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 Seven

Lady Luck

Ashley and Melany sat quietly in the Battle Frontier's restaurant, which was in the same building as the hotel. It wasn't particularly crowded, but the few individuals that were there were casting the odd curious glance at Melany. Melany was still disguised as Alex, but that wasn't why they were looking. It was the red mark across her left cheek that had caught their attention. Ashley, who had her back to most of the onlookers, was looking pretty peeved as well.

"She hits hard...it still stings..." Melany thought. "I never would have figured her to be violent. Maybe other girls are just more likely to hit me while I'm dressed like this?" Melany took a sip from her soda, all that remained of her meal, and thought back on the events that lead to her getting slapped...


"Where were you?! I could have used some help freeing those dragons and now they're both gone and one's still enslaved!!"

"Err...well...I challenged one of the facilities..."

"You...WHAT?! UGH!"

*SLAP*


"Next time, I'm just going to lie..."

Ashley abruptly sat her drink down and then glared at Melany.

"Well, since you were slacking off last time, its now your job to find out where those dragons went." Ashley said sternly. "That red one might still be around somewhere. And I want you to scour the entire island until you find it!"

Melany winced. "A-alright..." She replied timidly. "She might not be as tempermental as May, but she's still scary when she's mad..."

"While you're doing that, its my turn to challenge one of the Frontier Brains. Think I'll go after the one thats in that snake-shaped building."

"Its a Seviper actually..." Melany corrected her, which got her another piercing glare from Ashley.

"Whatever! I'm going, and you better have found something by the time I'm finished!" Ashley shot back, then got up and walked away from the table. She left her garbage behind for Melany to deal with.

"There's something odd about you scolding her for slacking off." Aisha said to Ashley.

"There's a method to my madness." Ashley replied, a slight smirk crossing her lips.

"Oh, I know. I have a front row seat to that 'madness'."

As Ashley left the restaurant, Melany let out a sigh and got up herself. She began piling up the garbage on the tray and while she was doing so she happened to glance out a nearby window. A girl was staring through the window at her.

"Huh? Who's that?" Melany wondered. The girl had long, red hair that was spiked up on an angle on either side of the head and had two very long ponytails in the back. Her hair was nothing short of absurd, and drawing a few looks. She was dressed in a waitress uniform similar to the ones worn by the restaurant staff.

"Must be one of the waitresses, but why's she staring at me like that?" Noticing Melany was looking back at her, the girl quickly fled. Melany blinked. "That was...odd..." She thought, then shrugged it off and left the restaurant, dropping off her garbage on the way out.


After leaving the restaurant, Ashley went straight to the Battle Pike. The Battle Pike was run by Pike Queen Lucy, whose favorite pokemon just happened to be Seviper, and was designed with the intent of testing a person's luck. In other words, a person's actual skill would make little difference as the trainer moves through the Battle Pike. Ashley found out all of this from the receptionist as she signed up to take the challenge.

"A test of my luck, huh? Well that shouldn't be any problem for me then!" Ashley grinned widely. "Sign me up!"

"Very well. You may only bring three pokemon with you into the Battle Pike. We will hold onto the remaining three." Ashley nodded and handed over her pokeballs to the receptionist.

"Are you sure encountering those pokemon can be considered lucky? These 'legendary pokemon' certainly seem to cause trouble for their trainers." Aisha said to Ashley in her mind.

"There's more than just that though! Ever notice that I'm always in the right place at the right time?"

"I haven't been with you long enough to notice that, though there certainly have been a few incidents in that short period of time as it is. Perhaps you'll be lucky enough to get through this ordeal without any trouble."

The receptionist handed three pokeballs back to Ashley, the three she had registered for Ashley's challenge. "All set! Good luck in the Battle Pike!" The receptionist escorted Ashley through the door behind her, sending Ashley off on her way through the Battle Pike. Shortly after, another girl approached the receptionish. She was a bit older than Ashley with long, thick black hair and wore glasses along with an outfit that looked similar to a typical school uniform. The girl quickly read over the sign.

"A contest of luck...tch..." The girl, Jessica, scoffed. "Only the weak need luck to win in a pokemon battle."

"Oh, but luck is a large part of pokemon battling and..."

"SHUT UP!" Jessica yelled in a fit of rage, quickly silencing the receptionist. Realizing her outburst, Jessica regained her composure and cleared her throat. "What I meant to say is real trainers don't rely on luck."

"You won't be going inside then?" The receptionist asked.

"Oh I'll be going..." Jessica adjusted her glasses and shot a glare toward the door Ashley left through. "Nothing will interfere with our battle deep in the Battle Pike. Not even luck."


The Battle Pike was a long building that continued deep underground and consisted of several corridors. The corridors were set up like a fancy lobby, with red tile floor, golden pokeball statues, and red curtains hanging down at the opposite end of the corridor. Each corridor was long enough to host a battle in and had three doors.

When a trainer approached them, a warning would appear on each door. What would happen when the trainer stepped through would still be random, but based on what the trainer read. The doors acted as a warp when a trainer stepped through to determine where they would go. Ashley found herself coming up to the first such doors.

Ashley stepped up to the middle door and examined it. "This one says it heard whispering, the one on the right says there's a distinct aroma of pokemon, and the one on the left says something about a wave of nostalgia...hmm..." Ashley stood back and considered the two doors for a moment before stepping through the door in the middle. She arrived in another, similar looking corridor, with three more doors facing her.

Two trainers were already locked in battle in the room. One was a young girl wearing what looked like a girl scout's uniform, and the other a fisherman. The fisherman was using a dark blue fish pokemon with long whiskers and battling a pokemon that looked like a large slug made of magma and wearing a rock shell. Ashley could tell, from the bright, hot light hanging overhead, that their battle was well underway. When Ashley appeared suddenly, both trainers stopped and looked at her in disbelief.

"Umm...don't mind me...just passing through..." Ashley said to them. "Oh, but I don't suppose either of you would mind if I took a quick picture? I've never seen a pokemon like that before..." Ashley asked, looking at the strange slug pokemon. The two trainers looked at each other and shrugged.

"Sure. Just make it quick." The girl replied. Ashley nodded and quickly snapped a picture of the girl's Magcargo, then moved past the two and examined the three doors. After reading them, Ashley stepped through the door on the right, leaving just as the Magcargo fired a beam of solar energy at Whiscash and knocked it out.


"Still no sign of that Latias. I'm not even sure where I should be looking!" Melany sighed and took one last look around where she was. "Nothing here but that strange looking tree, some normal looking trees, and..." Melany shuddered. "...the ocean." Melany's search for Latias had brought her to the edge of the island. Unfortunately for her, she was afraid of water.

"Well for all I know, that pokemon could be underwater. Could have fled across the water. Could be hiding in those trees for all I know!" Melany quickly turned toward the trees in question, casting an angry glare at them as if her situation was their fault somehow. It was then that she spotted a girl hiding in the trees.

"Huh?" Melany blinked in disbelief. "Her again?"She recognized her as the red haired girl from before. Realizing she had been spotted, the girl quickly fled into the trees.

"Great...just great...I haven't been here more than a day and already there's a girl stalking me!" Melany growled, shaking her fist. "Am I just more appealing as a guy or something?" Melany sighed and shook her head. "Sometimes I think life would just be so much easier if I was born a guy..."

Melany scuffed her foot across the ground and headed back toward the Battle Frontier, passing by the strange tree along the way. The three followed her movements once her back was to it, seemingly watching her. With a shrug of its two branches, it returned to its previous position.


"What's with these doors!? 'I felt a wave of nostalgia coming from it?' Bah!" Jessica growled. She had been through several rooms, often finding herself in a battle with either a lone pokemon, a trainer, or even two trainers. She was fortunate enough to have recently come across a room where her pokemon were healed, a room which had the same message on the door leading into it.

"There's no pattern to what these doors say and what happens beyond them at all, but last time this one didn't hurt me any at least." Jessica grumbled. Opening the door she stepped through and found herself again in another room. This room, however, was noticeably different. There was only a single door at the other end, and Ashley was already approaching the door.

"Finally found her!" Jessica thought, grinning. "Hold it right there!"

Ashley took another step forward before realizing Jessica had called out to her. She blinked and turned to face her, just as a purple gas began to fill the room. The gas was triggered by a pressure sensitive floor tile, which Ashley had just stepped on. "Wh-what?!" Ashley quickly covered her mouth to avoid the poison.

"Like they would use poison that could work on humans." Jessica muttered, shaking her head. Even though she soon found herself breathing in some of the gas, it had no affect on her. After only a minute, fans in the ceiling turned on and sucked the gas out of the room.

"Why would they do that at all?!" Ashley said in annoyance as she finally removed her hands from her mouth. "And who are you anyway?"

Jessica smirked and reached up to adjust her glasses. "Of course, I should have realized you wouldn't know me. Allow me to introduce myself then. My name is Jessica. I am one of four trainers with control over legendary pokemon. I am sure you can fill in the rest yourself."

"So you're the one that was controlling the two enslaved dragons!"

"Precisely."

"But...'one of four trainers with control over legendary pokemon'? Thats really what you're going with?" Ashley asked her.

Jessica narrowed her eyes at her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you don't even have a name. Like Team Rocket." Ashley replied.

"WHAT?! How could you be so...grrr!" Jessica clenched a fist tightly, shaking with rage. "It doesn't matter what we go by!"

Ashley folded her arms over her chest and shrugged. "If you say so. I suppose you're here to either try to take the ruby from me, take my pokemon, or both and leave me for dead?"

"Not quite, I only came here to see how you hold up in battle, but now that you mention it..." Jessica grinned. "That would move our plans along much more quickly."

"If you say so." Ashley shrugged again and lowered her hands to grab a pokeball from her belt. "Just try not to waste too much of my time, I still have to face the Pike Queen after this."

"You seem quite confident, but I'm afraid you're underestimating my abilities." Jessica said to her, taking a pokeball from her belt. "You won't get the chance to face the Pike Queen, Ashley, as I'll be finishing you first!"


Meanwhile, Melany continued her search for Latias, as per Ashley's orders. This time, her search found her on top of the Battle Tower itself with her Metagross standing next to her.

"This seemed like as good a place as any to check, but nothing here." Melany shrugged. "Oh well, let's go Meta..." As Melany turned toward Metagross, she caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of her eye. Looking toward the edge of the roof, she spotted the red haired waitress again.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Melany exclaimed in disbelief. Having once again been spotted, the girl slowly backed away and then turned around and ran...straight off the edge of the tower

Melany gasped. "Metagross! Grab her!" Metagross nodded and quickly took off through the air, but stopped when it reached the edge of the building and looked back at Melany in confusion. Melany ran to the edge to see what was going on. She looked down and realized she couldn't see the girl anywhere. Not even a body on the ground below.

"The mystery deepens..." Melany muttered to herself, folding her arms across her chest. "If she hit the ground we should be able to see her...was she gone when you got her?" She asked Metagross. Metagross nodded.

"This is a tall building, and she wouldn't have fallen that fast..." Melany said quietly. "If she had a pokemon waiting, or even if she could just fly herself somehow, we should have seen her nearby. To escape so quickly she'd not only have to be able to fly on her own, but fly fast." Melany thought it over for a moment and then smirked to herself.

"I think I've got this girl figured out now..."


"Shedinja, go!"

"Aron, go!"

Ashley and Jessica released their initial pokemon, ready to start their battle. Each trainer only had three pokemon with them, due to the rules for the Battle Pike. Jessica's pokemon was a brown, bug-shaped shell that floated in the air while Ashley's was an incredibly small, steel armored pokemon with four legs and a head as large as its body.

"An Aron? This is the pokemon you're choosing to lead off with?" Jessica chuckled darkly. "How pathetic. It won't stand a chance against my Shedinja."

"-Hey, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.-" Aron calmly said to Jessica, then looked around curiously. "-Where am I anyway? Was I traded again?-"

"We'll see about that!" Ashley shot back. "Aron, show Jessica what you can do! Iron Tail!" Aron nodded and charged toward Shedinja, moving unusually quickly for its species. As Aron approached Shedinja it jumped into the air, flipping around to swipe Shedinja with its stubby little tail. Shedinja was pushed back from the hit, but otherwise seemed completely unharmed by the attack.

"With an attack like that, you won't defeat my pokemon at all." Jessica said smugly. "Of course, there's no way for her to know that its because of Shedinja's Wonder Guard ability that her steel attacks are useless against it. I will gladly explain it to her...once I have fainted her pokemon."

"Shedinja, attack Aron now with Shadow Ball!" Shedinja began forming a purple ball of shadowstuff in front of it, but then suddenly stopped and dropped to the ground. "Wh-what?! That's impossible!"

"Seems the effect of Aron's attack might have been a bit delayed." Ashley said with a smirk.

"Don't be ridiculous! Shedinja is immune to such attacks!" Jessica shot back in an annoyed tone. "Only super effective attacks and status effects are capable of inflicting any harm on Shedinja due to its special ability." Jessica clenched a fist. "Seems that poison gas works through pokeballs. Lucky you." Jessica held out her Shedinja's pokeball and recalled it.

"That makes sense, or at least the part about the poison does." Ashley thought. "But why would her pokemon fall to poison so easily? Is it especially weak to poison or was it weakened in battle earlier?" Ashley smirked. "Well either way, first round goes to me!"

"If Shedinja was poisoned by that gas, then that means one of my remaining pokemon is also poisoned. No matter." A wicked smile spread across Jessica's lips. "Ashley is completely unfamiliar with Hoenn's pokemon, she won't see my plan coming at all! I only need my next pokemon to survive long enough to set up!"

"No matter how lucky you are, you won't overcome this pokemon." Jessica said to Ashley as she drew another pokeball. "Ashley, this is the beginning of the end for you. Ninjask, go!" The pokeball opened in Jessica's hand, releasing a bug pokemon that bore a strong resemblance to the Shedinja she had used previously.

"I don't like the look of this one, does it have the same ability too?" Ashey thought.

"You will find this pokemon also has an unusual ability, but not one you will so easily deal with. Your luck runs out now." Jessica said smugly. "Ninjask, begin powering up with Swords Dance." Ninjask focused and began to sway from side to side in the air while a blue, sword shaped aura formed around it. Ninjask was focusing an immense power to increase its attack sharply.

"She's having her pokemon power up? Isn't it poisoned too?" Ashley wondered. Watching Ninjask and seeing the pained expression on its face, she confirmed it to be so. "That pokemon of her's won't even get time to attack, we'll make sure of it!"

"Aron, attack her Ninjask with Iron Tail!" Aron jumped into the air, flipping over to bring its stubby tail forward to attack. Ashley was surprised to see the attack miss, however, despite seemingly having a clear shot. Only after Aron missed and landed on the ground did Ashley realize Ninjask had moved a foot to the side. Its movement was so fast that Ashley didn't even see it move.

"That...that thing's fast..." Ashley mumbled in disbelief. "That must be it...its ability has something to do with speed..." She thought. "An attack like Iron Tail isn't likely to hit it then, especially from Aron's short tail. I'll focus on countering her Swords Dance, then, instead of worrying about attacking. Aron just needs to outlast Ninjask anyway."

"See? You won't be able to land a hit on my Ninjask." Jessica said to Ashley. "Ninjask, continue with Swords Dance. Her Aron is of no threat to you!" Ninjask maintained the blue aura around itself, continuing to power up.

"We'll see about that..." Ashley thought. "Aron, use Iron Defense!" A silver flash shot across Aron's body. The thick, armored plating that covered its body grew even stronger to protect itself against the powered up physical attacks Ashley was expecting from Ninjask.

"Ha...the fool must be thinking I actually plan to attack with Ninjask! What an amateur! Duke must be pretty pathetic to lose to someone like her!" Jessica tilted her head downward and adjusted her glasses. "Ninjask, one more time. Swords Dance." Once again, the aura remained around Ninjask as the bug pokemon maintained its concentration and increased its attack power further.

"She looks pretty smug about something." Ashley thought, folding her arms over her chest. "Let's see...she must realize that if she's keeping her bug pokemon in, it won't last long enough to knockout any pokemon but Aron. She obviously doesn't consider Aron a threat either, so she wouldn't go through all that effort just for Aron. She must be planning to give those boosts to her last pokemon somehow. I'll have Aron use Iron Defense again, but get ready with a counter too."

"Aron, use Iron Defense again!" Aron nodded and focused briefly. Its body shimmered as its armor grew thicker again, increasing its defense.

"And this is where it ends...Ninjask, Baton Pass!" A red aura formed around Ninjask's body and then rose from it, forming into a red baton. Jessica then recalled Ninjask and reached for another pokeball.

"Aron, get ready to attack on my signal..." Ashley whispered. Aron nodded.

"Now you will face my best pokemon in combat. Thanks to Ninjask's efforts, you have no hope of defeating it now!" Jessica said to Ashley. "Zangoose, go!" The pokeball in Jessica's hand opened up, releasing a mammalian pokemon with white fur, crimson claws, and blue scars. The pokemon immediately reached for the red baton floating in the air, receiving speed and attack boosts accumulated by Ninjask.

"Aron! Now!" Ashley called out. Aron raised its head and let out a loud Roar. The stoic-looking Zangoose suddenly panicked and fled back to Jessica, disappearing into its pokeball again. Ninjask's pokeball then opened up, releasing the bug pokemon again. It winced in pain as it appeared, poison continuing to take effect on it.

"NO! How did you see through that?!" Jessica demanded angrily, gritting her teeth.

"It wasn't hard to figure out really." Ashley replied with a light shrug. "I could tell you were planning to pass those boosts somehow, but I had forgotten about Baton Pass. I had Aron ready Roar anyway."

"Damn it...lucky break for her then..." Jessica muttered under her breath. "I really don't like this place now..."

"Her Ninjask won't last much longer now at all, so she'll almost definitely go on the attack." Ashley thought. "So let's see what that Ninjask can do."

"Ninjask, attack Aron with Dig!" Ninjask dove toward the floor, digging through it and into the soil below. A crack spread across the floor as Ninjask dug through the soil to reach Aron. Ashley watched the crack closely, biding her time. When the crack was near Aron, she finally made her move.

"Aron, Protect!" Aron formed a blue bubble around itself, rendering itself temporarily invulnerable. Ninjask shot up out of the ground under it, but bounced off Aron's barrier and was knocked back a few feet. Ninjask tried to shake off the impact but fell to the ground as poison wracked its body as well. With the danger passed, Aron dropped its barrier.

"Ok, let's finish this! Take Down!" Aron charged toward the fallen Ninjask, smashing its entire body into the bug pokemon. Ninjask was sent rolling across the floor until it landed on its back only a few feet away from Jessica. It quickly flipped over, but had seemingly exhausted itself in the process as the poison drained the last of Ninjask's strength.

"Damn it! If it wasn't for that stupid poison gas trap, I'd be winning now!" Jessica growled under her breath, clenching her fist tightly. "As if that wasn't bad enough, I'm losing to an Aron of all pokemon!"

"What's the matter? Things not going as you thought they would?" Ashley taunted Jessica. Jessica looked pretty peeved, glaring back at Ashley while contemplating her response. Then, suddenly, Jessica relaxed and straightened up. She took her final pokeball from her belt and then reached up to adjust her glasses.

"Silly me, I almost forgot. I still have Zangoose left. Not only is Zangoose my greatest pokemon, it's immune to poison as well." Jessica said to Ashley. "Zangoose, come back out!" She called out, releasing Zangoose back onto the field. Zangoose didn't look particularly happy, especially with Aron. Being scared off so easily didn't sit well with Zangoose.

Then, in a matter of seconds, Zangoose seemed to forget about Aron and focused its gaze on the door instead as it smelled a familiar scent in the air. Zangoose let out a growl. Its fur bristled and its claws extended, looking ready for a fight even though it was unconcerned with Aron.

"What now?" Jessica wondered, narrowing her eyes at Zangoose. "I only ever see Zangoose like this when..."

The door suddenly opened, interrupting Jessica's thoughts. Unlike the other doors, which functioned as a warp, this particular door was just a door. Through the door stepped a woman with long, black hair and wearing a purple tank top, matching gloves, and black pants. Slithering along behind her was a black snake pokemon with a bladed tail, which immediately fixated its gaze on Jessica's Zangoose. Likewise, Zangoose was taking far more interest in the snake than the Aron it was supposed to be battling.

"When a Seviper's nearby. I get the strange feeling I should really have seen this coming."

"What's going on here?" The woman intoned. "There shouldn't be any battling going on in this room, it was set to a poison trap today." Jessica twitched at the mention of the trap.

"We were..."

"You're Lucy, right? They say you're the best Seviper trainer there is. My Zangoose and I want to see for ourselves." Jessica said to Lucy, the Pike Queen, cutting Ashley off. "We arrived here at roughly the same time and this one decided we should battle to see who gets to face you first." Jessica added, pointing at Ashley. "Fortunately my Zangoose is still unscathed."

"Wh-what?!" Ashley said in disbelief. "That's not..."

"Very well. There's no avoiding it now anyway it seems." Lucy replied, again cutting Ashley off. "My Seviper seems to be itching for a battle now as well. I will allow you to battle Seviper, but I cannot give you a Luck Symbol for that."

"That's fine with me."

"Let's make this quick then." Lucy snapped her fingers and pointed to Ashley. "You, whoever you are, step aside." Ashley nodded slightly. Though she was confused by the sudden turn of events, she decided it would be best for her to let them have their battle. Afterall, if Jessica lost, she wouldn't have to deal with her Zangoose.

"It's almost like Jessica's admitting defeat and trying to get out of it." Ashley thought, moving up against the wall of the room. Aron followed along beside her. "If that's the case, I'm definitely not going to interfere."

"Ok! Let's go! Zangoose, start off with Swords Dance!" Zangoose crossed its clawed hands in front of its body and focused. Immense power surged through Zangoose's body and a sword-shaped aura formed around it.

"Seviper, paralyze her Zangoose with a Glare." Lucy called out calmly. Her Seviper then glared at Zangoose, causing it to shiver as the glare sent paralysis throughout Zangoose's body.

"I should have expected a tactic like that, a strategy based on luck. Not that it matters at this point." Jessica thought. "Zangoose, attack with Return!"

"Seviper, Swagger." Before Jessica's Zangoose could attack, Seviper slowly wriggled its body in a swagger. The movement left Zangoose both enraged and confused. It jumped into the air, lunging at Seviper, but fell short and struck the ground head first instead. Zangoose slowly got up and stumbled backwards, further disoriented by the impact.

"Attack with Poison Fang." Lucy calmly commanded Seviper. Seviper quickly darted toward the disoriented Zangoose, then opened its moth and bit down on Zangoose's shoulder with its incredibly large, red fangs. Zangoose cried out in pain, quickly snapping out of its confusion. It shook Seviper off and backed away, but then almost collapsed. Zangoose had yet to land a hit on Seviper, but was already looking fairly exhausted.

"You seem to rely completely on luck with your Seviper. Hmph. A real trainer would win with skill, not rely on luck." Jessica said to Lucy. "Zangoose, attack with Return!" Zangoose shook off the paralysis and moved closer to Seviper, then unleashed a blinding flurry of blows on the snake pokemon and drawing power from its relationship with Jessica. Zangoose finished the attack with one strong punch to Seviper's jaw, knocking it back across the floor.

"Luck goes both ways. A truly skilled trainer is able to compensate for it." Lucy shot back. "Seviper, finish this. Giga Drain." Seviper curled its body and rolled forward to face Zangoose. Seviper then opened its mouth and began drawing energy from Zangoose. Zangoose cried out in pain and a green energy stream flowed between the two pokemon. When the attack ended, Zangoose collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Jessica recalled it and placed the pokeball on her belt.

"Luck...that seems to be the only way anyone has ever managed to beat me." Jessica grumbled. She then reached into her pocket, producing a small black ball. She threw the ball at the floor, causing it to burst into a cloud of smoke. The smoke was quickly cleared out as the room's fans turned on, but Jessica was already gone.

"Hmm? How'd she do that?" Lucy wondered aloud, raising an eyebrow.

"Figures she'd have those too..." Ashley thought. "Jessica...I'll have to ask Melany about that one. She certainly seems to have an issue with 'luck' though."

"Well, I suppose it's your turn." Lucy said, turning to Ashley. "My Seviper was hurt quite a bit in that last match, so we'll make this a double battle. Not here, though." Lucy motioned for Ashley to follow her as she walked back into her chambers. Lucy's Seviper, remaining outside its pokeball, slithered along behind its trainer, looking satisfied with its win.

"I was hoping for a full battle, but maybe its for the best." Ashley shrugged and took Aron's pokeball in her hand then looked down at it with a slight smile. "Well, you did pretty well. Definitely not as strong as the rest of my pokemon yet, but I'm sure that was a valuable experience for you anyway."

"-I have no delusions about being strong. I should probably consider evolving at some point, maybe thats why I get traded so much.-" Aron replied. Ashley then recalled it and placed the pokeball back on her belt, then entered the final chamber for her battle with the Pike Queen.


Melany's continued search for Latias lead her to what she hoped to be her final destination, Artisan's Cave. She stood outside it for a brief moment, contemplating her next move, and then went inside. Once Melany was out of sight, the red haired girl slowly crept up from behind and followed Melany inside. She didn't go far before she found Melany had stopped just inside. The girl quickly hid in the shadows of the cave wall.

"Don't bother trying to hide. I already know you're there." Melany turned around to face the girl. Realizing she had been caught stalking Melany again, the girl turned to flee and came face to face with Melany's Alakazam. She had released Alakazam after entering the cave and instructed it to teleport back to the entrance when the red haired girl arrived.

"No use fleeing either." Melany said to her. "As you can see, I've already taken care of your only escape route." The girl gulped nervously and looked scared as she slowly turned to face Melany.

"I'm curious to know why you were following me, but I think I already know. I seem somewhat familiar to you, but you find it strange that I seem to be a guy, am I right?" The girl hesitated for a moment but then nodded slowly.

"Thought so." Melany nodded and folded her arms over her chest. "And the girl you thought I was...her name wouldn't happen to be Odari, would it?" The red haired girl blinked in disbelief and then nodded.

"Wondering how I figured it out?" Melany smirked. "I've been told before that I bear quite the resemblance to her. In fact, if I do this..." Melany reached up and pulled off her hat, letting the hair she had tucked under it fall around her head. "...I bet I look even more like Odari, don't I?" The red haired girl gasped and stepped back in shock.

"I don't know how I feel about her being shocked by this..." Melany thought, her eye twitching slightly.

"Though I do not have enough of the facts to understand this yet, it seems Melany has figured everything out on her own." Alakazam thought, then looked at the girl standing in front of her. "Even I can tell there is something unusual about this girl though. It almost seems as though..." Alakazam blinked and smirked lightly. "I see...so Melany has already figured it out."

"I could go on for a while yet about how I came to figure out who you really are, but I think I'll come right out and say it first." Melany smirked and pointed a finger at the girl in an overly dramatic fashion. "You are none other than...LATIAS!"

"KYA!" The girl yelped in surprise, flailing her arms as she fell back onto her butt, landing in a sitting position. "But...but how did you figure that out so easily?!"

"Simple. There was no way, for a human, to get down from the Battle Tower the way you did." Melany explained. "You disappeared pretty quickly, and you didn't have time to hit the ground. If you had a pokemon waiting, it wouldn't be able to move fast enough to leave the scene without risk of you falling off or getting injured. Therefore, the only logical conclusion was that you WERE a pokemon!"

"Ok! So maybe I am a pokemon!" The girl stood up and dusted off her skirt, then cast a challenging look at Melany. "Just what makes you think I'm Latias based on that alone?"

"As mentioned, there's your obsession with me, and the resemblance I bear to Odari." Melany replied. "Also, Latias and Latios were here only recently, and they're both rumored to have the ability to turn into humans and disguise their appearance."

"Is that it?" The girl chuckled darkly. "You still lack definitive proof that I am indeed Latias..."

"What are they doing now, exactly?" Alakazam wondered, narrowing her eyes. "This conversation is getting incredibly childish and pointless."

Melany waved a finger at Latias. "I'm afraid I already have definitive proof."

"You...you do?!" The girl stammered in disbelief.

"What was it you said before when I accused you before?" Melany asked, stroking her chin as if she had to think it over. "Oh yes, now I remember..." Melany smirked. "You said, 'But how did you figure that out so easily?!'"

"...Ha." The girl, Latias in her human form, lowered her gaze toward the ground. "I did say that, didn't I?" She giggled quietly. "I guess you win...who are you anyway?"

"I'm Melany, apparently a descendant of Odari." Melany replied.

"Of course..." Latias giggled again. Her giggling slowly grew louder until she suddenly tackled Melany, wrapping her arms around her tightly in a hug.

"Wh-what?"

"I knew it was you! IknewitIknewitIknewit!" Latias screeched excitedly, snuggling into Melany's stomach.

"Wh-what? Hold on!" Melany pushed Latias off her and sat up. "What's with the sudden personality change?!"

"Oh, you looked like you were having fun so I just played along!" Latias replied with a silly grin. "Once I knew I had the right girl I didn't care anymore!"

"Hold on! You want to explain this to me?"

"Yes, please do. Even my intelligence can't make any sense of this..." Alakazam thought.

"Well, when I saw you, I kinda sensed something from you...I don't know how to describe it really..." Latias shrugged. "I thought, from your appearance and this feeling, that you were Odari." Latias smiled brightly. "Close enough though!"

"Right..." Melany narrowed her eyes. "You know, I definitely wasn't expecting a legendary pokemon thousands of years old to act so childishly..."

"Thousands?" Latias giggled. "Don't be silly! I'm only 3!" Melany stared blankly at her in disbelief.

"Oh...I guess you don't know that part." Latias folded her hands behind her back and looked at Melany sadly. "You see...we're born every thousand years. The previous generation usually doesn't live long after that..." Latias forced a smile before she continued. "But they always pass on the story about Odari and the original Latias!"

"So Odari knew the original, that explains that." Melany thought. "Born every 1000 years...I wonder what generation she would be then? Is her brother just as childish?"

"Seems this girl is really the legendary pokemon Latias, which has a notable connection to Odari from when she was still alive." Alakazam thought. "Curious, though, isn't she the least bit curious how Melany would even know Odari?" Alakazam shrugged. "Perhaps she is simply too inexperienced to realize she should be suspicious."

"You know, I don't even know your name! And why were you dressed like a male human anyway?"

"My name's Melany. As for why I'm dressed like this, its a long story really." Melany pushed up her hair and put her hat back on her head, carefully tucking the length under it to make herself look less feminine. "I needed to dress like this to get into the Battle Frontier, I'll leave it at that. Why were you two attacking the Battle Frontier anyway? Before getting those collars put on you, I mean."

"Those meanies built too close to our island!" Latias replied, pouting. "We can't get any sleep now because of all the noise and bright lights, so we started causing trouble for them! Then those other meanies found us one day and put those collars on us..."

Melany shrugged. "Well I figured that much anyway."

"Oh!" Latias grinned and clapped her hands together. "That reminds me! I need a big, BIG favor from you!" Latias unclasped her hands and tapped her finger against her chin. "How would you humans put it...? Oh!" Latias clenched her fists and looked back at Melany with a determined expression. "HELP ME KICK THEIR ASSES!"

"Thats a rather blunt way of putting it...where did she pick up language like that anyway?" Melany wondered with a sigh. "Sure, I'll help, I'm after them myself anyway." She then replied to Latias.

"GREAT! And after that we can drive people away from the Battle Frontier so they'll have no choice but to close down!"

"Err...right..." Melany rubbed the back of her head. "I'll deal with that later. For now, at least, I've found Latias. That'll get me back on Ashley's good side at least..."

Alakazam, who had been listening in on Melany's thoughts, raised an eyebrow at the notion. "'Ashley'? Seems I've missed quite a few things while I've been stuck in my pokeball recently..."


Lucy's chamber was set up much like the corridors Ashley went through to get there. Red tile floor, curtains, and a gold pokeball statue in each corner. The biggest difference was that there was a large, dirt battlefield dug into the floor. There was also a throne on the far side of the room, in which Lucy's injured Seviper now rested.

"We will use two pokemon each, standard double battle rules." Lucy explained to Ashley. "You have been pretty lucky to get here as is, but now we will determine whether it was just luck, or if you have skill on your side as well."

Ashley nodded. "Alright." Both trainers already had a pokeball in each hand. With the terms of the battle set, they then released them.

"Crobat, Venusaur, go!"

"Milotic and Shuckle, dual battle time!"

The four pokemon appeared on the field nearly simultaneously, with each set of pokemon situated a few feet to the side of each other. On Ashley's side of the field was Venusaur and Crobat, two poison type pokemon that were completely immune to the poison trap Ashley had been through earlier. Lucy's two pokemon consisted of the beautiful sea serpent, Milotic, and a pokemon called Shuckle which was a bug pokemon living in a rock shell.

"Begin! Milotic, attack Venusaur with Ice Beam! Shuckle, cause a Sandstorm!"

"Venusaur, take Milotic's attack and fire back with Leech Seed! Crobat, Taunt Shuckle before it can attack!"

Lucy's Milotic raised its head, keeping its lower body coiled under it, then opened its mouth and fired a cold, blue beam at Venusaur. The beam struck Venusaur in the face and quickly froze over, then shattered. Venusaur growled and shook it off, then fired back with a Leech Seed. The seed fired out from the plant on Venusaur's back and latched onto Milotic's upper body. Meanwhile, Lucy's Shuckle tried to use Sandstorm, but stopped after a quick Taunt attack from Crobat.

"Taunt leaves Shuckle with few options, but its best option has always been slowly defeating the foe with poison. That won't work against either of these pokemon." Lucy thought. "Milotic, on the other hand, can take down both of her pokemon with Ice Beam. But her Venusaur has an even greater advantage against Milotic, especially with that Leech Seed. It seems luck has certainly been favoring her to lead up to such a one sided match as this..."

"Ok, let's keep the pressure on them! Venusaur, attack Shuckle with Poisonpowder! Crobat, attack Milotic with Poison Fang!"

"Shuckle, Wrap Crobat. Milotic, Ice Beam again. Same target."

Crobat quickly moved toward Milotic while Milotic fired a beam at Venusaur. The beam struck Venusaur head on again, freezing briefly then shattering to inflict more damage. It delayed Venusaur briefly from attacking. Crobat's fangs, tipped with a strong poison, dug into Milotic's body shortly after it fired. Milotic cried out in pain, but managed to withstand being poisoned by it.

Meanwhile, Shuckle slowly crawled across the ground toward Milotic to intercept Crobat but was moving far too slowly. By the time Shuckle reached them and jumped toward Crobat to attack, Crobat had already released Milotic and swiftly moved out of the way. Shuckle's failed attack put it directly next to Milotic, though, and as such both pokemon were hit by a cloud of purple powder released by Venusaur and became poisoned as a result.

"Wow! That went surprisingly well, though I was hoping for Crobat to poison the Milotic instead." Ashley thought, smiling to herself. "Oh well, worked out either way."

"Not my day it seems. Milotic has taken heavy damage by now and Shuckle is poisoned. I'll have to get Milotic to Recover and then focus my attacks on Ashley's Venusaur." Lucy thought.

"Milotic, use Recover. Shuckle, move in to attack Venusaur with Wrap."

"Crobat, Taunt Milotic! Venusaur, attack Shuckle with Leech Seed!"

"-Bah! Recover? What's the matter? Too afraid to fight like a 'mon?!-" Milotic twitched at Crobat's taunting and immediately ceased what it was doing to glare at the bat pokemon.

Shuckle, meanwhile, was slowly making its way across the field toward Venusaur. Venusaur launched a seed from the plant on its back and hit Shuckle with it easily while it was moving toward him. The seed landed on Shuckle's shell but the vines dug into the shell to latch onto the pokemon itself. Then, Shuckle finally reached Venusaur and extended the small tendrils it was using for legs to latch onto Venusaur's face. Venusaur shook his head furiously to try to remove it.

"-Damn it! Let go!-" Venusaur growled.

"Milotic can't heal now, it will surely fall after another round of battle." Lucy thought, sighing softly. "Well, Milotic likely bears a grudge against Crobat now. The least I can do is grant him one last attack against Crobat before his inevitable defeat."

"Shuckle, tighten up on Venusaur with Constrict. Milotic, attack Crobat with Ice Beam."

"Venusaur, attack Milotic with Razor Leaf! Crobat, attack Shuckle with Air Cutter!"

Crobat got off the first attack, dropping down to the ground and bringing its wings together. Parting them, it fired a v-shaped blade of air at Shuckle. The blade cut into Shuckle from behind. Shuckle's body took the full force of the blow as well, keeping it from hitting Venusaur's face. Shuckle, meanwhile, squeezed tightly on Venusaur for a moment to inflict a small amount of damage on him.

While Crobat had its back to it, Milotic fired a blue beam at him. The beam struck Crobat from behind and a sheet of ice formed across its back briefly, then shattered and knocked Crobat onto its face. Ashley's Venusaur then shook the plant on its back, firing several sharp leaves at Milotic. The leaves slashed across Milotic's body, causing it to cry out in pain. As Leech Seed and poison took its toll on him, Milotic collapsed while Crobat propped itself back up again with its wings.

"Seems this is down to Shuckle then..." Lucy thought, closing her eyes briefly as she recalled Milotic. She then opened her eyes and called out one last desparate command to Shuckle in hopes of buying herself more time to make a comeback. "Shuckle, Rest!"

"Crobat, don't let it! Stop it with Taunt! Venusaur, you attack Shuckle with Frenzy Plant!"

"-BAH! What kind of lazy pokemon would sleep on the job?!-" Crobat taunted Shuckle. Once again, the taunting got to Shuckle and prevented it from falling asleep in peace.

Venusaur then attacked Shuckle with his most powerful attack, Frenzy Plant. A pair of thick, brown roots shot out from the base of Venusaur's plant and dug into the ground. They then popped out of the ground under Shuckle, twisting and wrapping around it. The thick roots squeezed Shuckle tightly, inflicting a heavy blow onto the pokemon in spite of its defenses. The roots eventually receded, dropping a fainted Shuckle onto the ground. Lucy took Shuckle's pokeball in her hand and recalled it.

"I admit, I had my doubts for a moment, but it seems you are quite skilled." Lucy said to Ashley. "However, there was still a fair bit of luck in our match. I could not properly gauge your abilities, but it doesn't matter. You have defeated me, one way or another, and now I must give you the Luck Symbol.

Lucy walked up to her throne and retrieved a gold coin from an indent in the throne's arm rest. She then walked up to the back wall and parted a set of curtains, revealing a door. "This door is another warp, it'll take you back out." Lucy explained, turning to face Ashley. She stood next to the door, waiting for her.

Ashley took Crobat and Venusaur's pokeballs in her hands again and pointed them at each pokemon. "Good job you two, you can take a rest now." She said to her pokemon, then used the pokeballs to recall them. She placed the pokeballs back on her belt and walked across the field to meet up with Lucy.

"If nothing else, you certainly deserve the Luck Symbol. You've proven yourself to be quite lucky." Lucy said to Ashley with a slight smirk, then handed her the symbol.

"Well, I guess sometimes its better to be lucky than good!" Ashley replied to Lucy. "Thanks for the match, Lucy."

"You are quite welcome. Its strange to say this, but good luck with the rest of the Battle Frontier."

Ashley nodded to her. "Thanks." Ashley then continued on, using the door warp to leave the Battle Pike.


Ashley was admiring her newly obtained Luck Symbol as she exited the Battle Pike and didn't see Melany and Latias ahead of her. As Ashley approached them, Melany spoke up to get her attention.

"What took you so long?" Melany asked her.

"Well there were a lot of..." Ashley began, but stopped when she looked up and saw the red haired girl standing behind Melany and peeking out at her. Ashley frowned. "Me-Alex...who's the girl?"

"Oh, her?" Alex glanced back at Latias. "That would be Latias..."

Ashley blinked several times in disbelief, staring at Latias incredulously.

"I think we have a lot to talk about..." Ashley eventually replied.

"Oh yeah, we do."


Author's Notes: I won't lie, I've never played through the Battle Pike. In fact, the only facility I ever played through was the Battle Factory and, on a whim, the Battle Dome. The Battle Dome I entered Registeel and Latias and just went to town. The AI rarely switched so whichever one couldn't handle, the other would. Main reason I haven't played through the others, though, was I could never really be bothered to put together a team that could handle them. So I just kept trying the Battle Factory and losing.

Also, maybe she says more when you're going for the Silver symbol, but I watched a video of someone battling Lucy for gold and her dialogue seemed to consist of "Come on!" before the battle and "Darn!" when she lost, with no after-battle dialogue. Or maybe the guy just already had the gold symbol...

Though not by much, Ashley's Aron was underleveled compared to Jessica's pokemon. Originally I was going to have Jessica's Zangoose barely win and then get knocked out by a surprise attack from Aron. That would have given Aron the distinction of knocking out all three of Jessica's pokemon without even taking a hit itself. Instead, it only took out two without taking any damage.

Fun fact, Magcargo can't learn Solarbeam in R/S/E. It can learn it from TM in D/P/Pt though. I included that bit just for kicks since I didn't actually plan to go anywhere with it.

Back to May and Rina next chapter.