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 Fifty

The Pyramid and The Palace

"WHADDYA MEAN I'M NOT ON THE LIST!? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?!"

"M-May...maybe you should calm down a bit..."

"I AM CALM!" May yelled back at Rina, startling Pippi and sending her running behind Rina's leg.

"-She's scary when she's mad...-" Pippi whimpered.

May and Rina left Johto after their failed attempt to catch Ho-Oh and flew straight to the Battle Frontier in Hoenn, stopping only to rest when necessary along the way. Upon arriving at the Battle Frontier, however, they found themselves unable to gain entry. The Battle Frontier adheres to a policy of only allowing the best trainers, and May was enraged to discover her name wasn't on that list.

"I'm sorry, miss, but there's no one named May Maple on the list of invited trainers." The Battle Frontier's receptionist said to May. "Only trainers invited to the Battle Frontier or meeting a specific set of requirements, including completion of the three Battle Tents in Hoenn, are allowed inside."

"BUT I'M THE-"

"Whoa now! What's all the commotion out here?" Scott asked as he stepped out into the reception hall. May shot him a look of seething hatred, even though she had long forgotten who he was. "H-hey! Save that ferocity for the pokemon battles!" Scott said, backing away from her. "What seems to be the problem here anyway?"

"She keeps telling me I'm not on the list of invited trainers!" May said to Scott while pointing at the receptionist.

"Well of course you're not, we haven't been able to get in touch with you!"

"You haven't...what?"

"We've been trying to call you on your pokenav, but you've been out of service range for quite a while now." Scott explained. "Don't really think we'd forget to invite the new regional champion to try out our facilities, do you?"

"That must have been when she was in Kanto and Johto." Rina thought, remembering May said she left Hoenn shortly after becoming champion.

"Wait! How do you even have my number?" May asked, peering at him in suspicion.

"Don't you remember? You gave it to me!"

"I did?" May blinked and thought back. Her eyes fell on Scott's shirt and she remembered almost immediately. "Oh yeah...you were there that time me and...Alex battled."

"That's right." Scott replied, nodding to her. "You two can go inside, we'll make sure you get added to the database."

"Glad that went well..." Rina said, sighing in relief.

"-I thought she'd hit the receptionist for sure...-"

"By the way, Alex is actually here too." Scott said to May. "Showed up early yesterday actually."

"What?" May twitched.

"Yeah, he showed up with a new girlfriend. I think her name was Ashley." Scott chuckled lightly. "You know, I would have figured he'd show up with you if he was going to be with a girl."

"Ashley?!" Rina asked in disbelief.

May growled and Rina let out a surprised yelp as May grabbed her by the hand and dragged her into the Battle Frontier. "Come on! We're going!"

"I...I don't get a say in this, do I?" Rina asked, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable being with May. Pippi cautiously followed behind them.

"Man, I'm sensing there's some bad blood between May and Alex." Scott said, scratching the side of his head. "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything..."


"May! Wait! Why are you in such a hurry all of a sudden?!" Rina asked her. May finally let go of her and swiftly turned around.

"Alex isn't even a guy! He's a girl dressed up as a guy!" May said to Rina, looking quite upset by this. "I actually fell for 'him' once, after travelling with her all around Hoenn without ever suspecting a thing..."

"Oh..." Rina blinked. "Wait! You don't think Ashley fell for that too, do you?!"

"Ashley?"

"His...girlfriend...umm..." Rina shook her head. "Nevermind...I don't think Ashley would come here anyway, though she is supposed to be in Hoenn..."

"...I don't get it though, I mean she kinda...flirted with me but I don't think she really planned to go beyond that. But I won't stand by while she tricks some girl like that!"

"But what if she knows and...well..." Rina trailed off, figuring May would get what she was saying.

"You...you don't mean..." May blinked, but then quickly shook her head and still looked pissed. "Either way, I'm not going to stand by and take this! I'm going to find 'Alex' and I'm going to sock him one!" May then stomped off on her own, heading further into the Battle Frontier.

Pippi tugged on the leg of Rina's pants and looked up at her. "-Umm...Rina? I'm confused...-"

"That makes two of us..." Rina replied with a sigh. "I think she forgot why we came here in the first place, so I guess it's up to us Pippi!" Looking determined, Rina clenched a fist. "We'll explore the Battle Frontier and find out where these hunters are hiding! And we'll start..." Rina pointed toward a large pyramid looming in the distance. "THERE!"

"-There? Why there?-" Pippi asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It's the biggest building in sight, and thus the easiest place for them to hide a secret base or something." Rina said to her. "So let's go check it out!" Pippi nodded in agreement and followed Rina as she set off toward the Battle Pyramid.


Shortly after leaving Rina behind to explore the Battle Frontier on her own, May arrived at a tall palace near the coast and stopped outside.

"Melany probably just came here to battle or show off, so I bet she's in one of these buildings!" May thought.

"You know, it's possible she's here for the same reason you are." Haruka said to her. "I know all too well her connection to the legendary pokemon. If she had any reason to believe Duke and his allies were at work here, then she would undoubtedly come here as well."

"But WHY as Alex? There's no excusing that!" May thought angrily, clenching her fist tightly. "And when I find her I'll make sure she knows that too!"

"And what makes you so sure she's here?"

"I won't know until I check!" May shot back.

"Alright then." Haruka replied with an audible sigh. "Do what you will, I won't stop you."

May stormed into the palace and took a quick look around the lobby. There was a PC set up for switching pokemon and a noticeable royalty motif. The walls were red with gold trims and the floor was covered in purple tile. Not seeing Melany, or her Alex persona, anywhere in sight, she approached the receptionist desk.

"Hey! Can you tell me if anyone by the name of Alex has challenged this facility?" May asked the receptionist, an old man.

"We do not provide that information, young lady." The old man replied.

"Of course it wouldn't be that easy." May thought bitterly. "Ok then, I'd like to challenge the Battle Palance in that case!"

"Very well. Please hand over your pokemon and choose three to be registered. You may retrieve the rest after you have completed your challenge." May nodded and handed over her pokeballs to the man, indicating to him which three she wanted to keep with her for the challenge.

"The rules of the Battle Palace couldn't be any simpler." The old man explained as he registered May's pokemon. "Your pokemon will do all of the battling on their own, without any input from the trainer."

"W-wait, you mean I don't give them commands here?!" May asked in disbelief.

"No, your pokemon will act entirely on their own. It is a test of the bond between you and your pokemon." The old man explained. Finished registering May's three pokeballs in his computer, he handed them back to May. "Follow me, young lady."

The receptionist opened a door on the far wall and stepped through into small courtyard. Water flowed from fountains off to the side and a small garden was planted near each. Continuing through the courtyard, they passed through another door to finally reach the battlefield. The battlefield consisted of two platforms at either end of the room for the trainer to stand on, and a red arena in the middle of the room. The field and the trainer's platforms were separated by shallow water.

"This is the battle area. You will send your pokemon out onto that platform from here." The old man explained, gesturing to the battlefield. "This reinforces the idea of the trainer and pokemon being separated. The trainer must trust in their pokemon's ability to win without their help."

"Shouldn't be too hard." May thought.

"Are you sure? Most pokemon don't strike me as being too bright on their own." Haruka said to her.

"Smart or not, they'll still give it their best." May replied with a shrug.

"Your first opponent approaches." The old man said to May. On the opposite side of the field, a young boy entered the arena.

"Ok! My pokemon's going to win this for me!" The boy declared, holding out a pokeball as he got into position.

"Yeah right!" May shot back, taking a pokeball in her hand as well. "Let's see it try! Heracross, go!"

"Linoone, I'm counting on you!"

The two trainers aimed their pokeballs toward the field and pressed the buttons to open them. A red beam fired from each, materializing into their respective pokemon on the distant battlefield. Heracross eyed her opponent and slammed her fists together, itching for a fight. Around her waist she still wore her signature black belt.

"Heracross, the rules here are different! You'll have to fight on your own!" May called out to her pokemon.

"-Is that so? Well, makes no difference to me.-" Heracross shrugged.

"-You'll wish you had your trainer's guidance soon enough, insect! Observe!-" Linoone took off running while relaxing its muscles. Soon enough, it was running in a square pattern around Heracross and moving almost too quickly to be followed.

"-Tricks like that aren't going to get you anywhere.-" Heracross bent down and stuck out her horn. Linoone didn't notice the horn until it was too late and smashed into it at full speed after making another corner. Heracross then slammed Linoone with her horn again, making sure it stayed down and leaving Linoone in a daze.

"-And this is the part where I win.-" Heracross raised one hand over her head and then brought it down on top of Linoone in a chopping motion. Linoone yelped as Heracross' strong fist smashed its back and then dropped to the floor, unconscious.

"No way! I can't believe you beat my Linoone so easily!" The boy yelled in disbelief. He recalled his Linoone and then took out another pokeball. "Well you won't beat this one so easily."

May rolled her eyes. "Somehow, I'm not expecting any challenge from him."


"Now that I think about it, if Ashley was in Hoenn looking for Duke then there's a good chance she could have made her way here too." Rina thought to herself. "I wonder if Ashley would have thought to check the Battle Pyramid then? Maybe she came here with that Alex...person because they had some connection?"

"Miss?" The voice of one of the Battle Pyramid receptionists snapped Rina out of her thoughts. "I will need your bag as well. You may only use items you find on your way through the pyramid."

"Right! Sorry!" Rina quickly took off her backpack and handed it over to the receptionist. She had already handed over three pokeballs, Pippi's included, to register her pokemon for the challenge. The receptionist then handed Rina another backpack with the image of the Brave Symbol on the back, which was the symbol of the Battle Pyramid. There were a few items already inside to help Rina out.

"Good luck, and watch out for the wild pokemon!" The receptionist then ushered Rina through a door and into the Battle Pyramid. The inside of the pyramid maintained the appearance and theme of an ancient egyptian pyramid, aside from the lighting.

"Well this doesn't look like it'll be so hard...but what wild pokemon was she talking about?" Rina looked down the three paths immediately available to her. Considering her options for a moment, she decided to take the left path. She didn't get far before there was another turn in the path, though her current path continued on past it. She decided to keep going straight, but heard a noise behind her once she passed by the opening. Turning around, she spotted a yellow and black striped pokemon that was roughly a foot shorter than she was.

"-Come on! Get out your pokemon! Let's fight!-" The pokemon growled, slamming its fists together and producing sparks.

"Why would I do that?" Rina asked, tilting her head to the side. The pokemon blinked in disbelief and its hands dropped to its sides.

"-You...understood that?-" It asked. Rina nodded. "-Bah! Well still! Get your pokemon out so I can fight!-"

"Hmm...so this place has wild pokemon, but they're not allowed to attack humans it seems. Only their pokemon." Rina said thoughtfully.

"-Yeah, so?-"

"Later!" Rina turned around and took off running, leaving the electric pokemon in the dust. The pokemon blinked several times, taking several moments to realize what had happened.

"-Damn it!-" The pokemon grumbled and snapped its fingers.

"Hehehe! If all this place has is 'trained' wild pokemon, I won't have any trouble looking around!" Rina said to herself meanwhile, finally coming to a stop when she was sure she had lost the pokemon. "I won't have to worry about my pokemon getting worn out at least."


"I wonder if Melany's back yet?" Ashley thought, standing outside the Battle Tower. She took her cellphone out of her bag and checked the time. "I was in there for about two hours...I'd be surprised if Melany was gone that long, she was just picking up a gem or something wasn't she?"

"I think she's nearby. I can feel something...strange. Yet familiar." Aisha said.

"Really? I didn't think you had a Melany-detector..." Ashley looked around and soon spotted Melany. Or rather, she spotted Latias' hair past a nearby crowd and assumed Melany would be with her. "Alex! Over here!" Ashley called out. The hair turned around a few times, as if looking for her, but soon was coming her way. Melany and Latias emerged from the crowd and approached Ashley.

"Hey Ashley, any luck?" Melany asked her.

"Not a thing..." Ashley replied, shaking her head.

"Well, Jessica turned up on that island." Melany said, quickly looking around at the passing crowds. "She followed us there apparently."

"And she took one of Melany's pokemon!" Latias said worriedly.

"Latias...it's Alex while we're in public." Melany whispered to her.

"Oh, right, sorry..." Latias covered her mouth.

"She took one of your pokemon!? You mean, like, with a slave collar?" Ashley asked in disbelief.

"Sounds like she could have used some help." Aisha noted.

"She caught me off guard and snatched Armaldo, but I was able to chase her off with my other pokemon." Melany replied. "The real issue is she had a new toy, some kind of arm-mounted launching device with a built in teleporter."

"Arm-mounted launching device? I think Aqua had something like that."

"Who?"

"One of the hunters from back in Kanto. She was testing it in the Safari Zone now that I think about it." Ashley replied, thinking back to her battle with the hunter. "She used it to mass-enslave a herd of Tauros, but one of my weaker pokemon at the time caught her off guard and I managed to free them all. There's a release button on the device too if its still the same."

"We'll have to be careful of that, then. They can easily enslave our own pokemon with a device like that."

"Right." Ashley nodded in agreement. "What now, then?"

"Well..." Melany sighed. "Despite these repeat encounters, we still have no idea what they're doing here or where they're hiding. So we keep looking I guess..."

"Oh...I was hoping we could go back to the hotel room..." Ashley replied with a mock pout.

"Wh-what?!" Melany stammered, her face turning red. "Hey! What are you planning anyway!"

"You'll see~!" Ashley replied with a giggle, then winked at her. "See you later, Alex!" Ashley turned and started to walk away.

"Ooo! So is she your girlfriend?" Latias asked Melany.

"Pretending to be...and taking it way, way, way too far..." Melany replied.

"Oh..."

"Why...why do you sound disappointed by that?" Melany asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanted to see a human mating ritual..." Latias replied, scuffing her foot across the ground. Melany was unable to muster up a direct response, her face turning an even deeper shade of red.

"Let's...let's just go already and try out one of the other facilities..."

"Ok!" Latias replied, nodding quickly. "We'll find them and get your Armaldo back!"

Latias and Melany then set off again as well, with Melany trying to hide her extremely red face.


Back in the Battle Palace, May had her Gardevoir out on the battlefield. Her opponent, an elderly gentleman, had released a Dustox to battle against her.

"Gardevoir is smart enough to battle on her own as it is, so she can definitely win when she has a type advantage." May thought to herself.

"Dustox, give it your best." The gentleman said to his pokemon.

"-Psychic type or not, I won't lose!-" Dustox said to Gardevoir as it spread out its wings. "-Take this! Silver Wind!-" Dustox flapped its wings while releasing a silvery powder from its body. The powder swirled through the air, blowing toward Gardevoir, but Gardevoir vanished before the powder could hit her. "-HEY! No fair teleporting!-"

"-I shall not disappoint Lady May.-" Gardevoir said, reappearing behind Dustox. Dustox quickly turned to face her but then suddenly froze as a blue aura formed around it. "-Farewell.-" Gardevoir said quietly, closing her eyes and focusing. Even though she was facing away from Dustox, her telekinetic powers squeezed around it with perfect accuracy. Dustox let out a shrill cry but was silenced as Gardevoir slammed it into the floor.

"-You were far too weak.-" Gardevoir said calmly.

"Between Heracross' ferocity, Gardevoir's intelligence, and Flygon's tenacity, I think I'll get through these battles just fine!" May thought, giddy at how easy she seemed to have it.

"Wasn't there some other reason we were here?" Haruka asked her.


"This is creepy...I haven't seen any other trainers here." Rina said to herself as she continued to wander through the Battle Pyramid. "No secret doors or anything either though, or none that I noticed anyway. Maybe I was wrong about this place?" Rina stopped and looked around. "Still, I can't help but feel like something's going to jump out at me any second now..."

Passing through another corridor, Rina found herself in a wide open area that seemed as though it were set up for battle. It was the type of area where Rina would have expected to find a trainer, but instead the room was empty like a barren tomb. Completely square, each wall of the room had another corridor leading away.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen many more pokemon or items either. I wonder what's going on here?" Rina said to herself as she looked around, considering which route to take.

"Oh, is that another trainer I hear?" A male voice called out from the corridor straight ahead of her. An older boy then appeared from the corridor, followed closely behind by a frightening pokemon resembling a hell hound. The boy wore a coat over himself that concealed everything but his head.

"Who are you?" Rina asked him, then noticed a familiar black collar around the pokemon's neck and gasped. "That collar! You're one of them!"

"Yes indeed, you may call me Vito." Vito replied, grinning widely. "And you must be Rina. Or is it simply Melany again? It can be so hard to tell, you see, she does quite an excellent job at impersonating you and you're both as flat as a board."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Rina asked, blinking. "And what does he mean by 'flat'? I thought my height was perfectly normal for someone my age!"

"Oh? I suppose that settles that then, but it seems you haven't heard the news." Vito said to Rina, then reached up and flicked his hair back. "Of course, it hardly makes any difference, nor does it matter whether you are really Rina or Melany in disguise. Either way, it seems I'll be leaving here with more than I bargained for." Vito pointed to Rina. "Houndoom, attack!" The Houndoom standing next to Vito growled and charged toward her.

Rina fumbled briefly as she reached for a pokeball and quickly released a pokemon to defend herself. "Go! Whoever!" She called out, she was in too much of a hurry to check which one she grabbed. Fortunately for her, Sarge the Sandslash appeared to defend her. The Houndoom lunged, but Sarge swiped it aside with its massive claws.

"-What kind of pokemon would dare attack a defenseless human?!-" Sarge scolded the Houndroom. The Houndoom quickly got up and growled, at which point Sarge took notice of the collar around its neck. "-A slave collar...-"

"Sarge, you'll need to find a way to break that collar! I don't have Pippi with me!"

"-I see, but that Houndoom isn't likely to allow that to happen so easily.-" Sarge replied, swiping Houndoom away again as it lunged toward Sarge with the intent of biting him. "-I will likely have to knock it out first.-"

"Try all you want, you won't get it off." Vito said confidently. "Houndoom, disregard previous orders and attack her Sandslash with Flamethrower." Houndoom picked itself up off the ground and opened its mouth, spewing out a blast of flames at Sarge. Sarge crossed his claw-tipped hands in front of himself defensively and stood his ground as the flames struck him. The attack wasn't wide enough to pass Sarge's body, instead continually incinerating the front of him until Houndoom finally let up.

"Sarge, Swift! Then follow up with Slash!" Sarge made a slashing motion toward the Houndroom, hitting the fire pokemon with a barrage of star shaped rays. Houndoom recoiled from the attack, leaving it open long enough for Sarge to move in and swipe it across the face with his large claws. Houndoom yelped in pain and fell to the ground, knocked out by Sarge's final attack. Sarge then quickly bent down and ripped the collar in two with his powerful hands.

"Now tell us where your hideout is!" Rina demanded. "I know its in this pyramid somewhere now tell me where it is!"

"In this...pyramid?" Vito blinked several times in confusion, but then chuckled to himself. "Of course...seems they took the bait afterall." He thought.

"I'm afraid you won't find it here." Vito replied with a smirk. "Our hideout is in another facility."

"Well which one is it!?" Rina asked in an agitated tone.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, but you'll find out where our hideout is soon enough. Afterall..." Vito tossed back his coat, revealing the launcher on his wrist. With the push of a button, he fired a collar at Sarge and in the blink of an eye the collar wrapped around Sarge's neck and had him under Vito's control. "...you'll be coming with me!"

"SARGE!" Rina cried out. "You...you won't get away with this!"

"Won't I?" Vito stepped aside and whistled. Two Shiftry, a Mawile, a Breloom, and a Skarmory appeared from the corridor behind him. "I'm afraid I've got you quite outnumbered, since you only have two pokemon now." Vito patted the launcher on his arm. "And, of course, I've still got this...and three shots left."

"D-damn...what do I..." Rina thought for a moment and then quickly turned and ran back down the corridor she arrived from.

"Hahaha...she doesn't really think she can escape, does she?" Vito said, chuckling to himself. The recently freed Houndoom that was knocked out by Sarge began to stir, but Vito calmly fired another collar at it to enslave it again. "Two collars remaining, enough to take her pokemon from her." He said to himself, then snapped his fingers and pointed down the corridor. "All of you, go. After that girl." The enslaved pokemon nodded and gave chase down the corridor. Vito calmly followed behind them.

Vito and the enslaved pokemon followed the corridor to a flight of stairs and went down to the next level. Eventually, after following behind her at a distance for several minutes, the enslaved pokemon managed to trap Rina at a dead end in one of the corridors. Vito pushed past the enslaved pokemon to see her while Rina was facing away from them.

"Hahaha...seems you've taken a wrong turn, girl." Vito said, mocking her. Rina turned, grinning in response.

"Nope, not at all!" Rina replied. Vito then heard movement behind him. Looking back, he saw more of the pyramid's wild pokemon piling into the corridor behind them. Several electric pokemon, including Electabuzz, Pikachu, and Plusle and Minun, were among those pokemon as well as another Breloom and an Electrode.

"Gaining their trust is easy when you can understand what they're saying, and they weren't too happy when I told them what you did to their friends." Rina said to Vito.

"Wh-what?! When did you have time for this!?" Vito asked in disbelief.

"I only had to tell a few, they spread the word themselves." Rina replied. "Ok, you guys know what to do!" The group of pokemon attacked quickly, dousing the pokemon Vito had enslaved in powerful jolts of electricity and aiming specifically for the collars around their necks. Though largely ineffective, many of the pokemon were paralyzed on the spot and the collar on Houndoom was once again broken.

The Electabuzz and Breloom then moved into the group of pokemon. With most of them already enslaved, there wasn't much resistance as the two delivered powerful punches to the shocked collars. One by one, the enslaved pokemon were freed, including Sarge. Once the collar around Sarge's neck was broken, he immediately reached out to a nearby Shiftry and snapped the collar that was around its neck as well. Finally, with only the Mawile remaining, the Pikachu performed a Volt Tackle attack to remove the final collar in the same way Pippi usually would.

"D...damn it..." Vito growled and turned back to Rina. "This isn't over, you!" He said to her, then quickly pressed a button on his launcher and disappeared in an instant. Once Vito was gone, Rina breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for your help, I don't know what I would have done if you guys weren't here." Rina said to the gathered pokemon.

"-No sweat!-" The Electabuzz replied, slamming its fists together. "-No one messes with us and gets away with it!-"

"-I can't believe I allowed myself to be caught off guard so easily.-" Sarge muttered, shaking his head.

"Well I guess we're finished here then. I only came here because I was trying to find those guys." Rina took a pokeball from her belt and held it out. "Sarge, return!" The pokeball in her hand opened up, pulling Sarge back inside. Rina then placed the pokeball back on her belt.

"-Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait!-" One of the pokemon, a Mawile, called out to Rina. "-You can understand us, right?-" The Mawile asked her.

"Err...yeah..." Rina replied, blinking.

"-Take me with you!-"

"Wh-what?! I can't do that!" Rina replied. "Wouldn't that be stealing? How would I even get you out?"

"-You could try asking Brandon?-" Mawile suggested with a shrug. "-He'd probably want to battle you though...-"

"Well...I guess I didn't have anything else planned really." Rina sighed and then shrugged. "Ok then, I'll go battle this Brandon guy and see if he'll let you go with me then..."

"-Woohoo! Alright!-" The Mawile cheered.

"-We'll show you the way there, then.-" The Electabuzz said to her. Rina, Mawile, and the rest of the pokemon then set off through the pyramid.


May, meanwhile, had progressed through the Battle Palace without any issues. Acting on their own, her pokemon were proving themselves to be a force to be reckoned with. Her Heracross would always go all out on her opponents, striking them with her strongest attacks. Gardevoir, playing smartly instead of going all-out, was managing to win every battle she was in and usually without taking any hits in the process.

Flygon was also proving himself quite capable on its own. Faced against an oposing Raichu, Flygon swiftly took it out by attacking upfront with its close ranged attacks. The Raichu defeated, its trainer recalled it and left the battlefield. Though she knew Flygon wasn't at its best and even ignoring some of its better attacks, May congratulated Flygon after the battle and recalled him. Then she turned to the old man to hand over her pokemon for healing.

May stifled a yawn. "Are we nearly done yet?" May asked the old man as he worked the machine. "Its boring just standing here and watching..."

"Hmm...that would be opponent number six you just defeated, correct?" The old man asked May.

"Umm..." May held up a hand and counted off on her fingers, then nodded. "Yep, that's six."

"This will be your final match, then. You will face the Palace Maven himself, Spenser." The old man explained.

May sighed in relief. "Finally..."

"I would not relax if I were you, his pokemon are very competant on their own." The old man said to May. "The bond between him and his pokemon is indeed strong, they will always give it their best." The old man then removed May's pokeballs from the wall-mounted healing device and handed them back to her.

"All that means right now is he might actually be a challenge." May thought, smirking to herself.

"Your overconfidence could be your downfall if you were calling the shots instead of your pokemon." Haruka cautioned her.

"Whatever!" May shot back. "They can handle themselves fine anyway."

"Now, let great fanfare announce the arrival of the Palace Maven, Spenser!" Trumpets suddenly sounded throughout the arena, and on the opposite platform an Azurill and a Dusclops moved into the room. The Azurill moved to the far end of the platform from the entrance while Dusclops stopped near the door. A bald, old man with a long, white beard and carrying a staff soon followed and took up the usual trainer's position on the field.

"My physical being is with pokemon always!" Spenser declared to the two gathered across from him. "My heart beats as one with pokemon always! Young one of a trainer, do you believe in your pokemon? Can you believe them through and through? If your bonds of trust are frail, you will never beat my brethren!"

"Well, I can certainly attest that she's trusting her pokemon completely right now." Haruka said dryly.

"The bond you share with your pokemon, prove it to me here!" Spenser took out a pokeball and held it in his hand, preparing for battle.

"Be careful what you wish for!" May called back, likewise taking a pokeball from her belt. "Heracross, you're up first! Go!" The pokeball opened, releasing Heracross out onto the field. Heracross slammed her fists together, already psyched for battle.

"Crobat, my friend, come forth!" Spenser called out, releasing his own pokemon onto the field. A four winged bat pokemon appeared hovering in the air before Heracross. Crobat attacked almost immediately when it appeared, spitting a poisonous substance at Heracross. The purple liquid burned into her skin and into her body, inflicting her with a powerful poison.

"-Ow...damn it! You'll regret that!-" Heracross charged toward Crobat and threw herself into the bat pokemon, tackling it to the ground with a Take Down attack and inflicting heavy damage on Crobat. Crobat struggled under Heracross' body until it managed to knock her off with a swipe of its wings. The pokemon then flew straight up into the air, high over the battlefield.

"-Damn it! Get down here!-" Heracross growled, stomping her feet. With the poison running through her body her Guts ability had been activated, causing her to become far more determined.

"-As you wish.-" Crobat said calmly, then dove down toward Heracross. It came out of its steep dive at the last second, smashing into Heracross from above but quickly flapping its wings to keep from hitting the ground. Heracross was knocked flat on the ground by the attack, taking a heavy blow. She quickly jumped back up on her feet and struck back, however, throwing herself into Crobat again and smashing her elbow into its face. Both pokemon were thrown to the ground by the attack and neither of them got back up again.

"Your pokemon fought well, but not well enough it seems." Spenser said to May as they both recalled their pokemon.

"Last I checked, that was a draw, pal! Your pokemon didn't win!" May shot back, then took another pokeball from her belt. "Gardevoir, go!"

"A draw won't win you this match." Spenser replied calmly, then held out a pokeball to release his next pokemon as well. "Slaking, it is your time to battle now!"

A red beam fired out onto each side of the field. Gardevoir materialized on May's side of the field, looking calm as usual. On Spenser's side, the powerful looking yet lazy, ape-like pokemon Slaking appeared and snorted at Gardevoir.

"-...There is zero chance of you winning this battle. It would be best for you to save yourself the trouble and just surrender.-" Gardevoir.

"-TOUGH WORDS, LADY! LET'S SEE YOU BACK THEM UP!-" Slaking cupped its hands together, forming a Shadow Ball attack. It threw the ball of shadowstuff at Gardevoir, but she used Teleport to move out of the way long before the attack had reached her and reappeared directly in front of Slaking and staring it in the eye.

"-As I said, you cannot win.-" Gardevoir said. Staring back at her, Slaking could see the swirling patterns in Gardevoir's eyes and felt itself becoming drowsy. It soon dropped to the ground and fell into a deep sleep. Gardevoir then hopped back a few feet and closed her eyes to begin meditating.

"Gardevoir must be using Calm Mind now!" May thought, smiling to herself. "Spenser's Slaking can't touch her, and once she's finished using Calm Mind she'll be able to beat whatever pokemon Spenser throws at her!"

"Seems likely." Haruka said to her. "All we can do now is wait."

May winced. "Ugh! That's all we've BEEN doing!"

After a short wait, though Gardevoir was still concentrating, Slaking began to stir. In her meditation, Gardevoir didn't seem to notice this and was left completely open as a result. Slaking slowly sat up and quickly cupped its hands together, forming a Shadow Ball attack and flinging it at Gardevoir. The attack struck her hard in the chest, knocking her to the floor and shaking her out of her concentration.

"-A cheap shot...it will be your only one.-" Gardevoir held out a hand toward Slaking and concentrated. A blue glow surrounded Slaking and it grunted in pain as it felt a powerful crushing force around its entire body. Gardevoir held her attack for several seconds before finally slamming Slaking into the ground and creating several cracks in the surface of the battlefield.

"-I realize that won't be enough to finish you, but this will.-" Keeping her hand stretched out toward Slaking, Gardevoir focused her psychic powers on it again. Slowly, she lifted Slaking off the ground while crushing it again. She then slammed Slaking into the ground to knock it out, further cracking the field. Spenser quickly recalled his pokemon.

"Your Gardevoir seems to share quite the bond with you. Not unusual. Such pokemon often bond quickly to a trainer they like." Spenser placed Slaking's pokeball on his belt and took another one in his hand. "It seems it is all up to you now, my friend. Arcanine, come fort!" The pokeball in Spenser's hand opened up, releasing the massive fire-type, canine pokemon onto his side of the battlefield.

"-I will not disappoint.-" Arcanine said calmly.

"Arcanine...isn't that supposed to be some kind of legendary pokemon?" May wondered.

"It's not one I've ever heard of." Haruka said to her.

"-Your friend Slaking already sealed your fate.-" Gardevoir said to Arcanine, holding her hand out toward it. Before she could make her move, however, Arcanine suddenly shot across the field in a movement too fast for her to follow. She felt the impact before she even realized Arcanine was upon her. Arcanine plowed past her, knocking her to the side with Extremespeed.

"-Not bad...but not good enough.-" Gardevoir muttered, quickly rolling over to hold out a hand toward Arcanine. A blue aura surrounded Arcanine and lifted it into the air. Arcanine growled in pain as it felt a strong crushing force around its body. It was then suddenly hoisted further up into the air until it was slammed against the roof of the battlefield, at which point Gardevoir finally released it. Arcanine fell back to the ground and let out a yelp on impact, hitting the ground hard and collapsing. Gardevoir started to get up on her feet, but Arcanine soon did the same.

"-I won't go down so easily!-" Arcanine growled as it turned toward Gardevoir. It shot across the field again, using Extremespeed to smash through Gardevoir and knock her to the ground again. This time, she was down for the count, so May quickly recalled her. Arcanine came screeching to a halt just before reaching the end of the field and hitting the water.

"Ok, I've still got Flygon left and Arcanine can't be in good shape after that Psychic attack. I've still got this!" May thought, taking her final pokeball in hand. "Flygon, go!" The pokeball opened up, releasing the dragonfly-like pokemon Flygon out onto the field.

"-Ok, I'll win this one too then.-" Flygon said to itself. Flygon flew across the field toward Arcanine, and Arcanine likewise started to move toward Flygon. Heat began to build up in Arcanine's body as it closed the gap between them and then, at nearly point-blank range, Arcanine released an explosion from its body. Fire engulfed Flygon and the powerful blast threw him back, sending him crashing into the ground. Flygon wasn't about to stay down, however, as he quickly hopped up off the ground and blasted Arcanine in return with a stream of blue flames across its side.

"-That all ya got?-" Arcanine growled as the blue flames burned across its side. But despite putting up a tough appearance, its labored breathing gave away just how exhausted it really was.

"-Oh I'm just...urgh!-" Arcanine suddenly shot into Flygon with an Extremespeed attack, knocking the dragon pokemon backwards through the air. It was a harsh blow, but Flygon was able to take advantage of the situation for itself. It quickly straightened out and turned to face Arcanine while only a few feet away, then shot past it. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then Arcanine suddenly felt a sharp pain in its side and let out a yelp, then collapsed to the ground.

"-Don't interrupt me next time.-" Flygon said sternly.

"Now this is something else." Spenser said, chuckling to himself as he recalled Arcanine. "It seems I have lost. Your pokemon's eyes are truly clear and unclouded. I look forward to battling you again someday." Spenser then turned and slowly walked out of the arena. The Azurill and Dusclops, who had stood by idly all this time, followed behind him.

"Wait...that's it?" May asked, blinking in disbelief.

"If you mean is that the end of your challenge, then yes." The attendant said to May. "You should be proud of your pokemon, few are ever able to beat Spenser!"

"He didn't seem that great to me..." May thought. She then turned to Flygon and held out his pokeball toward him. "Flygon, good job! Return!" A red beam shot out from the pokeball, then pulled Flygon back inside. May then placed the pokeball back on her belt.

"For your victory against Spenser, please accept this." The old man handed May a small golden badge. "It is the Spirits Symbol."

"Err...thanks?" May looked at the symbol curiously. She wasn't expecting to get a badge for her efforts.

"Now, please follow me back to the reception desk."

May shrugged and followed the old man, who lead her back through the palace toward the reception desk. "Guess I'm finished here then, and with no sign of Melany anywhere. This feels like it was a complete waste."


With Mawile still by her side, and the rest of the pokemon guiding her, Rina soon arrived at the final flight of stairs.

"-This is as far as we go.-" One of the pokemon said to Rina. "-We wouldn't be able to explain the situation to Brandon as easily as you could.-"

"Ok, thanks for your help then!" Rina said to the group, then turned and nodded to Mawile. "Ok, let's go!" Mawile nodded and followed behind Rina as she bounded up the steps, dragging her large rear jaw along behind her.

"Hey, Mawile, why do you want to leave the pyramid anyway?" Rina asked her.

"-Its boring around here. I figure life with a trainer has to be better than life at the pyramid.-" Mawile replied with a shrug.

They soon reached the top of the stairs and went through the open doorway. The room inside was at the very top of the pyramid with openings on each side, giving a view of the rest of the Battle Frontier. The area was set up like a typical battle arena and a man in a green outfit stood on the other side, waiting as if he were a gym leader expecting a trainer to arrive.

"So it seems a trainer has finally reached me here." The trainer, Brandon, said as Rina and Mawile arrived. He smiled to himself. "Tell me, was it exciting for you to explore the labyrinth that is the Battle Pyramid? To meet its inhabitants? To find the various hidden treasures?"

"Umm...actually, about that..." Rina gestured toward Mawile, who was standing next to her. "I ran into this Mawile here inside the pyramid and she wants to come with me..."

"I see. So you came all the way here to ask my permission?" Brandon asked her. Rina nodded in response and he chuckled to himself. "Very well. You may do so on one condition. You must defeat me in a 3 on 3 battle and use that Mawile as one of your three pokemon."

Rina blinked. "I was expecting the battle part but..." She looked over at Mawile. "Umm, what attacks do you know?"

Mawile shrugged. "-Only ones I can think of are Ice Beam, Crunch, and Toxic. They're the ones I've been told to use in the pyramid anyway.-"

"Hrm? Can she understand them?" Brandon wondered, noticing Rina talking to Mawile.

"That'll have to do I guess..." Rina thought, turning to face Brandon again. "Ok then, I accept!"

"Very well! Show me your best!" Brandon reached down and grabbed a pokeball from his belt. "Solrock, go!" He called out, releasing a sun-shaped rock pokemon out onto the field.

Rina quickly grabbed a pokeball from her belt as well and called out her pokemon. "Berg, I choose you!" A red beam shot out from her pokeball and materialized into Berg, the Blastoise. Berg quickly extended his water cannons when he appeared, readying himself for battle.

"I don't know what that pokemon is, but its obviously a rock type. Maybe a fire and rock type?" Rina thought.

"-Rina! How do you plan to use me in battle?-" Mawile asked her.

"I don't know yet, I need to see his other pokemon first." Rina replied.

"Solrock, Sunny Day!"

"Berg, Water Gun!"

Berg targeted the floating, sun-shaped pokemon with his twin cannons and fired a quick spurt of water. The water hit Solrock in the face, stunning it briefly and pushing it back slightly. Solrock quickly shook it off and then began to glow. A bright light formed over the battlefield, increasing the temperature around it.

"Sunny Day? Is it using that to weaken Berg's attacks or does it know Solarbeam?" Rina wondered.

"Solrock, Solarbeam!" Brandon called out, giving Rina her answer.

"Berg, Rain Dance!" Berg moved from side to side in a sort of dance while Solrock began to gather light for its attack. What should have been a nearly instant charge for Solrock's attack took longer than expected as clouds formed over the battlefield, blocking out the light and releasing a downpour onto the two pokemon. When Berg was finished, Solrock was still charging.

"Great! Its trapped now!" Rina thought, a slight smile on her face. "Berg, fire a Hydro Cannon attack at it while its still charging!" With his cannons trained on Solrock, Berg let loose with an extremely powerful water attack. Water sprayed out from his cannons in a wide burst, releasing far more water than it seemed they should be capable of. Two large streams of water struck Solrock simultaneously, pushing it across the field. It immediately stopped charging its attack as it was pushed through the air and was unconscious when it was finally released and dropped to the ground, just past Brandon.

"Interesting! Looks like you'll make this fun for me at any rate!" Brandon said to Rina. He pointed a pokeball back toward Solrock and recalled it. "Too bad you left your pokemon wide open for attack." He added as he took another pokeball in his hand. "Magneton, go! Attack her Blastoise with Thunder!"

The pokeball opened and released Magneton, an electric and steel pokemon consisting of three Magnemites fused together, out onto the field. As soon as it appeared, Magneton called down a bolt of electricity out of the storm clouds to strike Berg while he was still recharging. Berg growled in pain as the lightning bolt shot through his body and into the ground, inflicting a large amount of damage on him.

"-Damn...turned my own rain against me...-" Berg muttered under his breath.

"Berg, that's enough! Return!" Rina called out, recalling Berg. She contemplated using Mawile for a moment but realized Mawile didn't have any attacks that would be effective against Magneton. Instead, she decided to use the only other pokemon she had with her and took a pokeball in her hand. "Hiro, go!" She called out, releasing the fighting pokemon onto the field. Hiro sized up Magneton when he appeared and shrugged.

"-This won't take too long.-" Hiro said to himself.

"Hiro, attack Magneton with High Jump Kick!"

"Magneton, attack with Thunder again!"

Hiro charged across the field, his long legs allowing him to move rather quickly. At about halfway across the field he jumped high into the air and came down onto Magneton foot-first, delivering a powerful kick and knocking Magneton back. Magneton pushed back with its magnets to stop itself and then pointed them toward Hiro, calling down another lightning bolt from the clouds. Hiro grunted in pain as the powerful bolt shot through him, but quickly shook it off.

"Finish it with Brick Break, Hiro!" Hiro moved toward Magneton in a few quick strides and raised his hand back, then struck Magneton from above in a chopping motion. Magneton was smashed into the ground hard and remained still, seemingly defeated. Brandon could tell that wasn't the case. Standing only a few feet away, Brandon could see the pained look in Magneton's eyes. Though weak, it was still able to fight.

"Magneton, once more! Thunder!" Magneton pointed its magnets toward the clouds, calling down another lightning bolt to strike Hiro. Hiro yelled in pain as the Thunder attack passed through him but, because he was still standing over Magneton, both pokemon were struck by it. Magneton fainted, the look in its eyes going from pained to dazed, and Hiro fell to his knees in pain. Brandon then recalled Magneton and placed its pokeball back on his belt.

"No way! I thought I had it?" Rina said, blinking in disbelief.

"Close, but close doesn't count when it comes to pokemon." Brandon replied with a slight smirk. "Now comes my final pokemon." Brandon grabbed another pokeball. "Glaile, go!" Brandon called out, releasing his final pokemon. A red beam shot out from the pokeball and materialized into a floating snowball with a face resembling a demonic hockey mask.

"What kind of pokemon is that? An ice type?" Rina wondered. "Mawile, looks like you'll get your chance to fight. I think this was the best we could hope for." Rina said to her. "I'll keep Hiro out for now, but I don't think he has much strength left." Mawile nodded in agreement and a wicked grin spread across her back set of jaws.

"Glaile, finish this one with with Ice Beam!"

"Hiro, Endure it!"

Two small blue rays fired out from the horns on the top of Glaile's body, colliding together and firing a single beam at Hiro. Hiro braced himself for the attack. The beam struck him in the chest and froze over briefly, then shattered. Hiro grunted in pain and dropped to the ground, but was able to withstand the attack.

"Strike back now with Brick Break!" Hiro quickly stood up and raised one hand back, summoning his strength to strike Glaile with a Brick Break attack. Hiro struck it in a chopping motion, sending Glaile reeling back, but the ice pokemon quickly shook it off.

"Glaile, finish it with another Ice Beam!" Twin rays fired out from Glaile's horns and fired at Hiro in a single beam. The beam struck Hiro, forming into a layer of ice that quickly shattered. Hiro grunted in pain and dropped to the ground, fainting almost instantaneously. Rina held out Hiro's pokeball and recalled him.

"Ok, Mawile, your turn now! Go!" Rina called out, pointing out toward the battlefield while looking over at Mawile. Mawile nodded and quickly rushed out to face Glaile. Before either trainer issued any commands, Mawile turned her back toward Glaile so her large rear jaw was facing it.

"Well its about time." Brandon said with a smirk. "Glaile, freeze it in place with Ice Beam!"

"Mawile, counter with Ice Beam!" Mawile's large jaw opened and fired an Ice Beam at the same time that Brandon's Glaile fired another one from its horns. The two beams collided midway and formed into a giant block of ice, cancelling each other out.

"Now use Toxic!" Rina called out next. Mawile spun around, flipping her large jaw behind her again to send a blob of purple poison flying toward Glaile. Glaile winced as the poison landed on its face and then burned into its body, sending the toxic substance coursing through it.

"Interesting! Seems she's caught on quickly to Mawile's capabilities!" Brandon thought, chuckling quietly to himself. "Of course, that could only be done if she was truly able to understand a pokemon's speech. Well, no holding back now then."

"Glaile, attack with Earthquake!" Glaile slammed its body into the ground, sending a shockwave throughout the battlefield. The ground began to crack and shake, tossing Mawile around. She cried out in pain as parts of the battlefield would suddenly jut up and jab into her, and the ice block formed by their first round of battle cracked a fair bit at the base as it was subjected to the quake. The shaking eventually stopped and dropped the injured Mawile on her face. She slowly got back up, looking pretty beat up already, and shook it off.

"Earthquake? That's not good!" Rina thought nervously. "Mawile doesn't look like she can take another hit either, that Glaile must be pretty tough. Maybe there's a way we can avoid it..." Rina thought for a moment and managed to come up with an idea.

"Mawile, use Ice Beam to create a ramp onto that block and get on top of it!" Rina called out. Mawile blinked at the odd order but then shrugged.

"-I just hope you know what you're doing.-" Mawile opened her large jaw and fired an Ice Beam at the block of ice formed earlier. She angled the beam to form a ramp up and then ran toward it. She jumped head first toward the ramp, grabbing it with her jaw and then throwing herself on top of the ice block.

"What does she plan to accomplish with that, I wonder?" Brandon thought. "Glaile, use Earthquake again and focus on that ice block!" Glaile slammed into the ground again, sending another shockwave throughout the battlefield. This time, the destruction was focused on the area around the ice block. The ground in that spot went through massive cracking and shifting and the ice block started to break apart.

"Mawile, jump off and attack Glaile with Crunch!" Mawile nodded and quickly ran to the edge of the ice block, jumping toward Glaile. She managed to make it off just as the ice crumbled under her. As she came down from her jump toward Glaile, she spun her large jaws around to clamp down hard on the pokemon's spherical body. Glaile cried out in pain as it was crushed in Mawile's powerful jaws, and then fell silent as the poison took its toll as well. Mawile released Glaile, who was then recalled by its trainer.

"Well done! I didn't expect you to actually beat a pokemon with that Mawile, I was expecting this might be more of a challenge for you with the handicap of having no prior experience with that pokemon." Brandon chuckled to himself and shrugged. "Guess not then. Though I'm sure it certainly helps that you can understand pokemon speech."

"Yeah, that definitely helps." Rina admitted quietly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Well, as promised that Mawile can go with you. I'll need to make the arrangements, of course, since no one's going to let you leave with her unless I'm there to say otherwise."

"-Woohoo! I'm finally out of here!-" Mawile cheered while doing a pirouette.

"You might as well take one of these too." Brandon reached into his pocket and pulled out a small gold badge. "Its the Brave Symbol, proof that you've beaten me."

"I don't know what good the Brave Symbol is, but at least I'm not leaving here empty handed." Rina thought, smiling slightly. "I might not have found a hidden base or anything like that, but I've caught a new pokemon and got that symbol!"


"What good is this badge anyway? Is there some kind of Battle Frontier Elite Four?" May wondered, checking out her recently obtained Spirits Symbol after leaving the Battle Palace

"Hey, don't I know you?" May blinked and looked up. Standing a few feet in front of her was Ashley, who she met at One Island.

"You! You're the one that took forever to show up with that gem!"

"What? Hey! I didn't exactly know anyone was waiting for it!" Ashley shot back.

"You're the girl that came here with Alex too, aren't you?!" May demanded angrily.

"What? So what if I am?" Ashley asked, narrowing her eyes at May. "What's with this kid?"

"I believe that would be May, bearer of the Sapphire." Aisha explained. "She's...short tempered, to say the least. And can be a bit violent at times.

"Where is he?!"

"...You know, with that attitude, I don't really feel like telling you." Ashley replied in a stern tone.

"What?! Don't you know who he really is?!" May growled.

"I already know that, why?"

"Then you two..." May blinked a few times.

"You know, Melany almost definitely has no interest in men, so that wouldn't be out there..." Haruka said to May.

May quickly shook her head and growled. "Fine! If you won't tell me where he is, then I challenge you to a battle."

"This is getting beyond silly." Ashley thought. "Fine, have it your way." She said to May. "Like I'm going to lose to someone like her."

The two trainers each grabbed a pokeball from their belts, preparing for battle.


Author's Notes: Long chapter is long. Though I might have unlocked the secret to actually writing these things at a decent pace. Or at least, writing the ones that move around a lot. If I get stuck on one section, moving to another can get me back writing again apparently. Anyway...

So! Battle between Ashley and May next chapter. Probably not going to be a full battle, but probably 3 vs 3 minimum depending on what else I end up having going on. Though the battle will be the primary focus.

Oh yeah, forums are up now.

.net/forum/Pokemon_Legends_Series/61572/