Sonic and Megaman waited for Sonic to regain his breath as his chest heaved. They could see the dark storm clouds gathering at the top of a slightly-distant mountain. Both of them guessed that due to unnatural weather, the kids were probably there, or headed there. Either way, they would be at the mountain. That was just who they were.

Sonic dug trembling feet into the ground, feeling his legs protest. He might run everywhere, but he usually gave himself cool-off periods inbetween as well. Megaman crouched next to him, arm cannons humming softly in preparation. "Sonic, are you ready for the final push up?"

Sonic stretched his legs, feeling the muscles burn. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Sonic snatched the robot up into his arms, and took off towards the mountain. Wind whistled, and a familiar scent reached Sonic's nose at the same time Megaman spoke up, "My sensors are picking up familiar life forms."

Yep. Sonic couldn't help a relieved grin at the scent of oceans, warm islands, hamburgers, omlettes, and icy cold mountains flowed back to him. "That's them alright. I'm going to let you off here. Sounds like a battle's already started, and you do better with long-range, right?"

Megaman didn't have a chance to say anything, before he was unceremoniously dumped onto the ground. Sonic tucked into a ball, sharp ears barely able to catch Link's wish for him- and another child's bitter reply.

He slammed into a fully grown adult, and smirked as what felt like the entire battlefield screeched to a halt. Sonic uncurled, hands brushing spines back. "Heya Link- miss me?"

Sonic didn't miss the way the kids held themselves, exhausted and hurt. He didn't miss the way the unknown kid looked desperate and yet completely under control, keeping everyone bunched together. And as Charizard roared, fighting up above with blood and fire raining down from above, Sonic knew this wasn't a time for jokes.

"So I drank my Starbucks before arriving. Sorry Link."

Green regarded this blue… thing in calculated hesitation. Whatever that blue thing was, it wasn't a Pokémon. It didn't have the right feeling to it. But the others around him recognized it with a happy, joyful, "SONIC!"

Sonic smirked, "Missed me?"

Red shoes tapped against the ground, before the blue creature seemed to just vanish. It reappeared behind a Grunt, easily fainting the human with a quick spin. "Alrighty then, I'm going to wrap this up in two minutes tops, before everyone else gets here."

The relieved smiles on the kids faces froze. "O-Others?" Lucas questioned tremblingly.

"Yeah. You guys have caused a lot of worry going off and disappearing. Everyone in the manor is headed this way now."

The others around him went pale. Green stepped in, one arm shooting out as if to block Sonic from touching the kids. Yeah, Sonic might be fast, but that didn't mean much in a world where Pokémon could go invisible. It was all about strategy. And Green wasn't about to allow anyone to look down on the kids. "Hey, watch it. They're all old enough to be considered legal adults here in Hoenn."

Sonic frowned slightly, glancing from Green to the kids huddled behind him. Green was aware that they were staring at him in astonishment, but he didn't care. Like he was going to let anyone get kidnapped on his watch. "As long as they willingly remain in here, Kanto, or Johto, then they have the same rights as adults. You can't tell them what to do."

He forced his eyes, watery from exhaustion and pain, to meet Sonic's dead on, refusing to show any weakness. "I'll fight you too for their right to a decision if I have too."

None of the Grunts dared edge closer to this strange blue creature and a former Champion. He could hear the kids shuffling behind him, but that was ignored, as his eyes squarely met bright, emerald eyes. Finally Sonic shrugged. "It's not really up for debate I'm afra-"

"Lapras! Blastoise!" Both of Red's Pokémon instantly roared to life under Green's command. "Hydropump and Ice Beam!"

This was a fast, spritely creature. Mud and Ice would slow it down. Sonic yelped as he jumped away from the two blasts. "What do you think you're doing-"

"I told you- they make their own decisions and I won't let anyone else make their decision for them. If they want to go- fine! But I won't allow you to drag them away from their adventure without a single say!"

A Pokémon Adventure was a hard, messy business. There was loneliness, and sorrow. There was terror, and pain. But- "To decide one's fate with their own hands is the true meaning of a journey! But sometimes you just gotta get a little help along the way."

Green shouted, "Lapras, Blastoise! Don't let up on those two! Rhydon, Pikachu- Take out those grunts over there. Exxegcutor, Venosaur, keep up the good work! Arcanine, protect Venosaur! Lapras, duck!"

The water Pokémon ducked at Green's call, narrowly missing the blue blur that shot over head. Green didn't freeze as a voice spoke in his ear, and something cold and hard pressed against his back. "That's far enough! I won't let you hurt my friend either!"

"Pidgeot!"

Pidgeot sent a gust of wind, as Green ducked, ramming his elbow backwards. He barely bit back the howl of pain as his arm hit cold metal. The person- no, wait, was that a person? The eyes were all wrong and different, and there was something off about it- "R-Rock!"

The kids knew him as well?

Grunts were really reluctant to step into this fighting, as they shot glances up into the air. Red had to be hard-pressed. It was hard enough to face Ho-Oh with all of your Pokémon, let alone with just one Charizard. Where was Wes? Why hadn't he-

"Rayquaza is incoming." Lucas abruptly shouted, drawing eyes from across the flat ground to giant dragon-flying green streak that zoomed closer. Up above, the man on the Ho-Oh spat out a curse.

"Ho-Oh, burn them all!"

Charizard screamed as he fell, covered in flames. Sonic froze, eyes drawn to the quiet lump on Charizard's back. "Re-"

KABOOM! Water and Ice shot towards the frozen figure, who seemed to flat out vanish, reappearing next to Red. His friend stirred slightly. Was he unconscious? Injured? Green ignored the way his heart constricted to snap, "Red!"

He could see long fingers twitch. "Time to get up Red. We're depending on you to keep Ho-Oh at bay! Get up Red!"

Red rolled over, headless of Sonic's hands reaching out for his shoulder. His hand reached up to wipe blood from out of his eyes, as he glanced at Charizard. The fire Pokémon rumbled, struggling to his feet as well. The two leaned against each other for a moment, as Sonic actually didn't interfere. "Hey, Red- want me to take care of this?"

Red shook his head, slinging an arm around Charizard. This fine line that he walked- never using enough force to actually faint Ho-oh, but also keeping his Charizard alive. "Ya sure Red?"

"BLASTOISE! LAPRAS!" Green shouted the commands at the two Pokémon, who faithfully dredged up the last of their strength. Sonic turned to pin him with a glare- Green glared right back.

Lucas stepped up, arms thrown out between Green and Sonic. "P-Please stop f-fighting!"

Sonic rocked back onto his heels, looking bored. "Tell that to the guy who's insisting on attacking me."

"Then you willing to bear the consequences of refusing my help? I'm warning ya- I won't step in again." Green kept his eyes focused on Sonic, but he could tell Lucas flinched. "There's no telling what he'll do."

It was Toon Link who spoke up this time. "Sonic wouldn't come out here if there wasn't a reason for it. And if everyone is coming-"

Fire licked over them, as Lapras and Blastoise obeyed Red's signed commands that Green had missed in his argument. Sonic's green eyes went huge as the Legendary Pokémon screeched-

Rayquaza's echoing roar answered Ho-Oh's. The two Pokémon slammed into each other, the long, green form wrapping its way around the black flaming body. Red sighed in relief, glancing around. It was up to Wes now to catch Ho-Oh.

Lucas ran up to Red's side, a small ball of light sinking into Red's skin. Green figured it was probably the same healing trick Lucas had pulled off. "Looks like this battle is finally coming to a close."

Sonic pouted, "Aww, but that's no fun-"

The sound of what had to be thirty to forty planes filled the air, sending a chill down Green's back. Even Red froze at the sound, eyes wide at the noise. "Sonic." This came from the person who wasn't real, made out of metal instead. "I hate you and your big mouth."

Grunts cheered as fellow grunts began to touch down on the ground, an army of Pokémon beginning to form a solid wall around them. Red whistled sharply, calling his Pokémon to his side. Snorlax roared, its giant form dwarfing most others. A tyranitaur roared back- rocks rumbled softly.

Sonic zoomed next to the Rock person, feet tapping against the ground. Ruby and Sapphire dropped next to Green and Red, as Red backed up into the tight little knot. "We found Wes!"

"Good job. Now we just gotta take care of all of these guys. Hope your Pokémon aren't too exhausted."

"There were a lot more planes- Rayquaza shot them down." Short-hand code for the fact that their Pokémon were actually exhausted. Crap. Green really didn't want to rely on this Sonic and Rock person.

"How did he get all of these people anyways?" Toon Link abruptly questioned. "I mean, it doesn't make sense."

Ness shrugged, "It could be like the cult I faced off against. They practically brain-washed everyone. Luckily I didn't have to fight them all, but it came close."

Cult? Brain-washed… "Psychic Pokémon? Does he have some kind of psychic Pokémon that can control… but that doesn't make sense. The only Pokémon that can really control minds are the three emotion Pokémon back in Sinnoh. Unless- Red?"

Red shook his head, confirming what Green thought. It wasn't any Pokémon. "Well, it doesn't have to be a psychic Pokémon I guess…" Green trailed off. "I mean, Ghestis and his cronies in Unova used psychological mind tricks."

"U-Um, b-b-back home… Porky he mind controlled people through machines…" Lucas trailed off slowly. "There were huge containers, and they all kept repeating the same thing…"

"Porky did that huh…" Lucas and Ness shared some kind of history- Green didn't have time to put up with all of their crap.

"Whatever the reason, we still gotta fight them all off. Everyone stick close, got it? Sapphire, Ruby, cover these guys, make sure they don't get too hurt. I get the feeling they'll run out of pp soon enough."

Several confused looks crossed faces, but Lucas half-smiled a little guiltily. He was probably running the lowest and more on fumes then anything else. "RED!" Red's hand touched Green's elbow. "Think you can clear us a path?"

A slight squeeze of confusion- "We're not going to be able to face off against this many. Sorry Red, I know how your justice burns within you but we're not going to win."

"Ah." Ruby spoke up, as he and Sapphire clasped hands together, standing together against the armies. "We have too- or they're gonna attack Wes and Rayquaza as well. If they capture Rayquaza along with Groudon and Kyogre… and they have Ho-Oh already."

These two above all others knew the destructive power the two Pokémon of land and sea could create. Green sighed. "Alright then."

Red reassuringly knocked his elbow against Green's back. Green smirked confidentially. "Well, we have three champions here, so I guess that means we're super weak as champions if we can't even defeat this lot!"

Sonic and Rock stood back to back, a cool smirk on Sonic's face. "We'll help out too- but if they're being mind-controlled, I guess I should hold back and only faint them, right?"

"Take out the Pokémon before the humans- otherwise the Pokémon will go berserk."

That was the only piece of warning before the Grunts, buoyed by each other, charged. Green lost track of his fellow fighters in the fighting. Everything was just the fight or flight response to staying alive, don't die, he and Red were going to have some new scars-

A flash of Link jumping, sword plunging downwards. A flash of Ness, on one knee but still glowing with his strange energy and bat swinging. A flash of Lucas, right next to Ness and the two of them guarding each others backs. A flash of Nana and Popo, refusing to be separated and moving gracefully as one. A flash of Sonic, desperately trying to build speed on this crowded ground where ground Pokémon burst up and out of the ground every few seconds. A flash of Rock, more used to the close-combat shooting pellets of energy at Pokémon and humans.

Red flashes went up everywhere- Green bit back a swear as Machamp fell, and Arcanine whined. He didn't have time to revive-

Blastoise rumbled in, Venosaur's vine whips lashing out. They had abandoned the unconscious grunts to either be trampled to rescued by their friends- either way it wasn't going to be pretty. And Red's Pokémon were covering for him-

Machamp flashed back out into battle, still exhausted despite the potions. But still trusting. Pidgeot screeched as he fanned his wings out, taking down several bug-types with a few flaps. Green watched as Charizard fell- "Arcanine!"

Arcanine now guarded Red's Pokémon as Red frantically revived his Pokémon. Charizard snarled and roared as it burst back into real-space. The never-ending sea of grunts moved forward relentlessly. Red's eyes scanned the group, before touching Charizard's side. Charizard turned to look at him, briefly. They shared a moment-

Chairzard took off. He blasted through several flying types, easily slicing down the lower-level Pokémon. Green could see it land a little bit away- and take off again with Lucas and Ness on it's back.

Ah, Red wanted them out of this did he? "Pidgeot- get Nana, Popo and Link. Get them to a Pokémon Center."

Pidgeot's feathers poofed out in anger. "I know. You can return after you've dropped them off. Just- get them out of here, got it? Follow Red's Charizard."

Pidgeot took off, circling around the battlefield- and Red disappeared under the shifting army of grunts, as Sonic sped past him, beginning to look bedraggled and harassed. Rock appeared out of the crowd too, leaves flying around him in a shield.

Green pulled himself onto Arcanine, Pokémon crowding around him in a shield. He needed to get out. He could see Pidgeot struggling to get into the air with three children on his back. "RHYDON! HELP PIDGEOT!"

His shout barely reached the Pokémon's ears, who charged off with a low roar. Pidgeot finally took to the air, and circled around with Chairzard. They were hemmed in by other flying Pokémon and helicopters. Green barely bit back a scream of pain as claws raked across his side, scoring deep gashes. It came out as a stifled grunt.

Rhydon and Exeggutor went down at the same time. Machamp backed up against Arcanine, as Gyrados roared, and lashed out. Pidgeot called out, high up above. His two remaining Pokémon pressed in close.

"RED?" Green lifted his voice above the crowds roar-

Snorlax fell, and judging by the noise, Lapras wasn't far behind. Pikachu's thunderbolts as the world strongest Pokémon struck down from clear sky. Up above, Rayquaza roared, circling around Ho-Oh. Ho-Oh disappeared, the snag ball attempting to keep the Pokémon in.

Green watched as the ball and human plummeted, the ball rocking.

A Sludge Bomb shot towards him- Gyrados screamed as it hit, fainting dead away. Arcanine growled. "Extreme speed Arcanine! Find Red!"

The fire Pokémon leapt forward, heading for the lightning bolts. If Green could just coordinate with Red long enough to revive his Pokémon-

Ruby and Sapphire appeared in the crowd, kicking, and scratching at anything that came close. Sapphire had armed herself with a broken Pokémon's teeth, using them to stab anything that came close to her and Ruby. Ruby's hat was torn off, lost the crowd as blood poured from his temple. Their twelve Pokémon moved like one, creating a thick, defensible wall.

Green pitched forward as a ground Pokémon erupted from underground and slammed into the soft underbelly of Arcanine. The Pokémon fainted with a yelp, leaving Green completely at the mercy of the Grunts and their Pokémon. The once-champion and Viridian Gym Leader slowly rose into a crouch. Every sense was alert, tingling, telling him which direction to run.

Grunts formed a solid circle around him, their Pokémon snarling and growling. Green took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Calm. He needed to stay calm. If he remained calm, then he could dodge whatever was thrown at him. Green adjusted his feet, and waited- "Muk!"

At the called name, and attack- the entire group charged. Green whirled, heading straight for the Koffing floating in the air. The Koffing had the slowest reaction time of them all, and Green ducked beneath the Pokémon to slam his fist against the teenage Grunt's face. The Grunt fell back, clutching at his bleeding nose.

Green jerked his knee up, and slammed into the family crown jewels with a rather satisfied smirk. "Time to get out of here!"

The grunts piled on top of each other, tangling and taking each other down in their attempt to fight the fleeing Green. Green forced his legs to keep running, while his lungs constricted with every passing second. Breathing a Koffing's smoke was so not a good idea-

KABOOM! The sound of a ship being blown up made Green glance upwards. Up above, circling around Rayquaza's and Ho-Oh's forms, were airplanes that Green had never seen before. They didn't look like something anyone would come up with-

Green stifled a gasp of pain as a Nidoran slammed into his side, poison entering into his bloodstream. The twelve-year-old rolled, hands automatically reaching for his pack. He needed a Peacha Berry for the poison now.

He gulped down the berry, at the same time a foot connected with his back. "ghk." Green couldn't stop the low moan of pain, as his vision wavered. "R-Red-"

Grunts and Pokémon went flying under the thunderous voltage of Red's Pikachu. Blastoise roared, water blasting back Pokémon, and leaving them broken on the ground. Red staggered out of the fighting, limping from where he had been attacked. Green pulled himself to his feet, doubled over and barely conscious. "Looks like more Grunts have arrived."

Red didn't reply- he crouched, and looped an arm around Greens shoulders. Venosaur roared again, as the two staggered closer to the Pokémon. Venosaur would probably be the one to hold out the longest, while Blastoise and Pikachu took care of the attacking part. Red pulled out Full Restores, and passed them over.

Green grabbed them, blood slickening his fingers making him momentarily fumble them. Pikachu dashed by, and Red reacted automatically. He kicked out- the bug-types fainted underneath the boot placement. Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder, so completely and obviously exhausted it couldn't even create sparks.

Red stuffed a few berries down his throat, while signing out commands to the rest of the Pokémon. Green filled pokéballs with Full Restores, cursing the fact that it took a few seconds- "RED BEHIND YOU!"

Red almost ducked- and froze as his eyes locked with Green's. If Red ducked, then Green was right it the way-

Bam!

A man dressed in skin-tight clothing abruptly appeared, hand enclosing around the Pokémon's horn and wrenching sideways. He whirled the gun in his hand- and launched some kind of explosion at the gathered creatures. It forced open a small clearing, just for a few moments.

Red's eyes had gone wide in… relief? So this was someone Red knew? "Like I said Red- you have the weirdest friends."

Luigi quaked as he peered out the door leading to further below- beside him, the Children of Smash Manor struggled to stay awake. When Falco and Fox circled around the Charizard and giant pigeon there had been some definite consternation over the state of the kids. Lucas and Ness were sweating bullets, unable too keep their eyes open. Toon Link and the Ice Climbers had clung to each other, barely keeping conscious to whack flying Pokémon away.

Charizard had scrambled into Falcon's flying airship, and the giant pigeon followed a few moments after. Roy and Ike had reached up to lift the kids off the two Pokémon. Toon Link reacted instinctively, swinging his sword to point it directly at Ike's nose, making the mercenary freeze. "D-Don't you dare touch them." Toony's voice was soft, but purposeful as he squinted through a haze of exhaustion. "Their my friends."

Ike reached up to grab the sword, heedless of the blood that coursed down his hands from the sharp blade. "I get it. I won't harm them."

Toon Link's sword had wavered, and fell with a clang as he pitched forward. Ike caught him deftly, as Pit took to the skies from out the door, putting his frustration with the situation into his double swords and bow. "Palutina- please help me fly!"

The angel took to the skies like a pro-

Pidgeot and Charizard nudged each other for a moment. Blood and scorch marks marred feathers and scales-

But when Pidgeot launched out into the sky, heading directly for one of the small groups, and Charizard didn't hesitate to back the feathered bird, Luigi knew without a doubt that they were going to their respective trainers.

Even now, Peach knelt next to the children, brewing tea and covering them with blankets. Various members of Smash Manor were jumping into the fray- Snake was the first human out, floating down on one of his machines.

Luigi took a step back as Pit blasted past, he and Meta Knight creating deadly twirls and whirls with their swords and bows. Luigi jumped again as a hand whacked him against the back, and turned slightly to find a rather familiar penguin standing at the entrance. "What's the matter? Getting cold feet? Wahahaha!"

Dedede howled with laughter as he switched the hammer from shoulder to shoulder, eyes sparkling. "If you want a lift down, I'm thinking about heading down myself."

"H-Huh? Can you actually fly-"

"Of course I can! All of Dreamland's residents can fly!"

Luigi had never heard of that, but as he watched Kirby breathe in deep, and start floating out the door he could believe it. "C'mon then, we might not have Ness around this time, but it'll be like in Subspace!"

Dedede's eyes were shining as he looked down at the fight. Luigi swallowed hard- Link (the older one) extended a hand out to Zelda, who shimmered for a moment to become Shiek. Shiek took Link by the hand. Link jumped out, a parachute flaring out to let them gently float towards the ground. Shiek, trusting Link whole-heartedly, let him go and began to shoot down Pokémon and humans with her arrows of light.

Luigi wrenched his eyes away from Mario stomping down on a bug-Pokémon. "Y-Yeah, Let's a-go!"

Luigi felt the ship dip down- Olimar was the one flying this particular time. Captain Falcon wanted to be in the thick of the action, and Olimar's pikmin were deemed far too few to actually fight in this particular battle. Olimar had almost said something, before his mouth closed and he had said nothing. Either way, he and the Villager agreed to continue piloting the Falcon Ship. Well, Villager had said he'd stick next to Olimar, and nobody had dared object.

Luigi took a deep breath and jumped out on his own as Olimar roared above the heads of the grunts.

More then just Luigi jumped off at this point as well. The Wii Fit Trainer did a backflip out of the air ship- followed shortly after by Donkey and Diddy Kong with identical howls of delight. Lucario watched the ongoings with a careful eye, before being abruptly kicked out by a cackling Jigglypuff. Mr. Game and Watch latched onto Yoshi's back, who jumped into battle with a fluttershy kick and-

Luigi screeched as a blob of purple poison was shot directly at his head.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Snake crouching next to Red and another kid, Charizard thundering down next to the three with flames spilling out of his mouth. Wario went screeching by on his motorbike- Pokémon cried out as the fat man ran them over.

Samus appeared, fully armored up, and whip snapping. "Luigi? Is there a reason why you're over here?"

"U-Uh- J-Just a little scared."

Samus shrugged, easily batting away a Pokémon her size. "If you don't hurry up then everyone will destroy this army first."

Well, that wasn't too bad of an idea… Luigi leapt nearly three feet in the air as another hand hit his back. Mario's voice spoke up "Take it easy Luigi- it's just me."

"O-Oh, Mario! Thank goodness." The younger twin looked down at his older brother who grinned back up at him.

"C'mon Luigi, let's fight and show them why exactly we're the heroes of Mushroom Kingdom."

Luigi took a deep breath and nodded. He was always scared of everything (but it was always easier to be brave when you had a friend and when you needed to be, and right now the Children of Smash Manor needed someone brave)

Olimar surveyed the chaos as he smiled slightly at the easy flight capabilities of the ship. The Villager next to him kept the Pikmin from hitting random buttons as Peach gathered the kids further into the air-ship. The princess tucked warm blankets around the unconscious children, slathering their foreheads with cool cloths.

Pit, Falco, Fox, Wolf and Meta Knight darted through the sky on wings and ships, taking down the flying Pokémon with ease and clearing a runway for Olimar. Yoshi could be seen swallowing Pokémon and leaving them trapped in his eggs. Olimar banked, dipping down at Snake's waved hand.

Red, staggering on his feet but an arm still around his friend, shook his head in response to Snake's question. The friend said something- Olimar could see his mouth moving, before pushing up off of Red and walking back towards the battle. His six Pokémon flashed into existence, creating a thick wall. Red stared after him for a moment, before looking around at his own-

The two charged into battle.

Olimar pulled up sharply, feeling the gigantic craft rumble beneath his body and groan under the unexpected weight.

A man with goggles on top of a Rayquaza (since when could Rayquaza fly anyways?) glanced at him, before shaking his head and turning back to the black thing that he was battling. Two small Pokémon jumped in and out of range of attack. A pokéball, this one a different color then Red's, shot out. The black Pokémon disappeared into it- Olimar didn't bat an eye, and neither did Villager, though he could hear a bit of surprise from Fox and Falco.

The ball plummeted towards the ground, a human falling with it, flailing in the air. When the ball shook three times and went dark, Olimar didn't know why the human screamed in relief, before urging the Rayquaza on to catch the falling human. He also didn't know why even Red's hands rose in silent celebration at the sight, and the three Pokémon trainers fighting against the horde of grunts cheered- or even why the grunts suddenly stopped, looking cautious.

What mattered was the fact that everyone here gathered were working together to end a rather pitched battle.

Kirby sucked up Diddy Kong, blasting him out towards a group. Donkey Kong instantly retaliated by slamming a large Pokémon over Kirby's head, sending Meta Knight into a protective rage. Meta Knight's sword missed Donkey Kong, and slammed into Link instead, who turned with a fire in his eyes.

Olimar groaned miserably as the Smashers, true to nature, began to turn on each other as well. At least most of the grunts were defeated…

a/n: The second to last chapter! Next chapter is the last! It's been a wild, frolicking ride everyone, and I hope you all have been enjoying it. Now then- sorry that I updated this chapter so late!