Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!

Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga

Chapter Forty

Vs. Ex-Champion Duke

"Ok, Mew, you fought this Duke guy before, right? Any way you can tell me what kind of pokemon he had?" Ashley asked Mew. The two of them were standing in front of the pc on the bottom floor of the tower. Ashley's pokemon had been fully healed and now she was making any necessary changes to her team she thought she might need.

"How can I explain this to her? Hmm..." Mew thought it over for a moment, then nodded to her and pointed to itself.

"So...does he have a strong psychic pokemon then?" Ashley asked. Mew nodded.

"Well I already have Gengar...so lets grab Beedrill too." Ashley said to herself, arranging one of her pokeballs on the transfer pad. "I'll switch Primeape for Beedrill, and I think I'll switch Pidgeot for Crobat too. I might be able to make use of its speed."

"I hope she knows what she's doing..." Mew thought, recalling its own battle with Duke's pokemon. "That pokemon was...strong...very strong..."

Ashley quickly made the necessary changes to her pokemon lineup and then took off up the tower.


Meanwhile, on the top floor of the tower, Duke himself sat cross-legged on the floor, waiting. Duke was a muscular looking man in his thirties with fairly long, black hair. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt, looking nothing out of the ordinary despite being such a renowned trainer. Several feet behind him, Rina was hanging by a rope dangling from the ceiling. She was alive, but in rough shape and hanging by her hands which had been tied together.

"It won't be much longer now." Duke said to himself.

"No...Ashley...don't come here!" Rina thought, hoping somehow her plea would reach Ashley. A cloth tied around her mouth prevented her from talking at all. Though Duke's intention had been to kill Rina, he had settled for punching her once for each pokemon she had personally taken from the hunters. Rina's body still ached from the blows, and she was sure he had cracked a few of her ribs.

Duke had kept Rina alive to use as bait, knowing full well that Ashley would eventually arrive to rescue her. His plan had been to remove Ashley and Rina one at a time, and to convince Red to aid him in his efforts. His plans had worked out perfectly, leaving only one trainer left for him to deal with.

"Once I deal with these two I will have five legendary pokemon in my possession." Duke thought, grinning to himself. "The hunters may be lost, but it will not be in vain." Duke shot a look across the room and stood up. Ashley arrived at the top of the stairs at the other side of the room with Mew floating along behind her.

"You! So you must be Duke!" Ashley called out as she entered the room. Rina, hearing Ashley's voice, struggled against her bindings and tried to call out to her and warn her. She only managed a muffled cry with the cloth tied over her mouth.

"Thats right. Leader of the Grand Hunters, ex-Champion of the Kanto Elite Four." Duke replied. "And you must be Ashley. Come here to hand over the legendary pokemon?"

"Not a chance!" Ashley shot back in a growl. "Ex-Champion or not, I'm not going to lose to you!" Ashley looked past Duke, catching a glimpse of Rina hanging from the rope. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO RINA?!" She angrily demanded.

"Not nearly as much as I'm going to do to both of you once I've pounded your pokemon to the ground." Duke replied in a darkened tone. "As the champion of the Elite Four, I was unbeatable. That was why I quit. Yet you seem to think you can beat me. Lets see what you've got then, girlie."

"This guy might be tough. I still have Mew with me though." Ashley thought, glancing over at the psychic pokemon floating next to her. "I've gone through the gyms, the Elite Four, and even Red. I don't know how strong this guy is, but there's no way he can be that much stronger than me to be able to beat all of my pokemon as well as Mew." Ashley looked across the room at Rina again. "Hang in there, Rina. I'll get you down from there just as soon as I beat this Duke guy."

"Ashley! Run!" Rina thought desparately, tears running down the side of her face. "You can't beat him! Save yourself and run! Please!"

"Since you're not going to win anyway, I will give you the benefit of knowing what pokemon I'm going to use." Duke said to Ashley with a slight grin as he held out a pokeball. The pokeball opened up and released a blue skinned, humanoid pokemon with webbed hands and feet. Ashley immediately recognized it as Golduck, evolved form of Psyduck.

"Well if he's going to use a water type, then I'll use one too." Ashley thought as she grabbed a pokeball. "Vaporeon, go!" She called out, releasing Vaporeon from his pokeball. Vaporeon materialized in his usual position, tail half curled around his body and looking rather calm despite being sent into battle.

"Vaporeon, poison Golduck with Toxic!"

"Golduck, use Psychic and block it."

Vaporeon opened his mouth and sprayed a toxic purple substance at Golduck. As the poison came toward it, Golduck focused its psychic powers on it. A blue glow surrounded it briefly and then the blob was blown apart in midair, scattering it over the floor.

"Will have to get closer to land a hit with Toxic then." Ashley thought. "Vaporeon, move in with Quick Attack!" Vaporeon uncurled his tail and then shot toward Golduck in a blur of movement. Vaporeon moved in closer to the other pokemon, but stopped just short of hitting it.

"Heh. That's your move?" Duke sneered. "Golduck, blast it back with Psychic!" Golduck closed its eyes and focused, and the red gem on its forehead glowed. A blue glow then surrounded Vaporeon and he suddenly found himself thrown back by a psychic force. Vaporeon hit the ground a few feet away, but easily shook off the attack and stood up again.

"No, this is my move! Vaporeon, Toxic!" Vaporeon opened his mouth and sprayed another toxic, purple substance. Golduck had little time to react with Vaporeon being so close. The purple substance landed on Golduck's body and seeped into it, leaving Golduck poisoned.

"Even poisoned, my Golduck can still beat your Vaporeon." Duke said to Ashley. "Golduck, attack with Psychic again!"

"Vaporeon, Quick Attack!" Duke's Golduck started to focus again, but Vaporeon quickly shot into Golduck in a blur of movement. The sudden impact caught Golduck off guard, distracting it and causing it to stagger back. "Now follow up with Shadow Ball!" Vaporeon quickly gathered a shadowy ball and flung it into Golduck, who was already off balance. The Shadow Ball slammed into Golduck, knocking it off its feet.

"Hrmph. Where were trainers like her and her friends when I was champion?" Duke wondered bitterly. "Red, Rina, Ashley, trainers like them would have made things interesting. No matter."

"Golduck, attack with Psychic!"

"Again? Vaporeon, Quick Attack!"

Golduck started to focus again, but Vaporeon moved too quickly for it and smashed into Golduck to distract it and pushed Golduck back a bit as it was still lying down. However, while Vaporeon was attacking, Duke called out another command to Golduck. "Disable!" Golduck focused its psychic powers on Vaporeon after enduring the attack. A yellow glow soon surrounded it, preventing Vaporeon from using Quick Attack anymore. Golduck then took the opportunity provided by the brief pause in battle to stand up again.

"Damn it! I walked right into that!" Ashley said, mentally slapping herself. She eyed Golduck briefly, seeing how it was holding up compared to Vaporeon. "Looks like Golduck's getting steadily weaker, shouldn't be much longer before it goes down at least. Vaporeon should still be able to outlast it."

"There shouldn't be anymore problems now, Golduck. Attack with Psychic."

"Vaporeon, try to hit first with Shadow Ball!" Vaporeon started forming a ball of shadows, but found himself unable to finish as he felt a telekinetic force suddenly weighing down on his body. The shadows dispersed, and Golduck ended its psychic attack by throwing Vaporeon back.

"Nevermind, get in and use Bite instead!" Ashley quickly issued another command. Vaporeon got back up, shaking off Golduck's attack, and then lunged forward. Golduck had no time to react before Vaporeon was upon it, sinking his teeth into Golduck's side in a light Bite attack. Golduck let out a surprised quack and growled in pain. The poison was starting to take a heavy toll as well, leaving Golduck looking fairly weak.

"Seems this one may be able to beat my pokemon as well. No surprise. So did the last two." Duke thought. "Golduck, dislodge Vaporeon with another Psychic attack!" Golduck ignored the pain that was shooting through its body, focusing it's psychic powers on Vaporeon. Vaporeon was forcefully removed from Golduck's body and lifted into the air while Golduck crushed it with its psychic power.

"You would think thats the only attack it knows." Ashley thought. "Vaporeon, attack with Ice Beam, now!" While still suspended in the air, Vaporeon was able to direct an attack toward Golduck. Vaporeon opened his mouth and fired a blue beam into Golduck's face. Ice formed from where the beam struck, quickly encasing Golduck's entire head, but then shattering just as quickly. Golduck responded to the attack by hurling Vaporeon against the ground, but then collapsed as poison drained the last of its strength.

"Hmph. Lucky shot." Duke grumbled as he recalled Golduck. He then took another pokeball in his hand and released his next pokemon. A pokemon consisting of three magnet-like pokemon with a single eye fused together appeared, using its power over electricity and magnets to hover a foot off the floor.

"An electric type. Typical." Ashley thought. "Ok, thats enough for now, Vaporeon! Return!" Ashley held out Vaporeon's pokeball and recalled him, then placed it back on her belt and took another pokeball in hand. "Charizard, you can handle this one! Go!" The pokeball opened up and released Charizard, who let out a loud roar as usual to announce his arrival.

"Just what's your goal here anyway?" Ashley called out to Duke. "Why would you go from being the Champion of the Elite Four to being a criminal!?"

"It gets boring being at the top." Duke replied offhandedly. "Magneton, attack with Thunderbolt!" Magneton gathered electricity around each of the three protruding magnets and then fired a bolt at Charizard. Charizard growled in pain as he felt the electricity shoot through him and into the floor.

"Damn it...he isn't much for conversation." Ashley grumbled to herself. "Charizard, lets finish this in one go! Attack Magneton with full power, now! Blast Burn!"

Charizard grinned, more than happy to oblige. He opened his mouth and began forming a fireball, condensing a large amount of fire into a dense sphere. He then released the gathered flames, sending a column of fire across the room. The fire engulfed Magneton completely when it reached it, scorching the magnet pokemon until the flames dispersed. Sparks shot out of Magneton's joints and then it suddenly collapsed, downed in one attack just as Ashley had planned.

"Not bad. But you've left yourself open." Duke said to Ashley, quickly recalling his fallen Magneton to send out another pokemon. He held out a pokeball and released a foxlike pokemon with nine tails onto the field.

"Ninetails, attack Charizard with Confuse Ray!" Ninetales' eyes flashed and a white orb of light appeared in front of her. The light shot across the room and then circled around Charizard. Charizard felt himself strangely drawn to the light, but his attempts to follow it left him looking confused when it suddenly vanished.

"Fine by me, I'm not leaving Charizard in against that anyway." Ashley said to herself. "Charizard, good job, but thats it for now!" Ashley held out Charizard's pokeball and recalled him, then took a moment to quickly consider what pokemon she would send out next.

"Crobat might actually be a good choice against this one." She thought. "With Taunt, Crobat will be able to stop Ninetales from using attacks like Confuse Ray. Ninetales is almost like a ghost pokemon in the amount of status-inducing attacks it has, so thats a good place to start anyway. Vaporeon is pretty weak after his battle with Golduck, too."

Ashley nodded to herself and then took another pokeball in hand. "Crobat, go!" She called out, releasing Crobat. The bat pokemon appeared with all four wings flapping, hovering off the floor.

"-BAH! I've been away from battle for too long!-" Crobat hissed at Ashley, though he kept his gaze focused on Duke's Ninetales.

"Ashley doesn't suspect a thing! If only I could warn her somehow!" Rina thought in a panic. She looked across the room and saw Mew staring back at her. "Mew! Mew, you have to warn Ashley somehow! I don't know how, but...but...DO SOMETHING!"

"Is Rina trying to tell me something?" Mew wondered. Mew looked at the three humans in the room, recalling Rina's battle against Duke. Just like Ashley, she was having little trouble against Duke's pokemon up until the final one. "I'll be ready for it this time...I don't know how, but I'll be ready. I'll step in as soon as that thing appears!" Mew looked at Duke with a determined expression. "Even if I can't beat it, I'll soften it up for Ashley to finish it off!

"Ninetales, burn Crobat with Will-o-Wisp!"

"Crobat, Taunt!"

Ninetales' eyes flashed and a purple fire began to form, however Crobat delivered a few paintful words before it could fire. "-Bah! An Arcanine could beat you anyday! ANYDAY!-" Ninetales' eyes turned completely red and it glared at Crobat.

"-YOU TAKE THAT BACK!-" Ninetales growled. Crobat stuck his tongue out at it.

Duke snorted. "Have it your way. Ninetales, attack with Flamethrower." Ninetales attacked Crobat in a flash, spewing out a stream of fire at the bat pokemon. Crobat tried to move to the side, but still took a direct hit to the left side of his body and was sent spiralling into the ground. Crobat quickly shook it off, though, and jumped back into the air with four wings flapping.

"Crobat, move in and attack with Poison Fang!" Crobat flew toward Ninetales, quickly crossing the gym. Ninetales' was barely able to follow Crobat's movements as it moved next to it. Crobat then opened its mouth and sunk its fangs into Ninetales' neck, delivering a poisonous bite. Ninetales growled in pain and shook it's head violently until it finally dislodged Crobat.

"Doesn't look like that poisoned Ninetales like I had hoped." Ashley thought, frowning slightly. "We'll have to try again, but lets wait out Ninetales' counter attack first."

"Ninetales, hit it with another Flamethrower!"

"Crobat, Double Team!"

Ninetales turned its head to face Crobat and opened its mouth, firing a blast of flames at him. Crobat seemingly vanished as the attack hit him, though, as Ninetales had failed to notice that he had split off into more images of himself. Three Crobats remained, surrounding Ninetales.

"Good! Now attack with Poison Fang again!" The fake Crobats vanished as the real Crobat, directly behind Ninetales, dove in to attack. Ninetales cried out as Crobat bit into it's backside with a poisonous bite. This time, the poison seeped into Ninetales' body and remained there, leaving Ninetales badly poisoned from the attack.

"Ninetales, roll over and use Flamethrower!" Ninetales rolled over onto its back, forcing Crobat to let go in the process, and then quickly took aim to fire another Flamethrower attack. Crobat had no chance to dodge and took a direct hit. The flames engulfed him completely, searing his body. Crobat dropped to the floor when the flames finally died down, but both him and Ninetales were soon back on their feet.

"Don't let up! Blast it with another Flamethrower!"

"Crobat, Double Team and then get over here!"

Ninetales turned to fire another Flamethrower at Crobat, but the attack only hit a fake image of the bat pokemon. As all of the images moved toward Ashley's side of the gym, Ninetales' directed it's Flamethrower attack to follow and eliminated two more images. Having created five images this time, two images were still left to reach Ashley. The final fake Crobat disappeared by then, leaving the real Crobat on the opposite side of the battlefield from Ninetales.

"Dodgy bastard!" Duke growled.

"Crobat, attack Ninetales with Air Cutter!" Crobat brought its upper wings together, dropping to the ground in the process, and then pulled them apart to fire a v-shaped blade of air at Ninetales. The blade shot across the room and landed a grazing blow on Ninetales' side, causing it to growl in pain.

"Strike back with another Flamethrower!" Ninetales quickly shook off the hit and ignored the pain in its side to let loose another blast of flames at Crobat. The flames shot across the gym and engulfed Crobat entirely as he had nowhere to run while still on the ground. Crobat was knocked flat by the flames, which had left a serious burn on his body. Crobat growled and slowly stood up on its wings.

"-Bah! Again...with the fire...and the burning...-" Crobat hissed.

"This guy certainly isn't one for creativity. I think thats the only attack it's tried, other than Will-o-Wisp..." Ashley looked down at Crobat, noticing the burn on the bat pokemon's body. "Well thats not good, but Duke's Ninetales is looking pretty weak anyway."

"Finish it now, Ninetales! Quick Attack!" Ninetales took off running across the room, and then suddenly shot toward Crobat in a blur of movement. Ninetales struck Crobat hard and at blinding speed, sending him rolling back across the gym. Crobat landed on his back at Ashley's feet and seemed to be unconscious for a moment, but then slowly opened its eyes.

"Phew...that was a close one. Figures Duke would choose now to show off a new attack." Ashley thought, shaking her head. "Crobat, finish this quickly with a Bite attack!" Crobat jumped forward and flapped his wings one he was airborn, quickly flying toward Ninetales and biting it on the neck. Ninetales cried out in pain and then collapsed to the floor, knocked out by Crobat's attack.

"Alright, Crobat! Good job! Lets get you back in your pokeball now!" Ashley quickly recalled Crobat after he delivered the attack, putting him back in his pokeball before the burn could finish him off. Duke then likewise recalled Ninetales and shot Ashley a grin.

"Not bad. Seems you're better than I am. Too bad you don't have a chance at winning."

"How can you say that now when I've got you against the ropes?!" Ashley shot back.

"Because I've only been toying with you. My old pokemon are a bit rusty, you see. They don't get much exercise anymore." Duke reached into his right pocket and pulled out a small remote. "Perhaps you might recall how your battles with the rest of the hunters went down."

"The rest of the hunters?" Ashley wondered. "Thats right...they all used one strong pokemon that they had enslaved and had no pokemon of their own. So Duke must have an enslaved pokemon too, but what? We've already freed all the legendary pokemon, haven't we? What could he possibly have to top that?"

"-This is it! He's about to call that pokemon!-" Mew growled, quickly moving out in front of Ashley. "-Come on! I'm ready for that stupid clone this time!-" Mew took a few mock punches at the air and shot Duke a glare.

"Mew? What are you doing?" Ashley asked, staring in disbelief.

"Heh heh heh. So the little one wants another go, huh?" Duke snickered. He held out the remote and pressed a single button. A trap door suddenly opened in the middle of the room, and what sounded like a lift raising could be heard from the hole.

"ASHLEY! MEW! YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Rina screamed, but Ashley couldn't make out what she was trying to say with the cloth over her mouth. Ashley could hear her trying to say something to her, however.

"I have a very, very bad feeling about this all of a sudden..." Ashley thought, finding her eyes glued to the hole and the collared pokemon that soon emerged. The creature almost resembled Mew, only it stood slightly taller than a typical human. While Mew looked like a nearly harmless, catlike pokemon, the pokemon Ashley was staring at looked much stronger and more dangerous as well.

"I would like you to meet Mewtwo, an upgraded clone of Mew if you will." Duke said with a grin as the lift came to a stop. The pokemon, Mewtwo, stood nearly motionless in the center of the room. "Originally created by Team Rocket on Cinnabar Island, Mewtwo escaped their lab and destroyed it in the process."

"That burnt down building...was that the cause?" Ashley wondered.

"After that, Team Rocket hired us to track it down." Duke continued, his grin widening. "We didn't find it. Or at least, thats what we told Giovanni, and instead we kept this pokemon for ourselves. Mewtwo...it is an unimaginably powerful pokemon. As strong as you are, you don't stand a chance against it."

"Powerful or not, no pokemon is unbeatable!" Ashley shot back. She looked at Mew, and then back at Duke. "You say that thing is an upgraded clone of Mew...well lets see if that holds true!"

"Funny. Your friend back there tried the same thing." Duke replied, gesturing toward Rina. "Of course, I suppose its hardly fair to you, you don't even know what Mew is even capable of." Duke snickered, but then walked over to the table with Rina's pokeballs. He took one pokeball from the table and tossed it across the room to Ashley.

"Huh?" Ashley blinked and stared at the pokeball for a moment before finally picking it up.

"Mew's pokeball. You'll need that if you're to have any chance of beating Mewtwo." Duke said to Ashley. "It hardly makes any difference though. You will still lose."

"We'll see about that..." Ashley muttered. She took out her pokedex and scanned the pokeball, reading Mew's list of known attacks. A smirk crossed her lips as she noticed one attack on the list. "I think you're going to regret giving me that opportunity!" Ashley announced then announced to Duke.

"Is that so?" Duke replied, though looking unconcerned.

"What's he doing?" Rina wondered. She didn't have the same opportunity in her battle with Duke, but it didn't matter either way. She knew Mew's capabilities, and Mew still lost to Mewtwo.

"Mew, ready?" Ashley asked it. Mew nodded. "Ok then, use Transform!"

"I hope she knows what she's doing, but this is the only way I'll be strong enough!" Mew thought as it's body began to shift. Mew's body quickly expanded and reshaped itself until it was an exact copy of Mewtwo.

"You fell for it." Duke thought, grinning to himself.

"Ashley! No! Thats the same thing I tried!" Rina thought. She struggled against her bindings, desparate to get free and help Ashley, but it was too no avail. Rina hung her head in defeat. She didn't notice the blue glow that then surrounded the rope around her wrists.

"Well then, this might make things a bit more interesting." Duke said, feigning a surprised look. "Take your best shot, then! Mewtwo, begin powering up with Barrier and Amnesia!"

"Ok then, Mew! You do the same! Barrier and Amnesia!" Mewtwo and the transformed Mew both stretched out their hands, forming a strong barrier around their bodies to decrease damage from physical blows. They maintained this stance while strengthening the barriers, maximizing their physical defense.

Once the two pokemon had maximized their physical defense, they switched to using Amnesia. They continually sacrificed small portions of their memory for a temporary boost to their defense against special attacks. With Barrier and Amnesia in effect, both pokemon had rendered themselves nearly impervious to damage.

"You realize, of course, this gives you no advantage?" Duke said to Ashley, a grin spreading across his lips. "No...the advantage is all mine!" Duke held up the remote he used earlier and pressed another button on it. A metal plate on Mewtwo's back, previously hidden from Ashley's sight, suddenly bolted up and clamped down on Mewtwo's head.

"What? What is that thing?" Ashley asked, confused.

"A simple brainwave amplifier." Duke replied. "It enhances Mewtwo's psychic powers, but specifically allows for a continuous Psychic attack." He then said with a grin. "Now how about a demonstration! Mewtwo, Psychic!"

Mewtwo's eyes flashed, it stretched out one of its three-fingered hands toward the transformed Mew and focused a strong telekinetic force on Mew. A blue glow surrounded Mew, freezing it in place. Mew grunted in pain as it felt Mewtwo's psychic power crushing it. The force was continuous and painful in spite of Mew's increased defenses, and Mewtwo showed no signs of letting up.

"Mew, use your own Psychic and break free!" Ashley called out desparately. Mew's eyes flashed briefly, but Mewtwo's constant attack was keeping it from focusing.

"Mew can't take Mewtwo on its own. Well, this battle is too important to stick to league rules!" Ashley reached for another pokeball.

"If you don't want to see anything bad happen to your little friend here, you won't send out that pokemon." Duke warned Ashley, pulling out a knife and pointing it toward Rina. Ashley hesitated for a moment and looked toward Rina, but then smirked and grabbed the pokeball she was reaching for.

"Beedrill, come on out!" Ashley called out her pokemon with a bit more enthusiasm than usual, releasing Beedrill. The bug pokemon appeared hovering in the air next to Mew.

"Hmph. Suit yourself." Duke drew back the knife, getting ready to throw it, but then looked over at where his target was supposed to be and finally realized she was missing. Looking around frantically, he noticed an open window nearby. "WHAT?!" Duke cried out in disbelief.

"She's already been rescued, Duke." A familiar voice called out into the room. Duke shot a look across to the opposite side and soon Red stepped into view.

"Ashley, I've taken her somewhere safe." Red then said to Ashley. "I'm sure you can take it from here."

"Thanks, Red. I was wondering when you would show up!" Ashley replied with a smirk.

"No! This isn't good! I didn't expect them to team up!" Duke thought, clenching a fist. "How could this happen?!"


Earlier, before Ashley reached the tower...

"Ashley, wait!" Ashley turned around to find Red running to catch up with her.

"Changed your mind?" Ashley asked him. Red stopped and remained quiet for a moment, thinking it over as though he couldn't bring himself to admit it. He then shook his head.

"Look, he has a pokemon thats just too powerful to go one on one with." Red replied. "To make matters worse, he WILL force your hand by threatening Rina's life."

"Then what am I supposed to do about it?!" Ashley shot back angrily.

"You distract Duke, and I'll try to rescue Rina without him noticing." Red replied. "After that, you can go all out on his pokemon without worrying about her.


"Now, lets level the playing field! Beedrill, Twin Needle! Aim for the device on Mewtwo's head!" Beedrill nodded and shot toward Mewtwo with one stinger held out straight in front of it. Beedrill's stinger struck the metal plating attached to Mewtwo, seemingly having no effect as Beedrill shot past and came to a stop behind it. After a few seconds, though, the device suddenly fell apart, leaving only the collar. Although feeling very weak from the assault, Mew was finally let go.

"Target eliminated." Beedrill thought in his usual, one-track mindset.

"This isn't good! I'm losing my stranglehold on them!" Duke thought, growling.

"Mew, use Recover now and then revert!" Mew focused briefly, filling it's body with energy. Mew's body shimmered as it was restored, and then began to change forms. It shrunk down until it had reverted back to being Mew. Though no longer transformed, Mew was able to keep the defense boosts.

"Now, who is it that has no chance of winning again, Duke?" Ashley asked Duke with a knowing grin.

"You haven't won yet!" Duke shot back. "Mewtwo, attack her Beedrill with Psychic!"

"Beedrill, Double Team! Mew, Transform into Beedrill!" Mewtwo turned it's head to face Beedrill and focused its psychic power on the bug pokemon, causing the fake image that had been left in Beedrill's place to vanish. Mew, meanwhile, used Transform, and it's body quickly shifted to form into that of a Beedrill.

"Now! Beedrill! Mew! Twin Needle!" Beedrill dropped the five fake images it had formed and positioned himself behind Mewtwo. Beedrill and Mew, transformed into Beedrill, both charged toward Mewtwo and struck the powerful psychic pokemon with both stingers. Mewtwo gasped sharply as the needles impacted it. Though Mewtwo felt little, due to it's increased defenses, it was impossible to resist the poison coursing through its body.

"Damn it! I could have prevented that with a Safeguard!" Duke quickly took a small, black ball from his belt.

"You win this round, but don't let it get to your head. Our operations in Kanto might be through, but we've got much bigger plans on the go in Hoenn." Duke snickered. "Think you can stop us? Just try to find us!" Duke tossed the ball to the ground, sending a screen of smoke around himself. Mewtwo vanished, seemingly teleported away, and Duke was also gone when the smoke cleared.

"No! He got away! And with Mewtwo, too!"

"Then we'll just have to go after him." Red said to Ashley, sounding unconcerned with Duke's escape. "I was going to go to Hoenn anyway. If I have to fight him again, he won't be able to use Rina as a hostage at least."

"I guess you're right." Ashley sighed and turned to Red. "Where did you take her anyway?"

"Charizard should have taken her to a hospital on Five Island." Red replied.

"Thats good." Ashley said, nodding to him. "Its strange, though, now that I think about it. I would have figured Red to be the type to not hold back, even if there was a hostage involved. He does seem to get pretty worked up when he's facing criminals who abuse pokemon. Maybe, deep inside, he really does care about people. Or at least, cares about Rina." Ashley smiled to herself.

"What are you smiling about?" Red asked Ashley, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing."

"Anyway, we should probably go check up on Rina." Red said to her.

"Right." Ashley nodded and then turned to Mew, who had reverted to it's true form, and Beedrill. "Beedrill, Mew, good job you two. That was a tough one. Beedrill, you can rest for now." Beedrill nodded in response, and Ashley then recalled him and placed his pokeball on her belt.

"Mew, as for you, you might want to transform into a Pikachu or something." Ashley said.

"-Huh? Why?-" Mew asked her. Though she couldn't understand what Mew was saying, Ashley could pretty much tell what it was trying to say.

"It'll cause too much of a commotion if people see you around." Ashley said to Mew. Mew nodded in understanding and then transformed again, it's body shrinking down to take the form of a Rattata again. Ashley turned to face Red again once Mew had transformed.

"Alright, let's go."


Red met up with his Charizard outside, already back from transporting Rina. Both Red and Ashley flew to Five Island on their respective Charizards. Once they arrived, they headed into the small hospital and were directed to the room Rina was in. Rina had bandages wrapped around her torso, which had taken the brunt of the beating.

"-RINA!-" Mew, still in Rattata form, cried out happily as it entered the room and rushed toward Rina's bed. Mew jumped up next to Rina's head, nuzzling against her and startling the two Pikachu's that were lying next to her. One of them then hopped down from the bed and ran over to Red.

"Mew...I'm glad you're ok..." Rina said, smiling weakly.

"-Me?! You're the one he punched!-"

"Rina! What were you thinking going off alone like that?!" Ashley scolded Rina, marching over to the side of her bed to look down at her. "You're lucky you got off as easy as you did!"

"-Hey! Easy!-" Pippi growled.

"It's ok Pippi, she's right...I shouldn't have run off alone..." Rina looked up at Ashley pleadingly. "I'm sorry...I just...really thought I could take this guy on my own..." Rina said to her.

"You're just lucky Red was able to help us out, or else we both would have been in trouble." Ashley looked toward the door, where Red had been standing, only to realize he was gone. "Hey! Where'd he go?!"

"You didn't think he would stick around, did you?" Rina laughed quietly. "But anyway...thanks for coming for me, Ashley...though I thought for sure the same thing would just happen to you..."

"Well I wasn't just going to sit by idly while you were in trouble." Ashley said to Rina, then looked down at her chest. "So...how bad is it anyway?"

"He shattered a few ribs..." Rina chuckled weakly. "He really hates us, you know..."

"Yeah, I kinda gathered that." Ashley replied, rolling her eyes.

"They're going to send me to Celadon for treatment, said I'd be fine in about a week after that..." Rina continued.

"-You humans seem really fragile.-" Mew commented, curling up next to Rina.

"-Thats why they need pokemon like me and you to protect them.-" Pippi said to Mew. "-Even a weak pokemon could seriously injure a human like Rina.-"

"Rina, I'm going after this guy." Ashley said solemnly. "I'm going to go to Hoenn and track him down, then bring down him and whoever else is involved once and for all."

"Ok. I'll come find you when I'm out of the hospital."

"I hope to be finished long before then..." Ashley thought.


After leaving the hospital, Ashley remembered the errand she was running for Celio and the sapphire plate given to her by Red. She quickly headed over to One Island and arrived in the pokecenter to find Celio waiting along with an impatient looking young girl.

"I was wondering when you would be back! This girl here fetched the ruby plate while you were gone." Celio motioned to the brown haired girl. The girl shot Ashley a death glare.

"Huh?! What's her problem?" Ashley wondered, seeing the look the girl was giving her.

"Did you manage to find the sapphire plate?" Celio asked Ashley.

"Oh, yes!" Ashley opened her travel bag and pulled out the flat sapphire, then handed it to Celio. Celio immediately placed the plate in a special slot on his computer, then started typing away.

"How is this even supposed to work anyway? Why do you need those gems?" The other girl asked Celio.

"Its hard to explain, really, but trust me, it'll work!" Celio replied.

"So...you were helping Celio too, huh?" Ashley asked the girl, earning herself another glare.

"Just what took you so long anyway?! It only took me fifteen minutes to find the ruby plate and you were gone for hours!" The girl yelled at her.

"I was...erm..." Ashley stuttered, taken back at the girl's sudden outburst but quickly getting over it. "What's it matter to you anyway!?"

"That's none of your business." The girl replied. She hopped up from the chair she was sitting in and started toward the door. "Celio, if thats all you needed, then I'm heading back to Kanto so I can find that pokemon."

"Oh, of course. I should have the system up and running in only a few moments." Celio replied. The girl nodded and then left the pokecenter.

"Yeesh...Celio, who WAS that girl?"

"Ah...I believe she said her name was May." Celio replied, still typing away at his computer. "She's originally from Hoenn, but came to Kanto to try to find a pokemon. She came here when she found out she couldn't access her pokemon storage system, which is being run from Hoenn." After a bit more typing the computer made a 'ding' sound. "Great! I've connected to Lanette's PC in Hoenn!"

"Hoenn, Hoenn, Hoenn, that region keeps coming up all of a sudden." Ashley thought bitterly as she made her way over to the PC and quickly logged in. "In any case, before I head to Hoenn I should change my team around again and..." Ashley looked up at the screen. hearing an annoying tone from the computer after she logged in. "Huh? Someone sent me an e-mail?" Ashley brought up the e-mail message on screen and quickly read it over.

You are hearby challenged to a battle by the strongest trainer in Hoenn! I will be waiting in the Route 111 desert!

"Hoenn again?!" Ashley thought in disbelief. She checked the e-mail's timestamp and found it had only been sent out a few hours earlier. "It's probably just some kid who wants to challenge me because I beat the Kanto League. Then again, given everything going on over there, this could give me somewhere to start too."

Ashley sighed and closed the e-mail. "Just what's so special about Hoenn anyway?"


Author's Notes: Well, needless to say, we're FINALLY starting to cross over the two plotlines. Next chapter will still focus on Ashley as she challenges this mysterious...challenger. After that, however, it'll switch around a bit, more or less jumping between May and Ashley's point of view. May might have only had a brief cameo in this chapter, but the parts of the plot not taking place in Hoenn are going to happen around her. And I think its about 50/50 for May/Ashley until they meet up again. I think...

Oh. And brief appearance of Mewtwo. And Duke gets shown for the cruel bastard he is, now that you've finally met him. He was originally going to be even worse, but I toned him down a bit.