"Ash! You can't go in there!" Iris called after her best friend.
"I have to! I have to see Darkell again!" Ash yelled back, half in a craze, "Darkell!"
After a few minutes of heavy running, Iris finally had to give up. Ash still ran at full speed toward Darkell.
At the exact moment that she stopped, a shadow ran under her and sucked her in. She immediately lost consciousness.
"W-where am I?" When she awoke, Iris found herself alone in a dark, very hot prison room. At least, that's what it looked like.
"You are in my throne room, in the middle of the Bottom Realms." a voice said.
A bright light suddenly shot out of the darkness. It was a tarp over her "cell". When she saw where she was, she nearly fainted again. The place was completely burning, and had spirits from dead Pokémon all over. She absolutely hated anything about dead or dying Pokémon.
"Ash and Xyrule will find me!" Iris shouted at the ugly thing that was The Devil.
"Oh, I doubt it. Nothing, not even Xyrule, can get in here." Flarimist said, erupting into a crazy laugh that boomed around the large room.
"Darkell! Dad!" Ash was still following the image that he had seen. He finally was rewarded. He caught up to the being and grabbed its cloak.
"Auuuughhh!" it screamed, the life force peeling out of it like layers of mica. It turned the purest white before it went back to the limp, lifeless form of Darkell.
"Dad…" Ash said, realizing at last, "That really was a fake. My dad is still down there."
Ash sadly walked away, telekinetically carrying the limp Pokémorph back to Karkoul.
"He really was a fake. Sorry for not believing you, Xyrule." Ash said after he got back to the Fields.
"It's okay. You couldn't have realized." the Pokémon said sadly, feeling Ash's grief.
"Where's Iris?" Cilan asked all of a sudden.
"I though she came back here?" Ash said, confused.
"No, she never did." Cilan recalled.
"We have to find her!" Aran said, having been released from the hypnotics by Sarak, on order by Flarimist. Of course, no one knew he was ever in a trance, except Xyrule.
"She's right here!" Flarimist called from deep within the forest.
"Give her back!" Ash yelled when he saw the creepy being come out. He saw Iris. She was being held by one of Flarimist's strong arms against the gargoyle body. The other arm held an enormous scythe, which was poised right in front of Iris's neck.
"Not until you and Xyrule give up and hand over the universe to me! You better, or the lady gets it." At that, the scythe grew sharper and nearer Iris.
"Ash…" Iris whispered, clearly terrified, or so it seemed. She then winked at him. Ash winked back.
"Shadow." he whispered back.
Iris immediately melted out of Flarimist's arms, and seeing the chance, slapped him in the face before racing towards her friends.
"What?! How… But of course. Secret training. Good job, except for that you forgot that I am unstoppable." Flarimist said, surprised.
"I know that you have been training Iris, Ash." Xyrule told the trainer.
"I suppose there's no point lying. I've been training Iris for more than a month now. Do whatever you want with me, I know I broke the rules." Ash confessed, his face flushing red again.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Ash."
"I know. Go ahead, do whatever you want."
"But, on the other hand, you have gained us a new ally. You may have broken the rules, but with only good intentions. I will not punish you. You must remember, as well, Rule # 34."
"Do only what you think is right." Ash recalled the rule, one of the most emphasized by Xyrule during the training period.
"Correct. And you believed that training Iris was a good idea and went through with it. I am proud of you for that. You have followed another rule, Rule # 35." Xyrule went on.
"I don't remember Rule # 35." Ash said, trying to think back.
"That's because I never told it to you. I didn't because I knew that you would follow it, no matter what. Rule # 35 is this: Follow your heart. And you passed with flying colors."
"Wow…" Ash said, speechless.
"Battle time yet, Xyrule? I'm waiting. You know that I'm impatient." Flarimist was saying, tapping his foot on the ground.
"Yes, Flarimist, I know. Are you ready, Ash?" Xyrule answered, turning to Ash.
"I'm ready." Ash said, stepping forward.
"If he's going, I'm going." Iris said, stepping up next to Ash.
"And me." Cilan.
"And me." Aran.
"And us." The entire Xorro pack.
"And me." Dragor said, stepping up from behind Flarimist and joining up with the rest.
"Dragor, you too?" Flarimist asked, amazed that his trusted servant could just go against him at the drop of a pin.
"Yes, I have wanted to help your destruction for millennia. You have caused nothing but pain and fear to innocent people across the universe, and me as well." Dragor said, revealing his true persona.
"For the world! For Darkell!" the rebellion yelled, charging, with Ash at the front.
They all, except for Ash, Xyrule, and Iris, who had hidden behind Ash, were immediately blown toward the other side of the field by a sudden rush of wind coming from the mountains.
"Hiyaaah!" A band of Pokémon raced down from the mountainsides. One came up from the ground.
The Legendary Pokémon had come. Ash recognized Dartor and Tambora. They were all healthy, and all extremely powerful.
An even larger group of powerful Pseudo-legendaries appeared. It included Raloc, Zephyr, Propanozark, Scytheraptor, and every other.
Even the weaker Pokémon came. All the newcomers banded up with the already large team. They now filled the entire Fields of Karkoul. The rest of the old team got back on their feet.
Flarimist was now surrounded in every direction by miles full of Pokémon, all with the same goal: kill him. An impatient Rattol tried to attack Flarimist with a Shock Pulse, but Flarimist just tossed it away and killed the little eelsnake.
"Everybody, pool your Aura! It's time for an Infinite Aura!" Ash yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear, in a leader-like way. Everyone listened. A multicolored ball of Aura appeared over everyone, then shrank, compacted, to the size of a pea. Ash picked it up, fused his Aura with it, and tossed it at the waiting Flarimist, who had begun to look bored, picking pieces off of himself to watch them regrow. It hit him like a cannonball on a Caterpie. Flarimist crumpled to the ground, not yet dead, but very seriously injured.
"Wait…" Xyrule said to himself, squinting to look closer to the dying evil.
"And now for the grand finale…Pulse Meteor!" Ash yelled, jumping into the air, "For Darkell!"
"Stop!" Xyrule shouted, jumping in the way of the powerful move. It hit him square in the chest. He stood his ground.
"Why are you helping me, your worst enemy, Xyrule?" Flarimist asked weakly.
"Look." Xyrule said simply. Flarimist obeyed. His arms had begun to soften into flesh, but still were distinct rock. He could feel his face solidify. Life. He was turning alive.
This all happened in the course of one millisecond. Ash eventually had to stop the attack. He jumped out of the smoke, landing perfectly on the ground, which had begun to melt from the heat.
"Why did you block the attack, Xyrule?" Ash queried, looking up to the tall Pokémon.
Xyrule's eyes flashed blue quickly, then back to green. "Look at him." he said, pointing to the dying Flarimist.
Flarimist used his last reserve of strength to look up. "I once was completely evil. But you, Ash and Xyrule, showed me the true light. I realize that now. Goodbye, everyone." he said, for the last time. In death, he changed into a human.
"He is good now. He is at peace." Ash said, looking down to the spot where Flarimist now lay, lifeless, "He had only just turned good, too. I almost feel sorry now."
"I think I can help, but you'll need to aid me in reviving him, too." Xyrule explained.
"Okay." Ash said, taking a deep breath.
"Close your eyes and concentrate your Living Aura." Xyrule said, following the rules of training.
A blue spiral floated from both revivers, which combined into a larger one. The vortex of life twisted toward the waiting body. When it hit, a change immediately happened. Flarimist rose up out of the ground. He was now a handsome, tall young man, and not the reflection of the evil that is gone now.
"Hello. Am I really here?" Flarimist asked, in a new voice, a still-deep, but much less, and slightly ringing tone.
"Yes, you are. This is your second chance."
"Thank you. From the bottom of my cold, black, empty heart. That is the phrase, right?" Flarimist said, his first joke.
"It is done." said Xyrule, and everyone cheered. The Devil was gone! No more bad things! The universe was saved!
And best of all, to Ash, his father had survived.
"What happened?" Ash's long-lost dad asked, slightly confused. Then he saw Ash. Recognition flowed through him.
"Ash!" he said, running up and picking his son up in joy.
"The world is saved, Dad! Flarimist is changed! We can go home now." Then Ash noticed something else, too.
"You're changing!" It was true. Darkell's body was slowly losing the shadows and the helmet was dissolving. When it stopped, he was human once again. After 14 years, David had truly returned.
"I'm back to how I was when you were a kid! Flarimist's curse must have worn away after he left! I can return to you and your mother, finally!" David realized.
"We couldn't have done it without you, Ash." Iris said, everyone around them nodding in agreement.
"No, we all did it." Ash said, Darkell nodding in agreement. Everyone else did, too, realizing the wisdom.
"Thank you all. If it wasn't for you, I would never have realized what it truly means to be alive. Thank you." Flarimist, in his new body, said gratefully.
"You're welcome, Flarimist." everyone answered.
"Gah! I hate that name now. I'm changing it. But what to?" Flarimist told the crowd, "I still want to keep 'Mist' as my last name."
"How about 'Aden Mist'?" Cilan thought.
"I like that, actually! I'll keep it. 'Aden' means 'fire' too, doesn't it?" Flarimist said, thinking.
"Yes, it does." Iris said, the first thing she had said since the transformation.
"I can make a schedule for you to go back to your home. Delia will be very elated to see you both." Xyrule told them.
"Can we go, too?" Iris, Cilan, Dragor, and Aran, with Sarak, asked.
"Are you sure? You all have a reason that you've said to stay, plus there's a hotel close by every town." Ash asked, making sure.
"The only true reason for us being here is the adventure, but now that Flarimist is gone, that adventure is gone. That's probably the only thing wrong with his death." Iris explained.
"I'm going too." Flarimist, or Aden, said, stepping up.
"Sorry for hating you, David." Aran said, facing his old "enemy".
"It's okay. It had to be done." David responded.
"I have made the arrangements. Eight plane tickets to Kanto Region. I used the best airline there is for you." Xyrule said, looking at everyone.
"Thanks, Xyrule!" everyone said, then looked at every Pokemon that wouldn't be going, "We'll miss you all!"
They were replied with more cheers from the crowd. Some Pokemon from the unevolved part of the mob even came forward, close to the soon-departing heroes. There was a Rattol, a Zeror, a Propesh, a Velociscythe, and a Keiko. The Keiko went directly to Iris, the Rattol to Ash, the Velociscythe to Aran, the Zeror to Cilan, and the Propesh to David. They started rubbing the legs of those people.
"I think they want us to capture them." Iris said, taking out a Pokeball to see what they would do. They started jumping up and down excitedly. So all the people took out a Pokeball, Ash gave David one, and captured their new Pokemon. Aran got to capture Sarak the Xorro as well.
"I have done a lot of thinking, and I have decided that I want Ash to capture me. I have been watching him since day one that he was here, and I like what I've seen. I made my decision. I want to be captured." Dragor revealed.
"Really?" Ash asked, "You're willing to lose freedom for me? I'll keep you out."
Dragor was sure, so Ash pulled out one of his last Pokeballs and captured the dragon. He let him out as soon as he had finished capturing him.
"Thank you, Ash. For everything."
"Your flight is ready." Xyrule said, announcing the arrival of a small private plane.
"Goodbye, everyone." the team said, waving to the crowd as the door closed.
"Goodbye, my friend." Xyrule said, whispering.
"Goodbye, Xyrule." Flarimist said to himself, as if answering his old enemy.