHAPTER, READERS!)