Chapter 28 – Setting Free
"The battle has already begun" said Dawn looking up to the third Temple still far from them
"Who do you think is battling?" asked May
"Ash of course" answered Serena
"I know… but against who?" she asked "Lance or The Lady?"
"This is not important" Dawn answered
"She's right. Either way… Ash will win" Serena completed
They kept running upstairs to catch up with Ash as fast as they could, maybe if Ash was battling Lance, the three of them could take his place and finish it for him while he could go find The Lady. But they had to be faster than that
Dragonite and Salamence were having a sky battle, Lance and Ash knew this was the last battle, for this reason both of them were ordering only physical attacks, they couldn't risk special attacks against each other at that moment, so headbutt, quick attack and even tackle were the moves most used so far. But they also knew nobody would win that way, both Lance and Ash actually were just waiting for the perfect moment to use an special attack
"I could try to lose" thought Ash "If Lance sees Dragonite in danger… maybe he could get free from the Lady's mental control but… I could never use Dragonite this way"
Dragonite and Salamence were obviously at the same level, it didn't seem neither of them would win nor lose the battle, which was weird because Dragonite had always been the strongest Pokémon of Lance
"Dragonite is holding back" Ash thought "He knows we have to win… but he can't use all he got against his own master"
"Salamence, use dragonbreath" ordered Lance
"Dragonite dodge it" Ash asked while seeing Dragonite avoiding Salamence's attack "Dragonite, use Thunder"
Dragonite was a very special kind of Pokémon, every now and then was possible to find Pokémon that can use many types moves like electric, ice, fire and many others not being exactly one of these types. Dragonite was one of them
Dragonite hit Salamence with his Thunder attack making him falling into the ground and both the electric attack and the fall itself damaged Salamence, but nothing serious apparently
"Salamence, use Dragon Claw" asked Lance
Salamence flew towards Dragonite and hit him with the Dragon attack
"Damn it" said Ash "A dragon move is super effective against dragon type"
But differently from what Ash thought, Dragonite didn't seem to get damaged; actually it was like Dragonite hadn't been hit at all
"What's happening?" thought Ash looking at Lance who seemed to have thought the same
Ash looked at Salamence and saw tears coming down his face
"Salamence is holding back as well" Ash thought "Of course... The Lady controls people's minds not the Pokémon's. Salamence is just fighting because Lance is ordering… but he doesn't want to hurt Dragonite"
Ash looked at Dragonite who looked him back smiling, showing him that he had also notice Salamence's actions
"It's over Lance" said Ash "You can't win this battle"
"What?" Lance asked
"Actually, I can't win either" Ash said "Dragonite will not defeat Salamence, just like Salamence will not defeat Dragonite"
"What are you talking about?" Lance asked "Why not?"
"Because both are yours Pokémon" Ash said "We can't force them to fight each other until death"
"My… Pokémon" asked Lance a little confused
"Try to remember Lance. You are not a Team Tenebris Member" Ash said "You are Lance of the Elite Four , Kanto Champion, a Dragon Master, my master and my friend"
"I… I" started Lance looking at Dragonite "I never had a Dragonite"
"Yes you do" Ash said "This Dragonite has been with you the longest time. It's your strongest Pokémon, and that's why you left him with me, so I could bring you back to reality"
"DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM LANCE" said a voice from nowhere but pretty familiar to Ash
"The Lady" he said to himself
"YOU ARE MY SWORD-ARM, YOU FIGHT FOR ME AND OUR CAUSE"
"Do not listen to her Lance" said Ash "The Lady's name is Jennifer, she your sister, she's trying to take over the Temple of Dragons and the Dragon Master title. Once she defeats you and me she will declare herself the Dragon Master and will use the power of the temple for her own evil purposes. You must fight her back"
Lance started to scream loud in pain, due to the force The Lady was putting on his head at that moment. His hands went up on his head trying to ease the pain but it didn't seem like it was helping
"STOP" Ash shouted "YOU ARE GOING TO KILL HIM IF YOU KEEP FORCING HIS MIND THIS WAY"
Nobody answered him
"Lance, remember the training you gave me. You have a strong mind, it only got caught because you allowed her into it" Ash said trying to help Lance out of his mental control
Suddenly Lance stopped. Stopped screaming and got up looking at Ash with dead eyes
"I am Lance, a member of Team Tenebris"
"No" Ash said, The Lady was successful
"Get ready Ketchum" Lance said "I will finish you now"
Ash looked at Lance and smiled
"Have you forgotten that Salamence and Dragonite will not fight each other? At least not for real" said Ash
"So I shall not use Salamence" said Lance returning his Pokémon
"It will make no difference" Ash said "None of your Pokémon will fight for real against Dragonite"
Lance didn't listen to Ash and threw another Poke ball, but what came out of it made Ash surprised
"Alakazam?" asked Ash seeing the Psychic Pokémon in front of him "Of course… this is the Alakazam The Lady lends to Team Tenebris members. I used him as well"
"Alakazam will fight your Dragonite for real" said Lance "Alakazam, use Psybeam"
Ash just smiled as he saw Alakazam preparing his attack
"Alakazam may fight for real… but he will never defeat Dragonite. Not here inside the Temple of Dragons Lance" Ash said smiling "This battle is over. Dragonite, show him the most powerful Hyper Beam that ever existed"
Dragonite took all his energy and sent Alakazam the strongest Hyper Beam ever so powerful that covered Alakazam's Psybeam, hitting and throwing him far away. Dragonite's hyper beam was so strong that not only Alakazam got hit, the strong wind caused by the attack made Lance "fly" against the wall of the temple, causing him to hit his head on the concrete and fall unconscious on the floor
"Lance?" asked Ash running toward him "Are you okay?"
There was no answer from him
Dragonite came closer as well worried about his master
"Don't worry Dragonite" said Ash "He just fainted. He will be fine"
Dragonite sat next to his master and started watching him, hoping him to wake up at any minute
"Maybe you should stay here and take care of him" said Ash "I will keep going up to the last temple to find The Lady"
Dragonite nodded to Ash agreeing to his idea. He didn't want to leave his master now
"You are a wonderful Pokémon Dragonite" Ash said "Lance is very lucky to have you as friend"
Ash then got up and left Lance and Dragonite and headed to the last temple. He was about to enter the third temple when he heard his name being called
"Where do you think you are going Ketchum?"
Ash turned around and saw… his three best friends. Dawn, Serena and May standing right there looking at him
"You arrived" said Ash
The girls came to him, they were all breathless, and probably they ran the whole way from the second to the third temple
"We're sorry taking so long" said Dawn "We tried to get here as fast as we could"
"But those stairs sucks" said May
"Who's there?" asked Serena pointing at Lance and Dragonite
"Lance and Dragonite" Ash answered
"So… you defeated him" said Serena
"Yes. Thanks to Dragonite" Ash completed
"What now?" May asked
"I'm going to the Last Temple. The Lady is waiting for me there"
"When you say "I'm going" you mean…" asked Dawn
"… we are going" said Ash
"Glad you know it"
Ash smiled, he wasn't away from them that long, but he missed having them around. While checking on the girls he placed his eyes at one girl in particular and… blushed a little
"Are you okay Ash?" that girl asked
"What? Yes… I'm fine" he answered embarrassed "Let's go"
After that the four of them left the third temple heading to the last one and the last battle against The Lady
INDIGO PLATEAU
Elite Four Headquarter
Lorelei was apprehensive, as Ash ordered her; she put all Indigo Plateau under protection just like all cities of Kant and Johto. If needed, the gym leaders of all regions would help protecting the small towns
"What do you think is happening up there?" asked Bruno
"It's been a couple days already" said Lorelei "I have no idea"
"They could all be dead by now" said Agatha
"If by "they" you mean Team Tenebris, I hope you're right" said Lorelei
"If you knew Ash as I do, you would have no reason to be afraid" said Professor Oak who was sitting om a chair drink a cup of tea
"Lance once said the same to me" said Lorelei "What does that boy have that is so… special?"
"His heart" said Professor Oak
"Heart?" asked Bruno "I do have a heart too. That's nothing special"
"His heart goes beyond the impossible" Professor Oak said "His heart accepts no defeat and will never give up. That's something only a few have the proud to possess"
"If heart wins battles… let's just hope Ash's heart is really ready to face this last stand" said Lorelei
"I bet my life on that boy" said Professor Oak seriously "He will never let us down"
Lorelei, Agatha and Bruno stared at Professor Oak, just hoping he was right
TEMPLE OF DRAGONS
Ash and the girls started walking up the last stair to the fourth temple. They all wanted to run, but they were all exhausted from the last battles, and also, The Lady would never run away, she had to wait Ash to arrive to finally conquer her goal
"How was your battle Dawn?" asked Ash
"Actually… it was easy" Dawn said "I myself got surprised"
"That Mascaro guy" said May "I always knew he was just a show off man"
"He's a very good trainer… but somehow Dawn must have touched his heart" Ash said
"Well… I left him at the first Temple" Dawn said "Who knows what he did after that"
"Thanks God you are okay Dawn" said Ash "I really got worried about you"
"Thank you for caring about me Ash" said Dawn blushing a little
"What about you two?" asked Ash to May and Serena " I'm pretty sure you two had a hard time with Myers"
"We surely did" answered May "Actually we would have lost if it wasn't for Kent"
"He helped you?" Ash asked
"He did more than that" said Serena "He gave his "life" to save us from death"
"He what?" Ash asked stopping walking
"Myers had a bomb" said Serena "He used it to explode the second Temple"
"So that's was the noise I heard" asked Ash
"But he saved us giving his own existence in exchange" finished Serena
"I'm sorry about that Ash" said May
"It's okay" Ash said "Kent was a wonderful Dragon Master. Lance always told me about his stories, he was known as the kindest of all masters. If he gave his existence to save you… is because he saw good in you two"
"We thought you would be mad at us" said May
"How could I? You three have been doing such dangerous things just to help me" Ash said "Without you three I wouldn't have made my way until here. Thank you"
They all blushed because of Ash's compliments. One of them looked straight to Ash's eyes and smiled, making him blush as well
"We're almost reaching the fourth temple" said Ash turning his face away "Let's keep going"
INDIGO PLATEAU
Elite Four Headquarter
Nurse Joy was entering the E.R. room to do the daily exams on Pikachu, but when she did enter, she saw something she never whished for. She immediately ran out of the E.R. room and headed to the Elite Four conference room. As she opened the door she saw Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha and Professor Oak, all looking at her
"Is everything okay Nurse Joy?" asked Professor Oak
"No. It is not" she answered "It is Pikachu"
All of them got up from the chairs and looked scared at her
"What's with him Nurse Joy" Professor Oak asked
"He disappeared" she answered
Not a word was said. And silence took place of the room