Author's note: I do apologize for taking so long to update the last chapters, I've had some problems with my timetables, but I promise to finish this story within a month from now.
Thank you for your understanding.
Chapter 26 – The Grim battle of the Second Temple
Ash, May and Serena were running upstairs to get to the second temple, since they left Dawn behind to face Mascaro, they have been constantly listening noises coming from the first temple, which only made them more worried about her. Dawn wasn't the most skilled trainer of them; actually she never enjoyed Pokémon Battles that much since her goals had always been a coordinator, she did everything within her abilities and Ash was just hoping it would be enough to defeat Mascaro.
"Look! We got it" said May "There is the Temple"
They all stepped in the temple which was very similar to the first one; the only difference was the sentence on the entrance. This one says: You do not choose to be a winner, you conquer it.
"You do not choose to be a winner, you conquer it" read Serena
"It is… encouraging" said May "I guess"
May looked at Ash who was looking back to the stairs, hoping to see Dawn appear at any moment
"She will be okay Ash" said May "You know she would never let herself be defeated by him"
"I guess you're right… I just feel bad for…" said Ash
"Don't be" said Serena interrupting him "Ash… you trained and taught all of us about Pokémon. If there's something you can rely on is on your apprentices"
"Of course" said Ash "I'm sorry. I do trust you all"
"Isn't that nice" said a voice coming from the temple's entrance
Ash, May and Serena looked ahead and saw the one who was waiting them to appear. The Lady's sword-arm, Myers
"Myers" said Ash "So you were really here waiting for us"
"The Lady asked me to take care of you myself… but I really thought Mascaro would be able to do such easy job" said Myers "But it seems he has failed"
"What?" asked Ash "So Dawn defeated him?"
"Well… It looks like it" said Myers
Ash was half relieved. Although Dawn had defeated Mascaro, She could still have been hurt. But if she was okay, she would be probably coming after them right now
"But don't worry" said Myers "I will not make the same mistake he did"
Ash wasn't letting his friends fight his battles anymore; he risked too much leaving Dawn behind. It was up to him now
"Don't Ash" said May when she saw Ash taking one of his Poke balls "You know you are not the one who's battling here as well"
"No May" Ash said I will not let you battle in my place"
"Why not?" asked May "Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you May" Ash said "But Myers… is very powerful, his abilities as trainers surpass The Lady's"
"I don't care Ash" said May "I am battling and I will not accept "no" as answer"
Ash got closer to May and took her hand, what made her blush
"May… I would never forgive myself if something happened with you…" Ash said
"…With me?"
"…Serena or Dawn" Ash completed
"Oh… right" May said a little disappointed
"So please… let me battle this time" said Ash
"Sorry Ash… I can't do that" May said
"You will never defeat Myers alone" said Ash
"She's not alone" said Serena "I will stay and battle with her"
"Se…Serena" said Ash
"Ash… we know our task here" said Serena "Just as we know yours… so just run upstairs to the third temple and don't look back"
"We'll be fine" said May
Ash looked at May and then to Serena… he would never convince them to let him stay and battle
"Okay" said Ash "I know you can do it"
Ash turned around and started to walk over Myers, who was patiently waiting for their decision. Ash walked until get face to face with him
"If it is okay for you…" started Ash "I will keep going to the third temple"
Myers just moved aside, making clear he was allowing Ash to pass
"Touch one single string of heir of those girls… and you will regret forever" said Ash angrily
Myers nothing said, just smiled at him
"ASH" shouted Serena "I hate sounding cliché… but I love you"
"We love you" said May smiling "Forever"
Ash smiled and turned away disappearing within the temple "and I love you all" he thought
After Ash left, May got close to Serena and looked into her eyes
"Serena" said May "Thank you… for staying with me"
Serena just smiled and took her hand
"That's what friends are for" she said
"Just to be clear" said Myers to them "I let Ketchum pass because The Lady herself wishes to get rid of him. I could have knocked him down if I wanted to"
"You could try for years and yet you wouldn't be able to defeat Ash" said May
"But what about you?" asked Myers "You two… I can defeat easily"
"We shall see" said Serena "Get your Pokémon ready"
"I shall use my only two Pokémon" said Myers letting two Poke balls fall on the ground and releasing a Barbaracle and a Dragalge
"It's a rock/water type and a poison/dragon" said May
"He said it's the only two Pokémon he has" said Serena "Let's go with all we have"
"I will have advantage against his Dragalge if I use Glaceon" May said
"Okay" said Serena "I will use Noctowl. His psychic attacks might help"
The two girls released their Pokémon out of their Poke balls, a double battle was about to start
"Let's not wait him to attack first" said May "Glaceon, use Ice beam on Dragalge"
"Noctowl. Use psychic on Barbaracle" said Serena
Both Pokémon did as their masters ordered, hitting their targets perfectly. The attacks were so strong that dust rose and went everywhere on the "battlefield"
"They did it" said Serena "It was direct hit"
"There's no way they did not get damaged" said May
"Are you sure of it?" asked Myers
As the smoke started to fade away, May and Serena saw that both Barbaracle and Dragalge was still up and they also didn't seem to have felt the attack at all
"That's impossible" said May "I knew that attack wouldn't be enough to knock them out… but still…"
"They were supposed to have at least got damaged" completed Serena
"You girls are fool" said Myers "Can't you understand that you will never defeat me?"
"Don't pay attention on him Serena" said May "We can do it. There's always another way"
"Dragalge, use smokescreen" said Myers
A black smoke took place of the battlefield, making impossible to either side to see something
"I hate this strategy" said Serena "Noctowl. Use gust"
Noctowl started to flip his wings fast to send the smoke away, but when it did… both Barbaracle and Dragalge were missing
"Where are they?" asked May
"Up there" said Serena pointing high to the sky where both Myers Pokémon were already preparing an air attack
"Barbaracle, Dragalge use Giga Impact" said Myers
Glaceon and Noctowl were both hit by Myer's Pokémon attack, It was so powerful that both of them couldn't resist and got knocked out immediately
"How come we were defeated by just one attack?" asked May
"And how did they jumped so high without being noticed?" asked Serena
"This is the power of Team Tenebris" said Myers "And once The Lady takes Ketchum and Lance out of the play… The Temple of Dragons will raise our Pokémon strength to highest level ever acquired"
Ash was running up the stairs when he heard a noise coming from the second temple where May and Serena were having their battle against Myers. At that time he could only hope for that noise to be from an attack May and Serena's Pokémon had used
For a couple of seconds Ash stared back at the second temple and thought about going back to help May and Serena… but they would never forgive him
"I believe in you" he said
"Glaceon, return" said May
"Noctowl, return" said Serena "What now?"
"We call another Pokémon" said May "Go Venusaur"
"Go Sylveon" said Serena
"It is useless" said Myers "It doesn't matter what Pokémon you are using… the end will be the same"
"I don't give up this easily" said Serena
"If you think we're done… think once again" said May "Venusaur, use Frenzy Plant"
"Sylveon, use Last Resort" said Serena
"Barbaracle, Dragalge don't let them attack" said Myers "Use Hyper Beam and Draco Meteor"
Sylveon and Venusaur didn't have time to finished their attacks, Barbaracle and Dragalge were much faster than them, so fast that they were able to attack first
"NO!" cried May and Serena while watching their Pokémon being hit by both Myers's Pokémon attack at once
"Venusaur!" said May "Are you okay?"
"Sylveon, please get up" said Serena
Unfortunately for May and Serena, the attacks from Barbaracle and Dragalge were so strong that both Venusaur and Sylveon were also knocked out
"I could say that I thought it was going to be harder than that… But I don't like to lie" said Myers "Actually, I knew it was going to be easy"
"Damn you" said May "Serena… Let's use our strongest Pokémon. It's all in"
"I agree" Serena answered "It makes no sense to hold back now"
"Blaziken I choose you" said Serena throwing her Poke ball and revealing her Pokémon
"Delphox, Go" also said Serena letting her Pokémon out of the Poke ball as well
"Since a direct physical attack seems not to work… let's use speed" said Serena
"Good idea" said May "Blaziken, use double team"
"Delphox, use double team as well" Serena said
Suddenly from the two Pokémon turned into twenty. Ten Blaziken and ten Delphox would try to defeat Myer's Pokémon
"Blaziken, run and move around Barbaracle and Dragalge" shouted May
"Delphox, you too" said Serena
Delphox and Blaziken along with their copies started running around Barbaracle and Dragalge to confuse them, and although Myers didn't seem to care about the strategy, his Pokémon were visibly uncomfortable with the situation. Both of them were trying to follow Delphox and Blaziken's movements
"I think it is working" said May "They are getting dizzy"
"It's our time to attack" said Serena
"Blaziken, use Fire Blast" said May
"Delphox, use Psychic" said Serena
Both Pokémon attacked as ordered, not only the real ones but all the copies also did the move
"Even though just two of them are real… How are you going to tell which one is the real one?" asked May to Myers
Myers said nothing, somehow he just let his Pokémon get hit by Blaziken and Delphox attacks, and so they did causing an explosion by the combination of Psychic and Fire Blast attacks, which made the entire temple trembles and raised a dark smoke all over the place
Walking fast to catch up with Ash, Serena and May, Dawn stopped when she heard a loud noise of explosion coming from the second temple
"What was that?" Dawn asked "Damn it… Somebody is already battling. I must hurry up"
Almost reaching the third temple, Ash looked back once more when he heard an explosion coming from the second temple
"Damn it… not again" said Ash
He looked forward and saw that the third temple was less than a mile away
"It's no use going back now" he thought "Please be okay"
As the smoke started to fade away, Serena and May were pretty confident about Blaziken and Delphox's attacks, if Barbaracle and Dragalge were not knocked out, they were hoping at least to have get them pretty bad damaged
"What have I told you?" asked Myers "You cannot defeat me with your weak Pokémon"
"What?" asked May
"Just look for yourselves" said Myers pointing to his Pokémon
What May and Serena saw was incredible, neither Barbaracle nor Dragalge had gotten any damage by the attacks
"No…" said Serena "this is not possible… it is not from this world"
"If we cannot hit them… how are we going to win?" asked May
"You are not" said Myers "And now… It is my turn to attack"
"May…." Said Serena "If we lose Blaziken and Delphox…."
"…we'll have no chance of winning" completed May "You are right…. But…."
"No buts" said Myers "I'll finish this for once and all. Barbaracle, Dragalge use hyper beam"
Barbaracle and Dragalge started to charge energy to use the hyper beam attack. If hit, the match would be over
"It's over…" said May "Blaziken and Delphox are too exhausted to avoid the attack"
"Barbaracle, Dragalge" said Myers "FINISH THEM"
Barbaracle and Dragalge blasted their attacks toward Blaziken and Delphox, seconds felt like hours to May and Serena, both of them closed their eyes just waiting to get defeated by Myers… but the sound that the attack should have emanated and announced their defeat never came
May and Serena slowly opened their eyes and instead of seeing both Delphox and Blaziken fainted at the ground, they saw something… or someone in front of them. A known bright figure that had held the attack
"K… Kent?" asked Serena "It's Kent"
"The first Dragon Master spirit" said May
"May, Serena" said Kent "It's your chance… while I'm taking their hyper beam; you have a chance to finish this. They have no way to defend themselves from a direct attack, so order your Pokémon to strike back with all they got"
"But… Kent…" said May
"NOW" Kent shouted "I can't hold it for much longer"
"But will you be okay?" asked Serena
"Don't worry about me" said Kent "It's now or never"
May and Serena looked at one another and together agreed that they would have no other opportunity
"Blaziken" said May
"Delphox" said Serena
"Use BLAST BURN" they all shouted
Somehow the presence of Kent, made Delphox and Blaziken feel stronger and as consequence they used the strongest Blast Burn move ever, the floor cracked due to the fire attack, causing an earthquake that merged with the fire and turned into lava, causing it to get much more powerful, and although the types of Myer's Pokémon had a certain advantage from Serena and May's, it was not enough to resist the attack
"No!" said Myers "This can't be true"
Both Barbaracle and Dragalge were knocked out. Blaziken and Delphox were the winners
"We did it?" asked May looking at Serena
"I… guess so" answered Serena still not sure
"Congratulations" said Kent "You did it"
"Yes!" shouted May "We did it Serena"
Serena and May hugged each other happily
"Thank you Kent" said Serena "If it wasn't for you…"
"…who knows what would have happened" completed May
"The Dragon spirit will always protect those who seek for peace and justice" said Kent
On the other side of the "battlefield" Myers returned his Pokémon, an evil and full of anger look appeared on his face. The hate of being defeated and failed with The Lady left him outraged. He would not fail. He would defeat them even if he had to sacrifice himself for it
"You… will pay" said Myers
"What?" asked Serena realizing he was still there
"I will not be defeated by you" he continued speaking
"Can't you see Myers" said May "It's over. We won"
"Soon… nobody will consider you winners" said Myers "You can't be winners if you are DEAD"
Myers took from his pocket something that looked like a remote control with just one red button in it
"I've set a powerful bomb in this temple that can destroy all here in a matter of seconds" said Myers "I will never let The Lady down. I will win in the end"
"No!" said Serena
"Quick" said Kent "Return your Pokémon
May and Serena returned Delphox and Blaziken as Kent ordered
"It's too late" said Myers "Nothing can save you now"
Myers pressed the button and immediately everything started to explode, all temple along with its pillars and statues went down, landslides and earthquakes also took place, and at the end all it could be seen was dust.
"Oh my God" said Dawn who had just arrived "What the hell happened here?"
It was all destroyed. Nothing remained up after the explosions
"ASH! MAY! SERENA!" shouted Dawn waving her arms in an attempt of sending the dust away
With great difficulty, Dawn tried to walk through what was left of the temple. Many fallen stones and the broken floor made almost impossible to do it
"What happened here?" Dawn asked again "Where is everybody?"
As the dust started to fade away it made easier to see around the "temple". Dawn walked a little more until she saw something moving far from here. She ran toward it hoping to be one of her friends… but it wasn't
"You!" said Dawn as she saw Myers trying to raise from a bunch of stones that were all over him "Do you need help?"
Dawn started to take the stones and put away from him, but it was no use, next time she looked at him, there was no more life in his body
"Oh my God" she said walking backwards. She was pretty scared "ASH! MAY! SERENA!" she shouted again
Suddenly she heard a noise coming from behind her and many stones started to move aside. She then saw two arms raising among the rocks until two girls appeared completely intact, with not even a scratch
"MAY, SERENA" shouted Dawn running to her friends and hugging them "What happened here? Where is Ash?"
"Myers… he exploded everything" Serena said
"We thought it would be the end for us" May said
"Well… I can talk for Myers… he is…" said Dawn not wanting to say
"He's what?" asked Serena
"He is dead" said a voice from behind them
"Kent" said May "It was you… you saved us… again"
Kent just nodded at them
"He's dead?" asked Serena
"It was impossible to survive to an explosion like that" said Kent "I used all my power to involve you two into a safe vortex… however…"
"However?" asked May
"Well… it was an amount of energy that I did not have, so I gave my spirit to save you" Kent said
"But what's going to happen with you now?" asked Serena sadly
"I will slowly disappear until my force goes to the heavens" said Kent
"We are so sorry Kent" said Serena crying "Because of us you will no longer be here to protect the Temple of Dragons and the Dragon Masters"
"Don't worry" said Kent "As long as there are people like you… The temple does not need protection"
As Kent said that last sentence, his body started to fade away into the air
"It's time for me to go" said Kent "I will keep looking after you three from up above and I'm pretty sure you three along with the Dragon Master Ketchum will get through this problem. I trust you"
"Thanks again Kent" said May who also started to cry "We will never forget what you did for us"
"Me neither" Kent answered "Goodbye"
And so, Kent disappeared into the air and his light flew up to the skies, and although Kent was the Temple's spirit, May, Serena and Dawn felt like they had just lost a close friend, someone who's been helping and taking care of them. It was time for them to help him, not allowing The Lady to be successful, and for that they would give anything to accomplish that mission. For Kent
"Where's Ash?" asked Dawn
"He kept walking to the third temple" said May "We must go after him"
Both Dawn and Serena agreed to her
"He's gonna need all help we have" said Dawn
"So… Let's not waste time anymore" said Serena "Let's go for it"
Together, Serena, Dawn and May began to run toward the third temple to help Ash. It was almost at the end. Soon, one of the sides would be the winner and it could be either Ash's or The Lady's, but which one… nobody knew
Ash stepped forward as he reached the third temple. This time his foe was visibly waiting for him at the entrance of the temple. He was hoping not to be him… but unfortunately it was
"Lance" said Ash while watching his master on the other side of the field
"Ketchum" said Lance "It's time for your fall… and I will be the one who will destroy you"
"Bring it on" said Ash "I'm ready"