Only this part and one more. How are you all liking it so far? The road's almost over...
The four friends raced out the castle as the entire structure seemed to be crumbling around them. There were no Mirage Durant waiting for them outside. Ash pulled Serena by the hand out of the castle, with Clemont carrying Bonnie in his arms closely behind.
Bonnie opened her eyes and gasped. "Clemont, look up there!" All four of them stopped to see what was happening in the orange, late afternoon skies above them.
Though there were no Mirage Pokémon around them currently, the Mirage nodes all over the castle were activated and sending data into the air. The shapes of two Pokémon were forming above the castle. A blue four-legged Pokémon and a pink two-legged Pokémon were writhing.
"No way," Ash said, staring intently. "He really is making a Dialga and a Palkia."
Serena took out her Pokédex and pointed it skyward. The Pokédex showed an image of the first Pokémon, a blue draconic creature covered in a diamond-like armor. "Dialga," it said. "The Temporal Pokémon. It has the power to control time. It appears in Sinnoh-region myths as an ancient deity." Moving it slightly to point at the other creature, the Pokédex showed a tall, pink, winged dragon with a long neck and tail. "Palkia," the Pokédex continued. "The Spatial Pokémon. It has the ability to distort space. It is described as a deity in Sinnoh-region mythology."
"Pokémon that can control time and space," Serena said. "The kind of power is almost impossible to imagine."
"Clemont, we have to do something," Bonnie said, shaking her brother.
He stood still, his mouth hanging open. "I don't know what we can do."
"I'll tell you what you can do!" Dr. Yung's voice echoed through the courtyard, broadcast by the Mirage nodes. "You can curse the day you met Ash Ketchum, for my vengeance is on his head!" Above them, the two Legendary Pokémon finished forming, their black and red eyes glaring down at the children. Both Dialga and Palkia roared at Ash and his friends. Bonnie recoiled and hid behind Clemont.
Ash clenched his fists. "We have to stop his Mirage Pokémon before they destroy this whole place."
"You would foolishly stand before Pokémon who are called gods?" Dr. Yung said, mockingly. "I will enjoy watching your last seconds of life! Dialga, use Roar of Time! Palkia, use Spacial Rend!" Dialga roared, and its tail began to grow. The diamond on its chest began to glow as well. Palkia, likewise, roared, and the pearl on its shoulder began to shine, as well as its forearms. The two Legendary Pokémon launched their attacks straight at the ground, toward Ash and his friends.
Ash pulled Serena and Pikachu close, trying to shield them.
Clemont held Bonnie close, and tears began to form in his eyes.
Bonnie gasped as Dedenne slipped from her pack and leapt upward. "DEDENNE!" she shouted. The small Antenna Pokémon leapt up in the way of the two powerful attacks, blocking both shots with his tiny body.
A huge explosion engulfed the area, erupting from the point where Dedenne had been struck.
"DEDENNE!" Bonnie cried out again, reaching out toward where the small Pokémon disappeared into the explosion.
The smoke cleared, and the small Antenna Pokémon was, to the surprise of everyone present, completely unharmed. He sparked his cheeks. "Dene!"
"But… but THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Dr. Yung's voice rang out. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
Bonnie ran from Clemont's grasp to Dedenne. The small Pokémon smiled and hopped up and down, smiling. She picked it up and nuzzled it.
"But what happened?" Serena asked. "How did Dedenne not only survive, but take absolutely no damage from those attacks?"
Clemont grinned and pushed up his glasses. "You see, Dedenne's an Electric-and-Fairy-Type Pokémon. And Fairy-Type Pokémon are completely immune to Dragon-Type attacks, even those used by Legendary Pokémon."
"Fairy…Type?" 's echoing voice sounded confused.
"Alright, Dedenne!" Bonnie said, spinning while holding the Pokémon. "Let's fight back against these bad guys!"
"Dedenne!" he smiled back.
"We're fighting, too!" Ash said. "Come out, Froakie and Fletchling!"
"We need your help, Fennekin!" Serena said.
"Chespin and Bunnelby, get ready to battle!" Clemont said.
The five Poké balls flew through the air, and in seconds, the Pokémon were standing at their trainer's feet. "We can beat these guys," Ash said. "Bonnie, you and Dedenne need to run interference on their Dragon-Type attacks. The rest of us need to hit them as hard as we can."
"Got it, Ash!" Bonnie said, grinning.
"I won't let you defeat me now!" Yung's voice echoed. "Dialga, Flash Cannon! Palkia, Hydro Pump!"
A great white laser shot from Dialga's mouth while highly-pressurized water was spewed from Palkia's down at Ash and his friends.
"Everyone, dodge!" Ash said. Each trainer and Pokémon leapt away from the attacks that punctured holes into the ground. "Fletchling, use Double Team and then Peck on Palkia! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Palkia! Froakie, use Bubble on Dialga!"
Fletchling split into many mirror images of itself, and the illusory flock circled around Palkia and began pecking the Dragon's head from all directions. While Fletchling had it distracted, Pikachu's Thunderbolt hit Palkia, causing it to scream out in pain.
"Fennekin, help out Froakie and use Ember on Dialga!" Serena said.
"Chespin, use Pin Missile on Dialga!" Clemont said. "Bunnelby, use Mud Shot on Dialga as well!"
Froakie and Fennekin both took in a breath and exhaled their attacks at Dialga. The embers and bubbles combined in the air to form a beam of water and fire that smashed into Dialga's underside. The Dragon Pokémon flipped upside down in the air when Chespin and Bunnelby launched their attacks at it. The quills fired off by Chespin hit Dialga in the face, while the mud globs hit Dialga's forelegs.
"I won't stand for this!" Yung shouted above the attacks. "Dialga, use Draco Meteor! Lay waste to the field!"
Dialga flipped back over so it was right-side up again. It gathered energy into its forehead and then launched a spray of meteors towards the ground at all the Pokémon gathered on the ground.
"Everybody, shoot down those meteors!" Ash said.
"Dedenne," Bonnie said, "use Tackle!"
As Pikachu and the other Pokémon used their attacks to destroy the meteors falling down, Dedenne ran up the side of the castle. He jumped out, his head aimed toward a meteor. He crashed head-first into it, the meteor bouncing off of his small frame and sailing back up toward Palkia. The meteor smashed into the pink Dragon-Type, making it scream out in pain. Palkia's body started to fall apart, back into the floating data that returned to the Mirage nodes on the castle.
"Awsome work, Bonnie!" Serena said, giving the younger girl a thumbs up.
Bonnie smiled and gave her a thumbs up back. "Thanks, Serena!"
"It's not over yet," Ash said, pulling down the brim of his hat. "We still have Dialga to handle."
"Dialga's taken a lot of damage," Clemont said. "One more, hard hitting attack might be enough to finish it."
Ash nodded. "Right. Everyone! Help Pikachu get to Dialga!"
Pikachu nodded Chespin. Chespin picked Pikachu with his Vine Whip and tossed Pikachu high into the air. Fennekin took another breath and fired Embers under Pikachu. Pikachu's tail started to glow, and he then used his Iron Tail to shield himself from damage while riding the Embers ever higher. Bunnelby, meanwhile, tunneled underground with his ears, and then built up speed beneath the surface. He shot out of the ground under Pikachu, launching into the air like a rocket. His ears pushed Pikachu even higher into the air. Froakie threw some Frubbles at Pikachu, who spun in the air and got them attached to his back. Fletchling, seeing this, dove a Pikachu and attached himself to Pikachu's back. Fletchling flapped his wings rapidly, just enough for Pikachu to kick off of the Tiny Robin Pokémon and grab onto one of Dialga's legs. Pikachu scrambled up the Steel-and-Dragon-Type's blue body until he stood at the tip of Dialga's head.
"Pikachu," Ash shouted at him. "Use Thunderbolt! Full power!"
"Pi-" Pikachu's cheeks began sparking.
"Throw Pikachu off, Dialga!" Dr. Yung's echoing voice was desperate.
"Ka-" Pikachu dug in with his small paws and feet. Dialga began to writhe wildly in the air in an attempt to toss Pikachu off.
"Now!" Ash called out to his partner.
"CHU!" Pikachu's voice echoed over the forest as the electric energy surged through Dialga's body. Dialga howled out in agony and began to plummet from the sky. Electricity sparked and crackled all over the falling Dragon's form until it crashed into the ground in front of Ash and his friends. Pikachu jumped off of the Dragon-Type as it began to dematerialize into data and return to the Mirage nodes. He ran into Ash's arm and climbed onto Ash's shoulder.
"See that, Dr. Yung?" Bonnie said. "We can handle your mean ol' Mirage Pokémon!"
"As long as we work together," Clemont said, pushing up his glasses, "there's nothing we can't do."
"As long as I have my friends by my side," Ash said, "you'll never beat us."
"As long as we're on the road," Serena said, "we're like a family. We work together and help each other over come anything, even the worst you're able to throw at us. We're not afraid of you, Dr. Yung."
Dr. Yung responded with laughter. "You're not afraid?" he said between laughs. "You WILL be afraid!" The Mirage nodes began forming a new Pokémon in the air. It was smaller than Dialga, and thinner. Golden hooves and long white legs led to a white body encased in a golden wheel.
Ash gasped as the creature's neck and long head took shape. He wordlessly took out his Pokédex and pointed it at Pokémon forming before him.
A picture of the equine-looking Pokémon appeared on the screen. "Arceus," it said. "The Alpha Pokémon. According to the legends of Sinnoh, this Pokémon emerged from an egg and shaped all there is in this world."
"A-Arceus?!" Clemont said, eyes going wide.
Serena stared at the majestic creature taking shape before them "A Pokémon that shaped everything in this world?! How is that possible?"
Arceus screamed out and stomped the ground in front of it, shaking the ground around Ash and his friends. From the top of Arceus' head, something else began to emerge. Serena remembered the light-blue hair on the man's head that seemed to be growing from Arceus. Soon, Dr. Yung's entire torso had grown from Arceus' head. Yung laughed out, his voice echoing through the courtyard. "Behold, the most powerful of all Mirage Pokémon," he shouted, "my Mirage Arceus!"
"Ash!" Serena said, holding a hand over her heart, "what do we do?"
Ash clinched his hands into fists. "I… I don't know. But we can't give up."
"Big brother!" Bonnie grabbed his arm. "Isn't there anything you can do?"
"I… I don't think there's anything science can do for us now," he said.
"Now," Yung shouted, "Taste my Judgment!" The ring on Arceus' body began to glow as an orb of energy formed in front of Dr. Yung. The Mirage Arceus fired the ball into the air, energy streaking behind it. The ball exploded into countless shots of light that fell down to earth, destroying the courtyard and parts of the castle. All of the Pokémon tried to avoid the attacks, but each of them got caught in one explosion or another as the lights came crashing down. The lights approached Ash, who stood stunned until Serena leapt up and tackled him out of the way. Ash slid away from harm with Serena on top, holding onto him. Clemont leapt between Bonnie and a shot aimed at her, and took this blast head on. The explosion blasted Clemont backwards into Bonnie, throwing him into her. His backpack cracked open, and small inventions and small parts of inventions spilled out over the ground.
Serena looked up and saw Clemont's inventions scattered about. Among them was the small cube Team Rocket used to tie her up. It was lying next to a crushed aluminum-foil looking hat. "Wait a second," she said, rising to her feet, "isn't that…?"
The Pokémon all rose to their feet, struggling to stand in the face of Arceus. Pikachu's cheeks sparked, and Froakie took a defiant step forward. But Chespin and Fennekin could barely stand up, and Bunnelby and Fletchling leaned against each other the stand up.
"Stand all you want," Yung said, taunting them. "I will knock your 'family' down again and again until your broken bodies can no longer defy me!"
"Clemont! Can you somehow put the cube and your hat together to make something that can stop Arceus?" Serena shouted to him.
Clemont coughed and rolled over. "Bonnie, are you okay?" he asked his sister.
She sat up, just as covered in dirt as Clemont was. "I'm okay, thanks to you, brother," she said.
Clemont's thoughts turned to what Serena said to him. "I… I think I can do something with it. But I'll need some time." He turned to Ash. "Can you get me the time I need?"
Ash stood up and helped Serena to her feet. "I guess we know what we gotta do." He turned to the Pokémon. "Is everyone ready to give it everything they've got?"
Pikachu turned to Ash and nodded. "Pikapi, Pi Pikachu!"
Yung laughed. "You don't stand a chance! There's abosolutely nothing you can do! Now, feel the flames of my wrath once more! Judgment!"
"Pikachu, use Electro Ball! Froakie, use Water Pulse! Fletchling, use Razor Wind!" Ash shouted over his Pokémon toward Arceus.
"Fennekin, use Ember again!" Serena commanded her only Pokémon.
"Bonnie, I'm counting on you," Clemont said. He was taking components out of the hat and attaching them to the cube.
Bonnie smiled. "You've got it, brother!" She turned to Clemont's Pokémon. "Alright, Bunnelby, use Mud Shot! Chespin, use Pin Missile! Dedenne, use Nuzzle!"
Arceus began building the energy on its forehead once again. The Alpha Pokémon reared up and launched the blast into the air, where it split into countless shots of light, again falling down towards Ash, his friends, and their Pokémon.
Fletchling began building up his Razor Wind as Froakie formed a Water Pulse in each of his hands. He lobbed the pulses into the air, where they were joined by the needles fired from Chespin's head. The attacks smashed into the shots of light, but more continued to come down. Bunnelby's lobbed his Mud Shot into the air against the shots, each chunk of mud blocking another light falling toward the ground.
Dedenne began charging towards Arceus with his cheeks sparking. Fennekin fired her embers ahead of Dedenne, clearing his path of some of the lights falling towards him. Fletchling's Razor Wind was finally ready, and he shot the blades of air around Dedenne as the Electric-and-Fairy-type continued to run. The blades exploded against the falling lights, and Dedenne continued to run closer. Froakie threw more Water Pulses with precision, blocking two shots that would have collided with Dedenne. Pikachu began racing behind Dedenne, quickly catching up with the smaller Antenna Pokémon He gave Dedenne a smile and a nod, and then launched his Electro Ball. The sparking ball smashed through many shots of light, giving Dedenne a clear path for his Nuzzle attack. The Electro Ball exploded against Arceus' face, catching Yung off guard and forcing his Mirage Arceus to stumble backwards.
Finally, Dedenne leapt up and rubbed his cheek against Arceus' body. Electricty coursed through the Mythical Pokémon's body, and it fell to its knees. Arceus struggled to stand, but it couldn't move.
"NO! ARCEUS! GET UP AND DESTROY THEM! NOW!" Yung had lost all control. He flailed wildly against the Pokémon whose body he was using.
"Arceus is paralyzed by Nuzzle," Ash said. He turned to Clemont. "Is it ready? I don't know how long it's going to stay paralyzed!"
Clemont stood and pushed up his glassed. "It's done!" He held up the cube, now with a black rectangle attached to it. "This is my Mirage Jammer! If we put this on Arceus, it should freeze the entire Mirage System, since the person controlling the system is inside of Arceus!"
Ash's eyes lit up. "Technology really is incredible!"
"Alright, Clemont! Are you ready?" Serena shouted.
Bonnie jumped up and down. "You bet he is!" she said. "The future-"
Serena held up her hand toward Dr. Yung. "-is now-"
Ash pointed towards Arceus. "-thanks to-"
Clemont placed the Mirage Jammer in his Clemontic Gear's Aipom Arm. The arm spun around quickly, winding itself up. "SCIENCE!"
The Aipom Arm released the device, and it zipped through the air faster than anyone could see. It slapped against Arceus' neck, and a ring of light wrapped around its throat. The rectangular box attached to the cube now opened, shining in a rainbow of colors.
"NO! NO NO NO NO!" Yung's words hung over the area, and then he stopped moving. Arceus stopped moving as well.
Ash and his friends stood there in silence for a moment. Nothing happened. Neither Arceus nor Yung moved at all.
"Is… is it over?" Bonnie asked. "Did we beat the bad guy?"
Ash shook his head. "We may have stopped him for now, but his Mirage System is still up and running," he said. "We need to find where it is in this castle and put an end to this once and for all."
"I agree," Serena said. "That Dr. Yung is clearly not the real thing. We need to find where he really is and bring him to justice."
Clemont let out an exhausted sigh. "Really, I'm just glad we're all okay." He looked at his friends and their Pokémon again. He took off his glasses and cleaned them before putting them back on. "Maybe 'okay' is too generous. But we're all safe now. That's what matters."
The castle still stood, mostly. Everyone returned their Pokémon to their Poké Balls while Pikachu climbed onto Ash's shoulder. They reentered the castle, heading to their final confrontation.
To be concluded...